Two People, Going In Opposite Directions

Fiction prompt: Start or end your story with two characters going in opposite directions (literally or figuratively).

What this brought back to me was a friend I met in recovery. He was every bit a Heyoka (they are contrary). When looking it up to give a description, it was attributed to the Sioux; the Lakota, and the Dakota people.

I first became aware of the Heyoka when I visited my sister in New Mexico. There was a man who was dressed in stripes and had a hat on and a whip and appeared to be scolding people. Some people appeared to be afraid of him. My sister said, "Only if they have been doing something wrong."

She said he is like the Heyoka. I didn't know about the Heyoka of the Dakota people at the time. When I met this man who practiced some of the ways of the Heyoka, I understood some of what it was about. When a Heyoka is hungry, they will act like they are full. When cold, they will act like they are too warm.

Rather than walk forward, he would walk backward. You could see him walking backward around town, for example. He was Anishinabe. At times when he would talk, he meant the opposite of what he was saying. He was in recovery, no drugs or alcohol.

I was on a committee with him to build a community building, and I advocated for a space for game nights, dances, open meetings, and potluck gatherings. He said the opposite of what I said, and it threw me off for a while until I realized it was a part of what he was doing, as a Heyoka.

Mental health issues? Maybe. Not for sure. I was a friend until the end. He had a house fire and died. I was embarrassed by my feelings when my son met him and quickly started walking backwards. It didn't last, though, as I told him that he had permission to do that, while my son would be teased.

It was like he understood better than I did. He didn't do it again, but he really liked my friend and enjoyed talking to him the few times we ran into him in the community.

Photos are not allowed in the ceremony. My niece has sent me photos of her children in the ceremony, with a strict, for your eyes only.

A very specific individual in tribes, who no one else follows, and it is the opposite of how others behave. Teaching lessons. For fun. Correcting others. Storytelling. All of these things and more.

My daughter lived across the road from my in-laws, and she called one day to tell me that my father-in-law was riding a bicycle backward down the road. He was in his 80s. I told her to call my mother-in-law. She said, "He is always doing that. Just ignore him." She called me back, and we laughed.

I said, did your kids see him, and she said no one saw him except her. I said good or they would be trying it too! These people stand out and have gifts most will never understand.