The graduating class was expecting a “How to live the good life” type of commencement speech.

What the students didn’t expect was a particular man chosen to talk about their goals and dreams. His name was Red Cloud and he was a full-blooded Navajo. He was introduced by Mr. John, the school principal. He told the students that Red Cloud would be taking them on a magical journey without them ever leaving their seats. Of course, they laughed. He laughed with them. “This will be a life changing event,” said Mr. John. The students jostled in their chairs and laughed again.

Red Cloud approached the podium wearing a black wide brimmed hat with a single white feather attached at the brim. Two tightly wound pigtails protruded from behind his ears and lay perfectly even upon each shoulder. His face was bronzed across a wide-nostril nose and his silvery blue eyes flashed a spark of light as he took his position.

“What’s he gonna do?” shouted a student from the back row. “Give us jobs on his Indian reservation?” The students laughed again. Red Cloud put his finger to his lips to quiet the crowd. Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind blew the graduates’ hats off and forced them to close their eyes against its power.

They opened their eyes and found themselves in a valley of purple flowers surrounded by many trees. A stream of water gurgled behind them. Songbirds filled the air with beautiful music. The wind had done something else before it set them down in the valley. It had flushed memory of the past hour from their minds. All the graduates were free to be in the moment.

“This place is beautiful,” remarked a brown-haired girl. “What a wonderful scent from these flowers!”

“Anybody got some cookies or chips with them? I’m starving,” said the valedictorian.

“I’m thirsty,” said the class president. “Is there a Wawa around here?”

Red Cloud was standing upon on a large rock. The sun shot spears of yellow onto his back. The bright glow had spread around the Navajo’s figure making him appear angelic. He lifted his hand and pointed to his right. “For those who are hungry, partake of this apple tree.” Five students bolted to the trunk of the tree and found large red apples hanging from branches within reach. A young man raised his hand toward one, but a thunderous noise trembled the earth knocking the students to the ground. When the tremble stopped, all the fruit from the tree was gone.

“Hey, where did all the apples go?” asked the young man from the seat of his pants.

“The tree was hungry so it ate them all, leaving none for you,” replied Red Cloud. He pointed to the stream to his left. “Those of you who thirst, drink from the pure fresh water.” The class president ran to the bank of the stream. She knelt, cupped her hands together and reached for the water. Another tremble knocked her backward. When she stood up, all the water was gone.

“Whoa, did you see that?” shouted a student who stood beside him. Where the water used to be was no more, not a drop was found over the dry rocky stream bed.

“Where did the water go?” asked the class president.

“The stream was thirsty so it drank every drop, leaving none for you.” said Red Cloud. Suddenly, the sun disappeared behind his back. “The sunshine has left us,” said Red Cloud. “It’s gone away, leaving no warmth for you.”

The brown-haired girl turned her head back to the valley. “Look!” she shouted. “What happened to all the flowers?”

“They left the valley to keep their fragrance to themselves,” answered Red Cloud. A flock of songbirds flew over them again, but this time, they made no sounds.

“This place is creepy. I want to leave,” said one of the graduates. “There’s nothing here for me,” added another.

Red Cloud said, “You must understand the lesson.”

A fierce gust of wind circled the valley, lifting the students high into the air. They found themselves back in their graduation chairs with caps and gowns in place. Red Cloud was not at the podium and he couldn’t be found as far as the eyes could see. Principal John introduced the valedictorian to come to the front and make her speech. Against tradition, the class president accompanied her to the microphone.

“We both had speeches prepared,” said Laurie, the top-ranked student in her class. “I was going to say that your education does not end here. You need to go far beyond high school to make a good living in this world of competition.”

“I threw my speech away, too,” said Michael, the class president. “I was going to tell you to do whatever it takes to get to the top of the ladder of success. We have learned something more important today that was never taught in our classrooms.”

“Our teachers were the sun, the trees, the streams, flowers and birds,” said Laurie.

“The sun doesn’t shine for itself,” said Michael. “It shines for all living things.”

“The fruit trees do not bear fruit to feed themselves,” said Laurie. “The stream offers water for all who are thirsty.”

“The scent of flowers in the valleys are for us to enjoy,” added Michael. “The birds sing to each other, but we also get to listen to their beautiful music.”

“Living for others is the rule of nature,” said Laurie. “Just look around you and see how the earth is happy and flourishing. That’s because everything on the natural earth lives to help something else live. That is the wisdom from the wild toward living a good life.”

Rich Strack can be reached at richiesadie11@gmail.com