The Arrowhead | Midsummer Moot 2026

Author: N. Friedline, Word Count: 128

The Arrowhead

At the boundary of civilization
beyond is a dense watery wilderness

The canoe cuts through the lake
each stroke of the paddle
sends whirlpools swirling

From the boreal horizon
a narrow island emerges
covered in pine trees and stone

the boat glides to shore
and I walk along the lapping waves
barefoot in the clear water

among the grey rocks
a flash of blue
glows under the rippling surface

I reach down
plunging my arm up to the shoulder
and pluck out of the cool shallows
an arrowhead

flint-knapped chert
translucent and small
exact in its symmetry

a precious relic of the past
made by the skilled hands
of an indigenous Native American

nearby the burnt orange
pictographs are all that remain
and the wilderness primordial

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