Storytelling Week 12: The Curse of the Piper

The Curse of the Piper

.It’s been a week since it happened. All of the adults don’t seem to understand. They have tried almost everything to keep this outbreak from harming more children but it seems as if they have absolutely no way of stopping it. My grandmother thinks that the town is cursed and I am starting to believe her. She has always told me tales of the piper and how he lured all of the children away. Every time she told me the story I would blow her off and call her crazy but now, I think she may be the only one who knows what’s going on. According to granny, many years ago, a man known as the Pied Piper did a great deed for the people of a town called Newtown. Unfortunately for him and for the people, the mayor of the town refused to pay the piper for his services and in return, the piper lured away all of the children of the town with his hypnotic tunes.

The people of town tried for years and years to have more children but after a few years, the piper would come back and the children would vanish. The people finally decided to relocate in order to get away from the Piper and start their lives over. This seemed to work and the townspeople had more children, and their children had children and so on. Now, kids are starting to go missing. Only this time, the ones going missing are girls. Girls ageing from 16-21. The whole town is in a panic. They have decided that the only way to keep us safe is to lock us up and keep an eye on us twenty-four seven. They have no clue what is causing this but, I think I might. Every girl went missing the same way. It all started with an iPod. I saw Sarah and Rachel sharing headphones on the bus one day. The next day, they were listening to the same iPod together and refused to put it down. When our teacher tried to take it away from them the kicked and screamed about how much they needed it. After that, every time they listened to this iPod, they would start screaming and jumping up and down and crying. When we would ask them what was wrong, they would reply, “Oh my Gosh! I love them so much!”

Not long after that, they were gone. These “symptoms” started happening to more and more of us and soon, girls all over town were having what they called “meet ups.” At these meet ups they would listen to their iPods and scream with each other. I’ve been trying to warm everyone about this but no one will listen except for Granny. She has decided to listen to whatever is on these mysterious iPods for herself. I watched her as she tore an iPod from one of the infected girls. I give her a day or so and she too will be gone like the rest of them. Granny puts the earbuds in and as I nervously stare at her. In an instant her eyes light up. When I ask her what is on the iPod, she stares blankly and says, “It sounds like a boyband. The Piper, he has found us. He must be using these boys to lure away our girls.” I stared at her, confused as she continued rambling. “He is smart. He’s taking away our girls. No girls, no children, just like all those years ago.  Curiosity gets the best of me and I snatch the earbuds from her. The last thing I remember is hearing the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard singing “You don’t know you’re beautiful” and then everything went dark.   

(Girls)

Author’s Note: This story is based on the fairy tale, The Pied Piper. As I was reading this story, I started thinking about things that could willingly lure kids away from their parents and I automatically thought about a tweet that I saw from a girl who said, “I would give up and sell my parents for One Direction.” As a self-proclaimed professional fangirl, I know how passionate girls can get about their favorite boy bands. You hear one amazing song from them and watch one music video ad next thing you know, you’ve been locked away in your room researching them for hours. I took this and thought to myself, if the Pied Piper used boy bands to do his dirty work, he could easily lure away hundreds of girls in an instant.

Bibliography: This story is based on the story The Pied Piper from the book, More English FairyTales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten(1894).

Week 10 Storytelling: The Secret

The Secret

At my age, I knew that it was only a matter of time before I had to find a wife. The task proved difficult for me for I was not like other “men.” As a matter of fact, I was not a man at all. I searched and searched for a wife until I finally came across a widow looking for a suitor for her daughter. The only condition she had was that the man who would marry her daughter had to be a good hunter. I was not the best of hunters but I was desperate for love that I lied and told her that I was a great hunter. Soon, our marriage was arranged and I went to live with my new wife.

Hiding my secret from my new wife and her mother was a difficult task. When I felt the change happening, I would rise early in the morning and leave and not return until late that night. The first time this happened, my wife’s mother questioned my sudden departure. When she asked where I was going, I almost made the mistake of saying hunting but quickly changed my mind. Hunting was definitely not the smartest thing I could have said. As I mentioned before, I was a terrible hunter. If I traveled down that path, she would definitely grow suspicious. Instead, I simply said, “Fishing.” This too was a dumb decision because I realized that she would expect me to come home with a mountain of fish.  Before returning home, all I could find were three measly guppies. I saw the questioning look in her eye and tried to curb her doubt by telling her that I would be more successful tomorrow. This became a never-ending cycle until one day; I finally had to change up my excuse. Once again my mother in law asked where I was going but this time I said, “Hunting.” I returned later that night with only two duwë'gä (lizards) and I knew I was in trouble. The other men of the tribe had gone hunting that day too but unlike me, they came home with many cuts of deer.

I knew my time was running out but as hard as I tried I could not stop the change. Once again, I rose early and left my wife and mother in law. I went down to the river like I did every morning and waited for my transformation to begin. Once in my true form, I dove down into the water and caught a crawfish. Crawfish were my favorite snack and I was quite pleased with how swiftly I spotted and captured my prey. With the crawfish in hand, I flew back down to the shore and took my human form and began to walk home. When I walked through the door, my wife began to question me about my lack of fish. I quickly explained to her that as I was fishing, an owl swooped down and scared away the fish. Then, my wife gave me a look; a look that I knew meant that my secret was out. She yelled at me and said, “You’re the owl! I thought I married a man but I married an owl!” Those were the last words my wife ever spoke to me. She ran me out of the house and I took shelter in the woods. That is where I have been ever since; grieving the love that I once had. The love that I wanted more than anything else in the world. The love that I knew I would never have again.  

(Barn Owl or Lulu)

Author's Note: In this story, an old woman tries to find a good hunter to marry her daughter. The man that the old woman picks, turns out to have a secret; he is not a man but an owl. In the end, the two women find out the husband's secret and drives him out of the house. The story is told from the two women's point of view but I wanted to write about the husband/owl's side of the story.

Bibliography: This story is based on the story, The Owl Gets Married from the book, Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney (1900).  

Storytelling Week 9: How One Smurfette Became Two

How One Smurfette Became Two

Long, long ago there was a Smurf village with many smurfs living there. Far, far away in the Southern Smurf village, there were rumors of a smurfette living there. When he heard about the rumor spread to the Northern Smurf village, Brainy Smurf travelled down to the Southern Smurf village and married Smurfette. As he looked at his wife, Brainy Smurf pleasantly thought to himself, “Ha! I have married Smurfette, the only lady smurf in the village, while Vanity Smurf, the son of our leader Papa Smurf, has no wife.”

What Brainy Smurf didn't know was that Vanity Smurf had also heard the rumors about Smurfette living in the southern Smurf village and had decided to travel there to marry Smurfette himself. Once Vanity Smurf arrived, he stood in the hallway to the Smurf hut and overheard Brainy Smurf talking to himself. Hearing what Brainy Smurf said, Vanity Smurf decided to wait until everyone in the house was sound asleep. Once he was sure everyone was asleep, Vanity Smurf snuck into Brainy Smurf and Smurfette’s bedroom and began to drag Smurfette away by her shoulders. Brainy Smurf awoke with a start as he heard Vanity Smurf dragging Smurfette away. He ran to the hallway and dove for Smurfette and grabbed her by her feet. As Vanity Smurf pulled one way, and Brainy Smurf pulled another, poor little Smurfette became a Smurf tug-of-war rope. The two Smurfs pulled and pulled until suddenly, they pulled helpless little Smurfette in two. Vanity Smurf carried Smurfette’s upper body back to the Northern Smurf village. Once there, he carved wood to make Smurfette complete. The new Smurfette of the Southern Smurf village was a very skilled dancer but, she was not so skilled at doing intricate needlework in sewing furs. This is because she had wooden hands. The new Smurfette of the Northern Smurf village was a horrible dancer because her feet were wooden but, she was very good at sewing fine stitches in the furs. Because of this one event, all of the Northern Smurfettes are skillful with their hands and all of the Southern Smurfettes are beautiful dancers.

(Smurfs and Smurfette)

Author's Note: This story is the Inuit origin story of the first woman. In the story, two men split the only woman in their village in half as they were fighting over her. When I read the story, I instantly thought about the Smurfs and how Smurfette was the only female Smurf in her village. Thoughts of all of the Smurf men fighting over her filled my head. 

Bibliography: I based my story off of the Inuit origin story The First Woman that is from the book Myths and Legends of Alaska edited by Katherine Berry Judson (1911).

Storytelling Week 7: The Dog Couple and Their Human

The Dog Couple and Their Human

 

A long time ago, there lived an old dog and his wife who had very little money and no pups to give all of their love and affection to so, they gave all of their love to their pet human. The little human was not spoiled and ungrateful but instead loved the old dog couple unconditionally and followed the couple everywhere they went.

                One hot afternoon, the dog was hard at work digging in his garden with his little human by his side. Growing tired, the old dog wiped the sweat off of his forehead with his paw and rose to head into the house. As he was leaving the garden, he noticed that his little human was digging at a spot on the other side of the garden. There was nothing unusual about this as his little human loved to pick up his toy shovel and dig but this time, the little human ran to his master and started jumping up and down and yelling. The human kept on doing this until the old dog followed him to the spot he was digging. The little human was so excited that his yelling brought the little old dog’s wife out of the house. The little human continued to dig until he dug up a small box. When the old dog grabbed the box and opened it, he found that it was filled with gold coins. Soon, the wealth of the little old dog couple and their incredible little human spread around the town.

                The little old dog couple’s neighbor, the cat, grew so envious of them that he found himself unable to eat, sleep, or think about anything else besides how to steal the dog couple’s wealth. The cat begged the old man to let him borrow his dear little human so that he may become rich as well. With much hesitation, the little old dog finally agreed to lend the cat his human only if he promised to take good care of him. As soon as the cat took the human home, he turned him loose into his backyard. Once in the backyard, the little did nothing but run around and play. He waited all day and all night for the dog to show him the way to the undiscovered riches. Alas, nothing happened and the cat grew so angry at the little human that he loaded him in his car, drove out into the forest and pushed the little human out of his car, leaving him there to die.

                The next day, the cat realized what he had done and quickly ran to the old dog couple’s house. Instead of telling the truth, he lied to the old couple and said that their little human ran away. The little old dog couple was so devastated that they wept for days and days. Weeks passed and the little old couple began to lose all hope. One night, as the couple was sitting in their dining room having dinner, they heard a familiar sound. They jumped up from their table and ran outside. Running outside, they were reunited with their precious little human and vowed to never let him leave their sight again. The cat, plagued with guilt, fled the town and was never heard from again and everyone lived happily ever after.  

(Japanese Gold Coin)

Author's Note: This story is based on the Japanese tale, The Envious Neighbor. I decided to switch the roles of the dog and the humans to make the story a little more fun. In the story, the neighbor becomes so angry with the dog that he kills him. I decided to change this part because I felt that killing the dog was a little gruesome and I wanted to make my story a little more lighthearted.

Bibliography: This story is based on the story The Envious Neighbor that is part of the Japanese Fairy Tales(Lang)  written by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H.J. Ford(1901).

Storytelling Week 6: The Ungratetful Young Woman

One day, a little girl in a red coat was walking through the forest in search of beautiful flowers to give to her sick grandmother. As she was searching, she stumbled upon a deep hole. She looked down in the hole and saw that there was a witch, an elf, a leprechaun, and a young woman. When they saw the girl, they began to beg her to help them out of the hole. The girl stood over the hole and contemplated whether or not she wanted to help them. She knew that she wanted to help the young women, for she was warm and beautiful but, the other three were a different story. The witch, she thought, tried to eat her best friends Hansel and Gretel. The dark elf used his magic to harm people. The leprechaun was just difficult to deal with. The little girl saw no use in helping them escape.

(Enchanted Forest)

 

The other three captives begged and begged for their freedom that the girl, being a kind hearted person, she decided to set them free. Each one of the creatures promised that they would compensate her kindness-except for the young woman. The young woman told the girl that she was very poor and could not offer her anything but, the girl allowed the young woman to stay with her and her grandmother.

A couple of days passed and the elf came to the girl and offered her a vile of his magic. “Make sure you always keep it close by,” he said. “You will find it very, very useful. When you want to use it, make sure you mix it with the blood of a beautiful maiden.”  Although the girl was a little frightened to possess such powerful magic, she thanked the elf and put the vile on a string and wore it as a necklace. The witch also showed her gratitude by promising to never harm the girl or any of her friends and always keeping her and her grandmother well fed.

The leprechaun also came to the girl and gave her a large pot of gold. “This pot of gold is magic. The gold in it will never run out and you and your grandmother will be very rich. After this, the girl and her grandmother lived in comfort and luxury and never went hungry again. The young woman who lived with the girl and her grandmother became jealous of the girl and all of her riches and constantly searched for a way to harm the girl.

The next day, there was an announcement that someone had robbed the Queen’s castle and stole all of her valuable jewels. The young woman rushed to the castle and told the Queen’s guards and told them that it was the girl who stole the Queen’s jewels. The Queen promised the young woman that she would give half of her jewels to the young woman for telling her who stole the jewels. The next day, the girl was thrown in jail and questioned about her newly acquired wealth. The girl truthfully told the witch, the elf, and the leprechaun but, no one believed her. The girl was condemned to die the next evening.

The next day before the girl’s execution, there was news that the Queen’s son was dying. Anyone who could save him was begged to help. The girl instantly clutched the vile that the elf gave her and asked if she could use it to save the Queen’s son. The Queen asked the girl if there was anything she needed and she said, “The blood of a beautiful maiden.” The Queen immediately pointed to the young woman who betrayed the girl and said, “There goes a beautiful maiden. She may be beautiful on the outside but her insides are filled with hate.” The young woman was beheaded and her blood was mixed with the vile of the elf’s magic.

As soon as it was given to the prince, he was cured and the Queen awarded the girl with the highest honors of the kingdom.

 

 

Author's Note: I chose to write my retelling in the same style as the original story. I made this decision because I really liked the way the original story flowed. I changed this story by making the characters storybook/fairytale characters and creatures, such as little red riding hood, instead of using animals.

Bibliography: This story was based on the story The Ungrateful Man. This story is part of the book West African Folktales written by William H. Baker and Cecilia Sinclair, with drawings by Cecilia Sinclair(1917).

  

Storytelling Week 5: Who Can Ring Her Belle?

Another Valentine’s Day, another year single and I am perfectly happy with that yet, here I am at this stupid speed dating event that I was forced to attend. You would think that by now my parents and my best friend, Aurora, would know me well enough to know that I absolutely do not have the time for a boyfriend. My mom and dad constantly hound me about marriage and kids and my best friend Aurora keeps attempting to set me up with her boyfriend, Philip’s friends. I guess it would be nice to not be the third wheel every time we hangout but, then again I do enjoy my freedom. But, like I said before, I’m here at Snow White’s Singles Mingle speed dating so obviously I can’t be all that opposed to finding a boyfriend.

“Hello, everyone! Are you all ready to begin?”

Gosh, Snow’s voice could be annoying. If she can find a guy to put up with that sound everyday then surely I can find someone to put up with me. As the first round starts, I begin to get nervous. Right when decided that I am going to blow this Popsicle stand, a guy of medium height and bright brown eyes walked up to me.

“Hi, I’m Aladdin. And you are?” he said while extending his hand.

“I’m Belle. It’s nice to meet you. So, tell me about yourself, Aladdin.”

“Well, you may hear people say that I am a “street rat” he said with air quotes, but I am actually quite the hard worker.”

Somehow, I found that very hard to believe but, my mother always told me that you can’t always believe what people say so, I decided to amuse him.

“You see these pants? I made them myself. I actually make 5 pairs a day. I give two to the Sultan, one I keep for myself, of course and the other I would give to my girlfriend,” he said with a wink. “The last pair I sell for you know food and stuff. Gotta eat to live, gotta sale to eat.”

Suddenly, the bell dinged signaling that it was time to switch partners. Thank God! The next guy that sat at my table was tall and lean with brown dreads.

“Hello. I’m Tarzan and may I say you are quite the looker.” After this creepy statement, he proceeded to growl at me.

“Um, thanks. Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself?”

“Well, um, I’m Tarzan. My talents include talking to apes, vine surfing, and farming. And uh, that’s about it. So umm you wanna get out of here?”

It took everything in me not to laugh at him. Is this guy serious? I mean what did I expect? There is no way I can meet the guy of my dreams at a 5 minute speed dating party hosted by Snow White.

“Last Round!” yelled Snow White in her sing song voice.

Well, here goes nothing. Just one more loser then I can go home. When I looked up, the most beautiful guy I had ever seen was sitting in front of me.

“Hi.” He said with a voice as smooth as jiffy peanut butter. “I’m Adam but my friends call me beast.”

Right from the beginning I could tell that he had to be some type of worrier. He was tall with a muscular build and a fabulous beard that confirmed why his friends called him beast. Adam and I had a connection so deep that our conversation lasted well past the allotted 5 minutes. We moved our date to the nearest coffee shop and I am proud to say that Adam and I have been dating for 8 months now and now Aurora’s dream of double dates and a double wedding is finally coming true.

 

Author's Note: With Valentine's day coming up this weekend, I decided to take the story The Four Scientific Suitors from the Twenty-Two Goblins unit and turn it into the story of the Disney princess, Belle and her experience at a speed dating party. In the original story, there are four men competing for the princess's love but to save time, I decided to only write about three men in my retelling. I tried to keep the story modern by adding some slang in the dialogue.

(Heart)



Bibliography: The Four Scientific Suitors from the Twenty-Two Goblins unit by Sanskrit Vetālapañcaviṃśati translated by Arthur Ryder. Illustrations by Perham W. Nahl (1917).

 

Storytelling Week 4: Aladdin's Genie

Aladdin's Genie

 

The life of a genie is a boring yet hectic one. Every day, I sit in my prison or lamp as you mortals like to call it, and slowly rot. Hour after hour, day after day, month after month, year after year, I sit and wait for my lamp to be discovered only to then become a slave to the one who finds me; my master. Just as I was about to give up on being found, the lesser of the two evils, I feel the magic of the lamp alerting me that my new master is summoning me. My first task was to deliver my new master, Aladdin, from the cave that held both of us captive.

                As I spent my first days with Aladdin, I quickly found out that he was quite a foolish boy. While idle in my prison, I overheard him telling his mother that he has fallen in love with the princess. Silly boy! Did he not know that the princess was promised to the grand-vizir’s son? There is no way he would allow Aladdin to marry his daughter! But alas, for almost three months I listened to Aladdin prepare for the moment when he would earn the princess’ hand in marriage. Once he heard the news of the Sultan’s betrayal, he once again summoned me to do his bidding. My newest task was to bring the bride and bridegroom to him and throw the young man out into the cold. As crazy as this stunt was, it did successfully lured the grand-vizir’s son away from the princess’ hand and made her fall in love with my master. After the three months were up, I was summoned again to provide Aladdin with a scented bath, a horse that was grander than the sultan’s, twenty slaves for him, six slaves for his mother, and ten thousand pieces of gold.

                Once promised by the sultan to be married to the princess, he summoned me yet again to build a grand palace for the princess. Although I have only been with Aladdin for a short time, I am beginning to grow tired of his constant demands. Genie build me this, Genie give me that! All of this fuss over a woman who already possesses more riches than all of the people of China! Humans constantly long for more riches, more possessions while I only long for freedom.

                I have noticed that it has been days since Aladdin has last summoned me and I am beginning to become weary. I know that he has the genie of the ring at his beck and call but, it is not like him to not rub my lamp at all. After a few more days of waiting, I feel myself being summoned. Once I am out of the lamp, I see that it is not Aladdin who has summoned me but the magician from the far west. Somehow I have ended up in his hands and I do not know how. I know that I have spoken ill of Aladdin before but, I much rather him to be my master than this magician. Another day passes and I am summoned again. This time, it is by Aladdin. He has told me that he and the princess have poisoned and killed the magician and he wishes me to carry his palace that the magician had stolen back to China. Days pass and Aladdin once again calls upon my name and requested that I bring him a roc’s egg for his wife. How could he ask me this!? I have done everything for him and yet he still wants more. Aladdin and his precious wife get everything while I, a creature more powerful than him, sit alone in a lamp wishing for freedom that will never come.

(Aladdin and the Magician illustrated by H.J. Ford)



 

Author's Note: I chose to reimagine the story of  Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp from The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898). I was not sure about how to retell this story so I tried to retell the story of Aladdin from the Genie in the lamp's point of view. The story ends very abruptly because the tale of Aladdin is a long one and I was not sure about how to condense the story without leaving out important aspects of the story. 

 

Storytelling Week 3: A Sister's Wrath

Dear Diary,

It has always been clear that Psyche is the favorite daughter. Her beauty is talked about all over our town and surrounding countries. She has even been named the Venus of the mortal world. Everyone loves Psyche and her gentle naivety but I find her arrogant and ungrateful! I am older than she is and just as beautiful but I am praised and worshiped? No! One day, my parents and all of the country will see that I am the sister to be praised!

 

Dear Diary,

My sister Psyche has suffered an ill fate. Her beauty and sweet naivety has made her unwanted by every man near and far. They have compared her to a beautiful statue; to be looked at and admired but not to be touched. Our sister and I have married fine men while poor Psyche sits at home still a virgin. Father has consulted the oracle of Apollo. He has told my dear father that he and mother must take Psyche high on a mountain crag and let her meet her doom. Although my sister does annoy me at times, the news of my sweet sister‘s fate has deeply hurt and saddened me.

Dear Diary,

My sister and I have seen our dear baby sister Psyche! She is not dead as we had been lead to believe but instead, is living a life of grand luxury and comfort with a mysterious young husband who I am sure is handsome. While my older sister and I are torn away and separated from our home country and bound to wretched men, our youngest sister lives like a Goddess! A Goddess with more clothes and riches than she can possibly need! She even has the wind, Zephyr, at her command! I know in my heart of hearts that she is longing for this mysterious husband of hers to make her a deity! Then, her beauty will truly be of the Gods’. She does not deserve this high honor and must be stripped of it and of her riches! We, as the eldest sister deserve this good fortune for I know that we would make better Goddesses. Because of this fact, we have devised a plan to ruin our undeserving little sister by stripping her of these clothes and riches. We will show her that we are her older sisters and not her slaves or servants! She will be punished for her arrogance!

(Psyche and her Jealous Sisters)



 

Author's Note: This retelling was based on Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche, specifically part 7  The Jealousy of Psyche's Sisters. I took inspiration from a storytelling that I read from a classmate last week. He wrote about Cupid's mischief in the form of diary entries and I thought it worked really well with this unit.  

Bibliography: The story of Cupid and Psyche is contained in a Roman novel entitled The Golden Ass, written by Apuleius and translated into English by Tony Kline.

Storytelling for Week 2: The Popular Boy, the Punk, and the New Girl

Moving to a new school can be hard; especially when you are a freshman in high school. MaKenzie McDonald didn’t know what to expect on her first day at Aesop High School. She had seen many movies about the drama that surrounds high school and what upper classmen did to freshman. “Will they chase me and paddle me the way the upper classmen did in that really old Matthew McConaughey movie?” Kenzie thought to herself. Putting silly thoughts behind her, Kenzie bravely walked inside and found her first class. As she entered Mrs. Pettigrew’s US History class, Kenzie couldn’t help but notice all of the other students laughing and talking to their friends.

“You look scared out of your mind,” said a voice coming from Kenzie’s left. Kenzie quickly turned around a saw a tall guy with bright red hair and two tattoos on his arm.

“If you keep looking like a scared little church mouse, the upper classmen are going to eat you alive. So, I’d work on that if I were you. I’m Casen by the way.”

MaKenzie took a long look at the boy and decided that with his eyebrow piercing, intense gaze, deep voice, and Metallica shirt, he was definitely not someone she wanted associate herself with. Without saying a word, Kenzie scurried off to an empty seat on the other side of the room. When the bell rang, Kenzie rushed out of the door hoping to avoid the boy with the rooster red hair. In her haste, she ran right smack into someone.

“I am so sorry!” MaKenzie said. Looking up she saw the most beautiful boy she had ever seen.

“Not a problem,” the boy said with a smile.

“Gosh, he has the cutest smile, Kenzie thought.

“Here, let me help you up,” the boy said while extending a hand to Kenzie. “I’m Calum. You must be new here because I would most definitely remember someone as beautiful as you.”

Kenzie, by some miracle, stood up on her jelly legs.

“I, I’m MaKenzie. I, I’m new here,” she stuttered nervously.

“Well MaKenzie, I know we just met but, as president of the student council, I am required to know everyone in the school; especially someone as gorgeous as you. Why don’t you meet me in front of the school after classes and we can go someone to get to know each other.”

“Sure,” said a beet red MaKenzie.

As MaKenzie ran off to class, Calum turned to his friends and said,

“I can’t believe that girl actually fell for it! I swear freshmen are so gullible! I can’t wait to see the look on all of their faces when we round them up outside of the school and throw raw fish at them.”

“Classic!” replied one of Calum’s flunkies. The boys turned and laughed their way to class. Little did they know a boy with bright red hair heard every word of their cruel prank.

                At the end of the school day, MaKenzie ran out of her class and headed straight to the front of the school. She tightly clutched her binder to her chest as she nervously waited for Calum. After 5 minutes of waiting, she spotted Calum coming towards her. Just as he was about to approach her, a tattooed arm grabbed her and pulled her into another room.

“What are you doing!?” Kenzie yelled.

“Saving you from your eminent embarrassment,” Casen replied. “That Calum kid is bad news!”

“You’re wrong!” Kenzie shouted. “He is nice and sweet and he was about to take me out on a date.”

“Is that so?” Casen questioned. “If he is so nice and innocent then why is he torturing those freshmen?” Casen pointed at the window.

 Kenzie looked out of the window and to her horror she saw Calum pelting a group of freshman with raw fish.

“I can’t believe someone as sweet and attractive as Calum would do something like this,” MaKenzie said. “And you! You who look so intimidating actually helped me after I ignored you,” she said quietly with her head down.

Just then, Casen looked MaKenzie in the eyes and said, “Never judge people, by their looks.”

(Do not trust alone to outward appearances)



 

 

Authors Note: This story is based on  The Cat the Cock, and the Young Mouse  from The Aesop for Children with illustrations by Milo Winter (1919). The story is about a young mouse who ventures out on his own for the first time. While out, he runs across a barnyard cock and a cat. The mouse finds the cock frightening and the cat welcoming. As he is about the approach the cat, the cock makes a noise that scares the mouse and causes him to run away. When the mouse tells his mother of his adventure, she warns him about the dangers of the cat and tells the young mouse that he should never judge a person by their appearance. Although we may not do this intestinally, it is easy to jump to conclusions about someone who we do not one just based on how they look. There have been research studies conducted that show just how much physical appearance can influence people’s thoughts. I chose to write in this style as a way to help the audience follow along with the dialogue without confusion.

 

 

Week 1 Storyteling: Dr. Sheldon, Relationship Guru

Knock. Knock.

“Come on in,” yelled Dr. Sheldon from inside her office. Dr. Sheldon, or Shelly as she preferred to be called, was the most renowned relationship counselor in all of Aesop City. She had mended many friendships in her career but these next clients were going to be a challenge. In walked her new patients, the man, better known as Manny, and the lion, better known as Linus. “So, tell me what is going on,” said Shelly. Manny and Linus frantically begin to tell their side of the story, both trying to talk over the other. “Time out!” Shelly yelled. “One at a time please. Manny, why don’t you go first.”

Manny cleared hi throat and said, “It all started when Linus and I were walked home from work. We cut through the forest just like we always had but something was different. Linus has always been prideful but that day he let his pride get the best of him as he challenged me by saying how lions were superior to man.” “Don't let Manny fool you,” roared Linus. “He was the one yelling about man’s mental and physical dominance over my kind!”

The two begin to bicker back forth, each one trying to prove the superiority of their kind. “Enough!” said Shelly. “This arguing is not getting us anywhere. Please continue, Manny.” Manny began to explain that as he and Linus continued their trek through forest that they came upon a great statue. “The statue showed a man savagely tearing the mouth of the infamous Nemean Lion,” Linus said with disgust. “That man,” said Manny, “was Heracles. He is a hero among my people. That very statue proves our strength and shows that your kind is like putty in our hands.” Linus combated Manny’s brilliant (or so he thought) statement by saying with a rough laugh, “Your kind, man, sculpted that piece! The statue would show the opposite if it were crafted by a lion!” Before Manny could object, Shelly said, “Linus is right Manny. Point of view is very important. How you see things can be different than how Linus sees things. To make your friendship work, you both have to be willing to consider the other’s point of view.”

When the session was over, Linus and Manny left Dr. Sheldon’s office with all smiles. Seeing the two old friends laughing and clapping each other on the back, Shelly knew that she had done her job and done it well. “Dang, I'm good,” Shelly whispered to herself as she put her feet up on her desk, threw her arms behind her head, and leaned back in her chair.

Heracles slaying the lion statue

(Wikimedia Commons)

 

Author's Note. This story is based on the fable "The Man and the Lion." You can find this fable here; Aesop for Children, by (anonymous), illustrated by Milo Winter (1919). This fable tells of a man and a lion that get into an argument about which kind is superior; man or lion. The two come across a statue of the Greek hero Heracles tearing open the mouth of a lion. To the man, the statue proves man kind's dominance but, the lion disputes this by saying that if a lion had sculpted this statue, it would be quite different. The moral of this fable is everything depends on point of view. In my story, I decided that the man and the lion were longtime friends who needed the help of my added character, Dr. Sheldon ( a turtle who happens to be a therapist), to help them work through their argument over superiority and mend their friendship. I liked this story because the moral is very relevant to our lives. Sometimes we forget that even though we are the best of friends with someone, we can both have very different views and these varying views do not have to ruin the friendship but can instead strengthen it.