Storytelling Week 14-The King's New Catch

There once was a great king who loved to fish for giant and rare fish. He traveled all over the world and many seas to fish and catch his beloved trophies. No man in his kingdom could catch a fish better than he. Not that any would dare claim it if they did.

On one fishing trip, the king brought with him a few of his closest confidants to enjoy the trip with him. The king usually did not invite people with him on his trips, except a few select servants to answer his every need. If they were lucky enough to be invited it was just to keep the king company. Never did they actually cast a reel.

On this trip, however, the king was feeling extremely generous this trip and let his confidants enjoy the actual fishing with him. They set out early one morning in the pursuit of rare and exotic fish. The hours dwindled by without so much as a nibble on a line. The king grew impatient quickly, as you can imagine, and was nearing the point of quitting when there came quite a commotion from the other side of the boat they resided in.

A confidant of the king's had caught the most beautiful and large fish that anyone had ever seen or even dreamed of. The king couldn't believe it. Here he sat all day and not one nibble on his line. It was all for nothing as someone below him on the power scale had caught the fish. Who did he think he was? With that, the king had an idea.

As everyone was cheering on the other side of the boat, the king quickly ran and picked up his reel and started pulling with all his might. Or so it seemed.

"Look at the size of this one! And the colors too!" exclaimed the emperor as he fell back on his seat.

He rose up his hands above his head acting as if he held the largest fish that had ever been caught. He wore the biggest smile as he marveled at the size and appearance of his "fish". His companions sat staring at him with looks of confusion on their faces.

"Can you not see it? If not, you must be unfit to see a creature of this size and beauty," reasoned the king.

With that, one by one, the king's confidants started to cheer and exclaim how great his catch was and how much better it was then the other fisher's catch. Later on that day, back at the kingdom, the "fish" was paraded through the streets for all to see. It was eventually hung in the king's chambers, above his throne, where he would proudly tell the story of his mighty catch to all that would listen.

A sunfish caught in 1910 weighing almost 3,500 lbs (Wikipedia).

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Author's Note: This story's inspiration came from The Emperor's New Suit found in Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen and translated by H.P. Paul (1872). In the original story, an emperor is obsessed with expensive and fancy clothes. Two con artists come to his city and claimed to make the most marvelous clothes that money can buy. They told the emperor that the cloth they spun would be invisible to anyone unfit for the emperor's office. Of course, the emperor paid them both large sums of gold and no one could see the cloth because there was none. Everyone, including the emperor, faked being able to see it because they did not want to be seen as unfit for his office. I wanted to follow something very similar which is how I came up with the fake fish caught story. I removed the swindlers and just made it where the king himself knowingly was faking it to make everyone still think high and mighty of him. 

Storytelling Week 13-Riding on Geryon

Hadn't I already been through enough? As if having to travel through Hell wasn't excruciating enough, now Virgil is making us ride down to the eight circle of this evil place on the back of the most monstrous creature I've ever laid eyes upon. To describe him does not do it justice but I will anyways.

The first thing you notice is the gigantic wings that spread out from the monster's back. They looked as if they belonged to a bat, but instead sprouted from Geryon. The next thing you notice is the arms. Huge, muscled arms that have knotted hair up and down them from years of disregarding hygiene. Although this is terrible, the worst may be what is attached to the ends of these disgusting arms. Claws like that of a hawk and sharp as swords lay at the end of each arm waiting to swoop down and grab anything Geryon's heart desires.

The body. Geryon posseses all the features mentioned before and then some. His body is like that of a great dragon. Scales that glimmer in the glow of the boiling crimson. Glimmer because they are covered in a thin sheer coat of slime or some substance equal to it. As if this did not make the beast hideous enough, there is one thing that makes him scarier than all. His face is that of a man. Not just any man. His face is that of an honest man making him seem harmless except for the monster's body he was attached to.

Dante and Virgil riding the monster Geryon (Wikipedia Commons).

Virgil talked me on to Geryon's back as he turned to the beast asking for him to travel slowly so as to not throw his passengers off. We took off slowly from the edge and descended deeper into hell as Geryon flew in slow, wide circles. Part of me wished the beast would hurry and get us to our destination. The other part of me knew if he used just a tiny bit of his strength we may no longer be attached to his back.

As I turned to look behind me, I noticed something I had not before. His tail. It looked like a giant scorpion's tail had been attached to this beast and it swung wildly in the air as he continued his path to the bottom. I could no longer take the thought of what was now occurring. I grabbed with all my might onto Virgil's back and vowed to never let go until this journey was over.

As I had my eyes closed for the rest of the trip, I was suprised when we finally reached our destination. When I saw where we had landed, however, I greatly wished I had just kept my eyes closed for the rest of eternity.

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Author's Note: This story came from the stories The Old Man of Crete and Geryon and Descending on Geryon's Back found in Dante's Divine Comedy translated by Tony Kline with illustrations by Gustave Dore (2002). I was really intrigued by the monster Geryon when I did my reading for the week. In the original story, Geryon transports Virgil, the guide, and Dante down to the eighth circle of Hell called the Malebolge, or "evil trenches". I did not change the story really as it was just a short bit of the story. I just felt like I could really tell a story about how scared and miserable Dante was riding on such a monstrous creature's back down to an even scarier place. I got a majority of the description of Geryon from the first story I listed and then the actual journey on his back came from the second story listed.

Storytelling Week 11-The Putter Excalibur

One day, a professional golfer was walking down the fairway with his caddie. The young professional had just given up a huge lead on the last day of the tournament due to his terrible putting on the greens. After their round, the golfer and the caddie sat at the bar in the clubhouse.

"I just can't seem to make putts!" exclaimed the golfer. "I'm getting close but none fall in the hole."

"What you need is a new putter. I bet you could find a great one in the pro shop on the other side of the clubhouse," reasoned the caddie.

With that, the golfer and the caddie found the pro shop and searched for some time for a new putter. There were putters of all shapes and sizes. Long ones, short ones, silver ones, gold ones. Even with all the variety, there wasn't a putter that seemed to fit. Just when they were going to give up a hope, a dull glow came from behind a pile of old, discarded golf clubs. The golfer reached behind the pile and pulled out an old, gold putter that seemed to come from the 1950s. Along the head of the putter were engraved the name "EXCALIBUR".

Although it was old, it was the only putter that seemed to feel comfortable in the hands of the young golfer. Even though it felt comfortable, the caddie and golfer were unsure of how it would perform in an actual tournament round. The golfer would try it out at the next week which just so happened to be the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia. It was the first major tournament of the year and the first year professional wanted to prove to the rest of the tour that he belonged.

The putter lived up to its mysterious appearance as he putted exceptional all week long. He was tied for the lead with one hole to play and had a 30 foot putt that would give him the victory if he could sink it. As he lined up the putt and stood over the ball his eyes rested on the engraved words in the dull golden head of the putter: "EXCALIBUR". With that, he pulled the club back and putted the ball with a smooth stroke. The putt curled and seemed to stop right on the edge of the hole before it fell! He had won the tournament and found a weapon he could rely on the rest of his career.

"Excalibur" the putter (Wikipedia).

Author's Note: The inspiration from this story came from The Sword Excalibur found in King Arthur: Tales of  the Round Table written by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H.J. Ford (1902). In the original story, King Arthur is without a sword as he rides along with Merlin the wizard. They come upon a lake with an arm rising out of the middle of the water holding a magnificent sword. The Lady of the Lake appears and agrees to let King Arthur have the sword if he will give her a gift when she asks. He agrees and rows out to the sword and retrieves it. I decided to change the story to a professional golfer needing a new putter to fix his struggles. I thought it would be amusing to keep the name of the "weapon" as Excalibur and have it be somewhat magical. I did this because the Masters golf tournament starts next week and a commercial came on as I was thinking of plots for the story. I am a big golf fan so I hopefully did not use to many words that are not known if you are not familiar with golf. I tried to keep the use of sports specific terminology to a minimum.

Week 10 Storytelling-The Great Lion

Once there lived an old frail man who lived on the edges of the jungle. This old man had no way to feed himself as he was so weak. The other men in the village provided him with a portion of their catch from the hunting done that day so that he would survive. This happened every day for some time. The old man continued to become weaker and weaker as the days passed but still the villagers helped as he was the wisest soul amongst the village.

One day, after the hunting had been completed, a young villager knocked on the old man's door. As he opened the door he could see that the young hunter was bringing more than his day's meal. Laying by the hunter's side was a lion cub that could only be a few weeks old. The boy explained that he thought the old man could use some company as he knew that he lived alone. The old man graciously accepted the boy's gift and thanked him.

The young lion cub (Wikipedia Commons).

As time passed, the lion got bigger and stronger. It got larger and larger until it was bigger than any lion the villagers had ever seen. It assisted the hunters of the village in their daily hunts and routinely brought back more and more meat than the village had ever seen at one time. Even with the lion's contributions, there were rumblings among many villagers that he was getting too big and that he would one day turn on them and kill the village in its entirety.

The worries reached a peak as one night a group of villagers decided to wait till the lion fell asleep for the night and sneak up and kill him. As the men crept through the trees to stalk the lion they heard a mighty roar from behind. As they turned to run, a monster larger and scarier than they could imagine emerged from the jungle and gave chase.

The ruckus wakened the sleeping lion of the village with a startle. With heightened senses, the lion ran to the noises with tremendous power. The cries and screams mixed with the cracking of giant trees led the lion to garner even more power as he flew across the jungle floor.

When he arrived at the scene, he saw what was causing the fear throughout the village. With reckless abandon for his own safety, the lion attacked the ferocious monster with all he had. As the lion and monster stayed locked in bloodshed the group that led the ambush of the lion knew they had made a terrible mistake. Not only would the lion never have harmed them, he would give up his life to protect them.

This thought propelled the villagers to cast aside their fears and pick up their weapons and join in the fight. After countless time had passed, the villagers and their giant lion were victorious and they set about rebuilding their village with a renewed sense of pride and confidence.

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Author's Note: This story was adapted from The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son found in Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rusmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921). In the original story, an old woman receives a bear cub as a gift. She raises the cub as her own as it gets larger and stronger. Eventually, the bear becomes to strong for even the adults in the village to play with. The bear begins to hunt with the village but members of other villagers begin to try and kill the bear when they see him out hunting. One night, the bear brings home a body of  dead man and the old woman must tell the bear to leave the village or else other villages would come and do them all great harm. I decided to use a lion from the jungle as the main character mostly just to give a change of scenery. I also added the part where the villagers became scared of the lion because I feel like if I was in the situation I would have a legitimate fear of a giant lion. I also added the happy ending of the lion fending off a great foe to the village because I had expected that to be the ending of the original and feel like it is a better ending then the lion being exiled from the village.

Week 7 Storytelling-The Businessman and the Beggar

As I stood in line for my daily train ride to work, I noticed a raggedly dressed man walking by his lonesome muttering under his breath. The man walked close enough where I could hear the words he repeated under his breath mindlessly.

"If only someone would give me money to eat, I would never forget the kind act they performed," the homeless man said over and over.

"Excuse me, sir, are you in need of some assistance?" I graciously asked.

"Kind sir, if only you could spare me enough money to eat today I would forever remember your good graces," sputtered the man with a gleam in his eye, "I would not run and spend it on drugs and alcohol, this I promise. I just need food to eat today."

The homeless man had seemingly read my mind as that very thought is what was causing my apprehension to lend him the cash. I decided to help the poor man and reached into my back pocket to pull out my wallet.

As I pulled out the wad of cash within, the beggar could see that I had more than enough money to give him to eat for multiple days. He eyed the green dollar bills with unabashed envy. I stuck out my hand to give him the ten dollar bill I had taken out, and he grabbed it while still staring at my stack of cash. I hoped he didn't think that this could become a daily routine.


The businessman's wad of cash (Flikr).

"Thank you, sir. It means a lot," said the man as he started off towards the train station exit.

A month passed by and I had not seen the beggar and quite honestly had completely forgotten about him. Then one day, as I again waited in line for my train, I heard the man's ragged voice yell out from somewhere behind me.

"Sir! Sir!" he exclaimed while happily waving towards me in a new set of worn out clothes.

This time he was not alone. He had at least five acquaintances with him. I immediately thought that the only explanation could be that he told all his friends about my wad of cash and how I had helped him previously. Fully expecting to be ambushed with questions of assistance I was pleasantly surprised at the next sequence of events.

"Do you remember me?" quizzed the old beggar.

"Yes, how are you? Looking for more money to eat?" I arrogantly asked.

"No! Actually, I am here to repay you," said the poor man with a smile that seemingly stretched across his entire face.

I sat confused as the man pulled out dollar bills and quarters, dimes, and nickels to the tune of a ten dollar total: the man had paid me back in full.

"I wanted to repay you for your kindness a few weeks back. I found a job that paid me a little so I've been saving up in case I ran into you again. It is my way of saying thank you for your generosity," explained the old man.

I could only stand in shock as the beggar turned with his friends and walked away. I managed to stammer out a thank you but of course he had already been long gone.

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Author's Note: This story was adapted from The Wizard and the Beggar found in Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson (1899). In the original story, a beggar is looking for someone to help him end his craving for hunger. He comes across a wizard who warns him that men forget benefits they receive from others. The beggar promises he will not do that if only the wizard will help. The wizard then shows him two jewels: one that, when held in one's mouth, enables them to fly and another, when held in one's mouth, enables them to receive all they wish to possess. The beggar takes the second jewel and returns home. After awhile, he and his people decide they want the other jewel as well and return to the home of the wizard to take it. The wizard knew the beggar would forget the kind act he performed for the beggar and tricked him by stealing the beggar's jewel and then flying away by aid of the other jewel.

For my story, I decided to make the beggar just need food for the day and the wizard was replaced by the business man. I wanted the ending to be a happy one because in the original story I felt bad for the beggar up until the very end and thought he would stay true to his promise. I thought the feel good ending would make the story better in my eyes. I used the train station for a more present day feel.

Week 6 Storytelling-The Playground

"So, will you two help in building the school's new playground?" asked Mr. Thompson.

John and Theodore both replied with a nod of their heads and set off to help build the school's new playground. The old playground was full of dirt and run down jungle gyms, slides, and other outdated pieces of equipment.

After about an hour, John could not help but notice that all the other kids were getting to play and enjoy the sunny day, albeit on the old playground, while he and Theodore toiled away. As they worked on the construction of the jungle gym John came up with what he thought was a brilliant plan.

"Did you hear that, Theodore? Mrs. Booth is calling me to assist her in the classroom," explained John.

Theodore had heard nothing but thought it was plausible as he had been solely focused on his work and had a tendency to space out from time to time.

"Run along then but please come back as soon as you can. There is enough work here for the entire class and only we were chosen," explained Theodore.

With that, John ran towards the classroom but snuck back outside to the old playground and played with the others until he had his fill of fun. When he returned to Theodore and the construction of the playground he could see that the jungle gym had been completed.

"Wow! It looks great," John thought to himself, "And it took me almost no work."

"What did Mrs. Booth have you do in there? It sure took you a long time," inquired Theodore.

"She made me rearrange the library and put the books back in the correct spots. Let's work on this slide," explained John.

As they worked and worked for some time, John once again grew jealous of the kids playing basketball and despised the hot work he and Theodore were selected to do.

"Theodore, do you hear that? It's Mr. Johnson calling me. I will be back in no time. Keep up the good work," yelled John as he scurried off towards the basketball court.

When he returned to the work and Theodore some time later he saw that there was no more work to be done. Theodore had completed the playground while he had been enjoying the game of basketball.

"Alright! Let's start playing!" exclaimed John to Theodore.

"NOT SO FAST!" a voice boomed behind them.

There was only once voice that could belong to and they were both well aware of who it was: Mr. Thompson.

The large man was walking quickly towards the two and looked to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed that morning.

"Theodore, run and play on the new playground you worked hard on. John, we need to have a talk," he said when he reached the group.

"John, I have been keeping an eye on you two all afternoon and you have tried to trick Theodore over and over to do all your work. What do you think your punishment should be?"

As John looked down at his feet he managed to squeak out a simple, "No punishment?"

Mr. Thompson gave a hearty laugh as he grabbed the young man by his shoulders and escorted him to the principal's office.

Theodore loved the new playground and enjoyed it even more than the others since he had been the one to build it. As for John, he was banished from the new playground for a whole week. So as the others romped and played on the new toys, John was forced to sit and watch from the middle of the old playground.

The playground Theodore built (Pixabay).

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Author's Note: This story was adapted from The Rabbit and The Antelope found in Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by Richard Edward Dennett (1898). In the original story the rabbit and the antelope get together to dig a water well so they can quench their thirst when need be in the hot days of summer. They keep a stash of food so that they can eat it when they have finished their work. The rabbit makes up a story that his wife is about to give birth and that he must run back to name their kids. When he is tired of working the rabbit acts as if he is being called and eats a little of their food and comes back. He does this until he has done essentially no work and the antelope has completed the well. The antelope figures out what the rabbit has done and forbids him to drink out of the well. The rabbit does so sneakily until the antelope sets up a trap, ultimately catching the rabbit and killing him.

For this story, I changed characters and what the characters were building. I thought that having two kids build a new playground was a good change in the story because I thought it would be easily relatable to have a kid who doesn't want to work but play. I added in the principal giving out the discipline because in reality I didn't think one kid would take another one banishing him from the playground to well.

Week 5 Storytelling-The Matchmaker and the Leopard

One day while walking home from another successful arranged marriage, a matchmaker came across a leopard. He was deathly afraid of the things and almost fainted on the spot. Leopards in this jungle were known to devour humans whole and the thought of this was almost to much for the matchmaker.

"Please do not eat me, young leopard," cried the Matchmaker, "I was just making my way home from arranging a marriage over yonder. I do not mean you any harm."

Hearing that this man was a matchmaker the leopard's ears perked up.

"A matchmaker you say?" asked the leopard with a wry smile forming on his lips.

The leopard had been lonely for the better part of his life. The only thing he wanted in the world was to find a mate to be with. A plan began to form in his mind.

"What do you say we make a deal? If you can find me a leopardess then your life will be spared and you can go on your merry way," reasoned the leopard.

This was an absurd bargain thought the matchmaker. Arranging marriages for humans was one thing but leopards? Just when he thought it was surely the end of his rope, he remembered the sack he was carrying and plotted his own plans.

"Yes of course I can do that. You just have to be willing to do whatever I say. First, jump in this sack," explained the matchmaker.

With quickness, the leopard jumped in the sack and allowed the matchmaker to cinch it tightly. As soon as this happened the matchmaker dragged the sack containing the leopard to the river, gave it a few hearty kicks for good measure, and tossed it into the river. Thinking he had rid himself of a great danger he walked towards home thinking no more of the leopard.

A short ways down river, the leopards sack became entangled in a some weeds near the shoreline. This caught the sight of a leopardess and she carefully ripped open the sack to find what it contained. Out popped the leopard and explained what had happened between he and the matchmaker. They both were convinced that they were indeed soul mates and proceeded to live happily from that day forth.

Years later, the matchmaker was walking through the same jungle when he happened across the leopard and his leopardess. Once again stricken with fright, the matchmaker thought he surely could not get away twice and this was karma's way of repaying him.

"Um, how may I help this beautiful leopard couple?" asked the matchmaker as the lump in his throat grew and beads of sweat began to form on his forehead.

"Do you not remember me, dear matchmaker?" exclaimed the leopard, "It is because of you that we are a couple at all! We have told everyone we know how great of a matchmaker you are and just want to thank you for all you've done for us!"

All the matchmaker could do was stammer out a welcome and wish them more happy days. After this encounter with the leopard, again, he swore he would never walk through the jungle again.

The two leopards living happily ever after (Pixabay).

 

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Author's Note: This story was adapted from the story The Raibar and the Leopard found in The Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas (1909). In the original story a Raibar, meaning someone arranges marriages, comes across a leopard who wants nothing more then a mate to live his life with. The raibar tricks the leopard into a sack where he throws the leopard in a river thinking it would surely kill him. A leopardess sees the sack floating along the river and opens it to find the leopard. The two think its destiny and become a couple. The matchmaker comes across the two again about a year later and is thanked heavily by the leopard for setting the two up.

I didn't change any major characters or the plot line to the story. I added a tad more detail at points and more dialouge between the leopard and Raibar. I decdided to use the word matchmaker throughout the story instead of Raibar as I thought readers would be more comfortable with it. 

Week 4 Storytelling-The Four Super Brothers

Jacob was jealous of his brothers. They could use their powers whenever they pleased and he couldn't even show anyone what he was capable of. He had only used his power once. It was the first time he found out he had it but he knew he couldn't show anyone..

Being the youngest made it even worse. He was constantly teased because he "obviously did not have a power" if he could not show them. It was for their own good that he didn't show them but they would never understand.

One day, the teasing reached a point that Jacob could no longer take it. This was the day that everyone did indeed see his power and knew he was the strongest of all.

Jacob's oldest brother, Ivan, flew down from the top of the house where he had been hiding and took Jacob's toy that he had just received for his birthday a week earlier. He took it and placed it amongst the tallest trees where only he could reach.

"Ivan! Why do you always have to be so mean?" inquired Jacob.

"Tell you what. If you show me your super power then I will not only get your toy back but I will never tease you again," said Ivan.

"Boo!" came a voice directly behind Jacob.

It was his other brother. Brian had the power of invisibility and seemed to use it mostly to pop out and scare Jacob whenever the chance presented itself.

"I too will join Ivan in leaving you alone if you would just finally show your true power to us," bargained Brian.

"I have already told you guys. I can't show you because I don't want to hurt anyone," explained Jacob.

At this point, all the pestering was getting to Jacob. He knew that he couldn't fall into the trap of becoming angry because then he couldn't control his super power. As hard as he tried, the appearance of the fourth and final brother, Luke, sent him over the edge.

Luke had the power of telepathy and used it this time to tear down the wall keeping Jacob from losing his cool. He focused his energy and was able to summon Jacob's teddy bear from his room through an open window. He further used his energy to open the nearest trash can and toss Jacob's precious teddy inside.

As his older brothers laughed, something began to change within Jacob. The ground began to tremble and the trees began to shake on a windless day.

"I asked you nicely to stop teasing me," warned Jacob with a steely glare.

The young boy began to grow and grow until he was the bigger than the house. As he began to rage out of control, nothing in his path was safe. The three older brothers began to flee in fear of their lives as Jacob clobbered everything in site: cars, trees, and even the house. As if in a blind rage, Jacob destroyed everything the family had.

"Jacob! You calm down right this instant!" exclaimed a soft, yet strong voice from the direction of the smoldering house.

It was four brother's mother. Her soothing voice calmed Jacob and she rushed to hug him.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I told them to stop messing with me. I didn't mean to destroy the house," gasped the young boy.

"Don't worry, my son. Your brothers now know to not be on your bad side. As for the house, don't fret because I have the most amazing power of them all," claimed their mother.

With one fell swoop of her arm that seemed to require the tiniest of efforts the cars, the trees, and lastly the house were all reassembled in mere seconds.

"Now wash up! Dinner will be ready in 15 minutes!"

Jacob...SMASH!! (Deviant Art)

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Author's Note: This story found its inspiration from The Four Brothers from Twenty-Two Goblins translated by  Arthur W. Ryder and illustrated by Perham W. Nahl (1917). I used the original story and changed the events to include superheroes. The original story is of four brothers who each can each make a certain part of a dead animal with the last having the ability to give the animal life. In the story the last brother breathes life into the lion the other brothers have helped creating. The lion comes to life and ultimately kills all four brothers. I decided to give the four brothers super powers and added a little amusement at the end of the story with the mother. The inspiration for Jacob's power came from the Incredible Hulk and all the other brothers were given more generic super powers.





Week 3 Storytelling-Turtles Hold Off Rabbits in Stunning Upset

The season wasn't supposed to end this way. Not for the undefeated Rabbits.

The Rabbits had cruised through competition thus far this season reeling off 12 straight wins all by double digits. Bolstering the number one rated offense and defense in the nation, the unranked Turtles were supposed to be a mere warm-up for the national championship the following week.

After the first quarter it seemed as if the rout was on at Hare stadium. Up 21-0 after 15 minutes of football, the party was already starting all around the stadium. Head coach Bugs Bunny had already subbed in his second string players and was celebrating with the starters. Then a funny thing happened.

It started to rain. Hard.

Suddenly, the ground turned to mush and the speedy Rabbits couldn't find a foothold and couldn't keep the ball in their hands. The Turtles gained momentum minute by minute. The lead had been cut to 21-10 by halftime. This prompted Coach Bunny to insert his starters back into the game but it wouldn't change much.

By the end of the third quarter the score was tied 28 all thanks to mishaps from the Rabbits and momentum continued to pile up against them as the Turtles were just getting started. With their perfect season hanging in the balance, the Rabbits could not stop the Turtles from gaining yards and they went on a clock draining drive. They crossed midfield with less than five minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Five turned to four. Four turned to three. Plodding along they picked up first down after first down.

With less than 10 seconds left, the Turtles lined up for the game deciding field goal. Time seemed to stand still as the hopes of both teams hung in the air and the ball turned end over end on its way towards the uprights.

When the ball hit the turf the celebrations began again. This time from the Turtle bench. They erupted in elation as the Rabbits perfect season had been tarnished by the hated rivals as the kick had been struck true and through the goalposts.

The loss will surely drop the Rabbits from the top four teams and ultimately keep them from participating in the inaugural Animal Football Playoff. The upset spring boards the Turtles into the Top 25 for the first time in program history.

When asked afterwards what he told his team when all hope seemed to be lost, head coach of the Turtles explained, "I told them what I have been telling them all season. 'Slow and steady wins the race'. That rang true today for the Animal Football world to see".



Coach Bugs Bunny after the Rabbits fell 31-28 to the unranked Turtles (Sketchport).

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Author's Note: This story was adapted from The Hare and the Tortoise found in Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs (1894). The story is about a Hare and a Tortoise who decide to race. The Tortoise ends up winning by just plodding along even though the Hare is much faster. The Hare took a break knowing he was faster than the Tortoise but fell asleep and woke up to the Tortoise crossing the finish line before him. I took this concept and decided to turn it into a sports article breaking the news of a humongous upset in the "Animal Football League". Everyone knows this story more than likely and I thought it would be fun to write the race in a different form of sport.

Week 2 Storytelling-Achilles' Great Armour

As I hung in the corner of the room I quietly listened to Patroclus emphatically tell Achilles that he wanted to join the fight against the Trojans. I had never seen my owner act in a such a manner. Refusing to fight because of a wrong doing against him. Usually this made him even more anxious to join the battle. I was ready to fight as well. The Greek troops were being advanced upon by the Trojans and most of our great fighters had long ago perished.  I was the most feared and respected set of armour in the land. Consisting of breastplate, shield, and helmet I glittered in the sun shining through the window.

After long and heated discussion Achilles finally gave Patroclus his blessing to join the fight on one condition: Patroclus wear me and strike fear into the Trojan army's hearts! As Patroclus cinched me tight to his body I beamed with pride. I had never protected anyone else during battle other than Achilles and in normal circumstances would have been disappointed to learn I would be worn by another. On this day, however, I was proud to be worn by Patroclus. He showed mighty courage by resisting the temptation to stand by his stubborn friend and instead chose to do what was right. We jumped aboard Patroclus' chariot and raced towards the tall flames emitting from the Greek ships.

When we reached the raging battle many Trojan men fled the battle at the sight of Patroclus wearing the most mighty armour in the land. Patroclus and I drove the Trojans back from the fleet of ships in a matter of minutes. Although most Trojans fled the battle field there were but a few that stayed behind to continue the fight. One of these men was the great Sarpedon. He was but a mere child against the combination of Patroclus and I. I deflected Sarpedon's sharp spear with my shield while Patroclus' aim was true with his. Struck directly in his heart, Sarpedon died a swift death.

Partoclus' spear embedded in Sarpedon as he lay dead (Wikipedia).

 

At this time we thought our fight to be over. This was not to be as Hector decided to stop his fleeing and charged back down at Patroclus and I with his army. Multiple times Patroclus thrust me into the charging armies and multiple times we came out unscathed by sword or spear. Alas, all the glory was not to be ours. One final time Patroclus thrust us into the swarm and I could not defend against the final blow. Perhaps I was no longer the most feared and effective armour in the land. As Hector stood above Patroclus and I and proclaimed his victory this was painfully obvious. My only hope was that Achilles would come to rescue from the bloody battlefield.

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Author's Note: This story was taken from The Deeds and Death of Patroclus found in Homer's Illiad by Alfred J. Church (1907). In this story, Achilles will not join the fight against the Trojans because he wants to show the Greeks how much they actually need him. Patroclus, Achilles' best friend, decides he can no longer sit and watch. He joins the battle, wearing Achilles' armour, and succeeds in pushing Trojan troops back and slaying Sarpedon, Zeus' son. Patroclus ultimately is killed and this drives Achilles to cast aside his stubbornness and join the battle. I chose to tell this story from the armour's point of view because I wanted to talk about the actual battle and the action portrayed in it. I kept the overall plot the same I just added thoughts of the armour throughout the story. The image chosen was used because I thought this represented one of the most important and intense moments within the story. Overall, I wanted to give an impression of how the battle was portrayed through somewhat of a bystander's eyes. By telling the story from the armour's point of view I thought it would give a neutral view on both Patroclus' and Achilles' actions. 

Week 1 Storytelling: The Lion and the Mouse: A Tale of Reciprocating Kindness

Once there was a small mouse that was traveling from his home across the plain to his visit a friend for a few days. The mouse was always careful when traveling on the plains as he knew that great dangers lurked at every turn. He had awoken at sunrise that morning to start his travels.

After some time of traveling, the mouse came across a lion lying directly on the only path available. The massive lion was snoring loudly and seemed to be sound asleep. The usually timid mouse weighed his options in his head and made a daring decision. He would tiptoe around the lion in order to reach the other side and continue on his path. As the mouse crept in front of the lion, his tail grazed the lion's snout. This caused the Lion to snort, scaring the Mouse. The mouse scurried across the lion's snout in his hurry to escape the impending danger. The Lion, now being fully awakened, reached out his mighty paw and trapped the tiny mouse.

    "Please do not harm me!" shrieked the Mouse. "If you grant me this one wish I promise to make it up to you!"

"To think a tiny creature like you could help me!" laughed the Lion heartily. "For making me laugh I shall let you go this time. Don’t let this happen again."

    The Mouse hurriedly scurried and finally made it to his friend’s house shortly before dark. After a few days of fine food and drink the Mouse had mostly forgotten about his dangerous encounter with the Lion. As his friendly visit came to an end, the Mouse once again set off across the plains towards his home.

    On the eve of the first night of traveling home the Mouse decided it was time to find camp for the evening. He came across a large camp with a large fire with multiple hunters surrounding it. As the Mouse, looked for a place close enough to the fire for warmth and a few scraps he came across a familiar foe. The Lion was trapped underneath a net!

“Fancy seeing you in a predicament such as this,” whispered the Mouse.

“These hunters caught me as I was napping! Now get me out of here!” exclaimed the Lion.

So the Mouse nibbled on the net until the Lion could free himself. The Lion and Mouse scurried off to a safe place.

“Thank you, Mouse. I thought I was never going to escape,” explained the Lion.

“Well my promise to repay you doesn’t seem so silly now does it?” questioned the Mouse.

With that, the Lion helped the Mouse climb onto his back and the Mouse rode in style back to his home. It had been quite an eventful couple of days for the Mouse!

 

 

The Mouse helping the Lion escape (Wikipedia Commons)

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Author's Note: This is a short story that is based upon the fable "The Lion and the Mouse". This story can be found in Aesop for Children, by Anonymous, illustrated by Milo Winter (1919). The story is about a mouse who accidentally wakes up a lion who is sleeping. The lion decides he will not ultimately kill the mouse after the mouse promises to repay the lion some day. The lion finds this to be such an amusing thought that he lets the mouse go. Some time later, the lion is trapped in a net and the mouse happens upon him. He chews the net until the lion is freed and thus makes good on his promise to repay him.

I decided to give the story a little more background to show why the mouse was traveling through the plains and how the lion came to be trapped. I thought this would be a good way to give the reader a greater appreciation for both the mouse and lion's situations. Also, with the added dialogue I thought the lion's amusement at thinking the mouse could ever help him would be better conveyed.

The image I selected was straight from the book where the story was found. It illustrates the moment of truth within the story where the lion finds out that indeed the mouse could be a helpful friend in times of need.