Storytelling Week Twelve: Greed is the Master

Greed is the Master

I was sitting at home reading the paper, smoking on my pipe, when I got the call.

"Holmes, I have some bad news. The town drunks went out the other night and have not returned. Their excursions never last more than a day and the townspeople are getting worried. Would you mind taking a look into it?" said the soft voice on the phone.

"Of course," I said shortly as I hung up the phone. I was getting sick of chasing after these boys. Their drunken "adventures" were getting out of hand. As much as I didn't care to find them- it was my job. Even in a town this small there is still some detective work to be done. So I set out to their usual bar to ask around.

I went straight to the bartender. He watches over his customers like a hawk- surely he knew what happened.

"How's business?" I asked as I took a seat at the counter.

He replied wearily, "Oh, just the usual. Scraping by in this small town. If the Wilson boys don't show back up I may just be out of business."

"Funny you mention that- it is actually why I am here. I heard they have been gone from town a few days and nobody seems to know where they went."

"Yeah, they haven't been in here since...oh, Tuesday night I believe."

"Did they do anything out of the ordinary that night?" I asked as I pulled out my notepad.

He paused and looked to be trying to remember. He is getting older and struggles more to recall nightly events.

"Not really. They were mouthing off about taking on some punk a town over. They are always getting into fights and looking for trouble. I believe the person they referred to was named D if I remember correctly."

As I was jotting all this down I heard a voice from behind me.

"One of the boys came to see me that night," a cracked voice sputtered.

I turn to see the town's medicine woman. She was an old, frail lady. She walked the line of medicine and witchcraft very closely. So I was instantly intrigued. "What on Earth could he be purchasing?" I thought to myself.

I quickly asked, "Can you tell me what he was buying? Which boy? Was he alone?"

She replied, "It was the young one with the blonde curly hair. He seemed to be alone- he bought a vile of rat poison. He claimed he had a rat infestation at his home."

I thought to myself, "It is the middle of summer- usually rats don't try to come inside unless it is cold weather. It is strange that he would be having a problem with them right now."

I nodded to her and thanked her and the bartender for their help. I set out through the door. My next stop was the youngest Wilson boy's home with the supposed rats.

I knocked- no one answered. The door was unlocked so I let myself in. In a quick sweep of the room I could tell there were no rats here. So I decided to look further. I entered the bedroom and saw the closet had been rummaged through. I looked in to see if something was obviously missing. I noticed there were no bags. He could just not own any- or that could be a clue. It seemed too soon to tell.

As I was headed to the next room I noticed a receipt on the dresser. It was dated late Tuesday night. He purchased three loafs of bread and three bottles of wine. The medicine woman did not mention any supplies on him.

I sat on the edge of the bed thinking about what my next step should be. I figured my only option was to find the man called D in the next town over. I set off in that direction.

I was about halfway there when I noticed a circling of vultures over the woods. I did not think much of it at first considering animals are always dying there. I walked a bit further but I had a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. I felt like something was just not right.

I thought to myself, "I need to see what these birds are after. It is probably nothing but I have time to check. I am sure the Wilson boys are just drunk in the next town. They can wait."

I ventured into the woods- following the sound of the vultures. Not too far in I came to the most gruesome sighting.

It was the Wilson boys. I could tell by the blue tattered ball-caps they were always wearing. They were half decayed and picked apart by the vultures. My stomach turned over and I immediately puked. The smell was almost unbearable. I did not want to get any closer but I needed answers. A million questions ran through my head. "Was it murder? Was it a group suicide? Was it of natural causes?"

There was only one way to find out.

I approached the bodies with caution- hoping no wolves would come out and fight me for their dinner. It was nearing dark and I could hear their eerie howls in the distance.

There was one boy off by himself. I went to him first. It was the youngest Wilson boy. His blonde curls stuck slightly out of his ball-cap. He was the one who bought the rat poison. He was covered in stab wounds.

Then I went over to the other two boys. They seemed unharmed besides of course the damage done by the vultures. I then noticed a reflection of light coming from the bushes behind them. I moved back there and found three bottles of wine. They were completely drained. With the boy's drinking problem I assumed they finished them all themselves. I also noticed bags full of gold coins. It all started coming together.

How they ended up in the woods we may never know. But my guess is they found the gold then they sent the youngest boy back to retrieve bags to carry it with while they stood guard. The youngest must have gotten greedy and wanted it all to himself so he made a plan to poison them through the rat poison and wine. They must have had a similar greedy plan and stabbed him to death upon his arrival with the bags they needed. Then they drank the wine unknowingly and died shortly after.

"Is that the whole story, sir?" asked the man debriefing me.

"Yes," I replied sternly.

"What did you do with the gold?"

"I turned it over as evidence of course."

"Alright, sir, that is all we will be needing from you. Thank you so much for your services."

As I shook his hand and left the room I smiled slyly to myself.

Little does he know I only turned in about a fourth of the gold I really found.

The Gold

Author's Note: This story is based off of a story called the Revelers from the Canterbury Tales. The original story included three drunk men who went off the kill Death. They meet an old man who tells him he just saw Death in the woods and points them that direction. They come across the pile of gold and that is when the greed sets in. The plans of the three men follow the story I just told. One poisoned the two and the two stabbed the one, even though at the beginning of the story they all swore to always be loyal to each other.
I decided to do a murder mystery this week because I have not done a story like this yet. I felt like a story about greed would be a perfect opportunity to do it. Greed got all three friends killed. Then in the end greed prevailed again with the detective stealing some of the money. Greed can be a dirty devil and stories like this can help to show the consequences of your greed. I tried to keep most of the plot the same but just tell it basically backwards to show the process of the detective.

Bibliography: The Revelers. The Chaucer Story Book by Eva March Tappan (1908).

Storytelling Week Ten: Strawberry Savior

Strawberry Savior

"Hey, Miss Lynn!” said Ryder hopefully.

"Yes?” replied Lynn mildly annoyed.

"Can you please tell us a bedtime story tonight?” Ryder asked while the other children giggled and agreed in the background.

Lynn hesitated, knowing she had way too much paperwork to get done. She could not possibly spend the time to tell the children a story. The babies would surely be up by six which gave her hardly five hours of sleep anyways. Add in story time and she might barely squeeze in four! She looked around at their begging faces and, as usual, she gave in saying, "Okay, but just one!"

The children all cheered. She blushed and took a second to rejoice in the moment. She loved when she got that butterfly feeling. The same one she had when she first started this orphanage. Helping children is not always easy but it is moments like these that keep her going each day.

"What story would you like to hear?” Lynn asked the group.

Molly's hand quickly shot up in the back. She was one of the eldest children here. She had heard all of Lynn's stories.

Molly replied, “Can you tell the one about when you knew you were going to marry Mr. James?"

Lynn smiled- this was one of her favorites. She and her husband James had been married for 25 years now. He always supported her and her dreams. Without him this orphanage would not have been possible. She always knew he was going to be hers for life.

"Of course, I love this one,” Lynn replied. The kids all cheered and then quickly settled into bed for their story.

Lynn began, “I met James in the Farmer's Market back in 1989. I was looking for strawberries and he was looking for potatoes- or so he said. I will never understand why he thought potatoes would be next to strawberries. Oh well, that will be a question for you guys to ask him!"

She rolled her eyes and giggled a bit as the children all looked at her with eager anticipation.

She continued, "We hit things off immediately. First we grabbed coffee, then dinner, then started seeing movies. We fell so madly in love and everything was moving so fast! I was in school at the time and he was working a couple towns over from me. We did not get to see each other as much as we liked but we were so in love that it did not matter. We were determined to make things work. All was going well until one day a few weeks out from my graduation."

Lynn paused and looked around at the small faces all wide-eyed and full of anticipation.

She started in a softer tone saying, “We had plans one weekend- a big date out on the lake. We had rented a cabin and it was going to be beautiful and romantic. I get to his house and find a note on the door saying, 'Sorry, went to the lake with the boys see you next week sometime!’ Obviously I was furious. We had all these plans and he just finds something better to do! I felt so unimportant. I decided I would wait for his return until I heard rumors about there being other girls on the trip but I was just not invited. I then felt so betrayed. I convinced myself that he wasn't worth my time and returned back to school. The next few days went by. He called and called but I never answered. One day I got a letter. I opened it not realizing it was from James. It claimed he had totally forgot about our trip and how sorry he was and he wished I would just answer his calls so he could explain. Being the stubborn woman I am I still did not call him. The next day I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I still did not call. The day after that I received a gorgeous necklace. I put a return stamp on it and sent it back. Then I received a human-sized teddy bear! I gave it to my dogs to play with. All of his efforts were wonderful but I was still not ready to forgive him. Then the very next day I received a massive bouquet of chocolate-covered strawberries with a note saying, 'Without strawberries I would have never met the woman of my dreams'."

All the girls giggled and the boys just rolled their eyes at such a corny line.

Lynn smiled and continued, "With that last gift I was done. All the old feelings came flooding back and I knew he deserved forgiveness. I ran to my door to get in my car and to my surprise he was standing there! I wrapped my arms around him and told him how much I missed him and he was forgiven. He apologized over and over and we just hugged. I knew right then that this man would do anything for me. I knew in my heart that he was the one."

Lynn stopped and looked around smiling at the children. They all started to clap and exclaim about how beautiful the story was and they wished for a love like Lynn and James have.

Lynn looked lovingly at the kids and said, "You all will find loves. You just have to wait for the right one and then never let them go over silly fights! If you do fight, don't be afraid to make up and be happy again... so you can enjoy the strawberries!"

My Favorite

Author's Note: The inspiration for this story came from a Cherokee tale about how strawberries were invented. In the tale a husband and wife fight and the wife leaves. The husband tried to chase her but can't catch up. He receives help from a god who places fruit in her way to try and get her to stop. Nothing catches her eye until the god places a never before seen fruit, the strawberry, in her path. Then she stops and she and the husband meet back up and solve their problems.

I know I went a bit off track for this story but I kept the overall concept of a couple fighting and being resolved with the help of strawberries. I made these strawberries chocolate-covered because that is just always better. I then added more background to the story with how the two met and their lives now at the orphanage. My first thought was to do a bedtime story but instead of going with once upon a time I decided this direction would be more fun. I also pulled this story from a real life situation. A similar event happened with me and my current boyfriend. I thought it would be interesting to put my real life into my fiction short story. 

Bibliography: Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney (1900). Tobacco and Strawberries. 

Storytelling Week Eleven: Unlikely Friends

Robin Hood and Little John

Unlikely Friends

I will never understand how men work. One minute they can be brawling in the backyard. Next thing you know they are best friends! I know it sounds like I am about to head off on a tangent- so let me start this story from the beginning.
Earlier this week me and my boyfriend Robin had a little cookout in the backyard with our friends. Well one of my friends has a new boyfriend named John that she brought with her. We were all just chatting it up and having a good time. The burgers were delicious and the sangria was going down smooth.
Suddenly, I heard a large thud. I turn around to find that John had ran into one of the chairs by the pool knocking it over and breaking the arm. Well, most people would not think much of this little accident. Robin, on the other hand, flips out! He goes over there yelling and screaming. He tells John, "You better be paying for that chair! I will make you pay for that chair!"
Robin is being completely irrational but once he gets into this state it is nearly impossible to calm him back down.
John, the near seven foot, thick build, ex-football player- is keeping his cool. He calmly replies, "Okay, fight me for it."
Robin, of course, does not ever back down from a fight. He bows up his chest and takes the first swing. Everyone is gathered around in disbelief that they are truly fighting over a chair.
They go back and forth for a while. Just when you thought one man was winning the other would jump back on top. Finally Robin takes a solid blow to the head and staggers back. The onlookers, myself included, see this as the prime moment to step in. At group of us grab both men pulling them apart. I take Robin inside as my friend drags John to the car.
I start to gripe at Robin but could see the hurt in his eyes. His pride was hurt that he did not knock out John easily. So I decide to let it go for the night.

A few days later we are out at the bar. Just a typically Friday night. Until I notice my friend and John walk in. Immediately I think to myself, "Oh no! Not again, I do not want to be banned from this bar over a silly fight!"
I try to steer Robin out the door before he sees John. I was not successful. Robin spotted him across the bar and changed paths quickly. I tense up- ready for the fight that was about to happen. Just as I thought I would hear a fist cracking a nose. I hear Robin shout out, "Hey! Remember me? You sure are a great fighter!"
John replied, "Yeah, man we sure put up a great brawl!"
I stand there bewildered at the scene unfolding in front of me. They are being civil and even getting a beer! How on Earth can this be happening? I look to my left- making eye contact with my friend. She looks just as stunned. I go up to her and say, "I am glad they are getting along but I will never understand how men can go from punching each other to being great friends."
She nodded in agreement. The rest of the night went on smoothly. Although in the back of my mind I am, and always will be, wondering how men's brain works.

Author's Note: This week I read about Robin Hood. Pretty much all of his stories involved some sort of brawl usually ending with the group going out for drinks. The particular one I based this story off of was how he met Little John. Little John is one of his major men throughout his outlaw tales. They met in the forest and got into a long fight until Robin decided he liked his style and made him one of the team. They end up going out for a feast and drinks. For my story I just wrote a little piece in modern times. I used the same names but made it a modern backyard and bar setting. Honestly, this is a true question I have for men. I have seen guys fight multiple times and then be back to being best friends by the end of the week. If two girls get in a fist fight they will most likely hate each other for the rest of their lives. That is just speculation- I have never been in a fist fight so I would not know that for sure. Maybe there is something about cracking your knuckles on someone's head that makes you like them. Heck, who knows!

Bibliography: Robin Hood and Little John. The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child (1882-1898).

Storytelling Week Seven: My Wicked Stepdaughter

Dear Diary,

I am so overwhelmed with joy! Today is the day I get to marry the handsome Prince Toyonari. I have waited my entire life to meet a man of his perfection and class. Everything about this marriage will be perfect. My soon- to- be husband is handsome, courageous, generous and very wealthy. And my son will be next in line to his status and fortune! Well, as long as I can get the girl out of the picture. Did I tell you about the child he has? My goodness, he is obsessed with her! Apparently his first wife couldn’t have children so she is some miracle baby from the gods. She doesn’t seem very special to me, just an obstacle in the grand scheme. But that is okay- I know how to handle problems.

XOXO,

Lady Terute

Dear Diary,

This child is so frustrating! I have tried to trick her into being disrespectful so as to have her punished. But no matter what task I give her or rude thing I say she just takes it with no complaints! Her abnormal kindness is ruining all my plans! She is stealing my attention from MY HUSBAND. And she is showing up my boy! She is a talented musician and poet and everyone swoons over her every word. She was even asked to play at the palace! She puts on a great front, showing everyone her grace and charm. But I know, deep down, that she is an accident waiting to happen. She can’t stay this perfect forever. Her dark past will catch up with her. No child makes it through the loss of a parent unscathed.

XOXO,

Lady Terute

Dear Diary,

Well I have devised a plan. If she won’t show her true colors now, it is best I do not wait around on her to explode. That could be treacherous! For the sake of everyone around her, I feel it is best to get rid of her now. I have decided to poison her. I went and got the concoction from a friend today. I will mix it in her wine at playtime tomorrow. Wish me luck!

XOXO,

Lady Terute

Dear Diary,

I am writing today with a heavy heart. My son has passed. And it is all the girl’s fault. How you ask? Well, let me tell you. I mixed the wines accordingly, being careful to mark the poisonous cup. I took the wine to the playroom for the children and handed them out. I looked away for one minute and somehow the girl switched the cups! She must have known one was poison. She has to be a witch of sorts. This is even more of a reason for me to get rid of her! She is a nuisance to society! First she takes my husband’s attention and now she takes my only son’s life. She will be gone soon, mark my words.

XOXO,

Lady Terute

Dear Diary,

My husband left today, so it was the perfect time to strike. With him gone, I am head of the household. So, today I ordered our servant to take the girl to the woods and kill her. I explained her witchcraft to him and how she is harmful to us if she stays here. He obliged and they left early this afternoon. It was such a wonderful feeling watching her be escorted away. I have never felt so powerful and free. And honestly, it needed to be done for the good of the country. No child is that perfect without something being wrong. She must be a witch, so she needs to be taken care of. I know I made the right decision.

XOXO,

Lady Terute

Dear Diary,

Bad news. When my husband returned to his daughter missing, I told him she ran away. Naturally he went out to look for her. I, assuming she was dead, wasn’t worried. Well, today I received word that he has found her! That wretched girl must have pleaded for her life and that awful servant stayed out there and kept her alive! You just can’t seem to find good help these days. I should have taken her out there myself. Oh well, none of that matters now. He is going to have me executed if I do not leave. So now I must make a run for it. Hopefully my father will take me back in. It will probably be a while before I can write again. So wish me luck and I will try and make the best of this awful situation.

XOXO,

Lady Terute

Daughter being saved by father

Author's Note: This is the story of Princess Hase. She has an evil stepmother who tries to kill her multiple times. All of her plans fail miserably, and in one attempt she even accidentally killed her own son. In the end her father finds out about his wife's plan and runs her out of town. The father and daughter live happily together after that. For my retelling, I kept the plot the same. All the events in my retelling actually happen in the original story. In the original story it is told by a third person voice. For my story, I thought it would be fun to write it in the stepmother's voice. Historically we never really see the evil stepmother's side of the story. So, I thought this would be fun and different. I always assume in stories with evil stepmothers there is an alternative reason to jealousy that the stepmothers have for hating the stepdaughters. So for my retelling I added that the stepmother was convinced the girl was a witch. Therefore, killing her was the right thing to do. After doing some research on Princess Hase I have found that many compare her story to Cinderella. This was my first thought as well when I read the original story. The story explained some of the princess's accomplishments specifically in music and poetry. In my research I found she is also accredited with the art of embroidery. 

Bibliography: The Story of Princess Hase. Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908).

Storytelling Week Six: Bad First Date

Bad First Date

{Radio Hosts} “Hey man, this is Cash and Bradley’s Second Date on K 95.5 Tulsa. What can we do for you?”

{Skull} “Hey y'all, my name is Skull and I went on what I thought was a really great date with this beautiful girl named Afiong. I thought we had a great time and now she isn’t returning my calls. I would really like to know why she doesn’t want to go on a second date. “

{Radio Hosts} “Yeah man, let’s give her a call and see what she has to say.”

[Phone rings.]

{Female voice} “Hello?”

{Radio Hosts} “Hello! Is this Afiong?"

{Female voice} "Yeah?"

{Radio Hosts} "Hey Afiong, it is Cash and Bradley and we have a mutual friend, Skull - remember him?”

{Afiong nervously} “Yeah, hey, I remember him - we went out once.”

{Radio Hosts} “Yeah, we heard! We also heard you weren’t returning his calls. We were just curious about what went wrong on that first date to make you not call him back.”

{Afiong} “Well, it was all going great at first. He was a very handsome man. I saw him at the market and just knew I wanted to talk to him. Almost a love at first sight kind of deal.

Well, I decided to invite him home with me. He met my parents and made a great impression. We talked into the wee hours of the night and loved every second of it. In the morning he asked me to come with him to meet his mother back in his town. Of course, I was so infatuated with him I could think of nothing else to say but OMG YES! I was thinking maybe it was finally my turn to find true love and get married. So that evening we went over to his mom’s place - everything was going fine at first. But then, he just up and left me. He left me alone with his old, decrepit mother for the rest of the night! He didn’t even say where he was going or when he would be back. At first it wasn’t a big deal but then she kept asking me to do all these chores for her. And what was I supposed to say? I couldn’t tell this poor old lady no. So I cleaned her house, mowed her lawn, did her laundry and even gave her a pedicure. All before he ever came home. And then, he came home drunk! He left me with his mother to go get drunk with friends. Of course I was done at this point. I vowed never to answer his calls. He is not handsome enough to deal with all that drama.”

[The radio hosts were silent, struck with disbelief at this wild story.]

{Radio Hosts} “Wow. That is probably the best reason to not call back we have ever heard on this show. Sorry to spring this on you, but Skull is actually on the line listening. Skull, do you have anything to say for yourself?”

{Skull} “You and my mother were getting along so well. I got a text from my buddies to go out since I was in town and I figured you could manage alone for a bit.”

{Afiong}” Six hours! You were gone for six hours!”

{Skull} “Hey! We weren’t in a serious relationship. I didn’t feel like I needed to check in with you or tell you what I was doing. I can do whatever I want and be gone for as long as I want! I am my own person.”

{Afiong} “Yeah, you’re right. We weren’t in a serious relationship, which is even more of a reason to not leave me alone with your mother! Gosh, my parents were so right about you! You are a selfish jerk!”

{Skull} “Whatever, you weren’t that hot anyways!”

[Phone clicks.]

{Radio Hosts} “Wow… well, that got a bit more heated than we anticipated. Usually we offer a free meal to a couple who agree to try out a second date. But after that fiasco, it sounds like you need a dinner for one. So we will send you some free dinner coupons to try and help you forget that awful date.”

{Afiong} “OMG thank you guys so much! As awful as it was, it was a great learning experience. I now know that my parents' instincts have been around a lot longer than mine and are actually pretty reliable.”

Author’s Note: This retelling is based off a Nigerian tale about a girl who marries a skull from the spirit world. She is blinded by his false beauty and marries him against her parents' wishes. He then takes her home with him, which turns out to be the spirit world. He turns back into his ugly self and she is left to care for his old mother. In the original story the mother is actually pretty nice. She keeps the girl from being hurt by all the cannibals in the spirit world and then eventually helps her make an escape to her home town. When I read this story it got me thinking about this radio show I have heard where the radio hosts call people who went on a blind date to see what went wrong and try to hook them back up again. It is out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. I decided this Nigerian tale could make a good bad first date story, so I retold it as the radio show. I changed the ending a bit and didn’t use Skull’s mother as her escape from him. I just made it into a public fight instead. I kept all the names the same and the overarching lesson of trusting your parents the same as well because I feel like that is a great lesson to be learned. 

Bibliography: Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910). The Disobedient Daughter Who Married a Skull

The Actual Hosts of Second Date

Storytelling Week Five: The Nightmares

Carried Away

Dear Diary,
The dreams have started again. Tonight I was sailing across the ocean. It was a beautiful deep blue. The air smelt like a combination of salt and fish guts. It was both amazing and disgusting at the same time. The crew was large, between our merchandise and our persons the ship barely stayed afloat. We stopped at many ports trading for goods and hoping to be profitable at the end of the trip. We ended up stopped at an island to explore some the large trees onshore we saw all the way from the ship. We discovered many delicious fruits and nuts. I ate myself full and laid down to tan in the warm sun. That is when I woke up. I am glad this one was a good dream, I was getting tired of all the nightmares. It makes me nervous to go to sleep tonight. I just never know what is going to happen. Wish me luck Diary!

Dear Diary,
Well, tonight it turned into a nightmare. I hope this doesn't become a trend again. I cannot afford to lose more sleep. In tonight's dream, I found myself alone on the beach. I looked all around and couldn't find any of my shipmates. At this point, my only option was to explore the island inward to try and find some help. As I was trekking my way through the thick brush I came to a massive nest with a single egg in it. Quickly I realized my only way to escape was to ride the massive bird who owns this egg off of this deserted island. When the bird returned I jumped on her, strapping myself to her leg. After a while she took off in search of food. When she came to her next resting spot I jumped off to take a look around. At this point I woke up sweating and my heart pounding. How scary, to be alone like that? Hopefully I won't have another dream, and if I do I hope it ends well. Dreaming about being left all alone on an island is not the best way to sleep at night.

Dear Diary,
It happened again. Another dream. Tonight I was back on the second piece of land. I had wandered upon a valley full of massive and beautiful diamonds. I started to gather all the ones I could carry in my pack. I figured they may come in handy later. I then started over the far hill to see what I could find. I came across a small village and after much negotiation and trading of my diamonds I found someone to take me home! I then woke up and was so thankful that this set of dreams had a happy ending!

Author's Note: This retelling is based off of one of Sindbad's voyages. In his voyage he gets forgotten on the island and had to ride a Roc to the next island. He then gathers diamonds there that he finds and rides an eagle to civilization. He then happens across the original ship that left him being reunited with all his goods and a trip home. For my retelling I wanted to write from the point of a diary and this voyage taking place in dreams over a couple nights. I tried to stick to the original plot for the most part because it is such an interesting story.

Bibliography: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

Storytelling for Week Four: Prince Charles

Prince Charles

There once was a prince named Charles. He had to take the throne at the ripe age of sixteen due to the untimely death of his great father King Bradley. As with any young man in his position, he let the power go to his head. He started making absurd laws and not serving his people in a just way. Mobs began forming outside the castle everyday growing in rage and violence. They were so displeased with the performance of the prince and wanted him removed from the thrown instantly.

The prince’s advisors told him the only way to save his throne was to marry a woman to help him justly rule the country. The prince eventually obliged and started seeking out women. He had many problems finding a wife due to his unpopularity within the country. Eventually he found three women who were willing to be his wife. To decide which one to marry he gave them the task of quieting the growing mob outside the castle. The first woman made him some wonderful earplugs that could silence all the noises of the mob and let him lay in peace. The second woman started making large and delicious meals in an effort to keep the crowd’s mouths full so they could not yell. The third woman took charge and stood before the people calming them down with her kind words and wisdom.

After much deliberation the prince finally decided on the third woman. The third woman was the most take charge and he felt she could help him run this country justly. She was very proud to have been picked and they were quickly married.

All was well for a while. Then the prince started reverting back to his old ways. He started partying too much and having no regard for the country he was supposed to be running. Again the mobs were formed. Naturally, the prince decided to send his wife out to calm then mob since she did such a wonderful job the first time around. Unfortunately, this times things did not go as planned. The wife went out to the courtyard to try and reason with the people and promise she will get the prince back on the right track. The people were outraged claiming he had already used up all of his chances and they were done waiting on him to grow up. Her efforts at reasoning were failing but she was not keen to giving up. She trying day and night to calm the angry mob with no success. And while she was out there the prince was just dragging the country further and further downhill with debt at its all-time high along with massive crime rates and deaths around the country.

After a few days the crowd became fed up and decided that if the wife would not let them in to the prince they would just go through her. The wife was trampled dead by the angry mob as they rushed into the castle. Once inside they grabbed the prince from his sleeping chambers and carried him to the furthest border of their country. Out of respect for his great father (may he rest in peace) they decided to spare his life but ban him from their country for the rest of his days. 

Author's Note: My tale is a combination of the overarching story from Tales of a Parrot and one of the parrot's nightly tales. The overarching story is of a wife wanting to cheat on her husband while he is out of town. The parrot distracts her from leaving each night by telling her these lengthy tales. When the husband returns the parrot tells him of her thoughts of cheating and he kills her for her unfaithfulness. The tale I mashed with the overarching story is called The Merchant whose Daughter was Lost. This tale is of three gentleman callers fighting over a woman. One day she is taken in the night and the three men use their skills to find her and bring her home. Then she must decide which one to marry based off of what they did to save her. She chooses the third one who actually came and picked her up. 

My thoughts for this tale was to take the small story and change the roles and make it a male with three females after his affection since this is not usually the case in old tales. I thought it would make the story a bit more dynamic. I then combined it with the main story by adding the sad ending which is in line with the sad ending of Tales of a Parrot. I wanted to keep some elements of the reading while still making it new and interesting. 

Bibliography:  The Tooti Nameh or Tales of a Parrot, by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi (1801).

the young prince

Storytelling for Week Three: The Ambitious Granddaughter

The Ambitious Granddaughter 

Lilith is what most would call a "power woman." She spends all of her time working and reading, trying to climb her way to the top of her advertising firm. She dreams of becoming the CEO and paving the way for future women to come to power at the firm. All of the extra hours she spends working on projects for work take away from any social life she could have. She still has the occasional girl’s night and some drinks after work with office friends. But she does not leave much time for family or even dating for that matter. On her trips home to see her family everyone always harasses her asking when she will get married. She always shrugs them off but has a bit of a harder time with her grandmother. Her grandmother is pushier than the rest of her family, always making snide remarks about Lilith regretting her choice to focus on her career. Usually these remarks would mean nothing to Lilith, but her grandmother is a little crazy. Family rumors say she used to practice witchcraft and has always had it out for women who seem more powerful than her. So, as much as Lilith loved her grandmother she was always a bit wary of her.

One evening, she was walking home from work and bumped into the most handsome gentleman she had ever seen. All of her papers fell to the ground and they both scrambled to gather them before the wind took them down the street.

Being the gentleman he was, he quickly said, "I am so sorry! I didn't see you there. How can I possibly make it up to you?"

In a flirtatious tone Lilith replied, "Oh, it is okay! I did not see you either, but knowing your name would be nice." She added in her signature grin just for good measure.

The gentleman, looking flustered, said, "Of course, how silly of me. I am Adam. Pleased to meet you, Miss."

"It is lovely to meet you as well. I'm Lilith," she said thrusting out her hand.

Adam shook it, replying, "What a lovely name to match those beautiful eyes of yours. Let me take you to dinner, to make up for spilling your things." Lilith blushed but was unsure at first whether or not to say yes.

After some hesitation Adam said with a wink, "Don't worry, we can make it quick and I don't bite." She slowly nodded her head in agreement, conflicted between the reports she had to do and the handsomeness of this gentleman. They went down the street to a small café and ended up talking and laughing for hours, up until the café was shutting down for the night. Afterwards he kindly walked her home and they exchanged numbers. As she ascended the stairs to her apartment she thought to herself, “Wow, what a coincidence, this perfect man falls into my lap just after grandmother’s threats.”

The two went on dating for a few months but never getting very serious due to Lilith's lack of free time. During one of their quick dinners Adam worked up the courage to ask her to become more serious with him.

He said, "Lilith, these last few months have been wonderful. I am ready to take things to the next level, start planning our future together. Maybe even having you move in with me!"

She was a bit surprised at his forwardness and quickly replied, "Adam, it has been very fun for me too. But I am not ready yet. I have a goal of becoming the CEO of my company and I will not settle down until I have met that goal. Work is too important in my life right now to be thinking about marriage and family." He seemed angry at first and then a look of disappointment flashed in his eyes.

He said quietly, "I understand. I come from a background of women as keeper of the home and I can see you are not ready for that and probably never will be. Maybe it is best not to drag this on." Lilith's eyes started to water but she knew it was for the best.

She blinked the tears away and said, "I agree, thank you for dinner. I will see you around." She got up and hid her tears as she walked away.

Although Lilith was upset, she was not completely surprised. She knew that was the social norm but she also knew how important it was for her to lead the way to changing it. She went on about her life as usual. On her next visit home her grandmother called her aside for a chat. Lilith approached with caution sensing the anger in her tone. Once in the other room, her grandmother started lecturing her.

She said, "Lilith, I sent you that handsome young man to add structure to your life! You need someone to settle down with before you get any older. You are ruining your future!" Lilith was furious when she realized that her grandmother had set that boy up for her.

She started lecturing back, "Grandmother! I cannot believe you would do that. Stop interfering in my life, I know what I am doing and what I want!" The debate got pretty heated.

The grandmother said, "Child, you will listen to your elders, I know what is best for you!"

Lilith screamed back, "No! You have no idea what I need!"

Suddenly the grandmother started shouting in words that Lilith did not understand and a flash of smoke engulfed them. When the smoke had cleared and the family had come to check on them, the grandmother had recovered her normal composure.

She simply looked at Lilith and said, "The next one hundred babies you have will die at birth." Everyone stood in shock at these words and the grandmother swiftly left the room and disappeared from the house.

On her way home, Lilith convinced herself that it was an empty threat. Her grandmother could not possibly be a witch and Lilith would be fine if and when she decided to conceive. She went about her normal life but never visited her grandmother again.

{Flash forward 5 years}

Lilith is now a successful CEO with a very handsome and supportive husband. She has everything she wants in life except children. She and her husband have tried many times all ending by miscarriage or by still birth. She has been to many doctors wondering why she cannot have a child and no one can seem to find the answer. She always has that threat from her grandmother in the back of her mind but continues not to believe and is too prideful to ever ask.

Author's Note: After reading the full tale of Adam and Eve, I found the most interesting section to be about his first wife Lilith. According to this Jewish legend, she wanted to be Adam's equal because God made them both from the Earth so since they were made the same she felt they deserved equal treatment and power. Adam insisted she was simply there for his companionship and only he had rule over the animals and their relationship. She felt this was an unfair arrangement and fled. The angels went to find her and bring her back but she refused and in turn was punished. The angels sentenced for one hundred of her children to die. In revenge, she vowed to haunt all the little boys and girls, their only solace being a pendant of the angels kept around the child's neck. I kept her name and the general plot line including the punishment for my retelling. I changed the setting up to make it a bit more modern day and instead of using God I used a witch. I felt these changes gave more relation to the reader while still having a "power" (the witch) being involved. The idea of her being a powerful CEO came from the many fights women have had over the years to be at the top of their organizations. 

Bibliography:The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909).

Lilith, Adam's First Wife

Storytelling for Week 2: The Eavesdropping Dog

It was a normal sunny afternoon, I was on my porch just eating a bone and watching the activity of the neighborhood around me. Down the street lived the most beautiful girl on the block, everyone was extremely jealous of her beauty. Many men tried to court her but none could hold her attention and most found that dating her led to many struggles of keeping other men off of her. No one seemed to be up for the challenge of marrying this beautiful handful of a woman. This led her into a depression, every night I would watch her come outside contemplating suicide I would do my best to console her but it was getting very old. One afternoon an as equally a handsome of a man strolled into town. I watched him as he drove down the street to the woman’s home. She seemed overjoyed that this handsome man wanted to have her hand in marriage. As she was running around telling everyone of her engagement I overheard him on the phone. He seemed to be fighting with someone and finally I heard him say “Fine Mother, I will not marry her” then he hung up and when back to the woman’s home. The day went on and I fell asleep in my usual spot on the porch. Late in the night I was awoke by the sound of a car starting up I looked up quickly enough to see the young man and woman taking off down the road. My curiosity was at am all time high so I started howling or my friend, Hawk, to come visit. When he arrived I told him of the day’s activities and asked for him to follow the couple and send me updates. Hawk was instantly on board, he loved a good case of eavesdropping. He hurried to catch up to the couple’s car.

{Dog} The next day the woman’s family was so distraught at her running away with the man that they fell into a dark depression. The parents and the sisters were overwhelmed with pain. It was so hard to watch them in so much pain.

{Hawk} I followed them up on to a hill to a beautiful little cabin hidden back in the trees. The man kept telling the women that this would be the only way they could be together and she could not tell anyone of their hiding spot or ask him about his background. She seemed nervous but willing to do anything for this man. He gave her the best foods and all the gold and jewelry she could ever dream of. They go on seemingly happy for a few days. After a while she begins to become depressed and miss her family. She again becomes suicidal. He eventually gives in telling her she may go see her sisters in private. She scurries out in the middle of the night to see her sisters.

{Dog} It is very late as I see the girl sprinting down the road. She drags her sisters out of the house telling them of her adventure. She leaves before daybreak and that is when things become interesting. Her sisters immediately become jealous and devise a plan to break them up. They call up his mother and tell her of their marriage! She sounds outraged over the phone and knows exactly where they are hiding. I am sure she is headed their right now.

{Hawk} As I am watching the happy couple I see an outraged older woman coming up the path. She bursts in yelling at the two. She is angry her son disobeyed her wishes and she feels the girl is no good, just after his riches. She soon devises a series of tasks for her to prove her love for him. The girl struggles but eventually completes the tasks but that is not good enough for the mother. The boy has to confront his grandfather to help him convince the mother the marriage is good. After much fighting the mother finally gives in.

{Dog} When Hawk returned he told me everything he saw. What a crazy story?! It has been weeks since the event and we hear the girl is pregnant now and knows how devious her sisters are. She has not come home since the event and keeps to just her beautiful little family. 

Author's Note: The story is based off the crazy love story of Cupid and Psyche. To sum it up, Cupid and Psyche were in a forbidden love affair. Cupid's mother disapproved and was jealous of Psyche's beauty feeling it took away from her own. Cupid's mother is the goddess Venus, better known as Aphrodite. Psyche has two sisters who were jealous and devious and tried to ruin Psyche and Cupid's marriage. They had to go through many trials and tribulations to keep their marriage together and prove their love to Venus. I wanted to tell the story from an outside point of view so I had two curious animals report what they saw and heard happening. A dog seemed the best choice because most stories seem to have that lazy dog that just lays on the porch all day. So it seemed he would know what is going on around the town at all times. Then I added a hawk because the dog needed a helpful companion to follow the adventure when it left the neighborhood. I loved the entire story of Cupid and Psyche, so I felt I wanted to just give a broad version of the tale instead of picking out one element and going into a lot of detail. This way the readers can still know generally know everything.

Apuleius's Golden Ass, as translated into English by Tony Kline (2013).

The Nosy Dog from Google Images

Week One Storytelling: The Lost Shoe

The Lost Shoe

There once was a fiddler and his wife who lived in a small house upon a hill. They had been married many years and did not get out to socialize very frequently. One day the wife decided they needed a night on the town to liven up their marriage and their boring routine life. She called up her friends and a dance was organized! She got all fancied up in a beautiful black ball gown and gorgeous pink high heels. He put on his best suit and tie and grabbed his newest fiddle so he could play at the dance. Once they were ready, they got in the carriage to head to the dance. 

The road to town had just suffered weeks of intense rain. The dirt roads were quickly giving way under the heavy wheels of the carriage making for a bumpy ride. As the wife was thrown around the back of the carriage the strap on the heel of her show slid down her foot causing it to fly off and out the carriage. She screamed for her husband to stop and go back but he could not hear her over the noise of the horses and the carriage slamming and shaking on the bumpy road. 

Upon their arrived she was very distraught at the loss of her shoes but her loving husband assured her she could still dance with just one shoe, her dress was long enough no one would even notice. They entered the dance, greeted by many of their old friends. He went off to play his fiddle with the other gentlemen and she went to off to have some drinks and chat with the ladies. The husband soon realized he could not find his fiddle stick. He search high and low, all over that ball room until finally he thought to check the carriage. He looked all over the carriage eventually finding its hiding spot under the carriage seat. He quickly returned to the dance so he could show his skill on this fine instrument. 

By the end of the night his arms were tired from playing his fiddle and his wife was a bit funny, like when a person has one too many drinks. So he gently loads her into the carriage and she sleeps the whole bumpy way home. Once he carries her in and is tucking her in for bed, she asks him where her shoe is. He replies well one fell out of the carriage and you were wearing the other. He then looks around noticing there was no second shoe in the room. It is then they realize she must have removed the shoe at the party, therefore losing both of the beautiful pink high heels that night. As sad as she was, she was happy to have spent a wonderful night with her loving husband and he was happy to have gotten to play his fiddle. 

Pink High Heel

Author's Note: In the original nursery rhyme there is a dame who loses her shoe and wants to dance and a fiddler who loses his fiddling stick. The fiddler ends up finding his stick so the dame can dance but she never finds her shoe. When reading this story is made me think of an old time ball gown and horse drawn carriage era so that became my setting for the story. Also women losing shoes seems to happen when they are under the influence of alcohol so that became my next inspiration for the plot of the story. 

Bibliography: This rhyme is from the book The Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang (1987) on page 192.