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| Carried Away |
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).
Hey Allyson, good story! I found myself wanting to learn more and more about what was happening to the main character in the story and with each diary entry, you gave me more and more. I like how you broke up the story to have a major piece of the puzzle in each diary entry. After having to ride a bird, being on a deserted island and having those terrible nightmares, I'm glad the character was able to get home safely!
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