Week 11 Story: The Brave Squirrel

Once upon a time, there was a squirrel named Thomas. Now, Thomas lived in a great big squirrel kingdom called The Lost City of Acornlantus. Thomas was the only child and did not have a wealthy family. His father passed away years ago due to a rare squirrel disease. This was unexpected for his family of three. Therefore, at a young age, Thomas was forced into finding food for him and his mother named Sam. Thomas typically used a bow as his weapon to hunt. After years of using the bow to acquire food, Thomas could hit an acorn from great distances. He became the best bowman in the Lost City.

Thomas always wanted to be in the kingdoms royal army (KRA). However, Thomas was much smaller and weaker compared to all the other squirrels, especially in the kingdom's royal army. Therefore, he had an idea. He would find the strongest and biggest squirrel to help sneak him into the KRA.

Thomas walked around Acornlantus for hours, looking for a great big squirrel that could help him. Then, when Thomas was about to give up looking, he saw a great big farmer squirrel digging holes. He went up to the squirrel and said, " Hello brethren! My name is Thomas, what is yours? The farming squirrel startled, replied " My goodness! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Thomas apologetically replied, "I am so sorry sir, what is your name?" "My name is Steve. What do you want?" "I see you are digging holes, why?" "Well, I am digging holes for my work. I need to work this tedious job to make money for food." Thomas replied, "How about I make you a deal. You are a big and mighty squirrel and I am small. However, I am a great Bowman and I want to be in the KRA. If you go to King Acorn and tell him you want to help the kingdom's royal army he will surely take you in. Therefore, you can tell him that I am your page and you need my assistance. This will get me in as well. I will perform any duty that the King gives you and we can split the profits. You will never have to dig a hole again."

Steve was intrigued by the idea. He was tired of digging holes and making minimal money. Therefore, he agreed to Thomas's plan and they both went to King Acorn. As they approached the King, they were frightened that they might be caught in their trickery. "Why are you two here today?" Steve replied, "I am here to join the KRA. I am mighty and strong. I will be of great use to you King." The King examined Steve and was impressed by his physicality. "Okay, Steve you can be in the KRA. However, who is this small squirrel with you?" "He is my page named Thomas, I need him to carry around my supplies. May he also join the KRA?" The King was silent for a moment. "Okay, he may join as well. However, I have never let such a small squirrel into my army." Thomas and Steve left the presence of the King and were ecstatic.

The King gave Steve his first assignment. He was to kill a cat that was wreaking havoc on his kingdom. "Please, Steve kill this cat. The cat has murdered many squirrels in my kingdom. I will reward you greatly." Steve agreed and went to Thomas and told him the assignment that King had given him. "Alright, Steve! This task should be a breeze. I will kill the cat with my bow. Once I do, you need to take the corpse to the King and claim our reward."

Thomas found the cat. He drew back his bow, took a deep breath and released the arrow. The arrow whizzed through the air and pierced the heart of the cat. The beast died instantly. Steve then took the corpse to the King and was rewarded greatly. However, he did not split the rewards with Thomas. He kept it all for himself. Thomas was distraught. Steve also had Thomas removed from the KRA. Thomas was depressed. He went back home and did not know what to do.

Several weeks later, a cat army was knocking at the gates of Acornlantus due to the death of one of their own. King Acorn prepared his army and had Steve placed at the front line. He was to lead the army. Steve was very scared and nervous. Though Steve was big, he was a coward. He typically had Thomas perform his duties. Therefore, when it came to battling the cats, Steve ran home and left the battle.

Thomas saw that the squirrels were needing help. Therefore, he packed up his bow and helped the King's army fight off all the cats! The King recognized his great bowmanship and valor and rewarded him greatly.

The Brave Squirrel: Wikipedia 

Author's note: 
I did a spin-off from the Jataka tale called The Brave Little Bowman. In this story, a man with a crooked back wants to join the army and is a great Bowman. Therefore, he recruits the help of a big strong man to get him in. However, the strong man becomes complacent and believe he no longer requires the bowman's assistance. Then when their kingdom goes to war, the strong man runs away from battle because he is afraid. However, the bowman leads the king's army to victory and is rewarded greatly. In my story, I changed the characters to squirrels and gave each vital character a name.

Reading Notes: The Brave Little Bowman, Part B

For my reading Part B, I chose the Jataka tale called the Brave Little Bowman by Ellen. C. Babbitt. In this story, there is a small man that has a crooked back. He is a great bowman and wants to be in the king's army. However, he knows that the king would never accept a small crooked man into the army. Therefore, the bowman wanders around the city looking for a big man that would be able to help him is his predicament. The Bowman finally spots a very big strong man that is digging a hole. He goes up to the big strong man and asks "Why are you digging a hole?" The strong man answers by saying "I need to dig all day so I can make money to eat." The bowman then gives the strong man an option. He says "You are a big strong man, and I am a great Bowman. Take me to the king as your page and tell him you want to aid him in his army. Whatever task he gives you, tell me and I will execute them and we can split the rewards." Therefore, the strong man took the bowman to the king and got them both into the army. Their first task was to kill a tiger that was killing civilians. The Bowman killed the tiger and the strong man was rewarded by the king. They split the profits. Their next task was to kill a buffalo, and again, the Bowman killed the buffalo and the strong man was rewarded and they split the profits. However, the strong man started to become selfish and told the bowman that anybody can use a bow! I want the rewards for myself! Soon, an army began to advance on the kingdom and the king put the strong man on the war front riding an elephant. The strong man was terrified. However, the Bowman climbed up onto the elephant and said: "Don't worry, I will help you." The strong man was too terrified and jumped off the elephant and ran home. The bowman then led the army and defeated the intruders. He was rewarded. This would also be a fun story to cover! I would need to change the characters to animals because I may keep that theme in my portfolio. 

The Bowman: Public Domain Files 

Reading Notes: The Foolhardy Wolf

It is week eleven! For today, I read the Jataka tale called The Foolhardy Wolf by Ellen C. Babbitt. This story begins with a great lion that is immensely hungry. Therefore, he goes up on top of a mountain and scouts out his food source. He sees a great big buffalo and kills him. The lion eats all the buffalo meat. Full and satisfied, the buffalo goes back to his den. However, watching the lion was a very hungry wolf. The wolf was small and weak from not eating. Therefore, the wolf fell at the paws of the lion and begged him for food. The lion agreed and said, "If you serve me, I will feed you." The wolf agreed. The lion wanted to wolf to go upon the mountaintop and search for the lion's next kill. The wolf would then have to head back to the den and say "Mighty lion, come forth in thy might. Food is in sight." This was done until the wolf grew bigger and stronger from the help of the lion. The wolf eventually became complacent and wanted to kill the food source himself and take all the food. He told the lion, I want you to search for the food and say to me "Mighty wolf, come forth in thy might. Food is in sight." The wolf wanted to kill an elephant. The lion let the wolf dig his own grave. Therefore, the next day, the lion spotted an elephant and came to the wolf and said "Great wolf, come forth in thy might. Food is in sight." The wolf then charged the elephant missed and was trampled to death by the elephant. This would be a fun story to cover! I would like to add different characters and give them names!

The Mighty Lion: Max Pixel 

Story Lab: What makes a hero?

For today, I chose the story lab option because I have five stories. Today, I focused on the Ted-Ed video What makes a hero? by Matthew Winkler. I really enjoyed this video! Mr. Winkler discusses and analyzes the similarities between heroes in different stories. He calls it "The Hero Journey Myth." This idea is that all hero stories follow a similar path, which is a circle. He compares The Hunger Games and Harry Potter. Mr. Winkler states that the stories begin by 1. A call to adventure, 2. Assistance, 3. Departure, 4. Trials, 5. An approach, 6. Crisis, 7. Treasure, 8. The result, 9. Return, 10. New life, 11. A resolution, and 12. The new Status quo. Mr. Winkler states that a lot of great hero stories follow this circular path. Stories that contain this element are very relatable. We can use these stories as examples for real-life situations. For example, we all must one day be called to action, go on a journey and leave our comfort zone to ultimately reach our goals. As Joseph Campbell once said, "The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek." 

A Cave: flickr 

Reading Notes: Part B, The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking

For today's reading note, I focused on the Jataka Tales. In particular, I read the story The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking by Ellen C. Babbitt. The story begins with two wild geese who are looking for food. As they are flying around talking with each other, they spot a turtle that was sitting next to a pond. They stop and talk to the turtle and become acquainted. They do this for a few days and eventually become good friends with the turtle. They become such good friends with the turtle, they want to take him to their home that is very beautiful, but far away (this seemed suspicious to me). The turtle responds by saying I would love to go, but I cannot fly. Therefore, the geese come up with a solution to the problem. They say, turtle if you can keep your mouth shut, we will be able to fly you to this new home. The turtle agrees, and the geese grab a stick and both hold an end with their mouth and instruct the turtle to hold onto the middle portion of the stick with his mouth. All is going well at this point, the two geese and turtle are flying to their new home. However, as they are flying, a group of children sees the geese and turtle flying together. They all converse, saying wow have you ever seen such a thing? This is crazy. The turtle somewhat offended, says, so what if my friends want to carry me? At this very moment, the turtle falls to his death. The turtle was not able to keep his mouth shut. I believe this story demonstrates to us, that there is a moment to speak, and a moment to keep silent. For potential future stories, I will be changing around the characters! I would like to keep an animal theme. Therefore, I will need to think about what animals I would like to use for this story. 

The Turtle: GoodFreePhotos 

Reading Notes: Jataka Tales, The Foolish Timid Rabbit

For this week, I will be reading the Jataka children tales! They are so fun to read. For today, in particular, I focused on the story The Foolish Timid Rabbit by Ellen C. Babbitt. The story begins with a rabbit sleeping underneath a palm tree. As he awakens, an idea comes into his head. He thinks, what would happen to me if the world began to break up? Already on edge about this idea, a monkey drops a coconut right next to the rabbit. This sends the rabbit into a fit of panic and he begins to run. As he is running, a nearby rabbit wonders what on earth is going on? Therefore, the second rabbit chases the first and asks why he is running. The timid rabbit begins to tell him that the earth is breaking up. So, the second rabbit continues to run. Many more rabbits begin to join and are told that the earth is breaking up. A deer, fox, and elephant are soon also recruited and are told that the earth is breaking up. Finally, the king of beast, the lion sees all the animals running and makes his way in front of them. He roars three times and commands them to a halt. He then begins to ask each of them why they are running. The animals eventually say the timid rabbit told them the earth was breaking up. The lion then asks the rabbit to take him to where the earth was breaking and carries the timid rabbit back to where he was originally sleeping. As they arrive, they see that the earth was not breaking up and that a coconut had just fallen. Good thing the lion resolved the situation, or else all the animals would have just kept running. This is the end of the story.

The Timid Rabbit: Public Domain Pictures 

Week 9 Story: The Poor Family

There once lived a poor family in a Kingdom called Oklahoma. There was the father Dan, the daughter Emmy, and son Keegan. Though they were poor, they were happy because they had each other. They knew as long as they had the family, everything would be okay. Also, in the kingdom, lived a sage. Everyone in the kingdom was afraid of the sage because he had a very unapproachable countenance. Therefore, the majority of the kingdom avoided the sage at all cost. From the years of isolation, the sage grew angry. If he ever had the chance to encounter an individual, he would put a curse on them. This furthered the isolation of the sage.

One day, the poor family was out trying to find work. They had eaten all the food they had for the week. Therefore, it was a necessity to find work for food. Unfortunately, they were not too lucky. They searched all day for work but was turned away from everybody. Depressed, they made their way home. As they were walking toward their hut, the sage spotted them out. He made his way to them to put a curse on them. However, as he approached the family, he was shocked and confused to see that the family greeted him with a warm welcome. They were not afraid of the sage. They sat and talked with him. They described their predicament to him. The sage felt empathy for the family. He saw that the family was genuinely good. After all, they were the only ones who were nice to him out of the whole kingdom.

After a long night of talking and laughing, the family and sage had to part their ways. But before they departed, the sage gave the family a mantra and told them they could summon any god of their choice. The family was confused by the gift of the sage. Once the sage was gone, the family decided to test the gift. They looked out at their crummy field and shouted the mantra. Immediately, before them, stood the god of crops. The family was stunned that the mantra worked. They were so shocked, they could not even answer the god when asked why he was summoned. Before they knew it, the god took them up in a warm embrace and disappeared. The family then saw that their field was full of crops. There was enough vegetation to quench their hunger for years. They were happy!

Crops: Pixabay 

Authors Note:

For this weeks story, I did a retelling of the video that I watched. I watched the overview video Part B The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by EpifiedTV (India). The story that I focused on, in particular, was called Son of the Son. In this story, a girl named Kunti is given a mantra by a sage. She says the mantra while looking a the sun, and the sun god appears. She is given the most beautiful baby boy she has ever seen. However, she has to give it up because having a baby while not being married will look bad. Therefore, she sets the boy in a basket and sets him off down a river. In my story, I changed the characters, and I ended with a happy note. 

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata, Part B video

For today's reading note, I watched the overview video Part B The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by EpifiedTV (India). I am really enjoying the videos that give an overview of The Mahabharata. The videos are very engaging. I would like to focus on episode 9 within the Part B series called Son of the Son. 

The story begins with a young women names Kunti. She is wise and full of life. Kunti lived in a kingdom where the people feared a sage. The sage would curse people for the slightest hiccups. However, Kunti was not afraid of the sage. She gave him attention and was nice to him. Therefore, before the sage left the kingdom, he gave Kunti a gift. A mantra. Kunti wondered why the sage gave her a mantra, and what it was for. The sage told her that the mantra was a way for her to summon any god she wanted. Soon after the sage left, Kunti tested the gift of the sage. She looked at the sun and repeated the mantra. Immediately after she finished, a blinding presence was before her. It was the sun god. She was shocked that the gift was real. Kunti could not even answer the god when he asked why she was summoned. However, before she knew it, the god took her up in his embrace and then left. Kunti looked down and in her arms was the most beautiful child she had ever seen. She could sense that the boy was destined for greatness. He was clothed in armor and had gold earrings. However, Kunti was heartbroken. For she was not even married. Thus, having a child without being wedded would produce a bad image. The took the boy down to the river, put him in a basket, and sent him down the river. She cried and asked the sun god to watch over the boy. Kunti had to do what no mother should ever have to do. 

A River: Wikimedia 

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata video, Part A

It is week 9 and we are already halfway through the semester! I have started off strong in the course, now I'm going to finish strong.  Therefore, for this week reading of the Mahabharata, I watched the overview video The Mahabharata: Karmic Revolution by EpifiedTV (India). I believe this was a great video that summarizes the Mahabharata. I also liked all the little doodles that were drawn as the story was told. To summarize what I have read so far, a king falls in love with a river goddess who agrees to marry him as long as he never questions her actions. Therefore, each time she gets pregnant she ends up drowning the child. After the 8th child, the king finally had enough and questions her. His wife ends up leaving him with the child. About 16 years later, the king sees a man with great bowmanship and figures out it were his lost son. He brings him back to the kingdom. The king then falls in love with a fisherman's daughter who won't let him marry his daughter. His son then goes to the fisherman and vows to be celibate if he would let his father marry his daughter. The fisherman agrees. Fast forwarding, this oath causes many problems for the kingdom because it is without a king. Having a long lost brother, he gets three ladies pregnant allowing for the kingdom to have a king. This is where part A finishes.
I believe I will be watching the rest of the videos for my reading assignments! I enjoy having a visual representation to what I have been reading in the past, and again, the doodles are awesome. I am looking forward to watching part B and Part C.

The Mahabharata: Wikimedia 

  

Week 8 Progress

Looking back at my work in this class, I can see that I am a couple days ahead of where I need to be! This is great. I hope to get further ahead and potentially finish the course early. I have 228 points while for an A this week, I needed only 205 points. I am going to keep up this work style and knockout as much extra credit I can on the weekends. I look forward to the next half of this semester!

Motivation: flickr 

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

Looking through my initial thoughts about comments and feedback, I can see that this process is great for an online course where us students cannot physically interact. The comments and feedback allow us to talk and interact with each other in a different way compared to a traditional classroom. The comments that I have received from students have been beneficial. I like how they start with what they like about my story and transition into suggestions that might make it a better read. It is always great to get an outside perspective on what will make my stories better. I am excited to see the feedback for my future stories.   

Feedback: The Blue Diamond Gallery 

Week 8 Reading and Writing

Entering into week eight of the semester, I am happy with my reading notes and stories in my blog. I will also not be changing the layout to my blog or website! I like them the way they are now. The stories this semester have been really interesting. I enjoy sitting down and reading the Ramayana and Mahabharata. So far, I would have to say I like the story Riddles by The Lake by Donald A. Mackenzie the best. I also look forward to coming up with wacky little stories that correlate and utilize the premise of the Indian Epics. So far, I believe my note-taking method has benefited me while I write my stories. I typically include the main premise and characters of the stories into my notes. From them, I try and come up with a fun and enjoyable read. One thing I might change is that I might add what I will be including into my story. As the week goes by, I tend to forget what I will be changing my story into. Writing these stories and having feedback from others have drastically improved my writing abilities. However, I will say that I am still not great; but, I am getting better and it is a process!

I am looking forward to the next eight weeks of the semester!

Picture From My First Portfolio Story: Sketchport 

Here is a picture from my first portfolio story. This picture has some sentimental value because it reminds me of my first finished portfolio read. 

   

Week 7 Story: The Riddled Journey

Once upon a time, there lived three twin brothers, Floaty, Arrow, and Freedom. The three brothers were in their teenage years. They were somewhat mature for their age. However, they were still naive to the true ways of the world. From a very early age, the brothers' mother Po tried to teach them the dangers that pigs can face. She explained to them how she lost her husband, their father to a terrible wolf. This wolf was notorious around the pig community. A couple times a year, the wolf would prey on the pigs, killing them and making a delicious meal from their remains. However, he justified this act by giving the pigs an opportunity to save their life. The wolf would give the pigs a riddle to solve. They would only receive three attempts to answer the riddle correctly or they would become his meal. The name of the wolf was Riddler.

One day the three brothers were asked by their mother to go visit their grandma Ruth. They all agreed to go and prepared for their journey.

"Now remember kids, be careful out there. Be on the lookout for the Riddler. He tends to come out this time of year. Do not cut through the woods and stay on the main roads to get to grandmas."

"Yes, mother. We will stay on the path (they replied in unison)."

As they made their way out the door, Po kissed each boy and saw them off on their journey.

The three brothers traveled for 45 minutes down the path towards grandma's house. As they stopped for a break, they realized they still had 2 more hours of travel left at the rate they were traveling.

"Freedom, Arrow, we still have 2 hours of hiking left before we can reach grandma Ruth's house. This is taking forever!"

"We understand that Floaty, but mom was clear with her instructions. We do not take shortcuts."

"Y'all are just afraid. We are young and wise. If we were to encounter any danger, we would be able to reason our way out of it. We would arrive much faster if we just cut through the woods; we could cut an hour and a half off of our journey."

"No Floaty. Arrow and I agree that we will stay on the path until we reach grandmas."

The brothers packed up their things and continued on their journey. However, unfortunately, as they were making their way, Arrow fell and knocked himself out.

"Freedom, we cannot continue on the path to reach grandmas and carry our brother! We still have an hour left of travel."

"Fine Floaty, you win. We will cut through the woods, but you will carry Arrow."

The two brothers began to cut through the woods. After 15 minutes of traveling, they reached a bridge. They could see the outline of their grandma's house. They were ecstatic. However, just before they crossed, the Riddler climbed upon the bridge preventing them from passing. The very sight of the Riddler scared Freedom and Floaty so much they released a loud high pitched scream! The scream was so loud, it woke Arrow!

"If you want to pass, you must answer my riddle. I will give you three attempts each, pigs!"

After calming themselves, the three pigs concluded that they could outwit the Riddler. They each took their turn at the wolf's riddle. Arrow and Floaty were not fortunate though. They attempted the wolf's riddle and failed to answer them correctly. The Riddler devoured them on the spot. Freedom was the last to go. He was distraught from losing his brothers. However, he was determined to live.

"Okay, Riddler. What do you have for me?"

"Oh, I am positive you will not answer this right! What letter of the alphabet has the most water?"

"C."

Riddler was dumbfounded. The pig was right! Never had a situation like this happen before.

"Well, I am a wolf of my word, pig. You may pass!"

Freedom made his way across the bridge. As he crossed, he seized an opportunity to revenge his lost brothers and pushed the wolf over the bridge. The Riddler fell to his death. Freedom finally arrived at his grandmother's house. He was sad because he had lost his brothers. However, he was proud that he rid the community of the terrible Riddler.

Freedom, Arrow, and Floaty: Wikimedia 

Authors Note: 
For my story, I did a spin-off from the Riddles by The Lake by Donald A. Mackenzie. In my story, I completely changed all the characters to pigs and a wolf. They had to travel to grandma's house similar to the Red Riding Hood story. In the original story, a Yaksha, which is a celestial being, lives in a river. After a long hunt, the Pandava brethren are tired and thirsty. Therefore, they stop at this river which begins to talk to them saying "answer the question that I present to you before you take a drink from this river." However, Nakula, Sahadeva, and Arjuna overtook by thirst do not head the voice in the river. They take a drink from the water before answering any riddles and they die.
Yudhishthira, the wiser of the brethren, was able to control his temptations and listened to the voice in the river. He asked, "Who are you?" The voice in the river begins to tell him that he is a yaksha and his people died from not heading his counsel. Yudhishthira then listens to the yaksha and answers all the riddles that the yaksha had for him. At the end of all the riddles, the yaksha reveals himself in the form of Dharma, the god of wisdom and justice.

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part D

For today's reading,  I will be finishing up the Mahabharata reading part D. Out of the readings from part D I enjoyed the very last story The Afterlife by Donald A. Mackenzie. I was interested to read what Heaven and Hell were depicted as in the Indian Epics.

In the story The Afterlife, Yudhisthira finally made it into Heaven. He was welcomed by Indra and was informed that only he had made it. His brethren did not make it into Heaven because they had fallen short during their time on earth. Yudhisthira was sad and disappointed at this news. Therefore, he asked to be taken where his brethren were. He believed he should not spend eternity away from them. Therefore, a celestial being took Yudhisthira to Hell where his brethren were. Yudhisthira was shocked by the very sight. He saw true darkness, mutilated corpses, and streets that were made of blades. He wanted to leave immediately. However, he heard the voices of this friends and family. He came to the decision that he wanted to be left here with them. However, at this moment, the gods appeared and all the horror left and dissipated before his very eyes. The gods informed him that they were putting him through a test to see if he was truly good. He had passed.

Yudhisthira was then taken to Heaven and his earthly body was washed away. He became a celestial being. He was then taken to Swarga where all his friends and family were, along with all things he loved on the earth.   

The story finished with Indra welcoming everyone to Heaven. He stated " All mortals rise to eternal bliss, casting off their mortal deeds, by uttering gentle words, and by enduring all suffering with patience. This holy life is prepared for you."

Heaven: Max Pixel