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 

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part C

This week, I will be finishing the online public reading of the Mahabharata. For today's reading notes, I will be focusing on part C of the reading. In particular, I enjoyed the story Riddles by The Lake by Donald A. Mackenzie. This reading reminded me of a story where a troll that lived under a bridge would not let anyone pass until they answered all his riddles correctly. If they happened to fail to answer the troll's riddle, they would then be eaten.

In the story Riddles by The Lake, 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.

I am going to do a remake of this story relating to the troll under the bridge. The ultimate premise of the story will be that self-control is needed even at your weakest moments. I will probably incorporate other childhood fables into my story as well.   

The Riddler: Deviant Art