Week 15 Story: The Golf Course Flood

Week 15 Story: The Golf Course Flood

The Forest Fire
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Once upon a time, in a golf course far, far away, there lived a family of geese.  The mother goose and father goose took very good care of their seven children and made sure they were protected from the golf balls that would come flying through the air daily. They made sure the goslings were well fed and were given plenty of nutrients through bread crumbs the golfers would use, or from what the earth had to offer.

They did notice one day that the littlest gosling would only peck at golf balls instead of eat his own grub. This fact concerned them. Why would the small gosling not eat? Did he not need to grow?

The parents discussed this and decided there was not much else to do besides wait on the young gosling to come to his own conclusion that he needed to eat. 

One day the mother and father were walking and talking and they passed by Badger and Owl. Both creatures were having a fine day and noticed how upset the mother and father goose looked. They began to speak to them about feeling as if the gosling might be preparing for something coming. Though they did not know what, the mother and father goose found comfort in knowing that there might be hope for their little one.

After a few days went by, the afternoon time arose and there was strange smell in the air. It was that of mud. It seemed like there was quite a few clouds in the sky and suddenly it was down pouring all around the lake. The geese family could hardly find shelter strong enough to keep them from the rain. It kept getting worse and over time, the pond began to fill up and the golf course was filled with water. Though the geese were made for water living, they certainly were not prepared for the winds and pressure coming against them. 

The little gosling, since he was so small, was able to duck in and out of the water and air and fly way up in the midst of rain and dodge the rain drops. It was as if something had taken over him! He eventually brought all other six siblings to be with him in a tree trunk at high ground to where they would not drown. 

After a couple of days, the waters dried up and they lived happily ever after! 

Bibliography: The Forest Fire, Twenty Jataka Tales, Noor Inayat, The Forest Fire

Author's Note: I took the story from the Twenty Jataka Tales by Noor Inayat of The Forest Fire and created my own by giving it a more modern style of writing and including a more "Americanized" version of the story. Instead of quails, I used geese but still kept the family unit strong and included the one gosling instead of the one duck. I tried to also include other characters to change the storyline a little by providing an intervention between the badger and the owl. 

Week 07 Story: Beyond the Tower

Beyond the Tower

Rapunzel
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Once upon a time, there lived an elderly woman named Rapunzel.

Now this woman was no ordinary woman. She actually had quite an adventurous life and had lived in a tower at one point. She was kidnapped as an infant. She never wanted anyone to know, but now she was on her way to telling an infamous, yet riveting story...

Rapunzel was about to tell her grandchildren her life story.

Her nerves almost got the best of her. She paced up and down the hallway, her grandchildren sitting in the guest bed playing with their new toys they had just received from her on the visit. Rapunzel had never told her own children of the life she used to live, but she knew she must tell someone so the story never was truly lost. Even if they did not know the story was about her, she must say it. She must.

Rapunzel walks in their room with a soft smile and a tender face. She is at peace knowing these young ones will carry on the name well and grow up to retell a story so precious to her.

"Okay, little ones. Time to go to bed, but first, a bedtime story. Who would like to hear?" Rapunzel asked.

"Oh me! Oh me!" says little Ruth.

"Me too! Me too!" says little Forrest.

"I declare this story to be told. Let's begin." said Rapunzel.

The children nestled into their covers. Rapunzel breathed in and out. This was it. The story was being told.

The Story

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a princess. When she was young, she was stolen from her parents and taken to a tower by an evil woman who just wanted to be young again. You see, this princess had special hair that magically healed any thing that needed healing. Did I mention it was long? It reached from the top of the tower to the bottom. The princess was kind. She was servant-minded. She was a daughter worthy of praise, except she never received praise.

One day on her sixteenth birthday, she sent the evil woman to the market to get her some paints. Before the evil woman leaves, she warns the princess to never go with a group of horses that run through the pasture below them. These horses were known as "the Maximus".

"The Maximus you should not make peace with. I thought they were dead, but indeed they are living." said the evil woman.

"Okay. I will not speak with them." said the princess, who had every intention of being kind to all that passed by the tower.

Lo and behold, the Maximus came by soon after the evil woman left. Rapunzel watched them run down the mountain and into the pasture below her. She knew they did not get along with the evil woman who kept her in the tower and she had to make peace with them.

"Hello friends! Would you like to come in for some tea?" She called out to them.

The horses looked at each other and smiled. It had been a long time since someone had actually cared enough to invite them in.

The leader of the pack called back to her, "Of course! We would be honored to sit in your presence, miss."

The princess lifted each horse up, one by one, into the tower. As they sat and had tea, they discussed the hardships they had all been through. The princess had an idea. Why not give them some land in the pasture to graze for a few days? They needed a place to stay. She asked them and they agreed to take a portion of the land below her. When the evil woman returned, they would work it out through a game of dice.

The evil woman returned and she wanted justice. These horses stole her land.

"Not so fast," said the princess. "You owe me for all the time I have spent here. I demand a game of dice to decide who keeps the land."

The evil woman, being an expert dice player, agreed with a sly grin.

The game began. The evil woman played with such ease, the Maximus struggling to keep up. The first round was lost. The evil woman demanded the Maximus give her the golden necklace the leader was wearing. The Maximus, unable to speak out of sadness of losing the game, handed the necklace over. The evil woman gives the Maximus three wishes. They wished for the land. They wished for the rest of their group to be reunited. The last wish, they had nothing to share.

The evil woman suggests they meet at the stream close to the tower. They met there and began the second game of dice. Eventually, the evil woman won and made an agreement to allow the Maximus to dwell over in the woods with the frogs and locusts, who were friendly creatures.

Eventually, the princess escaped and went to visit the Maximus. After a few years, she permanently lived with them. She was able to teach them how to use her hair to heal any wounds or illness they may have.

The End.

Rapunzel watched her grandchildren's sleepy eyes. As they closed, she knew it had been said. The story that clung to her soul for so long was out. It was now up to them to pass it on.

Bibliography:

"Reading Guide part A and B", R. K. Narayan, Reading Guide part B

"Indian Epics: Reading Notes, Week 06", Marla Duvall, Reading Notes,

"Tangled", Wikipedia, Tangled - Wikipedia

Author's Note: I took the story of "Narayan's Mahabharata", specifically parts A and B, and told the story from Rapunzel's point of view. Rapunzel represents the king of Hastinapura and part of the character of Arjuna. The evil woman represents Duryodhana. I wanted the story to have a lighter feel to it, so I included Disney characters from the movie "Tangled". The plot is similar to that of the Mahabharata because there is a game of dice and some tension between two parties. I wanted this story to really portray friendship and love because I felt as if the king tried to befriend the Pandavas. In this story, I made Rapunzel a good friend to the Maximus. This light-hearted, heart-warming story similar to parts A and B of the Mahabharata will hold to be a good bedtime story to anyone who listens.

Week 04 Story: Harold, the Invasive King

THIS STORY CAN ALSO BE FOUND AT MY PORTFOLIO WEBSITE!

https://sites.google.com/view/marlasportfolio/stories/harold-the-invasive-king

Storytelling Week 4

Title: HEAR HEAR! Harold, the Invasive King

Story: NEWS FLASH! The great king Harold is now invading the Sooner tribe. This people group was once rich in their beautiful forestry and pastures of the Boomer. These people travelled to and from and were wanderers in the land. BUT A TWIST HAPPENS! These people suddenly suffer from a great disease called Crimson Disease and suddenly they are dropping at rapid rates. This kind then targeted this community and decides to invade at a weak, weak time of their existence even though they were his own people. "Now is the time", he proposes. "Now is the time to go in and win the battle they can no longer fight." Though Harold had supplied the food for these Sooners for every winter, he betrayed them. No doubt.

He was everything in regards to provision.

He brought ALL of the food and rivers they needed! He was completely aware of this and took the utmost advantage of the disease to finally rid of them once and for all, simply for his own pleasure. Though he had power to do all the good for the vegetable people, he chose to often times do the opposite, simply because he could. At many points in history, he even killed the Texas giant and slaughtered the Pigs. He was faithful to the people, regardless of where he came from. But gods tend to do what gods want to do, and he was felt it was time for a test to come upon the people of the Sooner tribe.

It is possible he has pressure from other gods to finally do something to even out the goodness and evil he expressed. This we will never know for sure, for gods business is their business and mere mortals only know so much. The Sooners lived near and under the Boomer hills and this is where he intended to slice through them and do a good amount of destruction.

He planned the day, the hour and the minute he would strike his "thunder strike" from the heavens above. He was preparing to make his strike, when he realized he couldn't do it. He just couldn't. But justice had to be served somehow! How? How could he do no harm but still serve justice? So he decided to take it out on the grass instead. The wind comes sweeping down the Boomer hills and he could wait until the wind was sweeping through the town and send a flame from the bolt to light the grass on fire. He knew this would be damaging for a while, and hurt them for a while. But the Sooners were so good at agriculture and farming that they would be able to restore their lands in no time.

Bibliography:  Mackenzie, D. A. (2014). Indian myth and legend. Delhi, India: Bharatiya Kala Prakashan.

Author's Note: I started with the story from Indian Myth and Legend called "Indra, King of the Gods", located in chapter one of the book. The story is about Indra, who has many functions as a god. He is the caretaker, god of fertility, Hammer god and many other things. He is pressured by other gods to be different for a certain time to the village. I renamed it "Harold, the Invasive King" and used OU references as an example of the people he oppressed with his hammer or axe, but gave a twist that he actually couldn't do it because he was kind for so long and could not change his kindness for them.

Indra, King of the God

Week #02 Storytelling

Author's Note: I started with the story "The Crocodile in the River" https://sites.google.com/view/marlasportfolio/stories/the-crocodile-in-the-river, originally taken from Vanarinda Jataka, in The Jataka: Volume 1 translated by Robert Chalmers.

The Crocodile in the River

The Crocodile

The Master was sitting at the grove, reminiscing on the days when Devadatta sought out to take his life. He declared, "Devadatta has tried many times to kill me, but has failed to succeed. He will not win the battle then, now and ever again." He then continued with the story.

Once when Brahmadatta ruled over Benares, the Bodhisatta rose to life and became a monkey. When he grew, he was bigger than a baby cow! He was unusually strong. He lived on an island, mostly isolated and barren, so he ate. He ate a lot. This happened to be his very life.

In the same river nearby the island, a crocodile couple did life together. They were expecting newborns very soon. The mother saw the Bodhisatta going back and forth and immediately wanted to feast on his heart. Seeing that the mother was hungry, the father crocodile went after it.

In the meantime, the Bodhisatta is pondering at life across the deep waters. He is wondering about the rock sticking up so high out of the water. When this happens, he strongly suspects crocodiles, for they are known to make this happening occur. He, in a manner of urgency and fear, calls out to the rock three times with a "Hi, Rock!". There are no words. No echo. "Why do you not answer me today?"

The crocodile smiles. He has a plan. He must be the rock's voice in order to allure the Bodhisatta. "Monkey, what must you say to me today?"

"Who goes there?" Bodhisatta says.

"I am a crocodile."

"Well, what are you sitting there for?"

"To eat you and bring your heart to my wife."

Outwitting was the Bodhisatta's game and this croc was no match. So suddenly the Bodhisatta yelled, "I must surrender! You are no match for me my crocodile. Have all of me!"

So the crocodile opened his mouth and ready to munch. Little did the crocodile know, when his mouth opens, his eyes shut, blocking him from seeing the Bodhisatta.

The monkey suddenly bounced off the crocodile's head and headed for the bank.

The monkey was obviously proud of this trickery towards the crocodile. He proclaimed, "This monkey has four great virtues that enable him to overcome his enemies and attackers! I think I bear each and every one."

And, so saying, he repeated this stanza:

Who can be so great?

None, I say. Courage, relentlessness, sovereignty and peace.

He shall examine the fleet of his foe

The crocodile then went back.

_____________________________

The Master said, "Again, Devagatta tried to kill me multiple times before and after this incident." Seeing the Birth, the Master declared freedom over himself.

Bibliography:

1. The Crocodile in the River. (n.d.). Retrieved January 25, 2018, from https://sites.google.com/view/jatakas/crocodile