Week 12 Storytelling: The Mysterious Murderer

Author's Note:   My following story, The Mysterious Murderer, is based on the old English tale, Mr. Fox. Mr. Fox is about Lady Mary, who is in love with Mr. Fox and eventually they decide to get married. Mr. Fox asked her to live with him but never asks Lady Mary to come see it so she decides to take matters into her own hands. One night, as Mr. Fox was "away on business" she decides to go to this castle. The castle is in the forest and has high walls and as she walks in, she sees a sign that says "be bold, be bold, but not too bold, Lest that your heart's blood should run cold. She keeps walking and opens a door and sees a pile of dead bodies and skeletons. As she was running out of the castle, she sees Mr. Fox dragging another dead woman into his castle. He does not see Lady Mary, as she ran home and didn't mention it until the next day, which happened to be their wedding day. I liked this tale because it reminded me of one of those murder mystery shows/movies and those are my favorite types of movies. 

The Mysterious Murderer

The Fall

There once was a man named Mark, who lived a normal life. A man with a wife, two kids, one boy and one girl, a normal job working as a banker at his local bank. Mark's wife, Amy, was in love with Mark and thought she lived a perfect life until one night. Mark and Amy would always go to bed together, sometimes earlier, sometimes later but what Amy didn't know was that Mark didn't stay in bed. One morning, Amy is having breakfast and coffee and watching the news as the news was talking about multiple murders that have happened over the last few nights. The news anchor then said the area of which these murders took place and it was less than a mile from their home. Then, a sketch of the suspect came up on the TV, fitting every characteristic of Mark. Amy looked at Mark but thought nothing of it, as Mark rushed down the stairs saying bye, grabbing his coffee as if he were late for work but really he was shocked to see that the news had found out about the murders. As the day went on, Amy thought more and more about the sketch and how similar it looked to Mark. Later that night, Mark got home and they went about their normal routine. Mark read the kids their bedtime story while Amy watched the news again and had a glass of wine. Mark was tired so he went to bed a little earlier than Amy. Amy, suspecting something suspicious was going on then decides to act as if she was going to sleep. She walks into her bedroom, wakes Mark up to tell him goodnight so that he would think she was actually going to sleep. An hour passed and Amy was still awake as she heard Mark stand up from the bed and quietly walk out of the door. She heard some commotion downstairs, as if Mark was getting ready to go somewhere. She peaked out her door only to see Mark dressed in all black clothes and a black mask, walking out the door. Her heart is pounding, her blood pressure spikes as she thinks to herself, this can't be true. My husband cannot be a murderer. She decides to follow him quietly as Mark walks to a nearby house of a single woman who Mark and Amy are friends with. She witnesses through the window Mark go into their friends room and kill her. Amy stands there in absolute shock. She could not believe her eyes. She runs back to the house and gets in bed, acting as if she is still asleep, as she has no clue what to do about this. The next morning, after not much sleep, Amy refuses to believe what she saw until the news comes on once again, talking about a murder at the exact same house she witnessed Mark murder their friend. She then grabs the phone, runs into the other room and quietly calls the police. The police arrive shortly after the call and arrest Mark for multiple first degree murders. 

English Fairy Tales, Mr. Fox by Joseph Jacobs (1890)

Week 10 Storytelling: The Human Dog Friend

Author's Note: The story that I have written, "The Human Dog Friend" is based off the tale, "The Dog-Husband" in the "Tales of the North American Indians" unit. "The Dog-Husband" is about a girl who has a dog that turns into a human at night. The girl becomes pregnant and discovers that the dog is the cause. I didn't get my story idea off the whole tale, but instead I got my story idea when I first read the part about the dog waking up in the middle of night and becoming a human. This tale was a very weird, unique style that I found really interesting. I used the animal as the storyteller in my story because it makes it a little more fun to read from a dog's perspective in my opinion. My main idea for the story is to create a different story told by a dog who lives a different life when the sun goes down. Another goal of mine was showing the passion that dogs have for their owners and how they will do whatever to please them. I have a golden retriever, so I know first hand how passionate they are and how all they want do is make their owner happy.

The Human Dog Friend

My name is Chance and I am a 3 year old Golden Retriever. I am not your average Golden Retriever, however, as I have the power of doing many different things that not any other dog can do. My owner thinks I am a normal dog, as well as everybody else too. What people do not know is that I am only a dog during the day. Thats right, you heard me, only in the day. I turn into a human at night. My owner is an elderly man who struggles to get around during the day. He is a cancer fighter who has recently been told he only has two months to live. He struggles with getting out of bed, cleaning up the house, getting groceries and running various errands. I believe I was meant to be with  my owner because he needs me. He needs someone who can help him with all those things, but he is too stubborn to hire someone to help him do it. I believe God placed me on this earth and in this man's home specifically to help him. 

During the day, I am the typical dog. I sleep, I eat, I poop, I whine because I want to go on a walk. Every day my owner wakes up and takes me outside to throw the tennis ball for about 20 minutes and after that, I am exhausted and nap the rest of the day. I only nap until the sun goes down and my owner crawls in bed. Once I hear a slight snore out of him, I turn into a human. After I turn into a human, I do all kinds of human stuff such as clean the house, go to the grocery store and get groceries and dog food of course (I of course only eat human food in the middle of the night but have to buy dog food, because I am a "dog" after all, right?), run various errands and all that good stuff. I do all this in the middle of the night because my owner is unable to do any of this stuff at any time of any day. The best part about being able to do this is seeing the confusion on his face when he wakes up to a cabinet and fridge full of fresh groceries, coffee already in the pot and a clean, good smelling house. He always looks at me and says "who in the world does this for me?" As much as I want to tell him, I can't. As far as I know, he believes someone in his family does all this for him. I do it because I love him. Because I see the happiness on his face. I see the stress free smile on his face when he sees all these things done. He loves me more than anything and I love him more than anything. I do all this stuff so that he and I can spend the day together, with no worries in the world. Just him and I spending as much time together as possible before he goes to Heaven. I am not sure what I will do when he passes, all I know is that its him and I for the next couple months and thats all I want him to focus on. That's all that matters. 

Chance, Golden Retriever 

Bibliography:
"Tales of the North American Indians: The Dog-Husband" by Stith Thompson (1929)

Storytelling Week 7: Two Frogs Swap Lives

Author's Note:
For this weeks reading, I read the Japanese Fairy Tales, out of the Violet Fairy Book by Andrew Lang. The first tale, The Two Frogs, was about two frogs who lived in separate places and didn't know one another. One day, somehow both frogs thought it would be fun to travel to each others towns, not knowing that both of them were thinking the same thing and not even knowing that another frog livd in that town. One frog lived in Osaka and the other lived in Kioto. On their journey, they ran into each other midway and were surprised to see that their reason for travel was the same; they wanted to see what each other's cities were like. They thought "if only we were bigger, we could see both towns from here." One frog got another frogs back so that they could see both cities from where they are and it turned out that both towns were identical and they both thought to each other "if I would've known they were the exact same, I wouldn't have traveled thus far" so they talked for a while longer and then parted ways to go back home. My story will take off from the very end of the original story, accept both frogs decide to switch towns for a day and go to one another's town to experience what they were like.

Two Frogs Swap Lives

"If I would've known that Kioto and Osaka were the same, I wouldn't have traveled this far" said Osaka frog. "They may look the same from here but I can promise you that both towns are very much different and have different things to offer" said Kioto Frog. "I'll tell you what, why don't you keep on going 'atta way to my town of Kioto and I will keep going to Osaka. We'll each spend a day in each others towns, exploring different areas and experiencing different things we don't get to experience in our own town. I've always thought it would be fun to swap lives with another frog for a day. We can meet up right back here tomorrow at this time" said Kioto frog. The Osaka frog at first hesitated but eventually gave in and headed toward Kioto while Kioto frog toward Osaka. Both frogs arrived in each other's towns shortly after parting ways and both were stunned at the differences of each of the towns. Osaka was much smaller than Kioto and had less people and Kioto frog loved the smaller population. Kioto was much bigger with more people and Osaka frog was known for being social so he fit right in with the community. Both frogs explored each others towns for a day, meeting new people, going different places and learning new things. After a day, it was time to meet back up with one another at the top of the hill at which they first met one another. After getting up to the top of the hill, both frogs realized that they did not want to go back to their hometown. They had experienced something different and both frogs loved the feeling of different that they decided to swap towns for good. "Osaka is so small for me. I do not like small. I like big communities with lots of people and lots of adventures" said the Osaka frog. "I would much rather live in Kioto with all those people. "Really?" said Kioto frog, "I find it stressful living in Kioto, as I have lived there for so long, the town is growing day by day and I do not like busy towns. I want to live in Osaka, where everything is quiet and peaceful." Both frogs thought from a distance that Kioto and Osaka were basically the same town until they traveled there and experienced new things, new opportunities and new people. They loved each other's towns so much, they ended up swapping for a week initially and then neither of the frogs wanted to go back to their initial town so they swapped for good. Both frogs found new life in each other's towns and lived happily ever after. This just goes to show you: never judge somebody or something from a distance, experience what someone is going through or experience something you've never experienced before jumping to any conclusions. 

Two Frogs: A Japanese Folktale 

Bibliography:  Japanese Fairy Tales: The Two Frogs by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H.J. Ford (1901)

Storytelling for Week 6: Tar Baby Saves the Day

Author's Note: Brer Rabbit consists of 16 different tales, each tale telling a different story of Brer the Rabbit, who is known for his tricks and witty personality and getting away with different things. In one particular tale, The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story, Brer Rabbit comes across a pile of tar and constructs a doll out of it. Brer Rabbit wants the doll to respond but never does the doll. Brer gets so frustrated that the doll won't respond so he begins to punch it and kick it and the more he punches and kicks, the more stuck he gets into this doll. Then, Brer Fox comes along and throws Brer Rabbit into a briar patch. Eventually Brer Rabbit uses the briers and all the thorns to escape. My story below consists of an alternate ending in which the pile of tar actually comes to life and saves Brer Rabbit. My main goal of this story was to produce an alternate ending because every time I read something, I think "what if this happened?" or "what if that happened?" so this gives the reader a different perspective and a different story in a way.

Tar Baby Saves the Day

There he was, Brer Rabbit, lying in the briar patch all stuck with thorns in his body, bleeding and desperate to get out. He begged and begged Brer Fox to let him out but Brer Fox had no mercy and decided to walk away, leaving Brer Rabbit all by himself to suffer. Brer Rabbit never thought he would get out, although rabbits are somewhat at home in briar patches, this one was thick. This briar patch was essentially a death trap, any rabbit who previously got trapped in there ended up dying a slow death. So there lies Brer Rabbit thinking his life was about to end in a short period of time when he sees something moving just about 20 feet away. Brer Rabbit thought surely that couldn't be what he thought it may be, the pile of tar that he created into a baby. The Tar-Baby wasn't responding to him, there was no way he could've come to life, Brer Rabbit thought. As the large, sharp thorns slowly dug into Brer Rabbits body, he couldn't go on for much longer. Someone had to help him soon or else he would die, just like all the other previous rabbits that had died in that briar patch. Soon enough, he sees the Tar-Baby rise from the ground and run the other way. Brer Rabbit thought that was the end, his only chance of survival was the Tar-Baby somewhat coming to life and saving him. The Tar-Baby came to life, but didn't want to save Brer Rabbit's life after all the punching and kicking he did to the Tar-Baby. After about ten more minutes of extreme suffering of lying in the pile of thorns, Tar-Baby suddenly appears in the distance dragging something of what appears to look like a fox. Eventually they got close enough for Brer Rabbit to realize that it was Tar-Baby dragging Brer Fox toward the briar patch. Tar-Baby slowly dragged Brer Fox to the briar patch and threw him in there, making Brer Fox suffer what Brer Rabbit had been suffering for the last hour. Tar-Baby, once a simple pile of tar that had no life, walks over to Brer Rabbit, gives him his hand and lifts him up out of the briar patch. "Why are you doing this?" said Brer Rabbit. "Why are you doing this after all I did to you? All the kicking, all the punching..." "I am not doing this for you, I am doing this because I hate Brer Fox. I may have looked like just a pile of tar but I have always been alive and I have seen Brer Fox throw several rabbits into that briar patch and I am not going to watch it anymore."

Tar-Baby and Brer Rabbit

Bibliography: Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings by Joel Chandler Harris (1881)

Week 5 Storytelling: The King D-Bo

The King D-Bo

The King's Palace

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Once upon a time, there was a King named David Boren, also known as "DBo" who was the King of the University of Oklahoma. Although DBo was very successful at what he did, one thing had been haunting him for years and years, causing DBo to lose sleep at night and even drive himself to insanity trying to figure it out. 

There was a grade goblin somewhere around this University and DBo had spent over ten years trying to find him until one night, the grade goblin approaches DBo. The grade goblin was a goblin who at night, would fly around campus, able to get into any building and get into any room and any teachers computers and adjust grades and get test files. 

DBo knew of this grade goblin but was never able to catch him and finally, on a foggy, rainy night, the grade goblin felt so sorry for DBo and thought he was so pathetic for not being able to find him for so long, he approached DBo's palace (pictured above). He said "DBo, I know I have haunted you for years and years and years and I am to the point where I feel more guilt than pleasure with all the good I am doing your students but all the pain and insanity I am causing you. Each night I will come by your palace and ask you a question, if the question is answered correctly, I will leave you and this place alone forever. If the answers are not answered correctly, I will continue to haunt you until you get the answer right." These questions consisted of just about anything, historical questions about the university, questions about the goblin himself, questions about DBo's staff and students and even athletics. 

DBo accepted this challenge, as he was just ready to get rid of this goblin once and for all and stop all this craziness going on at his University. Keep in mind, this goblin was slick, he could fly, he could hide just about anywhere imaginable but you could never see him long enough to know what he really looked like in detail. On the other hand, DBo had nothing but knowledge. DBo was the smartest King in the world but did not have any powers, such as flying or hiding so he knew he had to rely on his knowledge to stop this grade goblin. DBo was so anxious and angry and wanted this grade goblin gone immediately that he studied every possible question that may come across him. 

The goblin did not come by for at least a week, making DBo impatient and even more angry until finally after the eighth night of not showing up, the grade goblin shows up and flies on top of DBo's castle. The goblin says "The first question and only question of the night I will ask you is HOW MANY CASTLES ARE THERE ON THIS CAMPUS?" DBo didn't know the exact number so he started to panic, as he did not want to deal with the grade goblin much longer and wanted to get rid of him immediately. DBo did know one thing though and that was if the goblin was around you for more than 5 minutes, his powers would rub off on you. DBo started to make conversation by asking "well what do you classify as castles? Can you be more specific with your question? I would also like a few seconds to think" as DBo was saying anything at this point to try and pass time so he could get to that 5 minute mark. 

The grade goblin knew everything but one thing and that one thing was that his powers could spread if he was around the King longer than 5 minutes. Eventually 5 minutes goes by and the goblin is still lingering around DBo's castle as all of a sudden DBo bursts into the air on track to catch the goblin. DBo flies around chasing the goblin for about an hour until the goblin eventually runs into the football stadium light pole and falls. DBo approaches the grade goblin and pulls of his mask only to discover Greg Fenves, the president of the University of Texas. DBo had finally caught the man who had been driving him to insanity over the last ten years. The grade goblin, identified as Greg Fenves was hacking into all of OU's computer systems to adapt everything that OU was doing so that he could bring it back to Texas. In the meantime, he would hack into professors' computers to adjust students grades and reported that the teachers were the ones adjusting the grades and that DBo was signing off on it. All this time, all this horror, all this pain, all this insanity, DBo had finally found the villain..... only fitting that that villain came from the University of Texas. 

Author's Note: The Twenty Two Goblins is based on tales told by goblins, or "vetala" in Sanskrit, a supernatural creature that inhabits human corpses. The stories are told to the King Vikram. King Vikram faces many difficulties bringing the vetala to the tantric. Each time the king tries to stop the goblins, they tell stories that eventually end with a riddling question that the King is forced to answer. If the King is unable to answer, the vampire will remain in captivity. If the King answered it correctly, the vampire would escape and run back to his home, which was a tree. They are very interesting tales and told in 22 sections, hince the title "Twenty Two Goblins." I will admit I was not crazy about the overall story itself and I couldn't find myself getting really interested in it but I took the plot idea and kind of had some fun with it as I made a story involving David Boren and the University of Oklahoma student body. I thought involving the University of Texas might add even a little more spark to it and an ending that no one was expecting. The whole goblin and king thing really got me thinking and I have been meaning and wanting to write a story involving OU's campus and even David Boren as a "king" because i think it allows the students to really relate to the story a lot better and makes it much more interesting to read.

Bibliography: Twenty Two Goblins by Arthur Ryder (1917)

Storytelling Week 4: Revenge on Shahrayar

Revenge on Shahrayar

Shahrayar, a man who lived a happy life with a happy wife, a man who thought he had it all. Him and his wife Scheherazade did everything together and were known as the happy couple around town. People always saw them hugging and kissing and holding each others hands while always laughing and always having a smile on each others faces. He THOUGHT he had it all, until one day.

One day, he found out that his wife Scheherazade has been cheating on him and he decides to kill her the next morning because he is so betrayed. That was his way of dealing with betrayal and he decides that from that point on, when he marries a woman, he will kill them the next morning simply in fear of being betrayed by another woman like he was betrayed by Scheherazade.

Shahrayer eventually marries 3 women, all of which he killed the next morning because he thought he would or was being betrayed. He was so jaded from being lied to and betrayed by his former wife that he didn't know how to deal with many things. Almost like he didn't know what to do if he was happy and felt like he needed to make himself mad/sad by killing these innocent women, who thought they were happy with Shahrayer.

Eventually, a woman, also known as the fourth woman to marry Shahrayar despite her knowing what he did to all the previous women. She marries him and goes home with him that night, knowing what Shahrayar was planning on doing that morning. Shahrayar had no clue that she had caught on to his tricks long long ago and was expecting to go through with his plan just like he always does.

During the middle of the night, she decides that she is going to return the favor and murder Shahrayar. Before Shahrayar actually dies, she is able to tell him that this is revenge and justice for all of the women that he had killed before. Shahrayar, before he officially dies, says that he killed all these women out of fear and just wanted to be loved. He also said that he felt less betrayed by his former wife that cheated on him when he killed all of these women. Killing these women was like his therapy. The fourth wife had finally caught onto his tricks and fooled Shahrayar into a plan of her own and that was to KILL him before HE killed HER, just like the previous women who had been killed. Later on, it turns out that the fourth wife of Shahrayar had also previously killed 4 MEN because she was cheated on by her first husband. Turns out, Shahrayar and the fourth wife were living the exact same life, doing the exact same things but Shahrayar had no clue. So, did the fourth wife get pleasure out of this?? Yes, she avoided her own death by killing the man that would have killed her the next morning but what will she do now? Will she keep going on with her plan??

Scheherazade

Author's Note: There are many different stories in the series of Arabian Nights but all stories focus on the sultan, Shahrayar and his wife Scheherazade. Shahrayar finds out that his first wife is unfaithful to him and ends up killing her. He then decides he is going to marry a different woman each night, and then kill them the next morning to prevent any further betrayal. Scheherazade, his vizier's daughter, decides this pattern is absolutely cruel and she makes a plan to end this pattern. She marries Shahrayar, and then begins to tell him a story that night. However, she stops the story in the middle, so that he will be excited to hear the rest the following night. Then the next evening, she finishes the story and then begins another, following the same pattern for 1,001 nights, until Shahrayar has a change of heart and stops his pattern of killing women each and every morning. The picture above shows Scheherazade, the wife of Shahrayar. I chose this image because I like having an image of what the characters look like and in this case, this shows both Shahrayar and Scheherazade. As far as my story goes, I really like to look at ALL of the characters perspectives and think of ways that the story can be turned around and told by another side, which is why I chose to write my story where Shahrayar is the one who is killed instead of the women getting killed. 

Bibliography:
The Arabian Nights Entertainments by Andrew Lang (1898)

Week 3 Storytelling: The Story of No Sin

The Story of No Sin

Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden

Once upon a time, there were two people in this world, a man and a woman. And the Almighty God, who created this man and this woman named Adam and Eve to live in a world of paradise. A world with nothing but positive things and happy moments. Adam and Eve were meant for each other. Adam and Eve traveled together, going on different journeys each and every day, experiencing different food and different sights across the world, while learning everything from the Almighty God. God taught them how to live, how enjoy life, how to do everything right, not to ever make any mistakes and live life without sin, which Adam and Eve never knew of such a thing called "sin." They lived a perfect life and eventually God created more men and women to follow the path of Adam and Eve. These men and women new to the world, would follow Adam and Eve's path and learn everything from them. They simply lived the same life as Adam and Eve, no lies, no mistakes, no sadness, no pain and no death. Everyone born in this world lived a life of eternity.  Everyone in the world lived a dream of happiness and lived with everything they could ever imagine. After a few years of traveling and living a life that everyone wishes to live; a life full of happiness and perfection, Adam and Eve decided it was time to part ways. The main reason Adam and Eve decided to part ways was because they felt like they had done everything that they could possibly do in their life. They had done everything together that they could possibly imagine... Traveled the world, ate all the great food they wanted to eat, met all sorts of new people without ever having a sad moment at any point in their life. What else is there to do?? You have lived life to the fullest, what more could make you happier? Adam and Eve did not know the answer to this question and decided that they would be better off going separate ways and starting a whole new perfect life with another person to travel with them, doing all the same stuff they did with each other. In a way, Adam and Eve felt life was getting boring and were somewhat getting tired of one another. In a way, they wondered, is this what life is really about? Everything we ever wanted, we have. Anything we want, we can get. Is there anything more for us to do??

Author's Note: 

My story is based on Adam and Eve and how they were created by God to be the first man and first woman. They were created to live a life of paradise on earth, however Adam and Eve eventually fell into the life of suffering and sin, living through ups and downs, constantly committing sins and begging for God's forgiveness. Fortunately for Adam and Eve, God was forgiving of their sins. This story lead me to think... What would life be like without sin? What would life be like without suffering and pain? My whole point of my story is that Adam and Eve had everything they ever wanted, but they never experienced any pain or suffering, allowing them to grow as stronger people. In my opinion, life is all about getting through your most painful moments and toughest challenges and Adam and Eve did not have any of this and it grew them apart. It was almost as if life was boring without sin and suffering. So my main questions from this story is... What do you think life would be like without sin and suffering? Would we grow as people? Would life be boring like it did with Adam and Eve?

Bibliography:

The Forgotten Books of Eden, Rutherford H. Platt, Jr. (1926)

Week 1 Storytelling: Abram Brown

A small town in Colorado, Image Link

There once was an 80 year old man named Abram Brown, who lived in a small town in Northern Colorado. The whole town knew of Abram Brown because he would walk into town every morning to have a big breakfast at his favorite breakfast spot, The Café. Abram Brown was known as a nice man who would say hi to anybody who walked by, but most people knew Abram Brown as the guy with the long brown coat that button’d down all the way to his ankles. He would wear this coat regardless of the temperature outside. Abram Brown would wake up and walk into town from his house just one mile away. Abram Brown was once a skinny man, until he ate pancakes, waffles, bacon, eggs and biscuits and gravy every morning for two consecutive years. Abram Brown was 160 lbs until two years later after all of those big breakfasts, he grew all the way up to 300 lbs. As each day and each breakfast passed by, it got more and more complicated for Mr. Brown to button down that old brown coat. Then, one day he could not button it at all. Despite gaining so much weight and not being able to button his coat, Mr. Brown walked to The Café every single morning, coat on but unbutton’d, to have his usual breakfast and coffee while he read the daily newspaper. The whole town was shocked to see Mr. Brown gain so much weight over time. One day, Mr. Brown woke up to start his usual routine and as he stepped out his door on his way to have his usual breakfast at The Café, Mr. Brown collapsed and had a heart attack and died right away. The heart attack was caused by his unhealthy eating habits and all the weight that he had gained over time. The town was shocked and saddened to hear the news, as the brown button’d coat man they knew so long would no longer be walking the streets of their lovely town each morning.



Author’s Note:

This story is simply about a man named Abram Brown who once wore a brown coat that button’d down. However, Abram Brown is now dead and gone. My imagination brought me to think of an old man in a small town that everyone knew of and would see walking the streets every day. Then, when I saw “button’d down before” I thought of a reason why that coat would for whatever reason not button down, bringing me to believe that Abram Brown gained so much weight that his coat got too small and he was unable to button it down.



This retelling is based on a nursery rhyme:



Old Abram Brown is dead and gone,

You’ll never see him more;

He used to wear a long brown coat,

That button’d down before.





The Nursery Rhyme Book , author unknown, released 2008