Week 9 Story Planning

Reading Notes

In the story I read this week, The Myths and Legends of the Sioux, a rabbit tricks some grouse into a bag to take to his grandmother. Furthermore, the Sioux stories always possessed an interaction between an animal and a human. I would like to include this into my story. Additionally, I read the past week Beowulf where Grendel, the villain, kills the villagers. A major theme I want to play off of is the trickery and the villain preying on villagers.

My Story/Plot

In my story, I would to have a group of bears be the villains in my story. They will have the power to transform their bodies into anyone they see. Therefore, they will trick a group of villagers into following them back into the lair where they reside. There, they will kidnap the villagers and hold them hostage to be fattened to be feasted on. Since they do not want to cause any panic in the town, the bears will transform themselves into the villagers and go about the normal days of the cities. One of the bears will get greedy though, and compromise all of the bears hiding in the village. There will be a falling out with all of the villagers and the bears. I have not yet decided which perspective I would like to write in. I actually plan on making the bears the main characters and from their perspective.

Characters

 Blackfoot: This will be the main bear of the group. He will be very strong and wise. He will be the one who designs the entire process of kidnapping and posing as the villagers.

Nokosi: This will be the youngest bear of the group of three. She is extremely intelligent and respects Blackfoot significantly. She will be the one who resolves the conflict between the bears and the villagers: either by fighting or by compromise.

Hopi: He will be the strongest bear of the group. He thinks he should be in charge despite his lack of intelligence. He will be the one who will try and take more villagers than there are bears. This will cause the town to figure everything out and will cause the main conflict.

Awan: The leader of the village. He will be in charge of creating a plan to defeat the bears that are tormenting the village.

The Kidnapped Villagers: These people will play small roles for they will only be included when they are tricked into going into the lair. There will also be random villagers in the end of the story during the conflict. 

MotherJones

Myths andLegends of the Sioux by Marie McLaughlin (1916).

The Tales of Aarav Delfino

On a rainy night near the Port of Basrah a weary old man limped down the street into a tavern. He walked into the tavern that was full of clicking tankards, loud music, and the usual chatter of a hundred drunk men and women. As he walked in, it was evident he did not fit into this young crowd. He took a seat next to a scrawny fellow who couldn’t be older than a fourth of his age. The fellow was dressed in a thawb that reeked of fish and the salt from the sea. The young man was sipping on his newly poured arak when the old man finally spoke.

“Ah, I can tell that you belong to the sea, my friend. When do you set sail next?”

“Tomorrow. I just got back from my first trip but I need the money. My wife just gave birth to my beautiful daughter.”

“Well, a working man is the best kind of man. To get your mind off of leaving your daughter, I’ll tell you a story. Have you ever heard of Aarav Delfino and his voyages across the Indian Ocean?” The old man replied with a certain level of eagerness in his voice.

“No, sir, I have not. Would you care to enlighten me? I could really use something to get my mind off of setting sail tomorrow.”

The old man cleared his throat and told the story of the great Aarav Delfino…

When Aarav was about your age, he began an epic journey to Jakarta to trade cloths and pieces of art from his hometown. Now Aarav was quite the barterer and had already taken many of these trips before. He always came back home with a pocketful of sequins and this trip should be no different. However, he couldn’t have been any more wrong.

He set sail on his beautiful ship with a dozen hands that would reap only a small fraction of his spoils. The crew was sailing the sea just off the coast of Sri Lanka when a horrible storm rolled in. The clouds were as dark as a moonless night, only to be lit up by the sharp lightning strikes up above. As the wind swirled, the ship began to sink. Aarav, being the most agile of the crew, jumped off the ship first just in time before the sea engulfed the ship and all of his crew.

Aarav swam for what seemed like forever when he finally reached the shore of a lush island that he had not seen before. He quickly dried off his clothes and put down his large sword. From pure exhaustion he collapsed into an area that was full of fallen palm fronds. He closed his eyes and slept through the night.

As the morning sun rolled over the horizon, Aarav opened his eyes. His vision slowly cleared when in front of him he saw a gigantic egg. From tales of other sailors, he knew exactly what he had come across. It belonged to the 20-foot-long snake called a moccra. These moccras were extremely aggressive and protective when anyone or thing got near their young. Aarav needed to come up with a plan immediately or he would have to fight off this magnificent serpent. If he fought, he would not win.

He was always quick on his feet, so he developed a plan immediately. What he would do was carefully break into the gigantic egg and hide where the young serpent was residing. He would put the egg shell back together and wait for the mother moccra to return.

Portrayal of the moccra

Aarav was waiting in this warm, damp egg when he heard a slow hiss getting closer and closer. He peeked through the cracked egg and saw the giant black and yellow moccra slithering to its young. The moccra curled up next to the egg for it did not know Aarav was hiding there. As the hissing slowed and the moccra fell asleep, Aarav began to act. Jumping out of the egg, he swung his sword into the neck of the mother. A large squeal followed the attack and then complete silence. Aarav had defeated this beast with ease.

The first thing he did was cut off the fangs of this snake for he knew they would easily sell for a thousand sequins each. He then went into survival mode and cleaned the serpent of her meat. He developed a meal plan to survive for however long it took until he found help. What he did not know was that no one was looking for him. He was all by himself.

To be continued...

Author’s Note: I read the Seven Voyages of Sinbad and developed my story on this topic. I wanted to incorporate the storytelling aspect of the original story. Therefore, I made the old man be the storyteller. I think this places a crucial part in allowing the reader to connect with the narrator. In addition, it allows the reader to decide for themselves whether the stories are real, exaggerated, or simply made up.One of the things that I enjoyed when reading these tales were Sinbad’s intelligence and his business-first mind. Therefore, I let Aarav possess both of these traits in order to be successful in his long journey home after his ship was wrecked. In addition, I wanted to include an epic journey where Aarav would face a giant creature. In the original Sinbad, he ran into a giant bird called a roc. This animal shows up multiple times throughout the original story. I did not want to use the same animal as the original so I developed a new animal called a moccra (snake). I plan to include more voyages of his in upcoming stories. After defeating the animals and other obstacles, Sinbad usually makes it back home with ease. In my story, I wanted to make it to where he does not get home as quickly. Therefore, he will have to overcome a multitude of obstacles in order to make it back home safely. 

The Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Written by Andrew Lang and Illustrated by H.J. Ford. 1898.  

A Dog's Immortality

Hi everyone! My name is Sunny. I am a 13 year old Bernese mountain dog. I am about to tell you the story about my unique journey to becoming immortal…

Bernese Mountain Dog

⤁

I let out a large yawn as the door to the room slammed shut. It took a while to adjust to the darkness inside this new home of mine, but the lights from the Christmas tree in the corner helped out. I was the new to this shelter and was anxious to know what the local dogs would think of me. As I was about to lay down when a low bellowing voice from the kennel across the room spoke out.

“Hey newbie! Names Sasha. What’s yours?” The shape of a beautiful border collie appeared before my eyes. His eyes were sunken and he looked quite old.

“Uhm, the name is Sunny.”

“Well, Sunny. I see you’re quite young compared to all the locals. I am sure that you will get adopted pretty quickly with that smile of yours. I do have one question though since you won’t be around long and I don’t want you to suffer the same fate as me being in here. Have you ever heard of immortality?”

“No, I am afraid not.” I returned an answer to this strange question.

“Well you see, once you are adopted you can gain immortality. All you have to do is a simple task in order to gain this magical gift.” Sasha’s voice slowed down and hung on the last few words

.

“What is the task!?” I yearned for immortality because I simply feared death. I mean, who doesn’t?

“It’s simple… Become a good boy.” With those words, Sasha laid down and fell asleep.

⤁ 

The next morning was a complete blur. I was contemplating what Sasha had mentioned the night before but kept getting distracted from the humans walking around. As dogs next to me got adopted left and right, I finally gave up and laid down to rest. I can’t believe how some of these dogs last in here for months. I wanted out… Now!

Just as all hope was lost, a young man and woman walked up to my kennel. A few good scratches and licks later, I was in their car with my head out the window. I was well on my way to becoming a good boy for my humans.

The car finally came to a stop and I sat in my seat waiting patiently to not get in trouble. I mean, my first impression had to be good so I can become immortal. All of a sudden, a smell caught my nose. I resisted and resisted but my oh my that smell! It smelled like heaven. As my new owners opened the door, I couldn’t take it any longer…

I jolted as quickly as I could and was on the trail of this delicious smell with my new humans following right behind. When I arrived at the end of the smelling trail, I saw what it was. It was the most delicious looking prime rib I had ever seen. I stuck my tongue out to lick it but I remembered that I needed to be a good boy.

Prime Rib

I couldn’t help it though. I mean this prime rib looked amazing! So before my humans got to me I gobbled up about half of the prime rib. I was ashamed… I couldn’t even resist this my FIRST day with my humans. I felt my tail go between my legs and I slowly walked to the corner. 

As soon my new humans reached me, I heard the anger in their voices. I knew I was in trouble. I mentally prepared for my punishment when all of a sudden the young woman got on her knees and spoke to me.

“Aw hun. Our pup must be starving! They must not be feeding him anything in that kennel. Let me cut off some more for him and we can all celebrate our Christmas Eve dinner together.”

As she put some into my bowl, I heard her say those magical words.

“Here’s your food Sunny. You are such a good boy!” My face lit up with excitement. I was well on my way to becoming immortal and happy forever!

 ⤁

Now as I sit here 11 years later breathing heavy, looking into the eyes of my humans I love so much, I finally understood what Sasha meant. Being a good boy did not actually mean immortality. What it meant was having the best possible life and getting to spend every second of it with MY humans. I mean hey, that feels like immortality to me…

Author’s Note: This reading is based off of me reading The Monkey King. The stone ape in this story tries to become immortal but constantly suffers from not being civilized enough. I wanted to play off of this and have my main character be a dog who couldn’t resist simply being a dog. The stone ape eventually gains immorality, but he never really became civilized. Therefore, I had Sunny do something as easy as becoming a good boy and gaining not immortality, but a great life with his humans. I felt that having a dog live forever would have been unrealistic, therefore, I decided to be more grounded in my story. In contrast to the original story, I made Sunny happier and not so stuck on himself. I felt the original stone ape solely wanted immortality for himself, however, by the end of my story I wanted the reader to understand why Sunny wanted it. He simply wanted to live forever with his humans.

In terms of characters, symbols, and the setting, I tried to keep some portions similar to the original while I changed others. The prime rib represented The Peaches of Immortality that the stone ape ate without permission. Additionally, Sasha was the great Master that the stone ape heard of immortality from. Finally, I wanted it to be set in the modern world for the reader to be able to connect better with the story. 

Week 6 Story Planning

Reading Notes

In the story I read this week, The Monkey King, the stone ape is trying to become civilized in order to learn the how to become immortal. He struggles with his animalistic behavior when learning from multiple people on how to develop the skill to become immortal. One of the major things that he does is he eats the Peaches of Immortality from the Queen Mother of the West. These were supposed to be part of a large feast but he lacks the civilized nature to understand not to eat all of these rules.

My Story/Plot

In my story, I would like to include a modern story where a young dog decides he wants to become human-like in order to have a longer life. He ultimately moves in with a family and starts trying to learn from them in order to become civilized. After a while of learning, he feels he is ready to display his results at a Christmas party that his family is attending. Although he feels he is ready, he actually eats all of the prime rib and buttermilk pie. He feels ashamed for he has failed his family for all the help that they have given him, but he ultimately learned what it takes to become human from the youngest son and gains a longer life.

Characters

Sunny: A Bernese mountain dog that is currently in the pound. He discusses with another dog that if he learns to become civilized when adopted that he will gain the life span of a human (immortality to a dog). He eventually moves in with the Tucker family and starts his journey to become immortal. I will name him Sunny for a nickname for the stone apes name of Sun Wu Kung.

She Knows: Bernese Mountain Dog

Sasha: A black and white border collie that tells Russel all about the potential immortality that can be attainable if he becomes civilized.

Ethan: He is a 14 year old son of the Tucker family, and he helps Ollie become immortal. He has just reached an age that makes him feel that he understands adulthood and ultimately becomes Ollie’s master.

The parents of Ethan will also have small roles in my story. 

The Ape Sun Wu Kung. Written by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens. 1921.

The Root of All Evil

My name is Sid, and I am a corporate lawyer at one of the largest firms in New York. Some may say I am successful, but I never understand why. Yes, I have money, but I lack a certain level of happiness that I just didn’t possess. My life involves constant meetings, phone conferences, and driving to and from work. For some reason, this morning would be different. I had finally had enough…

Beep, beep, beep! The alarm seemed like it was angry with me this morning. As I rolled over, I saw the time: 5:45 AM. I sat up in total exhaustion and mentally prepared for the long day ahead of me. I thought of all the meetings I had scheduled today and my mood worsened. I let my mind wander to a fantasy of me sitting on the beach with a cold beer in my hand and no worries of work.

It all of a sudden hit me. Why am I here in New York? Why do I constantly have to have my phone with me? Why do I have to work 16 hours a day, 7 days a week? These thoughts overwhelmed me and I thought of a solution: an extended vacation.

I quickly got my phone out and called my infallible and overly demanding boss. “Hey, Sullivan, I am not going to make it in today or, as a matter of fact, the rest of the week. I am going to the Cayman Islands and do not know when I am coming back.” With every word, the weight of work lifted off my chest.

“Sid, I never told you that you could take off! We have a huge case coming up so you better get your tail up here immediately. If not, you can kiss your job goodbye!”

As I listened to his words, a quick smirk came over me and I did something no employee should ever do. I pressed that red button and hung up on him. I quickly booked the next flight out, and was on my way to paradise.

The following morning I awoke to the blazing sun above me. I walked out of my ground-level condo and touched the warm sand with my feet. The sounds of the waves crashing into the sand had such a soothing effect. I quickly found a spot to sit down. It was under a large palm tree that provided just enough shade to avoid the beaming sun. 

Wikimedia

I sat down and meditated about life in this crazy modern world. In my deep thoughts I asked myself, “What is the cause of my deep unhappiness? There is unhappiness because of exhaustion. What is the cause of exhaustion? There is exhaustion because of demands. What is the cause of demands? There are demands because of authority. What is the cause of authority? There is authority because of structure. What is the cause of structure? There is structure in order to provide work. What is the cause of a need for work? There is a need for work because of the desire for riches. Extreme wealth and money was the answer. All of this work and exhaustion was for this monetary item.” Without the need for these, I would avoid all of the above issues. I quickly got on the phone and called my boss.

“Sullivan, you don’t have to fire me. I quit!” I hung up without him even responding. I walked straight to the front office of the condo complex and asked the manager if they needed a landscaper. With a quick yes, I had my new laidback job.

I walked back to my palm tree, cracked open another beer, and scooted out from under the tree. I got real comfortable because this place would be my home now. All was happy in the world.

Author’s Note: I wrote this story based off of the events from the book The Life of Buddha. I changed the original story in that this story took place in the modern world of New York and Cayman. I felt that having the story be told in a modern world would allow the reader to relate more to the story. The main character Sid, was supposed to be Siddhartha from the original story. He was a rich man who decided that there was more to life than monetary value and success. He eventually left his home just like Siddhartha did to explore what life really was about. The palm tree that Sid was sitting under was a direct comparison to the Knowledge Tree that Siddhartha sat under when he discovered the truths of the world. I wanted the story to feel a little more laid back than that of the original. Finally, the paragraph about the causes and effects of certain things is the same format that The Life of Buddha used. Here is a link to the original story so you can see how the Life of Buddha was written. The passage was a connection of feelings and events that ultimately went back to ignorance of man just like in the original story. I chose to have the root of all evil to be a hungry desire for wealth and success since that is what I feel today’s world is all about.

Bibliography: The Life of Buddha. Written by Andre Ferdinand Herold. 1922. 

Odysseus and the Sirens

Greats screaming roars filled the bay as the mighty Odysseus escaped the lands of the Cyclopes. Polyphemus, the giant cyclops, was screaming with pain as he had just been stabbed in his only eye by the devious Odysseus. As he calmed down, he spoke with his mighty voice to his beloved father Poseidon.

“Oh mighty father of mine. I know I have disappointed you before, but I have lost one of my most prized possessions. Without my only eye, how will I live? How will I tend to my sheep? How will I hunt? I am at a loss. Please Poseidon, avenge my loss!”

As Poseidon sat in his underwater palace, he heard his forgotten son’s cry for help. He immediately knew what needed to be done to repay Odysseus, and it would not end well for the over confident King of Ithaca. He quickly sent the message through the sea to the one thing that could avenge his son: beautiful sirens…

Odysseus grinned as his ship sailed through the treacherous water. The sea was getting rough but he thought of how lucky he was to have escaped the grasps of that evil Cyclops Polyphemus. As he sat in his cabin eating the freshly cooked goat, he felt an uneasy feeling come over him. He quickly got dressed and ran onto the deck of his ship.

“Elpenor, why are we heading west? Our sails should be heading to my kingdom Ithaca. I cannot wait to tell my wife of my strength and whit to defeat the mighty Cyclops.”

“King Odysseus, the tide strengthens every second, I am afraid there is nothing we can do to change course. The man on the crow’s nest spotted a beautiful island this way though. We can feast and wait for the storm to end. Then we will head to Ithaca.” Odysseus, with irritation, accepted the option.

As Odysseus and his men arrived on the island, they began to cook and drink sweet red wine from the hide skin pouches. The night progressed full of celebration for their escape from Polyphemus. As the sun disappeared over the horizon, a strange noise could be heard from the rustling sea. It was a smooth and calming sound, like a mother singing lullabies to her brand new infant. The men stopped what they were doing and were mesmerized by the music. The men slowly walking towards the ocean in a trance, when all of a sudden a beautiful siren jumped out of the water. The men entered the water to meet these beautiful creatures. As soon as the men reached the water, the music stopped. There was a quick splash of the water and the Odysseus’ men were pulled under the water and drowned one at a time. The sirens attacked the men, destroying all of the ships with their powerful tails.

Sirens

Odysseus recognized this trickery and broke free from the trance. In a panic, he tried to devise a plan to save not only himself, but the rest of his men fighting off the sirens. He studied the hectic shore and noticed that the sirens were avoiding the area next to a beautiful purple jacaranda tree.

He yelled at the only man remaining, Elpenor, “That purple tree is our only hope! They cannot go near this tree for it is poisonous”.

The sirens continued their mesmerizing songs, while Odysseus fought the overwhelming urge to go into the sea. He ran in the tide towards the tree, slowing down as the music intensity increased. Elpenor was following when all of a sudden one of the sirens grabbed his ankle. She started pulling him into the water with her powerful body. All was lost. Elpenor was about to give up when all of a sudden the siren let go. The entire group of sirens screeched and dove down into the depths of the ocean. Elpenor was in shock as he looked up at the strong Odysseus hold a limb of the jacaranda tree.

 

Both men, exhausted, sat on the sand of the beautiful beach and thought of what just happened. They had escaped yet again, but were now stranded on the island with no ships and no men. The long journey home had just gotten a little longer…

Author’s Note: My story was inspired by Homer’s Odyssey. I kept the original story similar in that Odysseus and his men escaped the cyclops and faced a long journey home. I included similar characters such as Elpenor, Polyphemus, Odysseus, and the sirens. I wanted to touch on the fact that Odysseus is very arrogant and thinks that he cannot be defeated. I almost included a part where Poseidon actually defeats Odysseus, but I wanted to stick to the original story in that Odysseus is one of the strongest men. Furthermore, I wanted to include a certain item that would allow for Odysseus to defeat the enemy, so I included the purple jacaranda tree.

Homer’s Odyssey. Translated by Tony Kline. 2004. 

Week 2 Storytelling: A Trojan Victory

The story is set in the middle of the Trojan War. The Trojans have held off the Greeks for long enough but the walls were starting to get weak. Achilles and Patroclus had already taken their troops and had headed back home on the roaring sea. Agamemnon and the Greeks now faced a choice on what to do about the Fair Helen. No one knew what was about to happen, except Agamemnon…

The sword dripped with blood as Menelaus fell to the ground. Agamemnon stood over his motionless body with an evil grin on his face. He wanted the beautiful Fair Helen all to himself. Her beauty was not like anything he has ever scene and Agamemnon’s desire for her grew. Agamemnon put the sword back into his sheath and yelled at his shocked army, “I am your king and you do as I say. Tomorrow, we march on Troy one last time. I am the most powerful man in the world and I want what I deserve!”  

The news of what happened spread like wildfire to the gates of Troy. The news of Menelaus’ death broke in the hall where Hector, Paris, and the Fair Helen were feasting. All three of them sat in silence and in utter shock for the betrayal of the leading Greek king.

Paris broke the silence, “I do not care what Agamemnon desires. Helen is the love of my life and I will not go down easily”.

Hector stared in the distance. He took a large sip of his sweet red wine and spoke. “Quiet my brother. This could bring a great opportunity for the City of Troy.”  

“How so! He is marching on Troy with everything they have. We surely cannot stop their forces from breaking into the wall. We are all doomed!”  Paris replied with his shaky voice. For he is was scared of what Agamemnon would do to him.

Without another word to his brother, Hector pushed out and his chair and walked directly to a private room. He closed his eyes and prayed to Zeus directly. “Oh almighty Zeus, if it is your divine choice to let the Trojans win this war against this greedy mortal, let it be.”

His words rang all the way up to Mount Olympus. Zeus, sitting on his throne, heard Hector’s prayers and contemplated whether he should allow for the Trojans to win or not. He knew it would disturb the other God’s to interfere with mortal fights, but he could not sit back and let a man like Agamemnon defeat the Trojans. He thought of what he could do, and finally thought of a brilliant plan that involve Hermes. It was a plan that involved using Agamemnon’s infallible behavior.  

Zeus and Hermes

The sun rose early that morning, and the Greek army was already marching onto the City of Troy. The battle was fierce with Agamemnon sitting in his chariot. All of a sudden Agamemnon yelled to his men. “Stop! There she is. My Fair Helen is riding away from the City of Troy!” As he and his men pursued, Helen and her horse sped around the side wall of Troy. The army was gaining on her when the mirage of Helen quickly disappeared, for it was Hermes portraying himself as the Fair Helen. Zeus and Hermes had tricked Agamemnon into believing he almost had captured what he desired. As the image of the Fair Helen disappeared, Agamemnon’s face dropped with fear. A thousand Trojan archers, led by the mighty Hector, were aiming right at him. As he yelled in fear, all of the archers released the strings on their bows, unleashing the arrows directly at Agamemnon and his men.

The next month in the City of Troy was filled with wine, food, and celebration for their victory over the greedy king.

Author’s Note: This story was written because this week I read Homer’s Illiad. I felt that I did not really like how the story ended since the Trojans lost the war. Therefore, I wanted to change the ending where the Trojans were victorious. I wanted to respect the original story in that if Achilles fought, he would have defeated Hector. Therefore, I had Achilles leave the battle and return home since he had thought about it throughout the Illiad. This allowed for me to let Hector and the Trojans win without defeating Achilles. In the original Illiad, Zeus is faced with the decision to help Hector and the Trojan’s defeat the Greeks. Furthermore, I utilized the way Athene tricked Hector into fighting by making Zeus use Hermes in order to trick the greedy King Agamemnon. The Illiad really focused on the interaction between the Gods and mortals and just how interactive the Gods were in dealing with mortal fights. I felt Zeus should have helped Hector more, therefore, I included that in my story. I also wanted to make Agamemnon have a personal reason for wanting to fight the war. I felt that the person who desired the Fair Helen should be at the center of the story. That is why I chose to have Agamemnon fall in love with Helen and want to win the war to win her over. The final character I wanted to include was Paris. I felt that he was cowardly throughout the Illiad. I chose to keep his characteristics by making his dialogue display how afraid he was of Agamemnon and of fighting. 

Bibliography: Homer's Illiad. Translated by Alfred J. Church (1907). 

Week 1 Storytelling

Source: Cabin in the Woods/Paradise

The “Sold” sign slowly disappeared as my parents and I drove off. We were moving again, of course.  This was the third time this year and all I could think about was how many more times will I have to be thrown into another school. A new place, new friends, and a whole new beginning, again. My parents said this move will be different though, they called the new cabin an oasis in the middle of a secluded forest.

As I looked out of the window at the foggy landscape, I could feel my eyes yearning for sleep. I did not want to miss any of the drive so I fought with all my might to stay awake. Just then I heard the blinker on the car turn on and we exited off the highway onto Eerie Forest Road. We were driving on the bouncy road as huge oak trees consumed the sky above me. All of a sudden the car jerked forward as the car came to a complete stop. My dad revved the engine, trying to free us from whatever had stopped our car. As I looked out to see what it was, I could feel the car slowly sinking into the mushy ground beneath us. It dawned on me. I quickly unbuckled and yelled to my parents, “Quicksand!”. We jumped out of the car just in time as the quicksand completely engulfed the car until all we could see was the antenna poking out. We all stood in shock staring at the ground, trying to figure out what actually just happened. We knew that the best way to fix this crazy event was to head towards the new cabin and call for help, so we started walking.

We walked for what seemed like forever when my dad decided he needed to go to the restroom. With my dad gone, my mom and I heard a murmur coming from the distance. As we waited and waited the murmur got louder and louder. All of a sudden, my dad came running towards us, screaming, with a large swarm of killer bees following closely. As I turned to run, I noticed a stream of water. We all were able to make it to the water and to escape the deadly stings of the bees. Just in time.

              As we continued walking, we finally made it to where the cabin was in sight. Just as we let out a sigh of relief, we heard a chopping sound near the cabin. From behind the house walked a crazy axeman screaming at us to get off his land. As the man ran after us, we hid behind a large oak tree, breathing ever so softly. As the axeman searched for us, I accidentally moved my foot, causing the axeman to hear where we were. He started chopping down the tree we were behind. With the cabin nearby, I went around the left side of the oak and yelled “Over here!”. As the axeman quickly looked my way, my dad came out from behind the tree and tackled the axeman, sending his ax flying away. We all sprinted as fast as we could to the cabin, with the axeman right behind us. He quickly caught up to me, and as he lunged forward to grab me, I woke up to my mom holding my arm as we arrived at our new cabin. It was all a dream, nothing but a dream.

Author note: Written from the inspiration from Tom Gauld's Map of the Area Surrounding our Holiday Home. I started from the South, worked Northeast, and finally arrived at the cabin where the axeman was located. 

Map of the Area Surrounding our Holiday Home, a cartoon by Tom Gauld from his book ROBOTS, MONSTERS Etc., 2006. http://onlinecourselady.pbworks.com/w/page/12763863/week1storytelling