Turning the Tables - A con artist comes up with a great scheme after business becomes slow, but is the scheme really going the way he thinks?
Sinbad the Suspect - The ever adventurous Sinbad attempts to convince the authorities of how he acquired some diamonds but it seems no one will believe him!
The Perfume Fiasco - What begins as a disagreement turns into quite the adventure for two young college girls.
The Twins of Trast Forest - Two young girls are found in a forest by a man who wants to help them get home, but the girls don't want to leave.
Showing posts with label Portfolio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Portfolio. Show all posts
Monday, April 13, 2015
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Storytelling Week 11: The Twins of Trast Forest
Ivy ran through the field. Her sister, Lily, followed closely behind. They often ran through these woods. They played tag and raced one another. Sometimes they would play with the animals who resided in the forest as well. But today was different. Today they weren't running for fun. They were running because they had to. They had to run in order to escape. Their feet flew over the ground as fast as they could. Behind them a voice shouted. Hearing how close it was only urged them to go faster.
Ivy reached out and took her sister's hand as they ran. No matter what, they would stay together. They had always been together.
They came upon a large oak tree. The trunk was large enough to hide both of their small frames. They pressed their backs to the trunk and quieted their breathing. They listened for the sounds of the person following them. For a moment they didn't hear anything. The forest was filled with a strange silence. They started to believe they had escaped. However soon enough noise reached their ears.
It wasn't hard to hear. Their pursuer tramped around the forest with complete disregard for his surroundings. Ivy dared to peek around the tree. She saw him stumble past a bush. She quickly pulled back, squeezing Lily's hand. The man stopped and looked around.
"You don't have to be afraid," he called out. "I'm not here to hurt you."
"Then how about you leave us alone like we asked," Lily hissed under her breath.
"Quiet," Ivy hushed her sister. "If, we don't respond maybe he will go away."
"There you are," said a voice beside them. They turned, screamed and jumped back. The man had made his way around the tree while they were talking.
"Wait! It's alright, I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to help. " He extended his arms towards them and crouched down a bit.
"Help? Why would you want to help us?" Ivy asked, taking a step back.
"You two shouldn't be out here alone. Where are your parents? Why don't you let me help you find them?"
"We're perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves," Lily stated.
The man gave his best reassuring smile. "I have no doubt of that. But it can still be dangerous out here for two young girls all alone. How old are you two?"
Ivy and Lily looked at each other and then around at the forest around them. "It's hard to say. It's been a while," Ivy said, almost to herself.
The man furrowed his brow at that. Definitely not a normal response from what appeared to be a six-year-old child. "Well, what are your names?"
"We weren't given names. The birds took to calling us Ivy and Lily. They were some of the plants near where they found us."
"Found you?"
"Yes. Found us," Lily repeated.
"You said you wanted to help us," Ivy continued. "How do you expect to do that?"
"I want to help you return to your home. That's all. I'm sure your family must be worried about you."
"But this is our home," Lily protested.
"You live here? In the forest?"
The girls giggled. "No," they said together as if he had missed something important.
"I don't understand."
"How can you expect to help anyone if you don't understand something as simple as that?" Lily asked.
"You're right. Perhaps you should explain it to me."
Ivy rolled her eyes. "We were brought here when we were very small. We don't know by who. They left us here nameless and alone. The days turned to night, no one came for us. No one ever came for us. It turned cold and quiet. Then we heard the birds singing. They brought flowers to cover us. This forest is our home, our resting place. But we don't live here. We can't live here."
The man stood up slowly as Ivy spoke and took a few steps back. The girls vanished before his eyes. He only turned around when he heard the one called Ivy speak again from behind him. "We can't live here, you see, because we're already dead."
Author Note: This story is based on the nursery rhyme Babes in the Wood. The nursery rhyme describes a tale in which two nameless children are taken and left in the woods. Over time they were left alone and they died. After they have died, the robins covered them in strawberry leaves and sing a song to remember them. I set my story after they have already died. Their spirits remain in the forest, happy and isolated from the world. They befriend the animals around them and take the names Lily and Ivy because those are some of the plants around where they were left. Their presence in the forest leads to some stories and legends cropping up about the forest; local tales that makes people want to investigate. This story is about one of those encounters.
Bibliography: The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897).
Ivy reached out and took her sister's hand as they ran. No matter what, they would stay together. They had always been together.
They came upon a large oak tree. The trunk was large enough to hide both of their small frames. They pressed their backs to the trunk and quieted their breathing. They listened for the sounds of the person following them. For a moment they didn't hear anything. The forest was filled with a strange silence. They started to believe they had escaped. However soon enough noise reached their ears.
It wasn't hard to hear. Their pursuer tramped around the forest with complete disregard for his surroundings. Ivy dared to peek around the tree. She saw him stumble past a bush. She quickly pulled back, squeezing Lily's hand. The man stopped and looked around.
"You don't have to be afraid," he called out. "I'm not here to hurt you."
"Then how about you leave us alone like we asked," Lily hissed under her breath.
"Quiet," Ivy hushed her sister. "If, we don't respond maybe he will go away."
"There you are," said a voice beside them. They turned, screamed and jumped back. The man had made his way around the tree while they were talking.
"Wait! It's alright, I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to help. " He extended his arms towards them and crouched down a bit.
"Help? Why would you want to help us?" Ivy asked, taking a step back.
"You two shouldn't be out here alone. Where are your parents? Why don't you let me help you find them?"
"We're perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves," Lily stated.
The man gave his best reassuring smile. "I have no doubt of that. But it can still be dangerous out here for two young girls all alone. How old are you two?"
Ivy and Lily looked at each other and then around at the forest around them. "It's hard to say. It's been a while," Ivy said, almost to herself.
The man furrowed his brow at that. Definitely not a normal response from what appeared to be a six-year-old child. "Well, what are your names?"
"We weren't given names. The birds took to calling us Ivy and Lily. They were some of the plants near where they found us."
"Found you?"
"Yes. Found us," Lily repeated.
"You said you wanted to help us," Ivy continued. "How do you expect to do that?"
"I want to help you return to your home. That's all. I'm sure your family must be worried about you."
"But this is our home," Lily protested.
"You live here? In the forest?"
The girls giggled. "No," they said together as if he had missed something important.
"I don't understand."
"How can you expect to help anyone if you don't understand something as simple as that?" Lily asked.
"You're right. Perhaps you should explain it to me."
Ivy rolled her eyes. "We were brought here when we were very small. We don't know by who. They left us here nameless and alone. The days turned to night, no one came for us. No one ever came for us. It turned cold and quiet. Then we heard the birds singing. They brought flowers to cover us. This forest is our home, our resting place. But we don't live here. We can't live here."
The man stood up slowly as Ivy spoke and took a few steps back. The girls vanished before his eyes. He only turned around when he heard the one called Ivy speak again from behind him. "We can't live here, you see, because we're already dead."
(Personal photo from a trip to Sulphur, OK)
Bibliography: The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897).
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Storytelling Week 6: The Perfume Fiasco
"This is all your fault," Alex yelled, pointing to the broken bottles of perfume now scattered on the floor.
"My fault? How can this possibly be my fault? It was the stupid cat," her roommate, Cailey argued.
"How did the cat even get in here in the first place?"
"I don't know! It was running around in the hall making a lot of noise and when I opened the door the cat ran in here and jumped on your desk and your perfume bottles were sitting so close to the edge they fell off!"
"Then it's your fault the cat got in and your fault it broke my perfume bottles!"
"This is ridiculous. Let's go talk to our RA and see what she has to say about whose fault it is."
"Fine by me."
The two girls walked down the hall and into their RA's room. The RA let them each tell their own side of the story and why they felt the way they did about whose fault it was. Cailey explained how Alex shouldn't have left her perfume bottles so precariously placed on the edge of the desk where a single little bump could make them fall. Alex talked about how Cailey let the cat in the room where it was able to cause so much trouble.
The RA listened to each of them intently before speaking about her opinions on the matter. "It sounds to me like the cat is the one who really is at fault here and not either one of you. Go get this cat and bring it here to me so that we may sort this situation out to a proper resolution."
"What?" the two girls asked at the same time.
"You heard me. Find the cat and bring it to me."
"But the cat ran out of the room while we were arguing," Cailey protested.
"How are we supposed to find it?" Alex added.
"Perhaps if you worked together you might be able to find it."
The RA turned her attention back to her own project she was working on, indicating the matter was closed. Cailey and Alex left the room and began looking for the cat. They asked around the residence halls to see if anyone had seen the cat. Soon enough word spread around campus about how they were looking for this cat. Several people even joined in to help them look for the cat. They searched for several hours and experienced several mishaps during their search. They tripped and slipped in mud, Alex ran into a door, and Cailey climbed a tree after a cat and promptly fell out of it. Throughout the process they found themselves laughing more and more at the ridiculousness of the situation. They never did manage to find the cat but at the end of the day they returned to their RA's room.
"Did you find the cat?" the RA asked.
"No," Alex admitted. "But, to be honest, I don't even feel mad anymore."
"Me either. It all seems kind of silly now," Cailey said smiling.
A smile twitched on their RA's mouth. "Good." She reached under her desk and pulled out much to their surprise the cat from earlier. "This is my cat, Oreo. You two were so caught up in trying to place blame you didn't even stop to think about trying to find the owner of the cat and talking to them. Then you went on what appears to be quite the adventurous journey around campus to find a cat and bring it back for a judgment. Sometimes accidents happen and there isn't anyone to blame." She then pulled out a bottle of perfume, the same kind that had been broken. "Now, I'm sorry for the trouble that Oreo caused. I bought you a replacement bottle while you were making your best attempts to climb trees."
The girls both blushed, embarrassed. "Thank you very much," Alex stammered, picking up the bottle.
"Now shoo, both of you go get cleaned up and refreshed."
The girls both left, having learned a valuable lesson, and returned to their room.
Author's Note: This story was inspired by The Donkey and the Rock. I made quite a few changes for my story. In the original story one man's donkey knocks another man's jar of oil off a rock and it spills. They argue and go to visit the king who determines that the donkey and the rock are to blame and orders them tried. On the day of the trial many people came to witness the strange event. The judge then reprimands the people for coming to see such an absurd thing they knew to be impossible and makes each of them pay half a cent to leave. The money was then given to the man whose oil was spilled and both men went their own ways pleased with the outcome. For my story I wanted to make it more modern and more relatable so I decided to make it an argument between two roommates who take the argument to their RA. I also changed the details of how the situation was resolved so that it fit better with the story that I had written. I used the image of my own cat since I changed the donkey to a cat for my own story.
Bibliography: Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925).
"My fault? How can this possibly be my fault? It was the stupid cat," her roommate, Cailey argued.
"How did the cat even get in here in the first place?"
"I don't know! It was running around in the hall making a lot of noise and when I opened the door the cat ran in here and jumped on your desk and your perfume bottles were sitting so close to the edge they fell off!"
"Then it's your fault the cat got in and your fault it broke my perfume bottles!"
"This is ridiculous. Let's go talk to our RA and see what she has to say about whose fault it is."
"Fine by me."
The two girls walked down the hall and into their RA's room. The RA let them each tell their own side of the story and why they felt the way they did about whose fault it was. Cailey explained how Alex shouldn't have left her perfume bottles so precariously placed on the edge of the desk where a single little bump could make them fall. Alex talked about how Cailey let the cat in the room where it was able to cause so much trouble.
The RA listened to each of them intently before speaking about her opinions on the matter. "It sounds to me like the cat is the one who really is at fault here and not either one of you. Go get this cat and bring it here to me so that we may sort this situation out to a proper resolution."
"What?" the two girls asked at the same time.
"You heard me. Find the cat and bring it to me."
"But the cat ran out of the room while we were arguing," Cailey protested.
"How are we supposed to find it?" Alex added.
"Perhaps if you worked together you might be able to find it."
The RA turned her attention back to her own project she was working on, indicating the matter was closed. Cailey and Alex left the room and began looking for the cat. They asked around the residence halls to see if anyone had seen the cat. Soon enough word spread around campus about how they were looking for this cat. Several people even joined in to help them look for the cat. They searched for several hours and experienced several mishaps during their search. They tripped and slipped in mud, Alex ran into a door, and Cailey climbed a tree after a cat and promptly fell out of it. Throughout the process they found themselves laughing more and more at the ridiculousness of the situation. They never did manage to find the cat but at the end of the day they returned to their RA's room.
"Did you find the cat?" the RA asked.
"No," Alex admitted. "But, to be honest, I don't even feel mad anymore."
"Me either. It all seems kind of silly now," Cailey said smiling.
A smile twitched on their RA's mouth. "Good." She reached under her desk and pulled out much to their surprise the cat from earlier. "This is my cat, Oreo. You two were so caught up in trying to place blame you didn't even stop to think about trying to find the owner of the cat and talking to them. Then you went on what appears to be quite the adventurous journey around campus to find a cat and bring it back for a judgment. Sometimes accidents happen and there isn't anyone to blame." She then pulled out a bottle of perfume, the same kind that had been broken. "Now, I'm sorry for the trouble that Oreo caused. I bought you a replacement bottle while you were making your best attempts to climb trees."
The girls both blushed, embarrassed. "Thank you very much," Alex stammered, picking up the bottle.
"Now shoo, both of you go get cleaned up and refreshed."
The girls both left, having learned a valuable lesson, and returned to their room.
(Personal photo of my cat, Professor)
Author's Note: This story was inspired by The Donkey and the Rock. I made quite a few changes for my story. In the original story one man's donkey knocks another man's jar of oil off a rock and it spills. They argue and go to visit the king who determines that the donkey and the rock are to blame and orders them tried. On the day of the trial many people came to witness the strange event. The judge then reprimands the people for coming to see such an absurd thing they knew to be impossible and makes each of them pay half a cent to leave. The money was then given to the man whose oil was spilled and both men went their own ways pleased with the outcome. For my story I wanted to make it more modern and more relatable so I decided to make it an argument between two roommates who take the argument to their RA. I also changed the details of how the situation was resolved so that it fit better with the story that I had written. I used the image of my own cat since I changed the donkey to a cat for my own story.
Bibliography: Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925).
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Storytelling Week 5: Sinbad the Suspect
Detective Casey looked over the file presented to him. Some officers had picked up a disheveled
man with several large, high-quality diamonds in his possession. According to the report the man had approached the officers offering some diamonds in exchange for passage home. Further investigation of the diamonds had led back to a jewelry store robbery a few blocks from where they arrested the man. They also had reports from a local airstrip showing a stowaway in a small plane matching their suspects description. Immediately when the officers arrived back at the precinct with him, several detectives
had passed him off to the next one. Unfortunately when he
arrived at Detective Casey, there was no one left to pass him on to. Detective Casey let
out the breath he was holding and entered the interrogation room. He sat at the
table across from the suspect.
“So, Mr. Bad is it?”
“Sinbad, it's all one name.”
“Ah, yes, Mr. Sinbad. Can you tell me how you came into possession
of these diamonds?” Detective Casey gestured to the diamonds in evidence bags
on the table.
“Same way I told everyone else, I found them.”
“Where exactly did you find these millions of dollars’ worth
of diamonds?”
“In a diamond field of course. Where else would I find them?”
"How did you arrive at this diamond field?"
"Oh, that's where the giant bird I was attached to landed."
The detective took a deep breath. "Perhaps it would be best if you told your version of events in their entirety from the beginning."
"Alright, if you insist. I am a merchant, responsible for the import and export of certain goods. I was traveling around looking for new goods to bring back with me. We stopped off at a small island for a short break. While there I fell asleep on the beach, and when I woke up the ship had left me there! I ran all around the island looking for some way to get their attention. That's when I found the giant white boulder that was very soft to the touch."
"A soft boulder, you say?"
"Yes! Only it wasn't a boulder at all! It was an egg! I had found the nest of the great Roc bird! Soon enough the bird itself returned to the nest. Here is where I saw my opportunity. I tied myself to the bird's foot so that when it next took flight it would take me with it. Sure enough, the next morning the bird left its nest and flew far away. When the bird landed, I untied myself and ran off to the side. I discovered soon enough that I stood in the middle of a field of snakes! The bird killed some and took them back to its nest. I took refuge in a cave for the rest of the night. The next morning I took a look around where I was. As I walked along I noticed several beautiful stones. I realized that I had to be in the field of diamonds! I knew other merchants came here all the time and I might be able to find some to help me get home! I gathered up as many stones as I could find and put them in my pockets, hoping that I could use some of them to secure my passage home. Luckily, it didn't take long for me to find some other merchants. However, once they discovered that I had some diamonds, better quality than their own I'm sure, they became extremely jealous and attacked me! They rudely shoved me to the ground, restrained my hands, and tried to take my diamonds from me. Then they brought me here over what I am sure is a ridiculous misunderstanding that I now have to relate to you."
"I see. Thank you for that explanation, Mr. Sinbad. We'll get someone to take you back to your room now and hopefully by the morning we can get this all straightened out."
Sinbad smiled like that was the best thing he had heard all day. "It's nice to finally speak to someone who has some common sense!"
Detective Casey stood and exited the room letting out a huge sigh. His partner, Detective Hughes, came to stand beside him.
"So, what do you think he took?" she asked.
"I have no idea. Whatever it was that he took I hope it's worn off by morning."
"Regardless, we have enough to book him for stowing away on the plane. It was a small plane from Roc Airways. Then we've got the surveillance cameras showing him breaking into and stealing diamonds from the jewelry shop. We also have the statements from the officers he ran into whom he offered to trade the diamonds to for a ride home."
"Finish up the processing paperwork, and then we'll come back and deal with the rest of this in the morning. I'm going home. I've had enough of this for one day."
"See you tomorrow then."
Author Note: This story was inspired by The Second Voyage (Part 1, Part 2). To be honest I had no idea what I was going to do with this story. When I was just about to fall asleep, the idea of Sinbad trying to explain his voyage in a police interrogation came to me, I rolled over, texted a note about it to myself, went back to sleep and when I woke up I decided to run with it. The story that Sinbad tells to the police is the original story from Sinbad's second voyage. In the original story he did in fact get stranded on an island, find a giant egg, tie himself to the leg of the giant bird the egg belonged to, go to the valley of diamonds, encounter some other merchants and using diamonds he gathered he was able to negotiate passage home. I chose to make it seem like the whole thing was a delusion he had. I tried to incorporate the details of what really happened in my story fit along with the delusion such as the valley of diamonds actually being a jewelry store and the Roc bird actually being a small plane from Roc Airways. The image I chose depicts Sinbad in the Valley of Diamonds and is an illustration of the original story.
Bibliography: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).
"How did you arrive at this diamond field?"
"Oh, that's where the giant bird I was attached to landed."
The detective took a deep breath. "Perhaps it would be best if you told your version of events in their entirety from the beginning."
"Alright, if you insist. I am a merchant, responsible for the import and export of certain goods. I was traveling around looking for new goods to bring back with me. We stopped off at a small island for a short break. While there I fell asleep on the beach, and when I woke up the ship had left me there! I ran all around the island looking for some way to get their attention. That's when I found the giant white boulder that was very soft to the touch."
"A soft boulder, you say?"
"Yes! Only it wasn't a boulder at all! It was an egg! I had found the nest of the great Roc bird! Soon enough the bird itself returned to the nest. Here is where I saw my opportunity. I tied myself to the bird's foot so that when it next took flight it would take me with it. Sure enough, the next morning the bird left its nest and flew far away. When the bird landed, I untied myself and ran off to the side. I discovered soon enough that I stood in the middle of a field of snakes! The bird killed some and took them back to its nest. I took refuge in a cave for the rest of the night. The next morning I took a look around where I was. As I walked along I noticed several beautiful stones. I realized that I had to be in the field of diamonds! I knew other merchants came here all the time and I might be able to find some to help me get home! I gathered up as many stones as I could find and put them in my pockets, hoping that I could use some of them to secure my passage home. Luckily, it didn't take long for me to find some other merchants. However, once they discovered that I had some diamonds, better quality than their own I'm sure, they became extremely jealous and attacked me! They rudely shoved me to the ground, restrained my hands, and tried to take my diamonds from me. Then they brought me here over what I am sure is a ridiculous misunderstanding that I now have to relate to you."
"I see. Thank you for that explanation, Mr. Sinbad. We'll get someone to take you back to your room now and hopefully by the morning we can get this all straightened out."
Sinbad smiled like that was the best thing he had heard all day. "It's nice to finally speak to someone who has some common sense!"
Detective Casey stood and exited the room letting out a huge sigh. His partner, Detective Hughes, came to stand beside him.
"So, what do you think he took?" she asked.
"I have no idea. Whatever it was that he took I hope it's worn off by morning."
"Regardless, we have enough to book him for stowing away on the plane. It was a small plane from Roc Airways. Then we've got the surveillance cameras showing him breaking into and stealing diamonds from the jewelry shop. We also have the statements from the officers he ran into whom he offered to trade the diamonds to for a ride home."
"Finish up the processing paperwork, and then we'll come back and deal with the rest of this in the morning. I'm going home. I've had enough of this for one day."
"See you tomorrow then."
Author Note: This story was inspired by The Second Voyage (Part 1, Part 2). To be honest I had no idea what I was going to do with this story. When I was just about to fall asleep, the idea of Sinbad trying to explain his voyage in a police interrogation came to me, I rolled over, texted a note about it to myself, went back to sleep and when I woke up I decided to run with it. The story that Sinbad tells to the police is the original story from Sinbad's second voyage. In the original story he did in fact get stranded on an island, find a giant egg, tie himself to the leg of the giant bird the egg belonged to, go to the valley of diamonds, encounter some other merchants and using diamonds he gathered he was able to negotiate passage home. I chose to make it seem like the whole thing was a delusion he had. I tried to incorporate the details of what really happened in my story fit along with the delusion such as the valley of diamonds actually being a jewelry store and the Roc bird actually being a small plane from Roc Airways. The image I chose depicts Sinbad in the Valley of Diamonds and is an illustration of the original story.
Bibliography: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Storytelling Week 3: Turning the Tables
Kane sat in the back alley looking over his scores for the day. It was a poor showing he had to admit. Two of the wallets he had managed to score didn't even have any cash in them. At this rate his reputation as the fox, the best local thief, was going to be in danger. Even tourists who were his usual go-to when business was slow were low in numbers these days. He let out an exasperated sigh, tossed the wallets into the garbage and exited the alley back onto the street. He wandered around for a few minutes attempting to find a new mark. He saw something that caught his eye. It was a kid, no older than twelve or thirteen. They were standing outside of a shop and looking around in a distressed manner. But what really caught his eye was how the kid was dressed. She was wearing expensive clothes not suited for this area of town. A wicked grin spread across his face. A lost child that came from money, this could work in his favor.
Kane approached the kid and tapped her on the shoulder. "Everything alright?"
The kid turned to face him. They were on the verge of tears. "I, I got separated from my big brother. I was looking for him but then I got lost and now I don't know where to go."
"If you would like I would be happy to help you look for him."
"Really?"
"Of course!"
"Thank you, Mister!"
"Please, call me Zach. And what's your name?"
"Emily."
"Well, Emily, where were you last with your brother?"
"We were at the bookstore, the one by the elementary school."
"I know just where that is. Shall we head that way and start looking for him?"
Emily beamed at him and nodded her head enthusiastically. As they turned and started walking, Kane once again felt himself smiling. Everything was going smoothly so far. They walked several blocks to the northeast, into a more upscale part of the town.
"Over there!" Emily exclaimed, pointing across the street. "That's where I last saw my brother. He went down that passageway."
Kane flashed a smile at her. "Let's start there then."
The girl skipped ahead of him and he followed her down the passage.
Something hard and heavy connected with his head. Suddenly the world was tilting and he realized he was falling. But why was he falling? That didn't make any sense to him. He hit the ground and tried to look around. A pair of expensive shoes came into his field of vision and he looked up. Emily was standing above him, looking down with a smile. That didn't make any sense either. Something flickered out of the corner of his vision and he turned just in time to see a large boot come flying at his torso. Knocking the wind out of him, it collided with his chest. As he struggled to regain his breath, he managed to turn over onto his other side. Soon enough he felt himself being turned back over onto his back and his pockets being rummaged through. They found what they were looking for and stopped soon enough.
Emily knelt down beside him. "Silly little fox, you should've known better. This territory belongs to me and is guarded by my ever faithful dog."
He looked past her and found this dog happened to be a very large man.
"I hope you learn your lesson from this. It would be a shame if we had to review it," Emily continued.
The man lifted his boot above Kane. He tried to raise his arms to block but he wasn't fast enough. The boot collided with his head. Everything went black.
Author Note: This story is based on The Dog, the Cock, and the Fox. In the original story the fox hears the rooster and is trying to trick the rooster by pretending to welcome it to the forest but is really trying to eat the cock. However, the fox himself is tricked, directed around the tree by the cock who pretends to be grateful for the welcome where he is attacked by the dog. For my story I changed them to human characters as animals wouldn't have suited the direction I wanted to take the story in. I really love stories with deceptions and turning it back on the other person which is why I chose this story to retell and also why I decided to make it more of an intentional deception with my characters representing the dog and the cock being con artists in their own right. I chose the image I did because it is the illustration for the original story. I feel that the illustration is still very fitting even with the changes that I made to the story. The fox and the cock are having a seemingly friendly interaction but you can clearly see the dog hidden and waiting for the chance to attack.
Bibliography:
The Aesop for Children, with illustrations by Milo Winter (1919).
Kane approached the kid and tapped her on the shoulder. "Everything alright?"
The kid turned to face him. They were on the verge of tears. "I, I got separated from my big brother. I was looking for him but then I got lost and now I don't know where to go."
"If you would like I would be happy to help you look for him."
"Really?"
"Of course!"
"Thank you, Mister!"
"Please, call me Zach. And what's your name?"
"Emily."
"Well, Emily, where were you last with your brother?"
"We were at the bookstore, the one by the elementary school."
"I know just where that is. Shall we head that way and start looking for him?"
Emily beamed at him and nodded her head enthusiastically. As they turned and started walking, Kane once again felt himself smiling. Everything was going smoothly so far. They walked several blocks to the northeast, into a more upscale part of the town.
"Over there!" Emily exclaimed, pointing across the street. "That's where I last saw my brother. He went down that passageway."
Kane flashed a smile at her. "Let's start there then."
The girl skipped ahead of him and he followed her down the passage.
Something hard and heavy connected with his head. Suddenly the world was tilting and he realized he was falling. But why was he falling? That didn't make any sense to him. He hit the ground and tried to look around. A pair of expensive shoes came into his field of vision and he looked up. Emily was standing above him, looking down with a smile. That didn't make any sense either. Something flickered out of the corner of his vision and he turned just in time to see a large boot come flying at his torso. Knocking the wind out of him, it collided with his chest. As he struggled to regain his breath, he managed to turn over onto his other side. Soon enough he felt himself being turned back over onto his back and his pockets being rummaged through. They found what they were looking for and stopped soon enough.
Emily knelt down beside him. "Silly little fox, you should've known better. This territory belongs to me and is guarded by my ever faithful dog."
He looked past her and found this dog happened to be a very large man.
"I hope you learn your lesson from this. It would be a shame if we had to review it," Emily continued.
The man lifted his boot above Kane. He tried to raise his arms to block but he wasn't fast enough. The boot collided with his head. Everything went black.
(Illustration by Milo Winter)
Author Note: This story is based on The Dog, the Cock, and the Fox. In the original story the fox hears the rooster and is trying to trick the rooster by pretending to welcome it to the forest but is really trying to eat the cock. However, the fox himself is tricked, directed around the tree by the cock who pretends to be grateful for the welcome where he is attacked by the dog. For my story I changed them to human characters as animals wouldn't have suited the direction I wanted to take the story in. I really love stories with deceptions and turning it back on the other person which is why I chose this story to retell and also why I decided to make it more of an intentional deception with my characters representing the dog and the cock being con artists in their own right. I chose the image I did because it is the illustration for the original story. I feel that the illustration is still very fitting even with the changes that I made to the story. The fox and the cock are having a seemingly friendly interaction but you can clearly see the dog hidden and waiting for the chance to attack.
Bibliography:
The Aesop for Children, with illustrations by Milo Winter (1919).
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