Week 13 Story: The Confession

A man in handcuffs.
Source: Express

The room was quiet and dimly lit. I could feel the metal cuffs around my wrists. My heart was beating rapidly. I knew what I had done was wrong and I knew that I must pay the price. The guilt I have felt over the last few months is enough to drive any normal person insane, but I am not normal. I am a cold blooded criminal and today is the day I will pay the price for my sins.

I was interrupted out of my deep thought by the sound of footsteps approach the room. This was it. This was the moment I was going to confess everything. I do not know if I am ready, but ready or not, the time was approaching. I questioned myself  daily in the days leading up to my arrest. I knew that I was going to turn myself in eventually, but what I did not know was why? Was it the constant guilt that I felt or was it my conscious returning?

This time I was interrupted by a stern voice saying, "Mr. Robinson, do you know why you are here?"

Of course I knew why I was there, but do I admit it now or do I wait? The decision was tough but I decided to go with my gut or maybe it was my conscious. I replied, "Yes," in the coldest voice I could. The look on the officer's face was priceless. I could not tell if it was a smirk knowing I was about to confess or if he was utterly in shock at my response.

After a few seconds of silence, the officer asked, "Are you confessing?"

Again, in the most evil tone, I replied, "Yes."

The officer asked, "Do you want a lawyer?"

"No. I am going to confess my sins and I will pay my price," I responded hastily.

The officer was in shock and left the room. I knew my moment of freedom were coming to an end, but for some reason this did not bother me. I guess my conscious really was returning. The next thing I knew, the officer returned, but this time, he brought another officer, a pad of paper, and a tape recorder with him.

The new officer said, "I am detective Morgan and I hear you have a confession..."

I interrupted before he could finish his sentence, "Yes, I do."

Let's rewind three months back. I had just lost my job. My boss fired me for getting in a fight with a coworker. The guy was  a real jerk and he had it coming. I begged to keep my job, knowing that someone with no high school diploma would have a difficult job finding a job that paid as much as this one. The boss refused and I was irate. Not knowing what else to do, I headed to the bars and drank the day and most of the night away. I do not know what came over me, but I decided to head to my ex-boss's house. 

I was livid and I wanted the boss to feel what I felt. I wanted him to have something good taken right from his hands for no apparent reason. I wanted him to lose something. I wanted him to hurt. Perhaps it was my drunken state combined with my rage, but what I did next will cost me the rest of my life. I marched into his house not knowing what I was going to do. When I wondered in, I saw his two kids playing in the living room and I took them. I kidnapped his kids. No one saw me, no one would have ever expected this from me but this night is the night that changed my life for the worse. It was the night I became a kidnapper. 

I knew I would eventually get caught and I knew it was just a matter of time before I spent the rest of my life behind bars.

I was brought back into reality by the officer saying, "We are ready for your confession."

I uttered the last words I spoke as a free man, " I did it. I kidnapped Mr. Buchanan's kids."

Author's Note: The original story was about two sparrow that had just had kids. The happy father sparrow flew away from the nest to go and get food for his family. Upon returning home, found his wife flying around frantically crying. He asked her what happened and she told him that while he was gone an evil snake crawled into their nest and devoured their children. The two sparrows were devastated and determined to get revenge, but the snake told them that they were mere sparrows, so what could they do to a big snake like him. The sparrow began pondering a plan and one night, the man who lived in a house below their tree came home with a lantern and he just so happened to set the lantern in an open window. The sparrow's then saw a way to avenge the death of their children. The father sparrow went and got the lantern and set the nest on fire. While the snake was escaping the nest, the man who lived in the house had climbed the tree to try and poke the nest out of the tree before the whole tree caught on fire. When poking the nest, he stabbed the snake and he died. The moral of this story was karma in my opinion, so I wanted to carry this idea to the retelling of my story. From the moment I read this story, I knew I wanted to add it to my portfolio, so I decided to change the characters to humans, so it would fit the theme of my story. I then decided to put the story in the villain's perspective, which in my opinion made the story more intense. 

Bibliography: "The Sparrows and the Snake" from The Tortoise and the Geese and Other Fables of Bidpai by Maude Barrows Dutton. Source.

Week 11 Story: The Deserving King

The Deserving King:
**Latest version can be found here.

The poor man caring for the four caught in the storm.
Source: Whispering Books

"Daddy! Daddy! Tell us again how you became king." shouted the three princes.

"Not again boys!" said the King.

"Please Dad!" said the boys in unison.

"Alright, but after this you have to go to bed. Promise?" asked the King.

"We promise!" said the boys.

"It was nice day. The birds were chirping, and the sky was blue. Suddenly, the sky turned dark, the winds began to roar and the river became a choppy, rough mess. You see boys, before I became King, I was a very poor man. I lived in a ragged shack down by the river. The storm had been raging for a while when I began to hear a man shouting. I went outside my shack into the rain and saw a man floating down the river on a log. I knew that I had to rescue him, because if I did not, he might drown. I bravely went into the raging river and began swimming toward the log. When I finally reached it, I found the current and safely pushed it to shore. When I safely reached the bank, I realized that the man was not alone. Accompanying the man on the log was a snake, a rat, and a parrot, all which were unconscious. The man was just happy to be on land, so I quickly took the animals into my shack and placed them by the fire to warm, and then I went back out and drug the now unconscious man into my shack. I checked each being over and concluded that the animals where in much worse shape then the man, whom I determined to be the prince was.

 I began to nurse each of the animals one by one and then I moved onto the prince. It took a few days, but when each gained strength, they began to thank me, and eventually it was time for them to leave. When the snake left, he was so grateful and he told me that he knew where some gold was buried and whenever I needed it to just go to him home and call out to him, and he would tell me where it was buried. He then went on his way. When the rat left, he was also thankful and told me that he too knew were gold and money was buried and to come to his home and call out to him when I needed it. When the parrot was departing, he told me that whenever I needed rice to come to him and he and his family and friends would gather the best rice they could find for him. Finally, when the prince was leaving, he told me to come to him when he was king and he would give me riches.

 Time went on and eventually the king died and the evil prince became king. I then decided to test each of the creatures that I rescued that day. I first visited the snake. When I got to his home I called out and the snake emerged from his home and he said, "Kind sir, I will tell you where the gold is," and he told me. I thanked him for holding his end of the promise and told him I would go get it when I needed it.
I then visited the rat, then the parrot. Each animal showed that they were still so grateful for me saving them. I was pleased and felt happy that they were so grateful.

 Finally, it was time to visit the king. When I approached the king in court, he acted like he did not know me and ordered me to killed for asking for money. The guards were in shock. As they took me into their grasp I began to tell them the story of how I rescued the king from the river. The guards looked at each other and then charged the king, killing him. They then placed me on the throne and crowned me king." concluded the king.

"Thanks dad." nodded the eldest prince as he rolled over in his bed and joined his brothers in a deep and restful sleep.

The king smiled as he watched his sons sleep.

Author's Note: The original story is much like this one. It was titled, The Wicked Prince and the Grateful Animals. The original story focused more on the wicked prince versus the poor man. The story line stayed the same. I simply changed the perspective of the story from third person to first person by making the poor man (the deserving king) tell his sons the story of how he became king. I personally thought that the story would become so much more powerful hearing the story in first person and would add another dimension making the king's sons proud of their dad. I also liked the idea of the king's sons thinking that the story of how their dad became king was the best story he ever told. From this, I feel like there could also be a lesson,which is what the king's sons were taking away from the story. During the original story, I felt that the main theme was about being selfless and caring for the well-being of other and also, most importantly being grateful, honest and truthful. The moral of the story was do not make a promise that you do not intend to keep. This was a very indirect lesson and takes some thinking to understand.

Bibliography: "The Wicked Prince and the Grateful Animals" from More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbit.

Week 9 Story: Ved Vyasa

Ved Vyasa
Source: Wikipedia

Vichitravirya died suddenly and left the world childless and unfortunately, left Hastinapur without an heir. Chaos struck the palace. No heir, left no one in life for the throne and without a king, Hastinapur was at risk. The obvious solution was to have Bhishma father children, but he refused, holding up his vow of celibacy. The next solution was brought up by Bhishma's and Vichitravirya's mother, Satyavati. Satyavati revealed to Bhishma that before she was wed by his father, she had a child out of wedlock. He was raised as a sage in the forest and he would come to her whenever she called, his name was Ved Vyasa. Her idea was to have him come to father the children of Ambika and Ambalika. Bhisma agreed and Satyavati called upon Vyasa.

When Ved Vyasa arrived in the palace, everyone was frozen in awe. They could not believe their eyes. Ved Vyasa was the most beautiful man anyone had laid eyes on. He was tall, muscular, and had the a perfectly chiseled face. It seemed that Ved Vyasa had been made by the god of beauty. Every women in the castle was struck speechless just by once glance at Ved Vyasa. Word eventually reached the two young queens, that Ved Vyasa had arrived and he was the best looking man anyone had ever seen. Both the queens, being excited to meet the man who would father their children, dressed in their best clothing and jewels and went to greet him.

Just like all the other women that had laid eyes on Ved Vyasa, both Ambika and Ambalika were speechless upon first look at Ved Vyasa. They gathered themselves and approached him. Both were eager to meet him and perhaps were too strongly influenced by his looks. Their first encounter with Ved Vyasa was wonderful. They treated him to a four course meal and wine, and showed him to the best room in the castle.

You see, Ved Vyasa was the perfect man. He was kind and has amazing looks but this caused a feud between the two young queens. Both argued constantly over who he would take into his embrace first. When Ved Vyasa went to Ambika first, he could see the greed in her eyes. He then told that her child would be born greedy. When Ved Vyasa took Ambalika into his embrace, he could tell she was angry and told her that her child would be born angry and mean.

Not wanting another child with a certain condition, the next time that Ved Vyasa entered her chambers, Ambika sent a servant in her place. When Ved Vyasa entered and the servant did not woo over his looks and he could see in her heart that his looks did not affect her, he took her into his embrace and told her that her child would be born a great wiseman.The three children were born just as Ved Vyasa had said they would.

Author's Notes: The original story was very similar to this one except for one fact. In the original story, Ved Vyasa was not beautiful. In fact, he was the complete opposite. His looks were so bad that when he took the two queens in his embrace, Ambika closed her eyes, so her son was born blind, and Ambalika was pale with fear, so her son was born pale, the servant however, did nothing and he said no fear was in her heart and her child was born wise. I wanted to change this story to the opposite and make Ved Vyasa so beautiful that it would cause a feud between the queens. I thought this was a nice twist. My original idea was to just put this in the perspective of one of the queens, but I liked the idea of completing changing the story to the opposite and have Ved Vyasa being a man worth fighting over.

Bibliography: "Sons of Vyasa" from the video Mahabarata Episodes by Epified.

Week 6 Story: Losing Amba

**This story is now part my portfolio, Epics of India Portfolio.

It had been a few weeks since the capture of my love, Amba. I have taken the loss very hard. I feel betrayed and enraged that she was taken out of my grasp. I knew I would win the tournament, which would have allowed me to marry Amba, but Bhishma, captured Amba and her sisters for his brother to marry. I knew there was no getting her back. The whole thing seemed so suspicious. One day, Amba is telling me that she loves me and that we are secretly betrothed, then she almost smiled when Bhishma captured her.

As time went on, I began getting angry with Amba and the thought that she planned the whole thing began creeping into my mind. She helped me to train so I would win the competition, so who's to say she did not plan her capture with Bhishma. Why would she do this to me? Did I hurt her? Or was she just looking for a way out of our relationship? Did she just want to embarrass me?

 I became so enraged by Amba's capture that I lost my way. I found comfort with any women that I could get my hands on. Out of spite, one day, I decided to marry another women. I knew that is Amba was to ever hear of this, it would break her heart, and that is exactly what I wanted. I wanted Amba to feel the hurt and betrayal that I feel.

One day, as I was sitting on my throne, my guard approached me and said that I had a visitor. All of the sudden, Amba walks into my court. I was speechless, her beauty was still intoxicating to me, but her deed were unforgivable.

 I immediately said, "Woman, leave my court and never return."

Amba, looked shocked by my words, and replied, "Oh my love! I have returned to you so we can be married at once. I talked to Bhishma and told him of my love for you and how it would be unfair for me to marry his brother."

How was Amba saying this? She left me. Angrily I replied, "I am married to a woman who is much more worthy than you. Leave my court and never return. If you return you will be imprisoned and killed."

Drawing of Amba
Source: Wikimedia Commons

I could see the hurt on Amba's face and at last, I was at peace with losing the competition. Amba finally felt my pain and embarrassment.

Author's Note: In the original story, Amba was the main character. I wanted to change the story and put it in the King of Shalwa's perspective so we could get some insight on the way he treated Amba. In the original story, Amba really is captured by Bhishma, and no, she did not plan it. In this story, she approached Bhishma and tells him that she is in love with another and secretly betrothed. She then goes to tell him that it would not be fair if she married his brother while longing for another. Bhishma then lets her go. When she gets to the King's palace he immediately rejects her and tells her to go. We did not know why he did this. It was suggest that it was simply because the king was immoral and cruel all along. Amba was outraged and she went into the city. She had nowhere to go. She was too prideful to go back to Bhishma and too embarrassed to go home, so she took refuge in a hermitage. Overtime, Amba grew angry and began blaming all of this on Bhishma. She wished he would die. She began fasting and praying and eventually Shiva came and heard her prayers. Shiva then told her that she would kill Bhishma. Amba was confused because she was just a woman. Shiva told her that she would be reincarnated as a man, but not only a man, a fierce warrior. Amba then knew what she must do. She built a pyre, set it ablaze and got into it. The whole she was saying, "I do this for the destruction of Bhishma! To obtain a new body for the destruction of Bhishma do I enter this fire!" I wanted to put the story in the King of Shalwa's perspective so we could have an explanation for why he turned Amba.
Bibliography: "Amba" from Myths of Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita.

Week 4 Story: Sita in Captivity

***This story's most recent version is on my portfolio site.

I was alone, tired, and hungry. I know I looked a mess, but it had been days since I had been captured. I was losing track of how long I had been in captivity, days were just running together. The only company I had was the tormenting rakshasas guarding my cage. I knew Ravana would return soon, and I knew what he would ask. He said all he wanted was me, but I love Rama and no matter the pain or suffering it might cause, I cannot betray him.  Ravana had been keeping me locked away in his palace. It truly was a place of beauty, built of solid marble with floors of gold and stairs of coral, it was a sight to be seen, but the wicked that went on in that place soiled it's beauty for me.

Ravana talking to Sita.
Source: British Library

All the sudden, I was woken out of my deep thought by the sound of the jingle of bangles around women's feet, I knew Ravana was coming back with his swarm of wives surrounding him. I shook in fear. Ravana approached my cage and tried to woo me. Ravana said, "Sita, you could end your suffering now. I will take you as my wife and you can live in pure bliss with us here." I could tell he was being genuine, but I could not betray Rama. A life without him, and seeing him so hurt would be enough to torture me for the rest of my life. I replied sternly to Ravana, "You know my heart belongs to Rama, our love is pure and eternal. I should not betray him by accepting your offer." Ravana furiously replied, "Woman I give you two months to accept my offer of I will torture you to your death. I will let the rakshasas have you and dispose of you as they please." I shook with fear, but knew in my heart that I would accept my fate before accepting Ravana. I replied, "You shall do no such thing. Rama will be here to rescue me soon and he will slay you with his own two hands." Ravana laughed and walked away. I cowered back into my corner hoping that what I said was true. Where was Rama? Why had he not rescued me yet?

Author's Note: "Sita and Ravana" In this story, Hanuman had finally finds Sita. He saw her surrounded in Ravana's home by rakshasas. During this whole episode, he was hidden a tree near, where he could witness this whole scene unfolding. I kept the episode details the same and I just changed the story to Sita's perspective. I thought hearing what Sita was going through first hand would allow the reader to connect with her better. I like the idea of having her tell her story so we could feel what she felt. I added the detail of Sita being in a cage and of her being hungry and tried. In the original story, when Hanuman found her he said he recognized her by her fair flawless look and her jewels, so I took the idea and wanted it to make her seem that she was almost unrecognizable because of her state. I liked the original story line, so I did not want to make any changes. I rephrased the conversation between Ravana and Sita to make it less confusing and in my own words, but other than that and the perspective change my story is similar to the original.
Bibliography: Sita and Ravana from Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita.

Week 3 Story: Rama's Diary

January 31, 2018:

Dear diary, it is me again, the great hero Rama. Who would have ever thought that a manly hero/prince such as myself would keep a diary? Oh well, it can be our secret. Anyway, today was the best day of my life. Today, I saw the woman whom my soul longs for and I know I will marry her. How did we meet you ask? Well, it all started like this. My brother, Laks and I had been staying with a hermit, when Laks told me he wanted to go into the city. Feeling up for an adventure, I agreed. We made our way through the marvelous city, which I might add was a little awkward because people kept staring at us. I mean I know I am good looking and all, but crowds of people staring at us was definitely odd. Anyway, we kept going through the city, from street to street just admiring the views. Finally, we arrived at a large arena that they called the Place of Ladies, which was just a meadow of

Picture of Rama and Sita.
Source: Amory Saber

sports. We took in the view of our adventure and decided to head back for the night. 
The next morning when Laks and I were bathing in the stream, we saw some flowers on the bank unlike an other flower we had ever seen. We decided to pick the flower, but upon investigating the flower, we noticed that the flowers actually formed a sort of path, so we followed it.  The flower path just so happened to lead into the garden of the king. It was splendid, from the bountiful fruit trees, the marvelous peacocks, the beautiful lake in the center, to the astonishing lotus flowers spread out across the lake, the place was truly fit for a king, no pun intended. We asked the gardener for permission to pick some of the flowers we had seen and he said it was fine so we went about our adventure. While picking flowers, all of the sudden I heard the jingling sound of bangles around a woman's ankle, and I knew then, without even looking, that the woman who was approaching was the woman who I would love for all of eternity. I turned to look and saw the King's daughter Sita, I was breathless. 
Sita had beautiful dark hair, soft eyes and a warm smile that would make any man fall for her. We made eye contact and my heart skipped a beat. I could tell she felt the same way by just looking into her eyes. Not a word was spoken between us, but I knew in that moment I would love her for the rest of my life. I turned to my brother and told him that I was in love with that woman and was going to marry her. He looked at me like I was crazy, but he swears, that he saw a look in my eyes and he knew that what I had just said was true. I knew that she would be hard to get, but eternal love is worth it. One day, I will marry Sita. Now looking back on the day, I see that we were clearly meant to follow the path so I could find my true love.

Authors note: I kept the story line the same as the original story, but instead of letting someone else tell the story, I put it in Rama's perspective. I left out the parts from the original story that were about Sita. In the original story, Sita and her maidens were walking in the garden and one of her maidens that was walking ahead, saw Laks and Rama and pointed them out to the group. From the story I can infer that Sita felt the same way about Rama, because on her way back to the palace, she stopped at the temple to pray. At the end of her prayer, flowers fell and she knew then that her prayer was answered. I liked the idea of a diary because who would think that Rama would have a diary, so I thought it would add a sense of humor. I also added the part about the flower path. In the original story, Rama and his brother just go to pick flowers and end up in the king's garden. I found it a little off how two men randomly wanted to pick flowers, so I made the flowers turn into a path that would lead Rama to his true love.

Bibliography:  "Sita" from The Divine Archerer by F.J. Gould. Web Source. 

Week 2 Story: The Story of How a Fairy Defeated the Goblins

Hi, I'm Lily the fairy and I am the ruler around these parts. I live in a forest on the coast of what used to be Goblin City. My castel is huge. I made it in the trunk of an old tree, so it definitely has a vintage vibe to it. Things used to be so lonely around here until I made the goblins disappear. Now, it is the picture perfect forest with all sorts of magic critters just running around. Now, about the Goblins "going away", it is a long story, but today, I am going to expose the truth behind the defeat of the goblins.

The goblins have always eaten people, but the people outside of Goblin City had no idea. Every time the she-goblin's husbands went missing, they would tell an elaborate story about how their husband's ships were lost at sea. Unfortunately, the people could not see through their lies, but I did. It took years for the people to finally realize what was happening, and when they did panic struck. This is when the humans broke the treaty. Ever since then, the forest has been a mess. The humans became fearful of all magic creatures, creating fear and distrust on both sides. I have lived in hiding for awhile now, and I am the only fairy left in the forest, but don't worry. I have devised a plan to demolish the goblins and restore peace with the humans.

My plan started by making a ship crash into the coast just outside of Goblin City. You see, since most of the humans have been devoured or are hidden away from the goblins, the only way for them to hunt is to bring people in, but what they do not know is I am going to create a great army to rise against them. The ship contained a crew of five hundred men and I knew that I was going to win them over. The first night that the ship crashed, the she-goblins took their old husbands to prison, so they could eat them later. The next day, all the she-goblins took clothing and meals to the men and sure enough, they fooled the men and invited the men back to their city. A week passed, and the men began to wonder why there were not other  men in the town. This is when the she-goblins again told their tragic stories of their husbands and once again, the humans fell for their lies. The sailors then decided to marry the she-goblins, not knowing their true identities. 

One night, the she-goblins decided to feast. They eagerly waited for their husbands to fall asleep, and then they snuck to the prison to have a meal. This is when I made my first move. I decided to start with the captain, since he was the most respected man. I woke him frantically, trying to hurry before the goblins came back. The captain woke up confused and startled. I immediately began telling him about his wife's identity and that all the women in the town. At first he did not believe me so I told him to wait and watch his wife. That very night, when his wife finally returned, he heard her singing, "Man's meat, man's meat. That is all Goblin's eat," as she was munching on an arm. The captain, now knowing that what I said was true, alerted his crew the next morning on their daily walk. Some believed him, and to their disfortune some didn't.

 The next day, not wanting to spare any time, I decided to stop the sailors while they were on their walk. This is when I told them the whole story, and to my surprise, the men believed me right away, saying that they had their suspicions all along. Right then and there, we decided to come up with a plan to eliminate the goblins. We decided to make our move quickly, so that the goblins would not expect it. Right on time, the men filed into the forest looking ready for battle. Equipped with some powers I gave them, and beautiful winged horses, we carried out our plan was to capture the goblins, put them in the prison where they stored their prey, and finally give them to the humans to restore the treaty and trust. Our plan proceeded without flaw. Once we had all the she-goblins trapped, we ran into the forest alerting every creature of our victory. Finally, the news reached the humans. The King came to us, took away the evil goblins, restored our treaty, and made me, Lily, the ruler over the whole magic forest. He even threw in some gold and a new ship for my new sailor friends. Now, with the goblins gone and the peace restored, everyone in the forest and I will live happily ever after.

The Sailors on their horse riding to capture the goblins. 
Source: W. Robinson.

Author's Note: 

The original story is, Goblin City. I found it a little odd how the fairy was just mentioned at the end of the story and instantly became the hero, so that is where my idea began. I wanted to make the fairy have a larger role in the story, but she ended up becoming the main character. To start my story, I just asked myself all of the questions I had while I read the story. The main one was why the fairy hated the goblins, so I decided to take an idea from Disney's Maleficent, with a magic forest and the humans not trusting the creatures in it. I then took the originally story line of the sailors crashing on the coast and made it seem like the fairy had devised a plan to bring men to the city. I then decided to make her in control and reach out to these men, essentially making them her army, to create her revenge and restore peace with the humans, which was her plan all along.

Bibliography:

 "Goblin City" from The Giant Crab and Other Tales from Old India by W.H.D Rouse. Web Source.