Portfolio Index

1. The Blizzard - A retelling of the classic tale of Noah's Ark.

2. Notscha vs. Sun Wu Kung - A story detailing the epic fight between Prince Notscha and Sun Wu Kung, the immortal monkey king.

3. Left Behind - An extension to the Apache creation stories with a wicked twist.

4. Mouse Escapes - A continuation to the Brothers Grimm stories with a taste of revenge.

Week 13 Storytelling: Mouse Escapes

"What do I do now?" thought Mouse as he spiraled down Cat's esophagus and into his stomach. He bounced a few times upon landing before finally coming to a stop. It was dark and moist inside Cat's stomach and there was also a strong, putrid acidic smell emanating from all sides.

Mouse was upset that he had been foolish enough to believe Cat's false stories. He should have known that Cat was leaving the house to eat all the food they had stored up for the winter. Cat wasn't even his real friend, now that he had tried to eat Mouse. Not only did Mouse not have any food for the winter, he was basically almost dead! He was lucky that Cat had swallowed him in a hurry instead of taking the time to properly chew him up. Now he had to find a way out before the digestive juices in Cat's stomach located him and tried to break him down! There was surely no way to combat the acid without suffering severe burns. He decided the only way out was to continue moving downstream through Cat's digestive system. Down Mouse went, through the stomach to the small and large intestines, and finally near the bladder where he knew he could exit.

In the bladder, Mouse was met with another rotten smell. This time he knew exactly what it smelled like even though he tried his hardest not to think about it. All he knew was that he had to escape before Cat's body did something to him that would lead to a slow, painful death. He plunged into Cat's bladder and made quite some progress before he was met with a dead-end. 

"Now what?" thought Mouse as he became more and more exasperated. He had to find a genius way to escape from the depths of Cat's digestive system, but the only thing he could think of was to chew his way out from inside Cat's body. He was a mouse after all, and mice are fortunate to have sharp teeth that can gnaw their way through many different things. It was a long shot, but he had to try: his life depended on it. So Mouse did the only thing he could: he bit into the insides of Cat and started to gnaw his way through to the outside. It wasn't an easy or clean task (I'll save you all the gory details), but with a little time and patience, Mouse burst through Cat and landed outside, back in the real world.

At the same time, Cat felt a sudden sharp pain in his lower stomach as Mouse burst out and fell to the ground. Cat was astonished! He had never seen anything like this. But Cat didn't have time to be surprised. He had a hole in his stomach and was bleeding out!

"Help me!" Cat yelled to Mouse in obvious pain.

Mouse took one quick glance at Cat and sped off. Who did Cat think he was to take advantage of Mouse, steal their food, and eat him with the intent to kill and then still try and ask for help? Mouse chuckled and went off to search for food and shelter in order to survive the winter season.

Tom and Jerry; Flickr

Author's Note

The original story, called Cat and Mouse in Partnership, is about a cat and mouse who decide to live with each other through the winter season. Together, they round up some food to save for winter and then store it inside a church so that no one dares to steal it. The next day, Cat makes up an excuse that he is to be a godfather and has to leave the house all day. In reality, Cat actually sneaks off to the church and eats the pot of fat that they foraged for and stored for the winter. When winter finally arrives and they're no longer able to find food outside, they head to the church to retrieve the pot of fat. Of course, Cat has eaten it all and Mouse becomes extremely angry when he pieces it together and realizes what had happened. However, before Mouse can say anything, it's already too late: Cat leans down and swallows Mouse whole. This is where the story leaves off in the original text. I wanted to write about what happens after to the Mouse. I didn't think it was sufficient for the Mouse to die so pathetically, so I decided to add an epic escape from inside Cat. I also wanted karma to come around and get Cat for being cruel, so that's why I decided to have Mouse just take off after he escaped. The original story also reminds me of the show Tom and Jerry, so that's why I included the image that I did.

Bibliography

Brothers Grimm from Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales by Dan Ashliman

Week 10 Storytelling: Left Behind

The old man watched as one by one, people ascended into the upper world. There were four ladders placed in position for people to climb up, each of a different color. As more and more people went up, the makeshift ladders began to wear down until there was only one ladder left. By the time the last of the people had gone up, the last ladder, too, was worn out. The old man looked at his equally old wife and wondered what they were going to do. They were too old to make it up these ladders into the upper world, and even if they could, there were no working ladders left to make it safely.

"Take us out!" yelled the old man. "Don't leave us here!"

The people stopped and looked back at the old, feeble couple but did not make an effort to take them out. After all, they all thought the couple wouldn't survive the journey upwards anyways so it was a lost cause. They kept on walking and began to explore the new world without any more thought of the old couple.

The man looked at his wife in disbelief, fuming over the fact that they had been left behind. "Why would they do that? Why were they leaving us behind in this godforsaken underworld?" he thought to himself.

The old woman called back up to the people, "You will come back here to us."

The people who heard the woman wondered what she meant. Surely they would have no reason to go back to the awful underworld. They took the old woman's words as nonsense and paid no more attention to the old couple. Little did they know that the woman was a witch who knew spells that could do unimaginable things to people. She had lived happily in the underworld with people she trusted, so until now, she had no reason to use spells or even let people know she was a witch. Things had changed today, though, and the old couple knew that the others were not to be trusted anymore. It was time to take action and get even.

While the others were up exploring the water-laden upper world, the old lady was hard at work preparing her spell. While the others knew what water was, they had no idea what rain was or why the upper world was covered in so much water since they had lived in the underworld their whole lives. The witch, however, knew of stories that talked about great storms causing lots of chaos. She wanted to cast a spell that would cause a storm so bad that the others would be forced to back down in order to survive.

Twenty minutes later, the spell was complete. "Make the storms rage and batter the upper world until the others have no desire to stay there!" she exclaimed as she finished the spell.

In the upper world, the people noticed that the sun was rapidly vanishing behind a wall of thick, dark storm clouds. To them, this was a novel experience and had no idea they were in for the biggest scare of their lives. As the clouds grew darker, the wind began to pick up until it was howling. Then came the sheets of rain just being dumped from the sky. Thunder rumbled across the sky as it was lit up with blinding lightning strikes. Within seconds, the people were soaked with no shelter in sight. They were bewildered that water was pouring down from the skies. As they looked up in shock, large balls of ice began to fall and knock people out. They yelled out in pain, trying to protect their heads from the painful onslaught of hail. In the distance, a funnel-shaped cloud was beginning to descend to the ground, and with it came strong winds and lots of debris. In fact, there was so much debris and so much wind that people were picked up into the air and thrown hundreds of feet into the air before landing in a crumpled heap.

The only option was to go back into the underworld if they wanted to survive. The remaining people fought their way back to the entrance of the underworld just as the tornado was about to swallow them up. They closed their eyes and jumped blindly back into the underworld. The fall was so deep that most ended up being knocked out upon contact with the ground. After opening their eyes, the first thing the people noticed was the old couple calmly drinking tea as if nothing had happened. The old man looked like he was clueless,  almost as if he was under the spell of the woman. The old woman had a creepy smirk on her face as if she was amused.

"I told you that you'd be back," she whispered to the people before letting out a wicked laugh.

Tornado; Wikimedia Commons

Author's Note

In the original Apache creation story, people in the underworld discover a mountain that has reeds that grow up into the upper world. Unfortunately, four girls go to the top and tie the reeds in knots so that they stop growing. This leaves the people unable to reach the top. However, they have four ladders that they use to get to the upper world. After all the ladders have been worn out, an old man and woman are still left in the underworld. They call out to the others trying to get them to help, but ultimately they are left behind. At this point of the story, the old couple is left behind and eventually become rulers of the world of the dead. The manner in which they become rulers of the dead was not mentioned.  I wanted to focus my story on them and how they felt about getting left behind in the underworld. I also wanted to portray them as sinister and wanting to get revenge for the selfishness of the others. I thought it was fitting to make the old woman's character an undercover witch so she could use a spell. Also, since we are now right in the middle of tornado season, I thought it would be a great idea to somehow incorporate that into story for this week. Ultimately I decided to have the old lady/witch cast a spell in order to cause a tornado that would drive the others back into the underworld. 

Bibliography

The Emergence from Apache Tales by P.E. Goddard

Week 6 Storytelling: Notscha vs. Sun Wu Kung

Notscha could not just stand and watch the heavenly warrior sent by the Lord of the Heavens get beat down so quickly by Sun Wu Kung. He would not let this childish ape win and get away with this! How could Sun so easily dodge and maneuver his way around this so-called elite warrior? It was incredible but at the same infuriating for Notscha, who had spent his whole life training to become one of the best warriors of the Heavens. Notscha snapped out of it as the warrior fell next to him and took his last breaths as warden of the Heavens. It was now time for the prince to take charge.

Notscha stepped up and cried out in a loud voice, "You wretched ape! I am Prince Notscha and I have been commanded by the Lord of the Heavens himself to take you as prisoner! You will stand no chance against me."

Sun Wu Kung couldn't help but giggle a little bit as he looked the prince up and down. He couldn't have been more than sixteen years old, but he showed resolve that not many people could muster in the face of battle. He could see the fierceness in the young warrior's eyes; they were unrelenting.

"Time to get serious," Sun Wu Kung thought to himself.

Before he could even ready himself, Notscha was upon him, swinging his sword with a force that would've taken off Sun's head had he not ducked in the nick of time. Sun Wu countered with his own sword, swinging it up and to the left. Blow after blow after blow, both fighters could not get the best of each other. The whole world could sense the fight going on. Each time their swords clashed, the ground trembled and quaked. Every time that Notscha thought he was gaining an upper hand, Sun Wu would lash back with even more finesse and power than expected.

Sun Wu was slightly impressed. He had a feeling this kid could put up a fight, but he wasn't expecting this.

"I need to end this soon before I get tired and sloppy," thought Sun Wu as he danced around Notscha trying to buy a little more time so he could figure out his next move.

Sun Wu glanced around, looking for anything that would give him an edge against this kid. A few feet away, he saw something glistening in the light. It was a sharp rock! One that could easily end this fight. All he had to do was get to it without alerting Notscha.

At the same time, Notscha was getting overwhelmed. He could not keep this up much longer even if he wanted to. He could feel his legs burning from darting around trying to avoid Sun Wu's quick moves. Ever so slowly, momentum was shifting towards Sun Wu.

"What do I do now? Do I give up? Do I surrender? I can't keep up no matter what I do," thought Notscha.

Doubt was clouding Notscha's mind, so much so that he was beginning to lose focus. Fatigue and inattention was a recipe for death, and Notscha knew it. He took a quick moment to shake his head to rid the negative thoughts from his head. In that split moment, Sun Wu took his chance. He dived to the ground and scooped up the stone with his free hand, all in one motion. He turned towards Notscha, and with all his might, drove the stone clean through his shoulder. Blood spattered everywhere!

Sun Wu Kung spoke fiercely, "Take this as a warning and never come back again to find me. I shall let you live this once. Next time you feel the urge to come after me, think of this pain and you will no longer desire to cross paths with me. I am the Great Saint Who Is Heaven's Equal and I will not be defeated".

And with that, Sun Wu Kung was free to live peacefully and reign over his mountain.

Sun Wu Kung at a Beijing opera; Wikimedia

Author's Note

I chose to take the story of the immortal Monkey King, Sun Wu Kung, and elaborate on the epic fight between Notscha and Sun Wu Kung. In the original story, Sun Wu feels disrespected after he is given a job as stable master in heaven. After hearing that it is a worthless job, Sun Wu becomes infuriated and flees heaven to go back to the mountain over which he reigns. The Lord of the Heavens sends warriors to catch him as prisoner, but Sun Wu has other ideas. An intense battle between Prince Notscha, the prince of heaven, and Sun Wu ensues. I didn't stray from the original plot of the story, but I did add my own twist to the fight between the two characters. I added dialogue in order to capture the words exchanged during the fight and I also tried to highlight each character's thoughts as the fight was occurring. I also wanted to depict Notscha as inferior to Sun Wu when it came to battle. However, I also wanted to portray him as an up and coming warrior who never backed down from a fight. My intention was to glorify the battle in order to highlight its importance because I thought it was brief and rushed in the original story.

Bibliography

The Monkey King Sun Wu Kung taken from Wilhelm's Chinese Fairy Book.

Week 3 Storytelling: The Blizzard

Noah looked at the almost-finished cabin shelter that God had instructed him to create before the blizzard came. God gave Noah explicit instructions on the size and shape of the shelter, and how to build it in order to keep the cold snow out. Now that it was almost done, Noah couldn't help but admire how nicely it had turned out. Large clouds loomed overhead, threatening to shovel tons of snow until everything was buried underneath its cold weight. The wind had begun to pick up, showing signs of how frosty it was to become in the near future. In fact, the first flakes of snow calmly began to fall, warning Noah that time was sparse and immediacy was critical.

Noah rushed off to see how the finishing touches to the cabin were coming along. Along the way, he ran into his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, who were ushering the last of the eligible animals inside. How did they know who to let inside? Well, God had given them explicit instructions for that as well. They were to round up two of each animal, male and female, in order to preserve the species. The animals who came up to the entrance and took a bow were allowed to enter, as they were deemed respectful, while the rest were denied entry for not living up to God's expectations. At this time, the wind picked up and became incredibly sharp. The snow began to sting as it pounded against Noah's face. Noah told his sons to speed this process up as they were beginning to run out of time. In a short amount of time, it would be impossible to see due to the wind and snow flying around. Anyone left outside would inevitably freeze to death, a miserable death if you ask me.

As Noah began to walk around to the back of the shelter, his wife ran up to him yelling that shelter was finally finished and everything was ready to go. Noah breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried this whole time that they would not finish in time. Could you blame him though? All their lives depended on him finishing the shelter on time, and God had trusted him with this monumental task. Just in time as well, because the snow was now falling in sheets and it was becoming hard to walk and see. The snow was piling up quickly and the temperatures dropping just as fast. It wouldn't be long till everything was a barren and desolate world of snow. Noah and his wife met up with their sons and the rest of the family and ushered the final stragglers inside. All the animals had made it safely. Noah took a deep breath and one last look at the world as he knew it. In seven days, God said the snow would stop. However, it would take 150 days for all the snow to melt and for the trees and plants to begin growing back. They had a long "winter" ahead of them. Noah closed his eyes and prayed that they had enough food and that all of them made it through this "cleaning" of the world. Even though he had followed God's instructions exactly, he couldn't help but worry. Noah opened his eyes and closed the large shelter doors as gusts of wind pelted them with snow. The snow raged on throughout the night as the Noah and his family and the animals could do nothing but wait.

Barren aftermath of the blizzard; Pixabay

Author's Note

I chose to write a different, more modern version of the story of Noah and the Ark. In the original story, God is fed up with man and his wicked ways so he decides to flood the world to flush out the bad. He instructs Noah, a good man, to build an ark that will fit his family and two of each of all the animals in the world. This ark must be strong enough to withstand violent waves and lots of water for over a hundred days. In my story, I changed the flooding to a blizzard that freezes everything and leaves a barren wasteland. I thought the idea of another ice age would be an extremely harsh way to punish man, which is what led to me write this story. Instead of an ark, Noah is instructed to build a cabin shelter that keeps out the cold snow. I didn't go into much detail on the blizzard, but mainly focused on Noah and his thoughts and actions immediately before it begins. All the characters were similar, as well as the rules that God had given Noah. The only difference was the method in which God decides to end all life. 

Bibliography

Noah and the Ark (Genesis) by Louis Ginzberg