Week 11 Story: Sad Bear

(Pixabay)

Grizzly tried to swat away the thoughts that were buzzing in her head, like so many bees. She knew that the words in her mind were false, but she couldn’t make them shut up. Ever since the birth of her two cubs, she had been plagued by an overwhelming sadness and sense of dread. Grizzly sighed in frustration. She was always tired and scared, but there was no real reason for it.

Doe looked quizzically at Grizzly as she growled and mumbled to herself. It had been happening a lot lately. The bear woman had just been acting strangely. Even the two women’s husband, Chickenhawk, had noticed the weirdness. Just the night before he had asked his deer wife if she knew what was wrong with Grizzly, but Doe hadn’t known what to tell him. She considered asking her father’s advice. He was the King of the forest’s deer and he was awfully wise. Perhaps she would go do that tomorrow.

“Are you ready to take the wash to the river?” Doe asked Grizzly. They always did the wash on Tuesday.

“I suppose. You go on ahead and I’ll meet you down there,” Grizzly replied.

As Grizzly lumbered down the hill toward the river, the thoughts rushed back, full force, into her head. She had seen the questioning look that Doe sent towards her. She had seen Doe and Chickenhawk whispering together at night, sending furtive looks in her direction. Perhaps the thoughts and the voices weren’t crazy after all. Maybe they were telling the truth.

As the bear woman and the deer woman waited for the clothing to soak, Doe suggested that she and Grizzly check each other for lice. She had hoped that the grooming session would make the poor bear feel better. Doe did her check and reported Grizzly louse free. She sat and waited for the bear to begin her part of the check. The bear had a different plan in mind.

Grizzly realized that the only way to protect herself and her children was to kill Doe. She didn’t want to do something so awful. She’d always loved the deer and viewed her as a sister. But, her sister had gone crazy and wanted to kill her and her two cubs. Doe was conspiring with Chickenhawk. The voices had told her. She resisted believing it for so long, but all the signs were there. It must be the truth.

It took only moments. Doe hadn’t expected a thing. One second she had been waiting for Grizzly to check her neck for lice, and the next she was dead. The bear woman cried for a moment, overcome by the sadness of what she’d been forced to do. Finally, she picked up the head of the dead deer woman and trudged back to the cabin.

Chickenhawk had come back to the cabin soon after his wives left to do the wash. He knew they’d be down by the river. His wives were very conscientious and never deviated from their schedule. He thought it would be a good time to meet with the village wise woman. Perhaps she would have some ideas about what was wrong with his bear wife.

“I have seen this type of situation before,” the wise woman said. “It often happens to women after they give birth. Perhaps it is the shock to the body of pregnancy and labor. It will often correct itself over time. The mother just needs rest and understanding. However, there have been times when tragedies occurred.”

“What do you mean? What kind of tragedies?” Chickenhawk asked.

“I have seen women begin to see and hear things that aren’t there. Sometimes, they have become violent. There have even been occasions where they hurt the ones that they love. They just aren’t in their right minds. It’s good that you came to me with this, because the situation could get very serious. There are definitely steps that need to be taken before something terrible occurs. Grizzly needs lots of rest and peace. She needs someone to talk to about what she’s feeling. We need to get her healthy before we end up in a worst-case scenario.” The wise woman explained to a confused and scared Chickenhawk.

Chickenhawk stood and walked to the window, trying to clear his thoughts.

“Oh, no.” Chickenhawk’s sad voice came out so very softly.

“What is it?” The wise woman asked as she got up to go look out the same window.

The two stared silently out the window as they watched Grizzly walk up the path from the river. They saw the blood in her fur. They goggled with horror at what she carried in her paw. The worst-case scenario had already happened. They were too late.

Author's Note: The story, Bear Woman and Deer Woman, is about the two wives of Chickenhawk. One day, while they're down by the river, they begin checking each other for lice. Grizzly lies to Doe and tells her that she has lice and must bite it out. She ends up killing Doe. Doe's head later warns her two children (fawns) that Grizzly will kill them. Instead, the two fawns trick and kill the two bear children before feeding some of their remains to Grizzly. After being taunted by some kids that she's eating her own children, she begins to chase them. They get away over a stream. When Grizzly tries to get over the stream, she ends up floating away. In my variation of the story, I wanted to explore why Grizzly would suddenly kill Doe. They have obviously been getting along fine up to this point. They have both been married to Chickenhawk long enough to have two children. I wanted to present the idea that Grizzly was suffering from some sort of postpartum depression that led to her having a psychotic break. I decided to stop the story after the killing of Doe, because I thought that bringing the children into it would just be too sad.

Bibliography: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson. Web source.

Reading Notes: Native American Marriage Tales, Part B

(Wikimedia)

- The story, The Girl and the Turkeys, tells of a very poor girl who tends turkeys for the rich people. It is similar, in some ways, to the story of Cinderella. There is going to be a party, but the poor girl cannot attend. She does not have the rich clothing that is necessary, and she's very dirty, although she is a pretty girl. The turkeys decide to help her, in much the way the fair godmother helps Cinderella, because she is always kind and takes good care of them. In exchange for their help, she must promise not to forget her turkey friends and to return early enough to care for them. However, she is having such a good time with the dancing and the attention that she forgets. The turkeys decide to leave. The moral of the story is, basically, that some people are poor because they do not know how to act or conduct themselves better. They are poor because they deserve to be poor.
- The conduct of the girl at the dance doesn't match the personality that she'd portrayed in the prior part of the story. It doesn't make sense. It's as though the story is trying to shoehorn in a moral lesson that doesn't fit. Come to that, the lesson itself is faulty. The girl is not poor because she deserves to be poor. No one is poor because they deserve to be. Some people are born into very lucky circumstances, some into very unlucky ones, and most are born somewhere in the middle. All people, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, can learn to be better. They can also be bad people, depending on various outside circumstances. I know of many rich people who most certainly do not deserve their luck and many poor people who deserve much more than they have.
- I would write a story in which the turkey girl remembers her promise, because the girl from the story WOULD remember her promise. She would have no reason not to. She understands what it feels like to be neglected, and she wouldn't inflict that on the turkeys that she'd always cared for. She especially wouldn't do it after the turkeys were so kind to her.



Bibliography: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson. Web source.

Reading Notes: Native American Marriage Tales, Part A

(Wikimedia)

- The story, Bear Woman and Deer Woman, is about the two wives of Chickenhawk. One day, while they're down by the river, they begin checking each other for lice. Grizzly lies to Doe and tells her that she has lice and must bite it out. She ends up killing Doe. Doe's head later warns her two children that Grizzly will kill them. Instead, the two fawns trick and kill the two bear children before feeding some of their remains to Grizzly. After being taunted by some kids that she's eating her own children, she begins to chase them. They get away over a stream. When Grizzly tries to get over the stream, she ends up floating away.
- Grizzly and Doe have obviously been getting along fine for a while up to this point. They have both been married to Chickenhawk long enough to have two children. Why did Grizzly suddenly decide to kill Doe? What was the point of that?
- Perhaps there is some sort of background mental illness that Grizzly suffers from that is just now beginning to manifest. It could come from postpartum depression. In a sort of psychotic break, she accidentally kills Doe. Or, it might not be an accident. Maybe she has been hallucinating and believes that Doe and her two children have been plotting Grizzly's and her two children's deaths. She might then decide to kill them before they hurt her and her kids.
- After killing Doe, the fawns are afraid and kill the bear cubs. Believing this proves her fears, Grizzly could then kill the fawns. After Chickenhawk returns from whatever he's off doing during the day, she kills him and then kills herself. Their story could be told by the village as a sort of warning.



Bibliography: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson. Web source.

Week 10 Story: The Ghost in the Woods

(Maxpixel)

Chatan looked up at the swiftly gathering storm clouds. He realized that the dark was coming fast and he would not make it to the village before the storm hit. A cold wind lifted his hair as he watched lightning flicker in the onrushing clouds.

Chatan had already spent a fruitless day hunting in the forest, and the coming of the sudden storm heightened his frustration. With not even a single rabbit to show for the days work, he prepared to spent a cold and hungry night outside.

A closely growing stand of trees offered some protection from the icy cold raindrops that were already beginning to lash his skin. Chatan took cover under the dense foliage just as the last light disappeared from the sky. He settled down against the trunk and attempted to get comfortable.

A lightning flash reflected from something white underneath Chatan’s tree, drawing his attention. He reached forward to pick it up, feeling cold smoothness and odd indentations. Another flash of light brought him face-to-face with the skull in his hand.

Chatan screamed, threw the skull, and ran out from under the tree into the woods. Seeing a light up ahead, he made a beeline for it. He paused at the edge of the tree line and studied the sweat lodge in the clearing. Worried and uncertain, he slunk toward the building.

Peering inside the sweat lodge’s door, Chatan saw two men talking. The inhabitants of the sweat lodge, feeling someone’s gaze upon them, looked toward the door and saw Chatan in the radiance of the flickering lightning. They also saw what was behind Chatan.

Still filled with fear and adrenaline, Chatan became convinced that he was seeing ghosts within the sweat lodge, not flesh and blood men. He decided to go back into the woods and attempt the walk back to his village in the dark.

Chatan had been walking for several minutes when he sensed someone walking beside him. He looked over and saw a ghostly woman at his side. She told him to not be afraid, that she only wanted company for the moment. Exhausted into numbness from the constant rush of terror, Chatan continued to walk at a modest pace.

He soon began to relax in the ghost’s presence, forgetting his fear. That was a mistake. The apparition turned on Chatan without warning, and began to choke the life from him. He clawed at her bony fingers as he fought for breath, and stared at the skull of his spectral attacker. The same skull that he’d found under the tree.

The ghost was ripped away from Chatan and thrown to the ground. Gasping for breath, he looked up to see his the two men from the sweat lodge beating up the spirit woman. The drove the phantom off and saved him.

Later, the two men explained to Chatan that they had followed him after he ran. They knew that they had to save him. While he’d stood in the door of the sweat lodge and looked in, the lightning had shown them them the skeleton-like ghost as it stalked Chatan from the trees.

Author's Note: The story, The Ghost and the Traveler, is about a traveler who was out of doors, and a storm came up that forced him to spend the night outside. He came to a sweat lodge, but he thought the two people inside were ghosts, so he ran away. As he was walking, a woman ghost walked with him for a ways. After wondering what would happen if the ghost decided to choke him, the ghost disappeared. I wanted to do a variation on this story that had some action. I wanted the ghost to actually be a threat and to attack the man as he traveled. I also thought it would be fitting if he ended up being saved from the actual ghost by the men in the sweat lodge that he'd thought were ghosts. My character's name, Chatan, is a Lakota name that means Hawk.

Bibliography: Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson. Web Source.

Reading Notes: Great Plains, Part B

(Wikimedia)

- The story, The Ghost and the Traveler, doesn't have a lot of action. It's basically just saying that a man was out of doors, and something came up that forced him to spend the night outside. He came to a sweat lodge, but he thought the two people inside were ghosts, so he ran away. As he was walking, a woman ghost walked with him for a ways. After wondering what would happen if the ghost decided to hurt him, the ghost disappeared.
- I would want to do a variation on this story that has an action component, some sort of circumstance that the traveler must overcome. There needs to be action and a climax to that action.
- Perhaps the traveler could be lost and alone when he comes to a sweat lodge and he runs away because he thinks the men inside are ghosts. However, they are not. As he's walking, someone starts walking with him that he thinks is a person. As night begins to fall, his traveling companion is revealed to be a ghost. The ghost attacks him. He is saved by the two men from the sweat lodge who had followed him when they saw he was being trailed by a ghost.


Bibliography: Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson. Web Source.

Reading Notes: Great Plains, Part A

Milky Way (Pixabay)

- The Forked Roads is a story of the Omaha that provides some information about what happens to the soul of a person after they die. It provides the explanation for one of their rituals as well. Apparently, long ago in their history, a man died and was forced to walk in the dark for four days until he was able to find the Milky Way. The Milky Way is the path in the stars that must be walked to reach the final sorting place of souls. This is why the Omaha people burn their funeral fires for four days. They provide the newly departed with light to help find the path of the Milky Way.
- After the spirit finds the Milky Way path and walks along it for a while he will come to a fork in the road. An old man sits in the middle and points to which path the spirit must take.
- Who is this old man and how does he determine the proper path of the spirit?
- It says that a short path leads to where good ghosts go and a long path leads to where ghosts go wailing. What determines if a ghost is good? What is the criteria? What makes a ghost wail?
- I think this story needs a Dante's Inferno type treatment in which someone explores the different areas of the afterlife and gets a description of what caused them to be in each specific area.


Bibliography: Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson. Web Source.

Week 9 Story: Golden Flames

(Wikimedia)

Steve and Jack had grown up together. They’d been next-door neighbors for their entire lives. Neither boy had any other siblings, so they banded together and treated each other like brothers. They played, they bickered, and occasionally their fights would become physical.

Steve was a very sweet-natured boy. He was naturally kind, compassionate, and generous. It was not an uncommon to see Steve helping Old Lady Burke carrying in her groceries, or comforting little Sally when she fell and skinned her knee. He cared about people and it showed.

Jack was not so sweet. Everyone knew that he’d been the one to hide Old Lady Burke’s cane, the fancy one that was a gift from her late husband. Everyone also knew that the reason Sally fell and skinned her knee was due to a well-timed trip from Jack.

Everyone knew, except for Steve. No one wanted to upset him, so no one told him the truth about Jack. Maybe they all believed that, with time, Jack would grow up and Steve’s goodness would rub off on him. Unfortunately, that was not how things worked out.

When the boys were sixteen, Steve became a hero. He had been walking home from a study session in the library. It was quite late, so the streets were quiet. He was passing the house at the end of the block, the one that had recently sold to that mysterious family, when he smelled smoke. Seeing flames licking up the side of the house, Steve rushed in to help. He ended up saving the entire family: dad, mom, and two kids.

Steve’s picture was in the paper, and everyone made much of his heroics. Jack was jealous, but pretended that it wasn’t a big deal. He was almost able to convince himself, but then the reward came. As it turned out, that mysterious family was mysterious for a reason.

The mom and dad came from families that were insanely wealthy, but who had wanted their kids to experience a normal life for a time. They believed it would give them perspective and teach them responsibility. So, the young family had moved into a middle class house on a non-descript street and tried to fit in. They had been getting better at it, until the night of the fateful fire.

As a reward for his bravery, and for the priceless gift of saving their loved ones, the wealthy families gave Steve a ridiculous amount of money. At first, Steve didn’t want to accept such an extravagant gift, but they wouldn’t take no for an answer. So, he decided to use his new fortune for good. He donated money to charities, created scholarships to help other kids go to college, and gave freely to anyone in need.

Jack was no longer able to pretend that his jealousy did not exist. He wanted the same kind of admiration, and believed that he deserved to be wealthy. Jack asked himself why Steve should be the one with all the money when all he did was give it away. So, he plotted and planned, determined to get his own reward.

Late one night, Jack started a fire. He thought that he’d leap in and save the day, but rarely do sinister plots go strictly to plan. Somehow, the only thing that burned was Jack. Perhaps he shouldn’t have worn so much polyester. Everyone said that Jack’s funeral was lovely, which was natural, since Steve spared no expense.  No one told Steve that he was the only one who grieved.

Author's Note: In the story, The Golden Squash, there are two old men. The first old man is very kind and hard working by nature. He saves a bird who thanks him with a seed that grows into a giant squash made out of gold. The second old man is somewhat greedy and desperately wants to be rich. Seeing the wealth that the first old man acquired, he purposely injures a bird so that he can heal it. He too is given a seed and another giant squash grows from it. However, it is a trap and he is killed. I chose to do a more modern story of two boys who grow up as friends, but are very different. Steve is kind and does things simply because they are right. Jack is greedy and selfish, and is willing to hurt others if it gets him what he wants. 

Bibliography: Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton. Web source. 

Reading Notes: Tibetan Folk Tales, Part B

In the Orchard - Van Gogh 1883 (Wikimedia)

- In the story, The Golden Squash, there are two old men. The first old man is very kind and hard working by nature. He saves a bird who thanks him with a seed that grows into a giant squash made out of gold. The second old man is somewhat greedy and desperately wants to be rich. Seeing the wealth that the first old man acquired, he purposely injures a bird so that he can heal it. He too is given a seed and another giant squash grows from it. However, it is a trap and he is killed.
- For me, the moral of this story is that it doesn't matter what sort of charity that you give if your motives are corrupt or if you use corrupt means to acquire your goal. The second old man's motives are corrupt both in intent and means.
- A story that contrasts two individuals who perform similar actions, but the actions of one are altruistic, while the actions of the other are based off of greed is a common sort of fable. It is also common in real life.
- I would lean towards telling a more contemporary story that doesn't contain the magic element of the golden squash. Instead, it could be some sort of activity, such as a business or career, that leads the first person to wealth. Wealth would not be the goal, being helpful would be the goal. That man would then use his newfound wealth in helping others.
- The second character might be an old friend or classmate who is jealous of the wealth that the other has accumulated. If he were to attempt something similar, but do it in an underhanded way, it would fit with the moral. He, or she, would need to come to a bad end.



Bibliography: Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton. Web source.

Reading Notes: Tibetan Folk Tales, Part A

(Wikimedia)

- The Tibetan Folk Tale How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own Deceit is a story about a true friendship and a false friendship. A young tiger cub is brought a fox to play with by his mother. Later, she finds a calf and brings him. The fox is jealous of the calf and tries to sow dissension between the tiger and the calf, hoping to get them to kill each other. They realize that the fox is lying to them and the tiger kills him instead.
- The tiger is a character that acts as the center of the story. The choices that the other characters make all revolve around him. The fox wants all of the tiger's attention for himself and he is willing to hurt the tiger in order to get it. The fox views the tiger's attention as important, but not the tiger himself. In contrast, the calf only wants to be friends with the tiger, because he feels friendship towards him.
- This sort of triangular friendship is not uncommon in people, particularly adolescent girls. A girl who, for whatever reason, has a lot of charisma will draw other girls to her. Some of those girls will actually care about her, but others will only be interested in the reflection that her charisma casts on themselves.
- A variation of this story could take place in a high school among a group of three girls, with one being a true friend and the other only being interested in what a friendship with the 'popular' girl brings to her.



Bibliography: Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton. Web source.

Reading Notes: Dante's Inferno, Part A

Paolo and Francesa by Mosè Bianchi c. 1877 (Wikipedia)

- Canto 5 of Dante's Inferno has Dante and his guide Virgil meeting and speaking with Paolo and Francesca. Virgil and Dante are traversing through the second circle of hell, which contains carnal sinners. Paolo and Francesca had engaged in an adulterous affair in life.
- Dante's Inferno is the first section of the Divine Comedy. A poem that follows the author as he is guided through heaven, hell, and purgatory. The Inferno is the section about hell. It is told in the first person.
- Francesca da Rimini was from the city of Ravenna. She was a contemporary of Dante Alighieri, the author of the Divine Comedy. Francesca was married to Giovanni Malatesta, and he was handicapped. It was an arranged, political marriage. During the marriage, she fell in love with his younger brother, Paolo, and engaged in an affair with him. They were discovered by her husband and he murdered them both.
- I think that the story of Francesca and Paolo's affair would be a good inspiration for a story. Many variations could be told based on it. In the Inferno, she tells Dante that they fell in love while reading the story of Lancelot and Guinevere. It acted as a catalyst to their affair. But, unlike Lancelot and Guinevere, their affair was physical in addition to being emotional.

Bibliography: "Canto 5," Dante's Divine Comedy, translated by Tony Kline. Web source.

Week 8 Progress

I would have to say that I am moderately happy with my progress with the class so far. I'm a little bit behind of where I need to be, but not so far that I can't catch up. My weekly routine is pretty good and it's mostly working out. The schedule itself is good, the problem is the days that I just don't feel motivated, or I'm just tired and don't feel like doing what I need to do. I have to just keep telling myself to suck it up, buttercup! The only way to get to the end is to just keep going.

I am enjoying the reading assignments the most out of everything in the class. They are things that I would read for pleasure even if it wasn't a requirement. I haven't used any of the extra credit options yet, but I am going to need to start doing so soon.

Going forward I just need to buckle down and do the work! Procrastinating isn't going to help anything.

(Flickr)

This is the image, or the words, that I use to motivate myself. While I wouldn't describe this class as hell by any stretch of the imagination, it reminds me that even when I don't feel like it, I need to keep going! Anything can be endured when it's temporary. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. The finish line will be reached eventually!

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

I have gotten some excellent feedback comments from some of the other students in the class. Many of them have been extremely helpful. The comments that I'm finding particular useful are formatting comments and those highlighting areas within my story that might need more detail. The formatting comments have helped me to refine the appearance of my project page. It might not be extremely sophisticated, but I think it's looking rather attractive. I got some very good advice in that area. The comments about expanding certain details within my stories have also been very helpful when I do my editing. Having another pair of eyes (or many other pairs in this case) have helped to find the areas of my story that need to be expanded to either enhance the story or clear up confusion.

However, I'm not feeling overwhelmingly confident about the quality of my own feedback. I tend to read stories as 'this is what the writer wants me to know, therefore this is the story.' That's good from the perspective of enjoying and being entertained by stories, but not particularly helpful when critiquing them. I just don't really have any questions that I want to ask, so it's difficult for me to find constructive ways to help other people with what to add or include. The main points that I notice tend to be spelling, grammar, and word choice. But if all of my comments are exclusively about those things it makes me feel just nitpicky and anal. Also, regarding word choice, who am I to decide why and how the story would sound better? It's their story, not mine! I'm having far more difficulty providing feedback that any other part of this class.

I feel that I have a pretty good handle on some of my classmates based on their blog posts and their introductions. Some are a bit less of an open book, but that tells me something on its own. I'm mostly comfortable with my own introduction and posts. I don't want to lay all the parts of myself out for everyone to see, but I've laid out enough.

Going forward, I want to find a way to provide more useful feedback to my fellow students. I just don't feel that I'm being helpful right now, although I am trying! I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do to get better, but I'll keep trying until I figure it out.

(Cheezburger)

This feedback cut sums up how I try to look at the feedback that is given to me and what I provide. The feedback that has been most helpful to me is the stuff that has been said by several different people. If it's something that stands out to more than one person, then it's something that I definitely need to look at.

Week 8 Reading and Writing

So far, I have really enjoyed both the reading and the writing aspects of this class. Having never really written before, outside of research papers, I hadn't been particularly confident in my ability to write a story. However, now that I have done several, I feel much better about it. I'm even enjoying it, and I don't think me writing is terrible!

I've liked all of the reading that I've done for the class. The Arabian Nights section was particularly enjoyable. However, there haven't been any that I didn't like. I just enjoy folklore and fairy tales in general.

Doing the reading notes has definitely been helpful. Each one has been a little different, depending on what struck me about the story, but they have all been helpful when it came down to the actual writing. Normally, I'll get the inkling of an idea about a possible story while I'm doing the reading. The notes have helped me to not forget what it was that struck me and the direction that I wanted to go.

I'm really happy about how my storybook project is coming along. It's actually turning out much better than I expected. Each time I sit down to write and addition to it, I'm convinced that I won't be able to come up with anything, and that even if I do it will be terrible. That hasn't happened yet. Of course, I'm only two stories in, so writer's block could hit at any time. Fingers crossed. But I have to say that right now I'm very proud of what I've done and the story that I'm telling.

Maiden and Unicorn fresco c. 1602 (Wikipedia)

I really like this image of the girl and the unicorn. I included it in one of the sections of my storybook. For one, I think it's pretty. However, the main reason that I like it is that it so perfectly encapsulated the story that I was telling at the time. It just fit so perfectly. I was lucky to find it.

I don't think there's anything more that I need to help me with the reading and the writing in this class, except for time. I have all the tools, but more time is always helpful. There's just such a shortage of it!