Bibliography: Czech Folktales unit. Story source: The Key of Gold: A Clever Lass by Josef Baudis (1922).
Monday, December 4, 2017
Reading Part B: Czech: A Clever Lass
Bibliography: Czech Folktales unit. Story source: The Key of Gold: A Clever Lass by Josef Baudis (1922).
Reading Notes Part A: Czech: The Waternick
Bibliography: Czech Folktales unit. The Key of Gold: The Waternick by Josef Baudis (1922).
This is like Hansel and Gretel. I almost want to make it more realistic and have them get captured by some creepy farmer guy or something. Maybe they're going through the forest that borders his farmland and he finds the tree they tied their line to and moves it to an abandoned building on his property and by the time they notice, it's too late and he pushes them in. He's crazy but he doesn't do anything to seriously hurt them. He just makes them clean up the farm and feeds them random things he finds. Eventually the children create a distraction and they escape.
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Week 14 Story: Pact
Max and Sam were the best of friends.
As they grew up together, they made many pacts while they played their favorite video games in Max's parent's basement. One of those pacts was to be each other's best man at the other's wedding, no matter what.
Three years after they made that specific pact, they were riding four-wheelers on a course behind Max's house. It was a beautiful day; the sky was clear, the grass was green and the smoke in the sky was almost forgettable.
The ambulance was delayed because Jim, the trusted driver, was on the pot. His zipper got stuck. When they finally got on scene, his fly was open. Sam noticed but didn't comment. The sight of Max's charred body had taken all his words.
It was Cindy that got Sam through the death of his best friend. She held him while he cried and stuck around through all the outbursts of anger. She was a pro at grief; it was just her and her dad now.
One day, Sam and Cindy were at their favorite coffee shop. The sky was a comfy shade of gray, the coffee was warm, his heart was full. The proposal got 52 likes on Facebook.
Wedding planning began immediately but Sam put off picking a best man.
A month out from the day of the wedding, November 2, 2017, was the anniversary of Max's death. It was that night that Cindy chose to yell at Sam to get his butt in gear so they could get the wedding party together. It was their worst fight. The silence afterward held the weight of the door slam for an awkwardly long amount of time.
The spare key to Max's parent's house burned cold on the chain around Sam's neck. He didn't know he was going to the basement until their paint-chipped backdoor was in front of him.
It was late. Max's parents (they were still called parents.. right?) had fallen asleep hours ago in separate beds, her in Max's and him in the one they used to share.
The stairway to the basement yawned black. Sam almost came to his senses. He would have left and gone to apologize to Cindy if he didn't see the flicker of blue light on the wall at the bottom of the stairs.
Maybe they had left the TV on? The least he could do was turn it off for them, help save their electricity.
He skipped the fourth step because it always creaked. Muscle memory made him knock on the wall twice, pause, and then thrice more - their secret code - as he descended.
"Hey, Sam! You took forever! Get over here! I'm getting slaughtered!"
The air was cold and his heart thudded in his chest. Sam stood still.
There was Max, just as he was the day he died - eyes glued to the TV screen and knuckles white against the controller - like nothing had changed in the past few years.
Sam shook his head, considered turning back, but the game got more intense. His gaming instincts took over.
At first they only commented on the game. It was like the rhythm of their life had never been disturbed.
With his eyes on the screen, Sam took a deep breath, released it, and told Max about Cindy; asked him to be his best man.
He caught Max's smile from the corner of his eye and matched it with his own.
"Yeah man, of course, we made a pact, remember? Let's just finish this round and then we'll go plan the bachelor party."
It was a nice escape from reality. They ended up playing "just one more round" three more times. One of the characters in the final round had blonde hair like Cindy and, suddenly, Sam couldn't wait to get home.
He forgot about the fourth step on the way back up. It's squeal disturbed a cat that got under Sam's feet and almost made him fall. When he turned to ask Max when they'd gotten a cat, the blue light from the TV was gone and the basement was empty.
The night was considerably warmer than it was when he'd gotten there. Sam's coat dragged against the ground as he trudged back to Cindy's house.
He went to push on the back door to let himself in, but the never-locked door held firm.
Three loud pounds brought a tall man with a shotgun to the front door. His name was Brad and he'd gotten the house from his estranged great aunt six years prior. He wasn't Cindy's father.
He threatened to put a bullet through Sam's head and then call the police if he didn't stop hollarin' for some "Cindy" that didn't live there.
Sam backed away and walked down the road till he came to a brand new convenience store on the corner.
The lights inside were blinding but it was the date on the flashing, light-up display that burned in his retinas.
November 2, 2317.
Authors Note:
The idea behind this story came from the Russian Folktale The Two Friends. In that story, two best friends agree to invite the other to their weddings, dead or alive. One of the friends ends up dying and the one that lives eventually decides to get married. On his wedding day, they drive by the graveyard and he remembers the deal he made with his best friend. He tells the wedding party to wait while he goes and sees his friend's graveside. When he gets there, he (almost jokingly) asks his friend to come to his wedding. Suddenly, the grave opens and his dead friend appears and is happy that his living friend remembered. He invites him to celebrate with a drink. Both hop into the grave and have three drinks together, but with each drink, a hundred years passes. When the friend who is getting married leaves the grave, nothing is the same. He runs to the village and finds only strangers. The priest helps him go through the records and they find that three hundred years ago, a bridegroom disappeared on his wedding day and his bride eventually married someone else.
My story is essentially a modern retelling. I chose to make their meeting place a basement instead of a grave (both put you underground but I felt a basement was a little more plausible). I also threw in some more characters to spice it up and I made the friend die from an accident rather than sickness like in the real story. I also changed the timeline a bit and had the two friends reunite a month before the wedding because I felt that was a little more plausible than the day of.
I hope you enjoyed this story! It was really fun to write!
Good luck with finals and life in general! It's almost over!! (The finals, not your life.. hopefully).
Bibliography: Russian Folktales unit. Story source: Russian Fairy Tales: The Two Friends. by W. R. S. Ralston (1887).
Image: Basement stairway
As they grew up together, they made many pacts while they played their favorite video games in Max's parent's basement. One of those pacts was to be each other's best man at the other's wedding, no matter what.
Three years after they made that specific pact, they were riding four-wheelers on a course behind Max's house. It was a beautiful day; the sky was clear, the grass was green and the smoke in the sky was almost forgettable.
The ambulance was delayed because Jim, the trusted driver, was on the pot. His zipper got stuck. When they finally got on scene, his fly was open. Sam noticed but didn't comment. The sight of Max's charred body had taken all his words.
It was Cindy that got Sam through the death of his best friend. She held him while he cried and stuck around through all the outbursts of anger. She was a pro at grief; it was just her and her dad now.
One day, Sam and Cindy were at their favorite coffee shop. The sky was a comfy shade of gray, the coffee was warm, his heart was full. The proposal got 52 likes on Facebook.
Wedding planning began immediately but Sam put off picking a best man.
A month out from the day of the wedding, November 2, 2017, was the anniversary of Max's death. It was that night that Cindy chose to yell at Sam to get his butt in gear so they could get the wedding party together. It was their worst fight. The silence afterward held the weight of the door slam for an awkwardly long amount of time.
The spare key to Max's parent's house burned cold on the chain around Sam's neck. He didn't know he was going to the basement until their paint-chipped backdoor was in front of him.
It was late. Max's parents (they were still called parents.. right?) had fallen asleep hours ago in separate beds, her in Max's and him in the one they used to share.
Maybe they had left the TV on? The least he could do was turn it off for them, help save their electricity.
He skipped the fourth step because it always creaked. Muscle memory made him knock on the wall twice, pause, and then thrice more - their secret code - as he descended.
"Hey, Sam! You took forever! Get over here! I'm getting slaughtered!"
The air was cold and his heart thudded in his chest. Sam stood still.
There was Max, just as he was the day he died - eyes glued to the TV screen and knuckles white against the controller - like nothing had changed in the past few years.
Sam shook his head, considered turning back, but the game got more intense. His gaming instincts took over.
At first they only commented on the game. It was like the rhythm of their life had never been disturbed.
With his eyes on the screen, Sam took a deep breath, released it, and told Max about Cindy; asked him to be his best man.
He caught Max's smile from the corner of his eye and matched it with his own.
"Yeah man, of course, we made a pact, remember? Let's just finish this round and then we'll go plan the bachelor party."
It was a nice escape from reality. They ended up playing "just one more round" three more times. One of the characters in the final round had blonde hair like Cindy and, suddenly, Sam couldn't wait to get home.
He forgot about the fourth step on the way back up. It's squeal disturbed a cat that got under Sam's feet and almost made him fall. When he turned to ask Max when they'd gotten a cat, the blue light from the TV was gone and the basement was empty.
The night was considerably warmer than it was when he'd gotten there. Sam's coat dragged against the ground as he trudged back to Cindy's house.
He went to push on the back door to let himself in, but the never-locked door held firm.
Three loud pounds brought a tall man with a shotgun to the front door. His name was Brad and he'd gotten the house from his estranged great aunt six years prior. He wasn't Cindy's father.
He threatened to put a bullet through Sam's head and then call the police if he didn't stop hollarin' for some "Cindy" that didn't live there.
Sam backed away and walked down the road till he came to a brand new convenience store on the corner.
The lights inside were blinding but it was the date on the flashing, light-up display that burned in his retinas.
November 2, 2317.
Authors Note:
The idea behind this story came from the Russian Folktale The Two Friends. In that story, two best friends agree to invite the other to their weddings, dead or alive. One of the friends ends up dying and the one that lives eventually decides to get married. On his wedding day, they drive by the graveyard and he remembers the deal he made with his best friend. He tells the wedding party to wait while he goes and sees his friend's graveside. When he gets there, he (almost jokingly) asks his friend to come to his wedding. Suddenly, the grave opens and his dead friend appears and is happy that his living friend remembered. He invites him to celebrate with a drink. Both hop into the grave and have three drinks together, but with each drink, a hundred years passes. When the friend who is getting married leaves the grave, nothing is the same. He runs to the village and finds only strangers. The priest helps him go through the records and they find that three hundred years ago, a bridegroom disappeared on his wedding day and his bride eventually married someone else.
My story is essentially a modern retelling. I chose to make their meeting place a basement instead of a grave (both put you underground but I felt a basement was a little more plausible). I also threw in some more characters to spice it up and I made the friend die from an accident rather than sickness like in the real story. I also changed the timeline a bit and had the two friends reunite a month before the wedding because I felt that was a little more plausible than the day of.
I hope you enjoyed this story! It was really fun to write!
Good luck with finals and life in general! It's almost over!! (The finals, not your life.. hopefully).
Bibliography: Russian Folktales unit. Story source: Russian Fairy Tales: The Two Friends. by W. R. S. Ralston (1887).
Image: Basement stairway
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Week 14 Reading B: Russia: The Two Friends
Russian Folktales unit. Story source: Russian Fairy Tales: The Two Friends. by W. R. S. Ralston (1887).
(Friends in a Grave: Image Source)
This story was weird! Why would the friend want to keep his friend from his wedding day? I love the time travel though.. What if the friend that was about to get married didn't go to the guy's grave, he just went to his old house that was about to be sold and found his friend in the basement playing video games like he did in life? He could then ask his friend to sit and play a while and a couple hundred years could pass that way. That would give a more modern twist to this story.
Week 14 Reading Part A: Russia: The Water Snake
Russian Fairy Tales: The Water Snake. W. R. S. Ralston (1887).
I could do a lot with this story. I think I'd want to change the mother to an ex boyfriend that's crazy, or maybe a deranged best friend that has a tendency to be clingy. I still want the new husband to die and I want the main girl to feel all sad because he does. Instead of them calling his name, they'll call his phone on hers. Maybe she should be drugged or something so she can't get to him. I don't know if I'd keep the kids, that complicates things a little bit... Maybe I'll make them into dogs.
I could do a lot with this story. I think I'd want to change the mother to an ex boyfriend that's crazy, or maybe a deranged best friend that has a tendency to be clingy. I still want the new husband to die and I want the main girl to feel all sad because he does. Instead of them calling his name, they'll call his phone on hers. Maybe she should be drugged or something so she can't get to him. I don't know if I'd keep the kids, that complicates things a little bit... Maybe I'll make them into dogs.
(Pond of the Water Snake: Image source)
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Week 13 Reading B: English Fairy Tales: Mr. Miacca
(Mr. Miacca: Image Source)
Bibliography: English Fairy Tales: Mr. Miacca, by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890).
This story could do so much more!! I could make this a lot creepier. I also want to expand on the parts that make the main character so bad - like give examples as to why his behavior is so bad. I also want to describe Mr. Miacca and his wife a little more so they're easier to see.
Week 13 Reading A: English Fairy Tales: Tom Tit Tot
(Tom Tit Tot: Image Source)
I like this story a lot. It reminds me or Rumpelstiltskin which makes me happy because I've always enjoyed that story.
This would be easy to re-write, I don't know which aspects I'd change but I don't think I'd keep it as long as it is currently. I like the fact that they got into the mess in the first place because the mother was singing about her daughter eating five pies, got caught and changed they lyrics of her made up song to seem less embarrassing.
Bibliography: English Fairy Tales: Tom Tit Tot, by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890).
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