Storytelling Week 13: Dante's Heaven

I follow behind my guide of Heaven only thinking one thing. am I dead? I keep asking the person I am following but they never seem to answer me straight only saying things like "Until your time" or "Patience, my son".

The gates are beautiful, composed of what appears to be solid gold and platinum and topped with magnificent priceless pearls. The ground appears to be in the form of a typical sidewalk, but also composed entirely from gold.

After walking around using the clouds and golden pavements as my ground, I get a detailed tour of all the neighborhoods while my guide explains to me "these people have houses whose sizes are directly proportional to all the good they have done in their entire lives..." I cannot help but think how small mine must be if I am in the right place and belong in Heaven.

Approaching Heaven, Source

I finally get to the God himself. The person I have followed this whole turns around to show me their face just before meeting God. I cannot see anything but a great beam of light coming from where a face should be. Their robes appear to be hanging in mid air as I finally see I have been following an entity with no physical body this entire time.

I am not scared, but curiously interested in the being I have been following. Before I can say anything, the being is gone and I stand alone in front of God trembling. I am at a lost for words the God first speaks and says "Hello my son, what has brought you here?" I respond hastily, "I cannot remember, but I must be dead to have traveled this far into the afterlife." I am so curious and cannot hold back my first question, "Are you really God and is this truly Heaven?"

He does not respond to this question of mine but responds saying "My dear son, it is not your time just yet. Be happy you have seen what you have, for no one else has before their time." I can never look directly at God, for there is another great beam of light at least ten times more intense than the person I have followed here. It is as if God was everything all at once, my mind still cannot comprehend it all. My words have to settle as a valid description. God was a entity I could feel; his presence was warming all around and brought sudden peace and comfort over me. I felt as if I was one with my mind, body, and soul. God allowed me to sense these feelings.

After God's last sentence, my guide appeared once again and lead me back out towards the gate where I had come from. The being said one last thing to me before pushing me off the clouds to fall gently back into reality, "Your wait will all be worth it, cherish life on Earth while you can..."

Author's Note
After reading stories from Dante's Inferno (Limbo and Satan), I have been inspired to put my own twist on visualizing the afterlife. Instead of focusing on the "Inferno" or Hell, I wanted to envision my own adaptation of Heaven. After reading the vivid description of Satan, I thought about what God would look like if it were placed in Heaven rather than Hell.

Bibliography
This story was inspired by reading the two section of Dante's Inferno entitled, Canto 4: Limbo and Canto 34: Satan, both written by Tony Kline in 2002.

Storytelling Week 12: Alice's Adventure

Alice's Journal

1865

June 12th

12:00pm

I lay at the bottom of this tree and watch the shadows from it's leaves slowly move as the sun rises. I lay here to avoid the family reunion that is happening one hundred yards away. My family can be too much for me at times. I begin to wander further and further into the gardens of my Uncle's house...

12:30pm

I am far lost in this crazy maze of a garden my Uncle has created. Why has he made such a thing? It is almost as if he is hiding something deep within these beautiful flowers..I stand in front of what appears to be an antique wooden door placed nicely in front of a very tall hedge. 

12:45pm

I could not handle my curiosity and opened this door, though it seemed like it was pointless just laying up against the hedge. When opened, a dark hallway appeared in front of my eyes, as if it were an optical illusion and I could physically walk through this door into some sort of alternate dimension. I still cannot take my curiosity, I must explore this discovery fully. 

54:21pm

After walking what seemed to be miles and miles, I came upon another door. This door was locked and it appeared the key for it was hanging just out of reach from the ceiling. After jumping three times to try to grab it, I was catapulted straight through the ceiling and landed right atop an enormous multi colored mushroom. 

33:21pm

I check my watch often but it seems as if time is reversing, or forwarding, or stopping, or....I do not know anymore...Have I been here for hours? Days? Must I say, weeks..? I must explore this strange mysterious place fully. 

98:21pm

After wondering for some time, who knows how long exactly, I stumbled across thee men swinging from one large single swing together; the tree that appeared to be connected to the swing was so tall I could not even see the top of it. As I get closer and closer I see they are not all men at all. One is a man with a very large hat and what looks to be a receipt of some sorts tucked into it, the other is what appears to be a colorful caterpillar smoking a strange mysterious substance, and the last is a cheshire cat what can spin its head round and round like the arm of a clock...I am scared to get any closer...

101:27pm

Just before I could escape their view, I heard a "Hello there Alice!"...I responded "How do you know my name?" The hatted man introduced himself "I am the mad hatter, and everyone here is named Alice! Don't you know?"

I responded "You three are the only ones I have seen here thus far, are there others??" The smoking caterpillar interrupted "Of course there are? Are there not stars in the sky?" It seemed that nothing was making sense to me and though they were speaking English, it was all gibberish. 

Just before leaving, the cheshire cat stopped me and said "Wait Alice! Do you not want to know they way home?" Upon looking back to check the path from where I came, it was completely different. There was now a thick colorful forest of giant mushrooms and furry trees where my empty path used to be. I responded to the cat "I thought I knew, but it seems to have changed on me and I have became very lots it appears." 

The mad hatter now responded "Hop on the caterpillar here and we will take you!" Though skeptical, I found no other option but to follow his direction. 

12:47pm

These three interesting characters took me on a tour showing me all eight legged creatures, candy bushes, houses of cards, and edible tea cups this strange land contained. At the end of the tour, the caterpillar so rudely pushed me off his back and down into what felt like a never ending hole. After hitting the bottom, I looked up to see the exact key that let me into this land. The door was now open though and I was not catapulted anywhere. After walking through the door, I was right back in my Uncle's garden maze. All I could think was "this was what he must have been hiding..."

Mysterious Garden, Source

Author's Note

This story is sort of an adaptation of both of the stories I read this week. I wanted to use both characters I read about from the Alice in Wonderland tales, the mad hatter and the smoking caterpillar. These two plus the Cheshire cat are my three favorite characters from the original so I decided to use all three! I also loved the journal style I used previously for a story so I thought this would be a good one to do the same with. 

Bibliography 

A Mad Tea-Party and Advice from a Caterpillar were the two specific stories that were the inspirations for this adaptation. Both of these stories are from the classic Alice in Wonderland unit, written by Lewis Carroll in 1865.

Storytelling Week 11: Reality in the Skies

On a bright summer day at a family reunion a young boy stumbled upon an enormous tree; easily the largest tree the boy had ever seen in his entire life. Upon further inspection of the large tree, the boy discovered a whole in the trunk, just big enough for him to fit through. Without hesitation, the boy climbed inside to further explore this wonder of a tree.

After inside the trunk of the tree the boy say a ladder, the ladder went up as high as his eyes could see. Climbing the ladder for at least two hours, the boy had became exhausted but saw light seeping through the near exit above.

Exiting the top of the tree, the boy had entered wonderland. The ground was composed of the clouds he once looked up at, he was above them now. There was a forest in front of the boy, but the trees were made from what to appeared to be animal fur. This was not typical animal fur, but colorful patterned fur, almost artificial. The leaves of the trees were composed of what appeared to be the clouds he was also standing on. There were small creatures all around which he did not recognize.

What appeared to be a short troll approached the young boy and said, "Welcome, young boy. I see you have traveled quite a way to get here. Follow me please." Without hesitation the boy followed the troll until arriving at what looked like a large pillow; one for a giant to rest his head on. The troll lifted the pillow and leaped down into a hole the pillow was covering. The boy followed the troll down the deep dark hole and fell for what felt like eternity. Upon lightly being placed on the ground after falling down the hole beneath the pillow, the boy wiped his eyes in disbelief. He was right where he had started this journey previously.

Mysterious Clouds, Source

The boy enjoyed this place and explored it for what felt like days continuously going in circles and finding his way right where he had started each different time. After growing tired of walking the boy had sat down to take a rest between the roots of one of the fur/cloud trees. The second he had fallen asleep, the boy had awoke from his bed at home; his alarm clock was blaring loudly six inches away from his ear. It was time for class...

Authors Note
In the original story, a man in search of his love had fallen into a lake. When he fell in he realized he could breath underwater and eventually discovered a great village at the bottom of the lake. There a short fat man led him a great stone. The man was right in his own kitchen with his love, but she was frightened at his sight. He thought he had been gone for only hours when in fact it was actually over a month. I wanted to incorporate the same Twilight Zone/Alice in Wonderland feel to my story, but also have a solid twist in it as well. I made the land mysterious and interesting, but my twist may feel a little cliche. Though I have seen this same twist in other stories, I could not help but use it once in my writing also.

Bibliography 
This story was an adaptation of the original story entitled Owen Goes a-Whooing, written by W. Jenkyn Thomas in 1908.

Storytelling Week 10: The First Fire

The earth began as a cold and desolate place. There was no fire but only snow all around. One day God had placed a burning bonfire atop the greatest peak sounded by harsh and heavy snow.

All the animals around gathered and witnessed the heavy smoke arise from the burning top of the mountain, they could all feel the heat and craved it badly for their bones were shivering with coldness.

The snake began to make his way up to the top of the mountain to bring it down for the other. Halfway up the mountain, the snake got frostbite and lost his legs; this is the reason why snakes have no legs to this day.

The bear attempted the same thing as the snake but made it much farther. Upon coming close to the fire at the top of the mountain, the bear could not handle the smoke and it turned all his fur brown and black; this is the reason most bears have their color we see today.

The ostrich made it just as far as the bear but used it's wings to make it up the mountain much faster. Upon getting close to the mountain, the ostrich's wings were damaged by the flame and its feathers also turned black; that is the reason why ostrich's cannot fly and have their color we see today.

Lastly, the polar bear; a great white bear who could withstand the cold. This was the environment intended for the great white polar bear. This bear marched steadily all the way to the top and successfully brought the burning fire down with him to share for the others and the rest of the world.

To this day, the earth shares fire and all because of the brave and strong great white polar bear. Without the polar bear, there would be no warmth or fire to cook with today.

Polar Bear with the First Fire: Source

Bibliography

This was my adaptation from the story entitled The First Fire, by James Mooney in 1900. 

Authors Note

This original creation story really caught my eye and is definitely one of my new favorites; this is because it not only describes how the first fire was created, but also how many different animals received their characteristics that we all know of today. I wanted to do the same, but modify it slightly more to my liking. This follows the original story quite well but with some smaller better changes in my opinion. 

Storytelling Week 9: Sweet Revenge

A helpless and innocent small young woman had just finished her shift as a server at a local restaurant; she had made over $150 that shift regarding it was a Friday night. As she was walking by a dark alleyway a mugger had focused in on her and her bag.

The dark shadow emerged from the alley and began to follow the young woman as she made her way to the bus stop to go home. Half a block away from the bus stop she stopped and hesitated; she saw the muggers shadow approaching.

Being a small woman, she knew she could not escape the mugger once he made his final move towards her and her bag. Knowing this, she held her bag even tighter towards her body and darted across the deserted street.

No person was around to witness what was happening; the mugger engaged towards the woman and also darted after her. As he crossed the street, the bus she was supposed to be on collide with the man instantly killing him.

The mugger now laid in the street taking his last final breaths as the woman watched from the sidewalk on the other side of the street. She slowly approached him as the life was leaving his body and said the last words he ever heard..."are you satisfied now...?"
...

Bus Stop, Source

...

In the final moments of the muggers life, an ambulance had arrived and successfully revived him. He was lucky to be alive and everyone was shocked he was still breathing. He had suffered from 8 broken bones and brain damage; he would never be the same again.

Later the next day as the mugger laid in his hospital bed, his ex wife had heard the terrible news and thought about going to visit him. The wife was skeptical about visiting him for they had been divorced for several years; though they were both still very much in love.

Deciding to finally visit her ex husband and tell him how she still felt about him, on the way to the hospital the woman who he had attempted to mug her before was carpooling with her friend to work when her car had struck and killed her instantly right in front of the hospital.

The mugger did not know who the person was crossing the street to get to the hospital, but saw the aftermath of the incident and questioned what could have happened. He suddenly thought about his one love in life, the woman who had just died in front of the hospital trying to see him.

In the following weeks as he recovered in the hospital one phrase was stuck in his head that he could not shake..."are you satisfied now...?"

Authors Note
This was my adaptation from a story I read earlier this week entitled the Coyote and Porcupine. In the original, animals were used instead of humans and the porcupine had came back to life several times after the coyote had beaten it. After coming back, the porcupine eventually tortured him and his entire family getting the final sweet revenge. This original story I must say was quite brutal, especially with animals. I wanted to make a more modern adaptation of this using a very common example, a mugger who is after a woman's purse after she gets off her late night shift.

Bibliography
This is an adaptation of the original story entitled the Coyote and Porcupine, by Pliny Early Goddard in 1911.

Week 7 Storytelling: The First Clap of Thunder

They call me Xander, god of all gods. I rule over the heavens and the seas; the gods under me control things such as the weather, love, and nature. The god of weather goes by the name of Jupiter, the god of love goes by Eden, and the god of nature goes by the name of Eve.

I have admired the god of love, Eden for many many years now, though Jupiter seems to have begun showing affection towards her also. Eve has always admired me, but I do not wish to be with her. I only want to be with Eden; for she is the most beautiful god there is who rules over the strongest emotion, love. If I could be with Eden, her love would be enough for both of us to be everlasting together.

One day I witnessed Jupiter sneak a kiss from Eden, her eyes showed that she too cared for Jupiter. I thought many nights about what happened between Jupiter and Eden before taking any action. The first day of spring, I confronted Jupiter about what happened and he ignored me completely. Jupiter did not want to get in my way, although he already unknowingly has. My resulting anger from Jupiter ignoring me caused me to do something very harsh and bold...

I summoned all of the weather in which Jupiter controlled and summoned it upon him. I gathered every bolt of lightning I could grab and sent the electricity jolting through his body. Though Jupiter was a god, he could not handle all the weather and lightning I summoned upon him; this was due to the fact that I was the sole god above him. Only I could destroy other gods if I so pleased.

As the bolts of lightning passed through his body, he collapsed down from the top story of the heavens down to the bottom floor of the earth. With so much power behind his body, the first and greatest clap of thunder ever echoed throughout the entire earth as he stuck the ground. The skies went black and the rain began for months on end. The first thunder storm graced the earth this day due to solely my actions.

Upon approaching Eden, she too ignored me and never spoke to me again for my actions towards her one love, Jupiter, could not be undone. To this day, I still remain as the loneliest god over all gods. After that day I destroyed Jupiter, thunder always accompanied lightning during storms and serves as a reminder of my own harsh actions.

(Jupiter Striking Earth: Source)

Authors Note

As I child, I remember my mother telling me that thunder was the sound of god rearranging his living room; this always grabbed my curiosity and from then, I was always intrigued by thunder and lightning. I read about the origins of lightning last week in the Nigerian tales and this week I have read the origin story of lightning within the Asian tales. I felt it was now appropriate to make my own adaptation to this origin story. 

Bibliography 

This story was adapted from the original story entitled The Origin of Lightning, by W.A. Briggs in 1899. 

Week 6 Storytelling: God's Teardrops

At one time there was no rain on the Earth; the plants had enough water in the rich soil to live and strive from. The skies were always clear and cloudless with the sun shinning brightly upon the face of the Earth. One day the king of all the nature told the sky that he in fact favors the soil more. The king favored the rich soils of earth because it helped produce all the beautiful flowers and trees for him to admire. The king did not like the sky because it was always so hot and burning the skin of all the humans that lived on Earth. When the king told the skies this, the sky became very saddened; so saddened that it rained for the first time ever upon the Earth. The soil already contained so much moisture it could have absorb anymore for the plants to drink. Because the soil could not absorb anymore water from the rain, it began to flood. The flooding on Earth became so much that flowers and trees began to parish; the king demanded for it to stop immediately. After the sky had cleared and it stopped raining, clouds were left behind. The suspended moisture in the skies produced the most beautiful shapes and pattern the king had ever seen. The king enjoyed the shapes and the clouds so much that he told the skies they were his new favorite once again. Though the king was shallow and only liked things for their exterior beauty, the skies did not care and continued to cry over the earth leaving the beautiful clouds behind for the king to admire. The skies remained the kings favorite for eternity after and that is why the phenomena of rain still occurs to this day; so the almighty king can admire the clouds. Overtime the soil adapted to the excess moisture and eventually started producing all the beautiful flowers and trees as it once did before the rain came. Occasionally the king would request for something specific to be left in the clouds such as his wife's name or his favorite animal; that is why letters and animals can sometimes be seen within the clouds in the sky. When the seasons change though, the rain begins to freeze killing almost all the flowers; the king despises this. The king despises the cold so much that he asked the cold to leave and never come back. The cold could never leave due obviously to the the suns position to earth, so the king decided to never speak to the cold ever again and stated the cold was his least favorite off all nature. 

(Rain: Source)

Authors Note: 

This was my adaptation of the Nigerian stories I have head this week. Though both stories I read seem to give a different creative explanation to something in nature, this is more of an adaptation to the story entitled The Lightning and the Thunder, which describes why there is thunder and lightening in the skies. I wanted to use this same theme, but change the phenomena; so I decided to give a creative explanation as to why it rains. 

Bibliography: 

The Lightning and the Thunder, written by Elphinstone Daryell in 1910.

Week 5 Storytelling: God Among Man

The follow are the written words directly from the Egyptian god of all gods, Ra.

Century 1:
I have created all the planets and all the stars in this universe, I now walk among the people of a planet which the people call "Earth", blending in as one of them. My intentions of walking among my creation is to learn more about them, for I have granted them the power of free will in order to observe just how they decide their own fate. These beginning times can be described as pure, for corruption and wrong doing is unknown to them at this point.

Century 2:
The people of Earth have developed quite rapidly. Though centuries to them are only days to me, they have already exceeded my expectations. They have not only mastered the ways to agriculture, but also have a profound understanding of science and technology. The people I walk among are becoming blinded by their own ways. The people of Earth are finding beliefs solely in science rather than the gods themselves who created them; for without the gods, man would never be.

Century 3:
Earth is no longer, the inhabitants have destroyed their own planet given to them by over populating and exhausting all of its natural resources. Man has now began populating the planett known to them as "Mars". They deserve this as a punishment for wasting away all that was given to them and destroying their planet. The people of Earth can only blame themselves for their great downfall, for I will make Mars impossible for them to strive on...These are my last days among the people of whom I have created.

(The Eye of Ra: Source)

After the people of Earth migrated completely to Mars and settled, the god Ra made the conditions of the planet exponentially more severe as the months went on eventually killing of its foreign visitors from Earth. Mars was no place for man and their trust in science eventually failed them. If the people restored faith in the gods, Ra would have replenished Earth with resources for the growing population, but Ra's own creation had turned against him, resulting in their final end.

Authors Note:
This is an adaptation to the Egyptian Creation story. In the original story, the god of all gods, Ra, summons the earth from a great body of water and walks among man for centuries. I wanted to keep this aspect of a god walking among his own creation in my story. I also wanted to somehow capture how man has abused Earth (much like I have previously in my stories) and lastly put a science fiction twist on it by man finally making it to Mars and attempting to start life there. I enjoyed my last storytelling post from the diary perspective of the climber and wanted to try something similar so I this style is in the thoughts of Ra while he was walking among his own creation, man.

Bibliography:
Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907).

Week 4 Storytelling: Everest

Personal Journal of  Christopher McCandless

March 17th, 1754. Base of Mount Everest.

As I prepare for this tremendous journey in my life, I am left with one thought in my mind. What will my view be like from the top? Will it be too cloudy to see, or will it be clear skies as far my eyes can see. I am left pondering this moment and cannot shake it until I see for sure. 

April 12th, 1754. Camp II. Elevation: 14,514 ft. 

The journey has just began for me I unfortunately must say. The weather is bad. It has not stopped since we have set foot on this damn mountain. I wish only for warmth and protection from this treacherous weather. I wish only to make it home alive. 

May 3rd, 1754. Return to Base. LAST ENTRY. 

This is the day my life was taken by cruel mother nature. The weather has only worsted. An avalanche has taken the rest of the crew; I am the lone survivor. As I sit in this snow slowly dying, I have one and only thought left in my mind. Why did I ever decide to take such a journey...

(Moments before Christopher's last breath, A rescue helicopter had taken him off the cruel unforgiving mountain and restored his health. Three years have now passed since this journey and Chris is returning to conquer Mount Everest once and for all.)

Personal Journal of  Christopher McCandless (Continued)

March 12th, 1757. Round II: Base. 

I sit here once again not thinking about the past, but focusing on the future. I am unsure for what it holds. I am not 100% sure why I have returned, maybe call me foolish. I must defeat this harsh beast after cheating death from it once before. Has my luck ran out, or am I still on a winning streak. The future can only say for sure. 

May 9th, 1757. Goal Achieved. 

I sit here on the top of Everest, kissing her unforgiving fists. I remembered her all too well on the journey up. Words cannot express the view, if only my words could capture this moment forever. I must not waist this moment writing. I must take in what I have accomplished. 

(That was Christoper's last and final journal entry. He died in his journey down from the mountain. An avalanche had taken him and his entire crews lives. Chris paid his life determined to do what he did not finish the first time. Some may call his actions foolish and that he asked for death, regardless he died a happy man having accomplished his main goal in life.) 

(Mount Everest: Source)

Author's Note

Okay, so this is a pretty long stretch from the original story. I tried to keep the same moral of the story, but use a completely different style of writing. The original story this is adapted from included two brothers. One of the brothers goes on a journey trying to awake his "luck" so he can live a better life. He ends up helping everyone else besides himself. In the end, he loses his life because he makes foolish decision and does not take advantage of any of the opportunities given to him. I tried to incorporate this into my story as well. Christopher returned to conquer Mount Everest, but it proved to be too much and he had also made a foolish decision that cost him his life. 

Bibliography

The Man Who Went to Wake His Luck which was translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer.

Storytelling Week 3

The dawn of time has come. God has started life on thousands if not millions of different planets scattered all throughout our universe. Once he spoke the words, we all entered into existence for the first time all together. His planning was precise; leaving enough light years between each planet so that they could never discover one another. He was to leave us all be and watch what we would become. Many planets of life had short lives by being destroyed by meteors and asteroids within the first 500 years or so. Many planets had tremendous advances in science and technology and many planets were still living in what would be considered the dark ages of their lifetime. Free will was key in all this planning from God; He chose to let us decide our fate for ourselves. His one and only plan for the future, is to show the last final standing planet all of the universes beauty. This last planet will be so far advanced from all the others that they will be the only ones who can truly comprehend the universe in its entirety and harness all its energy it has to offer to make even further advances for themselves. This final standing planet was to be called "Earth" by the people who habitat it. There was a period of downfall for this planet though, between the years of 1950 and 2200, heavily pollution almost caused global warming to end life as they once knew it. A life saving change occurred in the 23rd century, their breakthroughs in science allowed them to reverse the process of global warming prolonging the life of "Earth" well into the 51st century, where God finally showed them the entire universe and his final plans.

(Creation: Source)

Author's Note:

This is my adaptation to the creation of our universe as told in the Bible in Genesis chapters 1-3. How life was started on this planet has always been of great fascination to me, I really enjoy pondering all the different possibilities. I love watching science fiction movies like Prometheus or 2001/2010: A Space Odyssey that involve the creation of mankind. Prometheus alone has really been my main inspiration for this adaptation of this creation story. Here is its IMDB page if you care to get more info on the film!

Bibliography:

Here is the link to the original "Eve" post regarding creation. This original story is from chapters 1-3 of Genesis in the King James Bible.  

Storytelling Week 2

At dawn, Zeus awoke to a horrific sight across the heavenly clouds. Semele, his wife appeared to be having an affair with Jupiter, another great god of the skies. She was wrapped in his arms giving him a loving embrace just before drifting back to Zeus; "could it possibly be?" thought Zeus. He did not mention anything to Semele about what he had seen, but rather withheld his emotions and kept them contained. Months have passed by and the great skies are beginning to grow dark with the hatred spilling out of Zeus. He has not seen them together again but still dwells on the sight he had seen before of them. The image their loving embrace has burned in Zeus's mind. The madness began to grow greater from within Zeus; he decided to take action. Zeus gathered all the clouds in the sky and summoned countless great bolts of lightening and hellish storms from all around and wished it all upon Jupiter while he was at rest in the heavens. Jupiter must have heard the great storm approach; he had moved just in time. He asked Zeus "why have you done this to me?". Zeus replied "You had my wife many months ago. I have not forgotten." This sent Jupiter into a state of confusion. Before leaving abruptly Jupiter leaves Zeus with "Why do you say such things? I have never had your wife!". Zeus approaches his wife, Semele, and asks "Why have you betrayed me to Jupiter?". She quickly responds "What ever do you mean Zeus? I would have never even thought to betray you, but after hearing what you wished upon Jupiter, I can be with you no longer. Your hate is too ugly and has driven me far away from you...". This was the last time Zeus ever saw Semele or Jupiter.

(Semele and Jupiter, Source)

Author's Note:
I am so fascinated by Mythology, all the different gods and powers; so I really enjoyed reading all about them for this week. I could not help but re imagine a story about the great god of the sky, Zeus. I found a theme that repeated in the stories from Ovid's Metamorphoses and wrote about them earlier this week. Both of the stories regarding revenge over an affair. Love had been overcome with hate, and the revenge proved to not be so sweet for them. Their are consequences for every action taken. The original story ended with Zeus accidentally killing his wife, Semele, by brewing up a storm she could not dodge like Jupiter did in my re imaging. I found it interesting how both stories I spoke about before ended with great consequences because actions were take due to their overwhelming emotions; I wanted to keep that theme up, but in a different way. I decided to create an ending not so sad from the original, but still has great consequences because of the actions Zeus tried.

Bibliography:
The original story is simply titled "Semele" within Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 1-4) and was translated into English by Tony Kline. You can find the link here!

Week 1 Storytelling: The Ant and the Dove

       The ant and the dove; two animals you would never suspect helping each other if their life paths so happen to cross. Maybe the dove would eat the ant or step on it accidentally and end the fragile life for the ant. A family of ants could overtake a hurt dove and ends its life. The point here is that nature tends to be very hesitant or violent when two different species come in interaction with each other. There are many stories out there that would oppose this idea; for example the classic fable of the lion and mouse. The mouse is able to remove the thorn from the lions paw relieving him from pain rather than be hesitant and scared of the wild beast. The story of the ant and dove can fit into this same category. Drinking from a small stream of water running beside the sidewalk in the heart of downtown Manhattan, a dove notices several ants attempting to move a twig from one side of the sidewalk. The ants are nearly trampled and terrified after numerous citizens nearly ending the lives of the ants unknowingly with the soles of their shoes. The dove felt compassion for these ants; a rare moment in nature where two different species feel compassion for the other. To save the ants from their grave on the Manhattan sidewalk, the dove carefully grabbed the small twig in its mouth, assured all the ants were secure on the twig, and glided gently to the outskirts of town in to the woods. The dove placed the twig by a small stream deep in the woods where no pedestrians could so harshly end the family of ant’s lives.

       Months have gone by now and the dove has returned to exact spot where the ants were once placed by the small running stream; this particular place in the forest is protected and rich with food so the dove returns here every so often when in hunt for food. The dove remembered placing the ants here but could see no signs of any ant life nearby. After scavenging and finding barely any food in the area, the dove notices a pile of berries collected by the ants; they are piled in the exact same spot where the twig was placed and still remains. The dove could not find any food in this area because the family of ants collected all the food and piled it for the dove in return of saving their families lives the day on the Manhattan sidewalk.

Author's Note: 

       This is a re-imagining of the classic "Ant and the Dove" Aesop's fable. In the original fable, the story is told by a stream of water still, but rather the Dove saves a single ant from drowning in the water by placing a blade of grass for the ant to cross on. Later, the ant witnessed the dove almost being killed by a man with a stone, but just before the stone was released the ant stung the foot of the man saving the life of the Dove. One act of kindness answered by another act of kindness between two different wild species. 

Bibliography:

       This story is based on the fable "The Ant and the Dove" in Aesop for Children, (anonymous) illustrated by Milo Winter. 

(Illustration of dove assisting the ant cross the stream
 with a blade of grass as described in Aesop's Fables. Source)