Week 11 Story: Cretaceous Kindness

Author's Notes:
This story is based on the Patient Buffalo Jataka. In the original story, a large buffalo lived in a lake covered in the shade of a large tree. A monkey would constantly bug the buffalo, bu the buffalo did not really mind as the monkey was not very smart. A fairy then asked the buffalo why he did not just gore the monkey. The buffalo explained that he did not mind the nuisance, and that the monkey was unintelligent. In response the fairy made it so the buffalo could not be caused any suffering by anyone. In my rendition of this Jataka I replaced the buffalo with a T-Rex, the monkey with a Raptor, and the fairy with a godly orb. This helps the dinosaur survive the cretaceous extinction event.

Cretaceous Extinction Event

It was your average day to the dinosaurs sixty-five million years ago. The foliage was green and luscious. The sun was shining bright down upon the earth with great intensity. The ponds and lakes were all so clear that you could see all the way to the bottom. All the dinosaurs were hunting for food, and living their lives to the fullest. Little did they know, everything was about to change that day.

The tyrannosaurus dwelt deep in the aforementioned foliage as this was one of the coolest places in his area. He would leave to go and hunt for less fierce dinosaurs so that he could eat. Occasionally the T-Rex would be pestered by a raptor, but he never really minded it. This raptor would throw rocks at the much larger dinosaur, and scratch up his favorite tree. The raptor would also make his minuscule  roars in an effort to wake the T-Rex. The raptor was so small that the T-Rex knew eating him would be of little to no value. The T-Rex just ignored his little nuisance for a while, but as time went on the little guy grew on the T-Rex.

One day, an orb of light floated down from the heavens, and questioned the T-Rex. "Why do you not just kill this smaller creature? It would be rather easy for you given your size and strength" the orb said. The T-Rex responded, "Well, he is just so small, and unintelligent that he would try and pick a fight with me. I just see no reason to retaliate against such a small, and less intelligent creature." The orb was surprised by this answer, and granted the T-Rex anything that he desired.

All of a sudden great fiery meteorites came blasting through the ancient atmosphere. The T-Rex knew what he desired now. He wanted to survive these deadly flaming space rocks, and wanted to bring his new raptor friend along with him. The orb obliged him, and placed a force-field around the two until the meteorites stopped falling. Once the rocks stopped falling, the two dinosaurs were among the only survivors of the cretaceous period. The earth was covered in a a grey film, and smelled of burnt plants. This began a new period on the earth, the Paleogene Period.

Bibliography:

Bibliography: 

Title: Twenty Jataka Tales

Author: Noor Inayat (Khan)

Illustrator: H. Willebeek Le Mair

Year: 1939

Week 9 Story Telling: The Riddler Strikes Again

Author's Notes:
This story is based off of "Riddles at the Lake". In the original the pandavas brethren went to leave the forest they had lived in. On the way out they came across a body of water, and a voice asking them a riddle. The first few brothers ignored this, but the wisest of the brothers answered the questions thoughtfully. The first of the brothers died, but the wise brother was able to survive due to his ability to answer the riddles. Robin represents the first three brothers. Batman is the wise brother, and the Riddler represents the voice. The voice in the original story goes on to reveal itself to be Yaksha.

Bat Symbol

Story:

It was pouring rain in Gotham one evening. The bat-symbol was shining in the sky, and Batman was preparing to go to whatever the disturbance was. He slid down from Wayne Manor into the Bat-Cave, and then he jumped into his suit. Now that he was ready he hopped into the bat mobile, and raced away towards his newest destination. It turns out that he was on his way to solve a riddle left by none other than the Riddler.

As Batman arrived on the scene he noticed a body lying on the ground. It was his sidekick, Robin. "Robin must have tried to solve this riddle himself, and met the consequences of a wrong answer.", Batman Said, as he checked on his friend to see if he was still alive. Robin was only unconscious, so Batman placed him in the bat mobile, and set off to solve this riddle.

Batman approached the wall in which the riddle was inscribed. It read, "  I have billions of eyes, yet I live in darkness. I have millions of ears, yet only four lobes. I have no muscle, yet I rule two hemispheres. What am I?". Batman thought what robin might have answered out to solve the riddle. Whatever it was, it ended up knocking out his friend. Next, Batman turned his attention to actually solving the riddle. " What could this be?" he asked himself, as he wracked his brain for a potential solution. Suddenly, he figured it out. "I've got it!", he shouted, " The answer is the brain!".

After shouting out his answer, batman heard a rumbling coming from the wall the riddle was written on. A compartment had opened up in the wall releasing a tube along with a note. The gave a hint as to where the Riddler was located. The tube then began spraying out a gas that would knock out anyone if too much was inhaled. Batman then darted for the bat mobile, and left towards his next clue.

Bibliography: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

Week 6 Story Telling: How the Oompa-Loompa's Seized the Chocolate Factory

The chocolate Factory

The sun was setting on another long, winter day in the Chocolate factory. Outside the factory it was icy, and the wind was howling.  As the day came to its end  the hurried noises of the Chocolate Factory quieted down. The machines stopped booping and whirring, and the smell of chocolate faded away slowly.

As the Oompa-Loompas began to head to their sleeping quarters some of the worker's became almost irate. "If I have to spend another minute wasting away in this factory, I will snap!", said Fred, the most senior Oompa-Loompa in the factory. " I am with Fred!" said George, Bob, and Henry. That very evening Fred called an emergency meeting among the Oompa Loompa's. "I am tired of working for that old coot Wonka. I say that we rise up, and confront that man! Let us take over this factory! Think about it Oompa's, We could run this place however we wanted to if we were in charge." Fred said, in a triumphant tone.

As the Oompa-Loompas listened to Fred's speech they began to realize that he was right. They could rather easily seize this factory, and run it. This was because there were hundreds of Oompa Loompa's and only one Willy Wonka. The Oompa-Loompa's devised their plan that evening. They would strike in 3 days, and finally gain control of the factory in which they had slaved in away for years. The next day, the Oompa-Loompa's went back to work like normal. They made the chocolate, taffy, gobstoppers, and any other candy you could think of under the watchful eyes of Willy Wonka.  "Work harder Oompa's! we need more candy!" Said Wonka menacingly.

The Oompa-Loompas appeared to be working as normal to Wonka, but that was far from the case. The Oompas were busy sabotaging the machinery of the factory in order to distract Wonka so that they could take him out. They rigged the ever-lasting gobstopper machine to explode. They knew this would be enough of a distraction to over throw Wonka.

The next two days passed by, and it was time for the Oompa-Loompas to strike. The trap they had placed on the gobstopper machine went off, and the machine exploded causing great chaos in the factory. "What the hell was that!?" said Willy Wonka, as he went to go see what made that noise. As he stepped out of his office he saw the flaming gobstopper machine, and demanded the Oompa Loompas fix it. There was an issue though, the Oompa Loompas were not on the factory floor. Willy Wonka was enraged by this, and set off to go fix the machine himself. Willy Wonka approached the gobstopper machine with a fire extinguisher, but as he approached the Oompa Loompa's came out of hiding, and began their attack on Wonka.

Hundreds of Oompa Loompa's began pouring out of every hiding place in the factory and ran towards their boss. As Wonka realized what was going on, they had picked him up and thrown him into the raging fire of the gobstopper machine. As their boss was burned alive, the Oompa-Loompas celebrated their victory and put out the fire themselves. "We have finally been freed from this tyranny! " Fred proclaimed. " Now we can pursue whatever we want!". The Oompa's began to chant about their victory. "You can all go and find a new home, or stay here if you would like." Fred said.

The Chocolate factory was no more a chocolate factory. Some of the Oompa-Loompas decided to leave the factory totally to pursue their dreams. George went on to become a doctor at a local hospital, Bob wound up becoming a lawyer, and Henry opened up a very successful night club. Others stuck around to see what was to become of the place they had spent the majority of their lives seemingly enslaved.

The remaining Oompa-Loompas in the factory decided what the factory should produce now that they weren't being forced to make candy all day. They decided to turn the old chocolate factory into a bicycle factory as they all found out they enjoyed cycling.

Author's Notes: This story is a retelling of the story of how Ravana gained control of Lanka. Lanka is represented by the chocolate factory, and the Oompa-Loompas are representative of Ravana and his armies. Ravana seized Lanka similarly to how the Oompa-Loompas seized the factory. I thought this was a rather fun story to write with very relate-able character's to anyone who has ever seen the movies they are based off of.

Bibliography: The Uttara Kandra Christian Literature Society for India. The Sacred Books of the East Described And Examined: Hindu Series

Week 4 Story: Donkey Kong's Capture

King K. Rool was the evil king of the Kremlins, and often found himself kidnapping others to try and defeat his biggest foes. After observing from the trees for a while, Donkey Kong knew he needed to do something to save his friend. Diddy kong had been captured by King K. Rool, and was dwindling away in his improsonment. Donkey over heard K. Rool telling Diddy that he would be killed unless he told the King where Donkey Kong was hiding. Diddy kong's days were numbered, he only had two months until he would be executed. Upon hearing these details Donkey Kong started to run away along the tree tops to go think up a plan to save his friend. In doing so Donkey smashed tree limbs to the ground, and caused several of K. Rool's minions to become alerted to his presence. At first only smaller low ranking kremlins were sent at Donkey kong. After them more highly trained kremlins came after Donkey Kong. One by one King K. Rool's evil army went after Donkey Kong only to be shot down by Donkey Kong's Coconut rifle. After watching several of his minions meet their demise at the hands of Donkey, King K. Rool knew he needed to try anther approach. He sent his top general to bind Donkey kong up and bring him back to his Kremlin Keep. Donkey kong had grown tired, so he was bound rather easily by the top ranking member of K. Rool's army. As he was bound by the rope, Donkey kong fell to the earth, and was dragged back to K. Rools Keep. Once they arrived at the Kremlin's Keep, Donkey kong had regained his energy, but decided to not make a move to free his friend yet. King K. Rool was excited as he thought he had finally captured his biggest enemy, but just as K. Rool was starting to gloat Donkey kong burst out of his binding. An epic battle was about to commence.

King K. Rool

Author's Notes: In this week's story I decided to take the story of Hanuman;s Capture and twist it with one of my favorite video game characters growing up. Donkey kong was one of my favorite games as a kid, so all of the characters are inspired by characters from the video games. Hanuman had just seen Sita as she crawled toward the tree he was hiding in. Hanuman then dashes away but is followed by Ravana's minions who are slain at first, but eventually manage to capture the giant monkey. He falls to the earth and is dragged to Ravana. I left it off at the battle to create some suspense.

Bibliography: Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita

Week 3 Story: The Enchanting Silver Stallion

Two great warriors were escorting a beautiful princess back to her home. Before heading out on their venture to the princess' home, the warriors were warned to not heed any distractions that may come their way. The warriors listened to this advice, and sought to follow it. So, the three set off to get the princess back to her home. Little did they know, a dark wizard was watching them, and planned to trap the warriors, and prevent the princess from returning home. On the way they passed through many different landscapes; a dark and treacherous forest, a rocky mountain range, and finally long flowing plains relatively near where the princess resided. The dark forest presented its own problems for the warriors as there were many monsters that they had to slay in order to make it through. First, they came across a giant six-armed bear. This bear came at them quickly, but was also struck down equally as quickly because it was rather loud in its approach. The first warrior shot the bear in the heart with an arrow, and the bear went down for the count. After making it past the six-armed bear, the warriors came face to face with a pack of wolves. These wolves came from many different angles, and made for a challenge for the warriors. However, in the end they were no match for the warriors as they were able to separate and conquer the wolves with their swords. Making it through the forest was a great challenge for the three, but somehow, they managed to survive that part of their journey. Next, they had to cross through some rocky and mountainous terrain. This was the only challenge they faced during this part of their journey. The three had to work together in order to make all the necessary jumps and steps in this area. The dark wizard was still observing the three on their journey, waiting to make his move at the most opportune time. Once the warriors and princess made it past the mountains, the wizard knew that the three would let their guard down as they only had to make it through a very flat and flowing plain. This was his opportunity. The wizard enchanted a nearby horse, and made him glow a beautiful silver. As the travelers passed into the plains, the princess saw this horse and demanded one of the warriors bring it to her so she could take it home. The wizard's plan was working perfectly. After all of their travels, the warriors had forgotten the advice they had received what felt like so long ago to them. So, the first warrior agreed and started following the horse. This is when the horse started sprinting back towards the wizard. As they approached the wizard's hiding spot, the wizard revealed himself, and launched a spell at the warrior. The warrior was incinerated instantly, and the remaining two members of the party began to flee. Now the wizard had to figure out how to lure the other two toward him so he could finally kidnap the princess.

The Enchanting Silveer Stallion

Author's Notes: This is an adaptation to the Golden deer story. Ravana enchants a deer and makes it look golden, and Sita wants to get a closer look at the deer. So, Rama sets off to go and get the deer for Sita. The protectors of Sita are unaware of the fact that this is an evil plan set forth by Ravana. I made the deer a horse, and expanded a little bit on the settings in which my characters traveled through. As well as provided a bit of reasoning for why the evil character wanted to do this.

Bibliography: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

Week 2 Story: The Weasel and the Ram

There once was a weasel named Wesley that lived at the bottom of a humongous mountain. Wesley had lived his life to this point rather happily, going about his days eating and playing to his little heart’s desire. Wesley would look up to the mountain occasionally and wonder what was up there, but never really had enough interest to try making the ascent himself. However, one day, this all change because Wesley saw a powerful ram bounding his way up the rocky terrain effortlessly. “Woah!”, Wesley said, as the ram continued his way up, “I wonder what he will see when he reaches the top.” The sight of this ram climbing the humongous mountain gave Wesley the desire to go and see what was at the top of the mountain. Every single day for almost a month after Wesley saw the impressive climbing skills, he attempted to mimic the ram. Wesley had a problem though. His problem was that he did not have the stamina to make it all the way up the mountain. “How did that ram do it it!?”, Wesley exclaimed, as he sat exhausted on a rock near the base of the mountain. No matter how much he rested, Wesley just could not seem to make it any further up the mountain. Following this realization, Wesley sought to find the ram and ask him for help reaching his goal.

Conveniently enough, the very next day Wesley saw the ram come hopping along towards his home. Wesley called out to the ram, “Hey, you with the horns!”, “Come here I want to talk with you!” he continued. The ram happily walked over to Wesley and introduced himself. “Hi there, my name is Ralph, who are you?”, said the ram. “Well my name is Wesley. How do you get up that mountain so easily Ralph?” Wesley replied. Ralph gave Wesley a little smirk and answered with, “Why don’t you join me on my way up today Wesley?”. Wesley was immediately excited as this was all he could think about for the past month. So, Wesley agreed to accompany his new friend up the mountain. Ralph told Wesley before they got on their way, “Hang on tight Wesley, I have to make some pretty big jumps to make it up.” Wesley grabbed on to Ralph as tightly as he could and the two made their way up the mountain. Ralph would take all his usual jumps, and showed Wesley everything he knew about this part of the mountain. Eventually the two made it to the peak, and they looked out over the horizon. “Wow, its beautiful Ralph, thank you so much for helping me get up here!”, Wesley exclaimed as he took in this new astonishing view. Ralph and Wesley then made the journey back down the mountain after enjoying the fruits of their labor. The two would make that journey together once a week for the remainder of their lives. 

View from Wesley's Home

Author's Notes: This story was inspired by the two turtles Jatakas. More specifically the Turtle and the geese. This Jataka involves a turtle and two geese who became friends due to the geese looking for food. One day the geese offer to take the turtle to their far away home, but only if the turtle can say not a word to any one on the way. The turtle agrees, and the geese pick up a stick for the turtle to latch his mouth on. On the adventure the turtle winds up talking to someone and falling to his death. In my story I changed the characters and setting as well as the over all goal of the characters. MY story also ended on a happier note than the death of a turtle. 

Bibliography: "The Turtle and The Geese" from Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbit