There once was a woman who lived alone in the woods with her
son. She chose this life of solitude to
protect her son from the evil emperor. Her son was very unique, and she knew if
the emperor ever found out about him, he would take him for his own purposes.
The boy was unique in a couple of ways. He was stronger than two grown men and
he could talk with and control animals.
The child was born in a time of war. The emperor sought to
rule the world, and would do whatever necessary to complete his conquest. He
showed mercy to no one, and if others sought to rebel he would first kill their
family and than them. People feared and
hated their dreadful emperor; however, no one could stop him or overthrow him.
The king himself had the unique gift as the child in the woods.
When the woman realized her son had the gift similar to the
emperor’s, she her son could either be the one to overthrow the emperor or be
the tool to help him finally succeed in his conquest. That is why she fled to the woods.
The woman spent years training her son in the ways of
combat. Before she was a wife and mother, the woman was one of the most feared
samurais ever to have lived. The child had learned everything thing his mother
could teach him by the age of fifteen. The mother always warned the child to
never show his true strength or ability, in fear that one of the emperor’s
loyal spies would see him and report him to the emperor.
One day the child was out with his animal friends. They were
taking turns wrestling to see who was the strongest. The day went on and they
continued to fight. A man walked by and saw the child playing with the animals.
He was a loyal subject of the emperors and recognized the gift the child and
the emperor shared. Seeing the similarities the man immediately fled to the
emperor to report what he had seen.
Upon hearing the news, the emperor felt a very unfamiliar
chill go down his spine. He had to see the boy himself. Disguised as an old
woodcutter, he went in search of this mystery child. He came across the site
where the boy and his animal companions where wrestling. He watched the whole
time until they were done. Once the boy and animals where finished they
returned home for the night. The emperor was amazed at the boy’s skills and
strength. He knew he must gain the allegiance of the child if he wanted to
succeed in his conquest. He devised a plan on how to win his allegiance. The
emperor followed the boy home and went in to meet with him. As soon as he
entered, he recognized the mother immediately! At that moment the emperor knew
the boy would never join him and must be killed.
The boy and the mother were sitting down when the emperor
entered. The mother sprang up ready to fight as soon as she recognized him;
however she was too slow. The emperor reacted first by rushing in a breaking
her neck. He than turned his attention to the child, who was in complete shock
of what had just happened. With a hot rage of sorrow and anger the boy charged
at the man.
They tore their way threw the house and forest battling with
each other. Neither had fought anybody that was equal in strength and skill.
They fought and attacked each other for hours, until they came to a cliff. The
boy still hot with anger and sorrow realized what must be done. Grabbing the
emperor, the boy lunged over the edge. The emperor screamed in terror, the boy however
felt a calm gentle peace. A peace only a mother could provide. He knew this was
the right thing to do; neither of them should live with this much power.
Authors Note’s: This
story is adopted from the Adventures of Kintaro within the
Japan (Ozaki) Unit. The original story had the
child joining the ranks in the military. The emperor was not evil as well. I
put the conflict twist in my story to spice up the drama. The original was had
a happy ending and no antagonist. It is a very heartwarming story and if you
have time, I could recommend you read it. The image can be found from Dailymail.
Hey, Cameron! I really enjoyed your storytelling post – it was very unique and creative as well as easy to understand. I wish I knew more about the boy – why he had such powers – but perhaps that is what kept me reading (trying to learn about his mysterious nature). I appreciate how in the author’s note you informed the readers of the difference between the original and new story while also encouraging us to read the original. Great work!
ReplyDeleteNice story! I like the added extra drama to this story. It made it a lot more fun to read. In your author's note you did a good job in talking about the original story and talking about the aspects that you wanted to change. The only things I found were very few spelling errors and maybe the authors note could be a little longer. Other than that, you did a very good job.
ReplyDeleteCameron - I really enjoyed your story! I think the conflict that you created between the emperor and the child, I thought it made the story very compelling. After reading the Author's Note, it's clear your version was a little darker, but I think also a little more interesting. You might read through it again because there were were some small spelling and grammar errors but other than that I thought you did a great job!
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