Storytelling Week 14: War's Effects

I looked out my window to peer into the night, hoping to calm myself. I was covered in sweat and my heart was still pounding on the inner walls of my chest. I swung my feet around and sat on the edge of the bed, taking deep breaths to try and slow my heart rate down. The war never allows me sleep anymore. The flashbacks constantly keep me awake. I pray that the war will end soon, for the sake of the others still having to fight. The flashback that woke me up tonight was the time I was captured by the enemy. I have never seen someone enjoy torturing another human so much, until I met my torturer. He did not seem human most of the time. When I would look in his eyes, it felt like I was looking into a black hole. He had no soul at all. The only facial feature that he was his terrible smile. His smile always sent chills down my spine. The physical abuse I endured is something no one should ever experience, and I do mean no one. I do not care how wicked they are, this man crossed the line even the most wicked people would not dare to. He knew every aspect of the human body, and knew how to inflict the most pain possible, while keeping me conscious and alive. He started with the toes and fingers; first ripping of the nails, than cutting the bones in half, and finally removing the whole thing. After that he worked through my chest and stomach, slashing away at all the muscle and perforating my intestines. The pain was so intense that my body grew numb to it all, but some how he knew I was and would pause so I could gain feeling again. I do not know how he kept me alive and conscious the whole time. I just wanted to die, but every time I lost too much blood, he would bring in more pints to keep me attentive. What monster keeps storage of blood to be able to torture someone longer? I just do not understand the monstrosity of that man, nor can imagine how black his soul must have been.

I do not know how I survived nor how they found me. I didn’t know where I was, but I did know I was deep underground. The last thing I remember was the walls shaking and followed by a huge explosive light. I lost consciousness, and woke up apparently weeks later in a hospital. The first words I heard after months of silence was, “you are safe now, you are safe.”I kept those words in the front of my mind at all times. They are the only thing that calms me down. “You are safe now, you are safe.” With one last deep breath, I laid back down to sleep again.

(Image from TripAdvisor)

Author’s Notes: I adopted this story from the Dante’s Inferno unit. Dante describes vivid scenes of torture and despair. I wanted to try to translate that into a more modern and practical time. My character suffers form post traumatic stress from the war he fought in. He witnessed monstrous things like Dante did. The only differences is Dante’s was in a dream and saw what was happening, my character had to live through it and it still continues to haunt him. My goal was to make everything more practical so it is easier to relate and sympathize with my character. Dante’s Inferno is very dark, but for some it is really hard to relate to and be impacted.

StoryTelling for Week 11: A Modern Day Hero

As I leaned by in my lazy boy watching TV, I glanced over to my wall. Staring back at me were all my many achievements. The Olympic gold medals, the two Medals of Honor, the Purple Hearts, the Bronze Stars, the Nobel Peace prize, and my game trophies. I read the I achieved so much in such a little time; I mean I am old 55 and I almost done everything. Most people would die to just earn one my many achievements; however I was most certainly not satisfied in my achievements. There was one thing I desired to do, and I would give anything to do it. Just to taunt myself I had it hanging over my achievements. That bloody, beautiful mountain just hung there laughing at me. I could never deny how majestic Mt Everest truly was, and I only wanted to climb it. I wanted to be on top of the world, look out over the clouds, and see God’s amazing works. With a tear in my eye, I looked down at my right arm; well what would have been my right arm. Climbing this mountain would never be possible for me if I only had one arm, regardless of how fit and strong I am. Now I am not the one to regret things, and especially not losing this arm. If I still had my arm, then my fellow brother in arms, Ben, would not be in bed with his wife, and his kids would not have their father. He and I would always joke about how saving him from that chopper blade was the worst best decision I made. He knew my longing to climb that mountain, and he still feels a little bad about the accident. It wasn’t his fault, and he shouldn’t feel bad. I would save him even if it meant my life and not just my arm. I reread the one of the Purple Hearts, “This award is to recognize James Patterson and his courage and compassion he shows on the field of battle protecting this great country.” The last line was “God save the Queen”, and I managed to chuckle at that line. The Queen was not all sunshine and roses like the media displays; if she was I would not be on the couch for convincing our son to embarrass her at a distinguished dinner party.

I was not about to fall asleep when I heard a pounding at the door. When I opened it, it was ben standing there with a huge smile on his face. He was holding what looked like a carbon fiber arm with an icepick attached as the hand.

(Image from SummitPost)

Author’s Note: I adopted this story from the Beowulf Unit. There isn’t really one story that I focused on. I focused on Beowulf as the person. I tried to make someone in today’s time equivalent to his achievements. I tried to create a modern day Beowulf.  The book itself is “The Story of Beowulf” by Strafford Riggs. I wanted to have a man who has done so much, but is still never satisfied with his achievements, but unlike Beowulf the man didn't die in an adventure. I wanted my man to die of old age.

Storytelling Week 7: The Clash of Power

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.

Storytelling for Week 6: The Two Brothers

There once was a small village hidden away in the jungle. Within the village lived a well-known man and his little brother, and the townspeople thought very highly of the older brother. He was the greatest hunter and warrior in the village, and provided food and protection for the entire village. The younger brother was a different story. He was constantly compared to his brother and fell short in the townspeople’s eyes every time.  They never paid any attention to his help if it wasn’t either hunting or fighting. He always cleaned up after the feast and ceremonies, looked after the elderly, and build houses for the widow. The others always overlooked those deeds mostly because they wanted him to be more like the older brother; they only thought highly of hunters or warriors. Even his brother would look down on him.

One day an elder’s chicken got out of its pen. The younger brother immediately went to find it. He followed the tracks deep into the untamed forest for days. He finally found the chicken by a stream only to find that another had killed it. Tired form his journey he fell asleep by the stream only to be awaken by a beautiful women! The women told him the spirits found him to be of a pure heart and wanted to reward him. Anything he grew or killed doubled in quantity. The woman insisted that he take her as his wife, which he did. The younger brother decided not to return to his village and build a home next to the stream where he met his wife.

Years have passed since the younger brother left his village. He had numerous children with his wife and lived a life of abundance and peace. The spirits provided him with plenty of food and the stream never dried up. The younger brother was happy and had a family that cherished and loved him.

One day the younger brother was walking through the forest and ran into his older brother hunting. After catching up, the older brother informed him of the famine that the village. He could see the hunger in his brother’s eyes and could not bear to see him in so much pain. He told his brother to gather the townspeople and come live with him and his new family. He showed him how much food and water he had, which was more than enough for both villages. The older brother thanked him and returned to retrieve the townspeople.

When the older brother brought the townspeople to the younger brother’s village they shouted with rejoice:

“How great is he, the oldest of the two? He led of safely to a place of paradise. Let us build him a statue in his honor next to this stream in!”

Author's Note: This story is adopted from the Vanishing Wife from Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by Richard Edward Dennett (1898). The original story is about a brother who fleas home and lives on his own. Later on he has a dream about finding a wife. Once he wakes he repeats what happens in his dream and when he returns home he finds a woman (his wife) and her children. The only thing he must do to keep her is to cut the heads off of the fish he catches. The two he left hears about his fortune and are jealous. His brother who mistreats him goes to see if it is true. On the day his brother goes to see him, he does not cut the heads off of the fish and everything he has vanishes right before his brother arrives. He returned to his miserable state he was originally in. I wanted the main character to be more likable and honorable, as well as keep the happiness he found. I wanted to keep his intentions good to. He never helped others for his benefit, always for their benefit. That is why I kept the townspeople ungrateful towards him. The image is from Mongabay.