Week 13 Storytelling: The Two Friends Who Had a Drink

The sound of the young man's steps echoed through the deserted cemetery as the crisp breeze whistled through the trees. Flashes of dim light from the full moon peered through the branches and illuminated the gravestones so that he could see the names on each. He hastened to the newest tombstone where his very best friend in the world lay. He stared at the name carved in the stone and fought back tears as he knelt in the grass.

"Hi... I miss you... I know we promised we would never miss each other's birthdays so here I am... all by myself in this graveyard at night..." the young man spoke aloud as he looked around the cemetery in anxious curiosity and fear. He did not like being in such a place at night and he wished more than anything that his friend could join him.

(The graveyard at night while the young man was visiting)

As soon as he had finished speaking, he felt the ground rumble beside him and separate as the lid to a coffin flung open. Grass and dirt flew as the earth re-settled with the coffin now lying wide open and a corpse slowly rose into an upright seated position. The young man could hardly speak or turn his eyes away from the sight of his dead best friend rising from the grave. The two stared at each other for what seemed an eternity before the corpse erupted into laughter and tackled the young man with a giant hug. Their embrace wore away the shock and the two excitedly began talking and catching up on all that had occurred since the death. After several minutes of conversation, the corpse reached into his coffin and removed a bottle of liquor and two gauntlets for them to drink and reminisce. The corpse poured mighty portions for each and the earth seemed to spin around them while they drank. The young man wondered what sort of liquor he was consuming but he knew his friend would never lead him astray so it must be safe. They both quickly finished their first cups without hesitation.

"Quaff another cup, dear friend!" the dead man exclaimed as he refilled each cup and returned one to the young man.

Accompanied by good conversation, they finished the second cups of liquor and looked around them. The world looked eerily different and the graveyard appeared to be in much greater degradation. It did not fully process for the young man what was occurring so he agreed to a third glass of the mysterious liquor. The young man and dead man enjoyed themselves so heartily that at the end of the third glass they drank, they both drifted off into a deep sleep.

The young man jolted awake several hours later by the bright light of the day and the chirping of birds. He slowly sat up and looked to the gravestone where his friend had been, only to see the ground undisturbed and the gravestone intact. He wondered by what magic he had been able to see his dear friend seemingly alive and in person and regretfully realized that he had not had the chance to say goodbye after such a fun night of merriment. He rose to his feet, feeling a pounding in his temples, and wandered to the entrance of the graveyard. He again noticed that it was in significantly poorer repair and grass and vines had grown up over many of the gravestones. He exited the gate and looked to his left and right, met with giant creatures made of some sort of metal and four round legs sitting in the grass. He shook his head in confusion and carried on to return home.

As he walked, he saw a giant, winding black object pass through the grassy field and when he stepped on it, he realized it was not a snake as he had initially thought but a hard, flat surface. He heard a rushing sound and looked behind himself just in time to leap out of the way as another metal creature rolled by at a high speed. He threw himself to the ground and hid, thinking it was coming for him, but it simply passed along and disappeared into the distance. The young man was absolutely bewildered at this point so he ran in the direction he remembered his town being in. 

When he reached his hometown, he stopped in his tracks and stood still next to a statue of a man as hundreds of the motorized creatures spun around him on the black surface and blaring horns filled his ears. He saw multitudes of people walking along streets carrying small tablets with bright screens and chattering at fast paces. He whirled around trying to keep up but only become more disoriented. Finally, the young man grabbed the attention of a young woman who seemed pleasant and willing to help.

(The statue where the young man stood looking at all the people pass by)

"Excuse me, miss, can you tell me where I am? And... what year it is?" he hesitantly asked, embarrassed by his apparent lack of knowledge.

"Well, it's the year 2017 and you're at the University of Oklahoma! How did you not know that?" she quizzically asked with a puzzled look on her face. The young man stood still for a second, wondering how to even begin telling her that his dead friend had risen from the grave and given him a drink that had somehow made thousands of years pass without his realizing. So he decided to skip that part and, since he did not know anything about the town or year he was currently in, to see if this beautiful young woman would assist him.

"It's... a long story. But I'm here now and I can't seem to go back so do you mind showing me around this... university? Is that what you called it?" he said with a hopeful smile.

The pretty young lady smiled at him, clearly interested in his offer and handsome looks, and agreed before turning to walk down the street and begin her tour of the greatest university on earth.


Bibliography: Russian Fairy Tales , a collection of Muscovite folklore by Ralston

Author's Note: To be completely honest, this story did not quite turn out how I wanted but I decided to follow through with it. I liked the premise of the original source story with two friends drinking the night away and many years passing by because everyone can relate to that, can't they? Only one of the friends was dead and had risen from the grave for such a fun night. I decided to make many thousands of years pass instead of only three hundred so that the young man could end up in modern times. While I was thinking of that and picturing the only cemetery I've ever been to being in Norman, I decided to place him on OU's campus. The thought of him stumbling upon the business of the south oval made me laugh and fit the idea I was searching for perfectly. While I didn't this because I liked the mystery of it, I formulated the idea of the dead man caring enough for the young man that he sent him into the future because he knew he would have a better future there and would find the woman of his dreams. Similarly, the original story had the young man traveling to find his bride when he found the grave but I wanted to remove that portion so that the beginning could simply focus on their deep friendship.

Reading Notes: Russian Folktales, Part B

The Witch Girl

• Every night, a witch girl passes through houses and kills the entire household but one man stays awake and catches her so she does not kill the house
• It would be interesting to make it a romance story where the witch has the chance to kill them all but she thinks the man is handsome

The Headless Princess

• The princess was a witch and a young boy saw her remove her own head and had to read psalms over her for three nights while she conjured up horrors to scare him
• Could elaborate from his point of view on the horrors experienced by the young boy and the sort of demons and terrors that tried to attack him

The Fox Physician

• A man's wife died and a fox told him he could cure her with a bath of oatmeal and butter, but instead he ate all of the bones clean
• It would be funny to make the items that the fox needs to cure her ridiculously long and absurd

The Two Friends

• Two friends had a pact that they would invite each other to their weddings, even if the other was dead, so one friend stopped his search for his bride to go to the graveyard and invite him
• Could fast forward more than three hundred years from the cup's drink so that he is now in modern times and does not understand what all the technology and advances are

(The graveyard at night where all the corpses come alive)

The Coffin-Lid

• A corpse rises from his coffin at night and goes into the village to kill young lads
• Would be interesting to tell the story from the point of view of the corpse because he is jealous and angry that he died so early while other young men live

The Two Corpses

• A man is chased at night by a corpse into a chapel where there was another corpse and they fight over who gets to eat the man before they fall down at sunrise
• Could expand upon telling the dramatic story of their fight over the man 

The Soldier and the Vampire

• A terrible warlock was haunting the town and killed the bride and groom at a wedding, so everyone wanted their revenge
• A soldier discovered they had to burn him and kill all of the reptiles and insects that would come out from inside him 
• Could change the story so that the healing the bride and groom did not work and the people all turned on the soldier, thinking he was the warlock

 Bibliography: Russian Fairy Tales , a collection of Muscovite folklore by Ralston

Reading Notes: Russian Folktales, Part A

The Dead Mother

• A dead mother visits her baby at night and when the caretaker woman and father waited up to see why it stopped crying, the baby died at dawn
• Could expand on how the house became so scary right when the ghost mother visited

The Bad Wife

• It would be fun to change the story to a modern setting for all of the things that the wife would not do 
• Could tell the story from the imp's point of view as it went around to the houses making people ill and being very sly and cunning

The Miser

• A miser borrowed a copeck from a poor man and pretended to be dead when the miser came by to get his copeck back
• Could actually have Marko be killed by the robbers and have him be stuck following the poor man around as a ghost and seeing how happy he is, even though he's poor

Friday

• The woman did not pay due reverence to Mother Friday so it would be funny to have her enter in the night and play all sorts of pranks on the woman (like kids did at camp)

The Leshy

• A girl wandered far into a forest and was taken into a hut by the Leshy and put under its spell so that she did not remember he mother or father or how she got there
• Could tell the story of a typical day in the life in their hut while the Leshy provided for her

Emilian the Fool

• The fool caught a magical pike in his pail one day and when he threw it back in, it granted him magical powers to do whatever he pleases
• It would be interesting to rewrite this in a modern day setting with him finding some critter that isn't a fish but has the same magical powers

 (Magical Pike)

Bibliography: Russian Fairy Tales , a collection of Muscovite folklore by Ralston

Tech Tip: Canvas Mobile App

I can't believe that the semester is over and I am just now downloading the Canvas mobile app! It is so cool and I wish I would have heard about it before now. I really like how the courses page is the homepage because it is so easy to navigate, especially with the bright colors to differentiate each class. The "To Do" tab is my favorite because it helps you stay organized and aware of what's coming up in the following week! I also like the push notifications option because sometimes I don't think to check and I miss important details. This way I can be reminded without having to think of checking myself. Hopefully, this will help me stay motivated for the last few weeks of school so that I don't get behind in any of my classes... Very cool app that I recommend to everyone!

Week 12 Storytelling: The Three Little Pigs' New Houses

Once upon a time there was an evil and vicious wolf who made rounds prowling the lands once a month looking for little pigs to swallow whole. Every pig was so afraid of him that they each made a house out of what they thought would be the strongest material to keep them safe when the wolf came by looking for his next meal. No one ever knew when he would be coming next so they always had to make sure they were prepared. When each pig was old enough to move out of their parent's homes, it was exciting and ceremonious for all of the other pigs to see what material they chose. On their eighteenth birthday, each pig entered the magical woods and whatever material they first laid eyes on was theirs for the taking. Some hoped for wood, some for stone, others for twigs and tall blades of grass. Each was different and the community of pigs eagerly awaited at the edge of the forest to see what the pigs chose.

However, in some ways, it was a competition to see who chose most wisely and those who felt certain of their choices knew that their houses would withstand the big bad wolf and thus did not fear his return. Growing up, every little pig dreamed of what they would one day build their house out of and the three little pigs, Ted, Stan, and Glen, who were all best friends, were no exception. All three of their birthdays were on the same day and they spent all night thinking of what material would become available to each of them when they entered the woods. When the sun rose on the morning of Ted, Stan, and Glen's birthdays, each shot up in their beds and eagerly rushed to the forest with a satchel where a crowd was gathered to cheer them on. Each took a deep breath, excitedly smiled at each other, and set off into the forest. The crowd hushed into a silence to await each pig's return.

 (Left to Right: Ted, Stan, and Glen on their birthdays)

Ted ran as fast as he could to separate himself from his friends and acquire what he believed would be the best material for his home. He searched and searched and suddenly beheld in front of him a pile of colorful and dirty plastic. The light reflected off of the material, beckoning Ted closer. He had never seen such an amazing matter in his life and knew that he would surely have the sturdiest house of them all if he chose the plastic. He scooped the plastic into his satchel and with an enormous grin on his face, walked back to the crowd at the edge of the forest. He passed Stan and Glen still running around frantically searching for their predestined material source. Stan looked under bushes and inside of hollowed trees before a glistening reflection of light momentarily blinded him. He stepped closer to investigate and realized it was a large heap of aluminum, just waiting for him to claim in his satchel. He shouted for joy at his excellent find and ran back to the edge of the forest to share in his excitement. with his friends.

Only Glen remained and he was quickly becoming frantic that he was the only one out of the three who had not yet found his future home materials. As soon as he had begun to lose all hope for his safety against the wolf, he stepped into a suspiciously malleable substance. He looked down to see orange putty sticking to his feet and he sighed in relief. It was the perfect material for him and he could build his house however he wanted. He scooped up all of the putty he could manage and flung it into his satchel before running back to the edge of the forest. Since he was the final pig to return, he was greeted with cheers and hugs from his fellow pig friends. They were all mesmerized by the colorful and beautiful finds each pig returned with and they all knew that the neighborhood of homes would be much brighter with the new homes of Ted, Stan, and Glen.

All of the pigs worked tirelessly over the next week to build the sturdiest, safest, and best-looking houses all in a row for Ted, Stan, and Glen to move into just in time for when they saw the wolf slowly approaching their neighborhood one day.  Each pig rushed into their own home and the three friends were eager, though afraid, to see if their houses would withstand the wolf. The wolf huffed and puffed and blew the first house made of sticks that he encountered down, sending the pig squealing away in fright. He then blew the second house may of hay down and snatched the pig up before it could escape. This continued until the wolf had blown down all of the houses in the village because they were not as sturdy as the three young pigs'.

(Photo of Ted's house made of plastic)

When the big, bad wolf reached Ted's house made of plastic, he huffed and puffed and tried to blow the house down but it did not budge. He quickly rushed to the next house, made of aluminum, to hide his embarrassment from his inability to blow Ted's house down, but alas, he was not able to blow down Stan's house either. So he rushed to Glen's, took one look at the mysterious putty molded into a little townhouse, and ran far away in an attempt to preserve his dignity. The pigs reluctantly exited their houses to survey the damage and were surprised to see that their houses were the only ones that had withstood the wolf. As sad as they were about the houses that had been lost, they smiled at each other with pride and rushed to the forest where they searched for more plastic, aluminum, or putty to rebuild the other pigs' houses and protect them from the wolf if he ever dared return.

Bibliography: English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, published in 1890, about folktales and fairy tales that are considered native to England and the lowlands of Scotland

Author's Note: I had fun this week taking a story that everyone is familiar with and putting my own twist on it! Originally, the houses that the three pigs made were of sticks, straws, and brick and the wolf was unable to blow the last one down. So I took the liberty of changing the materials that the three pigs used for their houses by making it a contest to see who had the best houses as well as having them use ridiculous, manufactured goods that are basically trash and would never withstand the wolf. It was funny to imagine them building houses out of plastic, aluminum, and putty and so I decided to make them actually take the wolf's huffs and puffs. I also gave the pigs generic and silly names as well as made them three young pigs who were friends. I liked the idea of a pig community that they lived in, so I expanded on that so there could be traditions and customs they have for coming of age.

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales, Part A

Tom Tit Tot

• A wife had to spin five skeins a day or else her husband would kill her so a black little impet did the work for her every day in exchange for her guessing his name
• She spent every day guessing so it would be funny to guess the most ridiculous and extravagant names imaginable and for none of them to be right

The Rose Tree

• An evil stepmother did not like her beautiful, blonde-headed daughter so she cut off her head with an ax and stewed her liver and heart for her husband and son to eat
• She was buried under a rose tree and it would be interesting to write the aftermath and the husband and son's sorrow that she can see from inside the rose tree

The Old Woman and Her Pig

• Her pig wouldn't cross the stile so she asked many objects and animals to help her get it home
• Would be interesting to expand on the number of objects and animals she asked (dog, stick, ox, fire, etc.) so that it becomes ridiculously long and intricate

Binnorie

• A jealous princess had her sister drowned because her former lover loved the sister instead but a famous harpist found her chest bones and made a harp that sang about her death
• It would be cool if creatures in the water and even the water itself all cooperated to help bring the sister back to safety at the shore of Binnorie and catch the evil princess

Cap O' Rushes

• A father asked his daughters how much they loved him and it would be funny to use the most ridiculous analogies for each
• He turned one away whose response he didn't like and she came back disguised as a maid

The Story of the Three Little Pigs

• The wolf who wanted to blow down the pig's brick house kept asking the pig to go to various events to get him out of the house and allow him to eat him
• Could change the effects to funny modern day things like going bowling or to get ice cream

 (Picture of the wolf trying to enter the pig's brick house)

Bibliography: English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, published in 1890, about folktales and fairy tales that are considered native to England and the lowlands of Scotland

Famous Last Words: Not Ready to Graduate!

Well, to be honest, I did not really enjoy my reading for this week nor did I like how my story turned out! The source stories were fine but I had trouble imaging plot twists or ways to make the story my own. I had fun actually writing it but it definitely did not seem like my best work nor do I think the readers enjoyed it. I also had great difficulty finding images to use this week, so it was an overall trying week 11 for my story. However, I am having so much fun writing my Storybook and really appreciated the feedback I got this past week on my latest story! I have enjoyed getting to know and expand on Don Quixote's craziness and the modern day news anchors are so much fun to write about. I love that everyone is just silly and incompetent in my Storybook so I have the liberty to add all the funny little thoughts I have while brainstorming. It has been a source of enjoyment for me so far!

I also really enjoyed the Storybooks that I chose to read this week! I had already read one that I was assigned so I read one about the use of Twitter and Tindr to retell the story of Little Red Riding Hood as well as Cupid and Psyche. I loved the images and screenshots that were incorporated and found myself laughing throughout the entire story. It was such a creative idea and I look forward to checking back in later this semester. Another one I enjoyed was a combination of medical stories that made up Grey's Anatomy, which is my favorite show. While writing my feedback, I mentioned several tips for the correct uses of several anatomical and medical terms and how to make them seem more realistic... which made me realize the level of nerd I have reached. But hey, it was fun to write about and share my nerdy knowledge!

I am also currently in denial that the semester is almost over and the fact that I am about to graduate from the greatest university ever... Every time I go to an event, I think about how it is my last time experiencing such fun college things and I get pretty emotional. I'm not really a crier but I've been crying a lot lately at the thought of never seeing so many of my friends again! I like to think that I will keep in touch with many of them, but life happens and things get crazy. So I'm trying to cherish these last few weeks (which is hard with the stress of my capstone quickly approaching) while I can and appreciate all of the wonderful little things that make up OU!

 

(A picture of how I imagine graduation will be... From Indian Intern)