Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Storytelling Week 9: The Red and Purple Yummy Berries

Once upon a time, in a land far far away lived a handsome young man named James. He and his partner lived in the woods just outside of town. One day James decided that he wanted red and purple yummy berries, but they were hard to find and he did not feel well that day. 

James called his partner over to him. “Babe, would you please, please, please get the red and purple yummy berries for me? You know they are my favorite and I am not feeling well today.”

“Of course I will do this for you my love.” His partner replied. “I would do anything for you!”

James’s partner was out the door and James stayed in bed for most of the day. 

"Maybe I should do some housecleaning.” James thought to himself. “That would be my partner very happy when they return home.” James started washing the piled dishes and cleaning the rest of their home. 

James’s partner was having a difficult time finding the red and purple yummy berries. “If only I wasn’t color blind!” James’s partner thought to their self. “Then I could pick the red and purple yummy berries and be home by now.” James’s partner decided to pick all the berries they could find for the next three hours. Their plan was to bring them home so James could determine which berries were the red and purple yummy berries. For the next three hours James’s partner pick berries. They picked and picked until the sun started to set. They headed home with a gigantic basket full of various berries. 

When James’s partner return home they found an emptied, but tidy, house. “Hello! Jame’s are you there?” James’s partner echoed in the home. “If you try to scare me I will not talk to you anymore!” They herd no reply. Wondering around the house James’s partner found a note that detailed instructions on the kidnapping of James. 

Kidnapping Note: Source
The note read, “If you ever with to see James again, bring the red and purple yummy berries to the bridge near the abandoned barn.” 

James’s partner quickly grabbed the basket and ran to the location where the exchange was to take place. “James! James! Where are you? James!” They called out. 

Creeping from the shadows James and a covered person appear. “Hand over the basket.” The mysterious person demanded. 

“Okay.” James’s partner said, “Just let James go.” 

The exchange was made and the mysterious person vanished with the basket of various berries. James and his partner returned to their home after filing a police report. The next day, Victoria Brown, was found poisoned. She sat on her living room floor, face smothered in berry juices. 

“I guess we know who kidnapped you now.” James Partner said.

“What berries did you pick yesterday?” James asked. 

“All of the ones south of our home. In the meadow next to the energy factory.”

"Oh, that explains it. Don’t you know that field has poisonous berries due to the waste dumping from the factory. It has been banned for consumption for years! Animals don’t even eat it anymore.” James said. 

“Oh, yeah. I forgot.” James’s partner said. 

And James and his partner lived happily ever after!


Author’s Note: 
I decided to rewrite the story of Rama and Sita and the golden deer. In the original story, Sita tells Rama she wants a golden deer so Rama sets out to get the deer for her. When he returns he finds that Sita has be stolen away. I thought this would be a fun story to practice my ability to create a gender numeral character. It was difficult to do this, but I had a good time. I actually based this story off of real life events. Not that a murder occurred, but this is a situation I could see my partner and myself getting into. I pretty much cracked up the entire time writing it, so I hope everyone enjoys it. 

Bibliography:
Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley. Question Copyright.Public Domain Version http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/

3 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this version of Rama and Sit and the golden deer. I liked how the villain in the story, Victoria Brown, was punished for her greed by the very berries she stole and how by stealing the berries saved James from death. Something else that I liked in the story was that even though James was not feeling well he still cleaned the house for his partner.

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  2. I enjoyed this version of Rama and Sit and the golden deer. I liked how the villain in the story, Victoria Brown, was punished for her greed by the very berries she stole and how by stealing the berries saved James from death. Something else that I liked in the story was that even though James was not feeling well he still cleaned the house for his partner.

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  3. This was a very creative twist to the original story. It took me a second to realize which story you were basing it off of, but it eventually clicked. I watched Sita Sings the Blues earlier this semester and loved it! It was nice getting to change it up a bit from our usual readings. Overall, I thought this story was great. You did a really good job with thinking a little outside the box!

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