Week 11 Story

The rush of it was about to hit her. This was why she loved what she did; why she continued to live such a dangerous lifestyle. The feeling that you got right before you were about to do something outrageous was unparalleled, and she knew that she'd gotten this one just right. This was about to be one of the largest diamond robberies in history, and the agency could trust no one else.

When she got in, she did all the things she needed to, and she had done this many times before. She checked for laser sensors, she scanned for heat signatures, and she fixed her hair. There was a routine she followed every time, and so far she had never failed. The agency gave her word that she was clear to go. She had complete confidence that she would be successful, and it's possible that she got cocky. Because when she reached for the crystal, it seemed that every alarm in the world went off.

WAA-WAA-WAA

She didn't know how this happened, as she had been thorough, but she had no time to think. This had not gone as planned, and she had to somehow get out. As she turned the corned, diamond in hand, 15 guards burst through the doors. She had always worked peacefully, but she feared that this was different. She took a deep breath, and began to work her way through the men, one by one, until the floor was littered with bodies. As she looked back, a single tear fell from her left eye, but she wiped it away as soon as it fell. This was not a job for the weak, and she had completed the mission. And since that day, diamonds have always been guarded by machine at all times, to prevent fate from repeating itself.

Author's Note: This story is based on the story of the Rabbit and the Flint Bear from the Inuit unit. I really enjoyed the story, and I thought it was a very creative way of telling the story. I changed the Rabbit to a jewel thief, because I thought it would make an interesting dynamic, and I think it worked out well. The Rabbit never had malicious intentions to the bear, but he ended up having to kill many bears. This was the same thing that happened in my story.

Story source: Myths and Legends of the Sioux by Marie McLaughlin (1916).

Diamond

Week 11 Reading Notes Part B

For the second part of the Inuit unit, there were many stories about the interactions between certain animals and humans. One in particular stuck out to me, as it was about a spider (Unktomi) who was attempting to be a trickster.

Notes:

• Unktomi, the spider, had found some bright red plums, and decided to trick the widows down the street with them.
• The widows asked where the plums were from, and he pointed to a great red cloud far away.
• The widows proclaimed how they wished someone could take care of their babies while they got some plums.
• Unktomi said that he would, and as soon as they left, he cut the babies heads off.
• He then replaced their bodies with old blankets, and put the heads back
• He took the baby bodies and made a soup with them
• When the widows came back, he told them that he made soup and that the babies were sleeping, so they shouldn't awake them.
• When they had finished the soup, they realized their babies were dead, and that Unktomi was the culprit.
• By then, Unktomi was already gone down a hole.
• He painted his face in disguise, and pretended to be a stranger worried about what had happened.
• When the widows told him, he vowed to fight "Unktomi", and returned with scratches proclaiming victory.
• The widows believed him, and Unktomi was able to bait them into the hole and kill them as well.

Red plums, from Andreii

Story source: Myths and Legends of the Sioux by Marie McLaughlin (1916).

Week 11: Reading Notes Part A

This week I decided to read stories about the Inuit mythology. I thought these stories were interesting because they place in the times of the Inuit people, while using magic and animate animals to convey stories. My favorite story from the first half of the unit was about the Rabbit and Bear with the Flint Body.

Notes:

• Rabbit and his grandmother had an issue, because they did not have any more arrows for the hunt
• Rabbit could make arrow sticks fine, but did not have anything for the arrow heads
• The only place he could get flint was the great bear chief, who had all of the flint in the world in his body
• The Bear told rabbit to strike off flint, and Rabbit kept taking very small pieces, to which the Bear grew impatient.
• Rabbit then struck hard, and the Bear split in two, leaving only the flint part.
• The bears got mad, and rabbit was forced to kill them, which is why there are not very many bears left.

I always enjoy stories that reveal the reason for a natural phenomenon, although this one turned out to be quite dark.

original image in book

Story source: Myths and Legends of the Sioux by Marie McLaughlin (1916).

Week 10 Story Lab

In the Osiris myth, the most important Egyptian myth, Set is portrayed as the usurper who killed and mutilated his own brother Osiris. He was mad that Osiris was king, and chopped Osiris up into many pieces. Osiris's wife Isis reassembled his corpse and resurrected her dead husband long enough to conceive his son and heir Horus. However, Osiris could never fully be whole again, and was forced to be the God of the Underworld. Horus sought revenge upon Set, and there are many myths describing the battles between Horus and Set. It is interesting, however, that all of these Gods are in such contention, as they are technically related. I think that is something that is very interesting, and I can potentially use to tie into my storybook. The familial interaction is something that I have always been interested in, and think it would work well with the story.

Story source: https://www.ancient-origins.net/human-origins-religions/story-osiris-how-first-ruler-egypt-became-god-underworld-008953

Set (diety)

Week 10 Alaskan Stories Part B

For the second part of the unit, I chose to take notes over the story about the boy in the moon.

Notes:

• There lived 4 brothers and a sister, and a boy who was friends with the sister
• The boy was lazy and did not like to hunt
• The little boy eventually falls in love with the girl.
• One day, the girl saw a ladder leading to the sky.
• As she began to climb, her brothers got worried, and yelled after her
• The little boy climbed after her, but she was too far ahead.
• The girl became the sun, and the boy became the moon
• The moon always chases the sun, but will never catch her.

The Moon over Anchorage

Story source: Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911).

Week 10: Alaskan Stories Reading Notes A

This week, I will focus on Native American stories and myths from the region of Alaska. A big portion of these myths are revolved around the legend of the raven. This is what I took notes on.

Notes

• There was the first man who was born out of a pea pod.
• He began to explore the world, and drank some of the pond water
• A raven then realized that he was there, and transformed into a man to talk to the new man.
• The man described the water he was in as "soft", and the raven brought him to "harder" lands
• The Raven then went to get food (berries) for the man, and the man felt better
• The Raven created some animals, explaining to the man how they were precious and should be placed in very specific locations.
• Finally, the Raven created a companion for the man, in the form of a woman.

Illustration from Judson's book

Story source: Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911).

Week 9 Story: Don't Lie to Me

After another long day at work, Jack and Ken decided to go out for drinks. They asked around the office, and Julie, who Ken was interested in, wanted to go as well. This was fine, but Ken did not know that Jack was also interested.

Later, at the bar, Ken and Jack both were chatting with Julie when Jack asked Ken about his new sports car, knowing he drove a Prius. Ken was very confused, but thought Jack was simply being a wingman. Ken went on and on about how expensive it was and how much he loved driving it. Julie was very interested in cars, and kept asking Ken questions about his new car, until he didn't even know the answers. Jack, on the other hand, kept telling the truth about his car, and Julie didn't seem to mind. It was at this point that Ken became flustered and decided to make up another lie, this time about the work he did for charity. The more he talked, the more suspicious Julie got, as Jack continued to seem like a normal guy and Ken seemed to have it all, even though they worked the same job. This continued for a few hours, until some more of Ken's friends walked in.

Ken's friends from college, who did not know what was going on, started poking fun at Ken for his car as they usually did. Ken tried to play it off.

"Oh yeah, the Prius is what I use for longer distances, because it's better for the environment," Ken said.

However, his friends saw right through him, and asked him to show them his sports car. Julie agreed, and wanted Ken to show her his charity as well. At this point, Ken did not know what to do, as he had led himself down a rabbit-hole of lies, and was completely stuck. The next day, Ken showed up to work, and Julie and her friends just laughed.

Author's Note: This story was based on the famous Tar-Baby story from the Brer Rabbit unit. Although it is not exactly the same, the idea that the Brer Rabbit gets stuck in the Tar-Baby. However, in my version, it is not a physical Tar-Baby, but rather a trap of lies. Ken begins to lie more and more and eventually gets stuck. I decided to change the representation of the Tar-Baby so that it could fit in a more modern sense.

Ken's "sports" car

Story source: Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings by Joel Chandler Harris (1881).