Week 13 Story: Pat-Pasta

Once upon a time there was a family that lived in Northern Italy. They lived on farm in the middle of nowhere. There wasn't much for the family to do, which meant that the family could be experts in something else. The family became one of the best pasta makers in all of Italy. That is high praise for a country that is known for their amazing pasta. One day, the son of the family was wondering around the house and heard a bang. The son peered into the kitchen and saw the pot, that was on the stove, dumped on the floor. The boy scratched his head and began to investigate. All of a sudden, a clump of pasta ran out the door and began to run away. The boy knew the high value of the pasta and took off after it.
The boy yelled stop at the pasta as it ran away, and the pasta responded with, "You will never catch me boy! I am Pat-Pasta!" Pat-Pasta rana so fast that the boy lost sight of him. Pat-Pasta continued to run and came upon a couple of hungry miners. "I have outrun a boy and I will outrun you too!!" said the Pat-Pasta.
He took off as the miners gave chase, but Pat-Pasta was just too fast for them too. Pat-Pasta continued to run and run as he lost the miners and thought he was the king of the world. Pat-Pasta then came upon a goat.
"Hello goat, you are too slow for me and I will leave you in my dust!!" Pat-Pasta yelled this at the goat and the goat took offense to the statement and began chasing Pat-Pasta. Pat-Pasta was no match for the goat as the goat couldn't keep up with the fast pasta.
Pat-Pasta then came upon a fox. This fox was relaxing under a tree but was hungry. The fox saw Pat-Pasta running towards him and had a feeling that Pat-Pasta was going to stop and say something to him. "I have outran a boy, two miners and a goat. You are the next one to eat my dust!!" Pat-Pasta was adamant that he was going to outrun the fox. Well the fox was a little smarter than the rest. "What did you say??" said the fox. Pat-Pasta, being the cocky pasta that he was, got closer and yelled the exact same in the foxes face.
Pat-Pasta fell right into the foxes trap as the fox leaned over and gobbled Pat-Pasta up. The fox licked his lips, shrugged his shoulders and went to sleep.
THE END

Pat-Pasta memorial run poster https://images.app.goo.gl/HXp26YecYJTDrgsC8

Author's Note: I used the Johnny-Cake story as inspiration for my Pat-Pasta story. The family and the chasing parts of the story came from the Johnny-Cake story. Pat-Pasta is a spoof of Johnny-Cake but both had the same cocky personality to go with their very fast running. I used the same animal at the end of my story as the Johnny-Cake story was the fox. The sly fox eats both characters at the end and abruptly ends the story.
Bibliography: http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/03/english-fairy-tales-johnny-cake.html

Week 11 Story: Jealous Cat

Gerald was a family cat. Gerald was just your normal house cat that was just living the dream. He had all the food he would ever need and all the time to sleep and do absolutely nothing all day. Gerald was the king of the house. No one could take him off his perch, in the window, as he looked over his beautiful kingdom. This was all about to change though.
Gerald had been the main cat for a number of years and this was the result of constantly taking out the competition. Anytime a cat or any other pet would show up in the house, Gerald would take care of the competition within an instant. Gerald had no time for other pets to take up his me time. Gerald would just lead them into the woods in the backyard and they would never be seen again. His family became skeptical of Gerald and proceeded to take a stand against their own cat. Gerald's family came home one day with a young cat named Jeff. Jeff was an upbeat cat that Gerald saw as a threat and knew that Jeff would take his spot as the favorite cat. Gerald knew the threat was extremely real and that Jeff had to go.
The day had come for Gerald to go through with his plan. Gerald woke up and had that look in his eye. The look that meant someone was going to die. Gerald waltzed around the house looking for Jeff but he was nowhere to be found. Gerald began to be furious as there was no sign of Jeff in the house. What Gerald did not know is that Jeff had been hidden by the family. Gerald's family knew that if Jeff was left alone that he wouldn't survive. Gerald continued to search and get more mad. Finally, he saw Jeff. Jeff had escaped his room after the family explicitly told him not to leave. Gerald knew it was his time to strike.
Gerald led Jeff into the woods as usual and the plan was for Jeff not to come out. Gerald led Jeff deep into the forest and convinced him to go over to a log that Gerald had been using for the past few years. The log was big and heavy and no animal has ever been able to escape its rath. The only problem was is that Jeff was a trickster. Jeff began to head towards that log with Gerald in close pursuit, but Jeff turn the tables. Jeff spun around and sent the log at Gerald with force and it actually caught Gerald instead of Jeff.
Jeff walked back to the house where the family was frantically looking for Jeff as they knew something bad was going to happen to him. All of a sudden the family heard scratching at the door. It was Jeff!! Jeff had survived, against the odds, the attack from Gerald! The family was ecstatic but also torn as Gerald was now the cat that was no longer here. It was Jeff's world and we were all living in it.

Jeff running back from the woods https://images.app.goo.gl/yLFAD6TscSRPx5yz7

Author's Note: I decided to go off the Jealous Uncle story from this week. Gerald was the new uncle that was crazy and wouldn't let any other cat in the house with him. Gerald used woods as cover to kill the other cats as well as had to work a little hard to get the cat out of hiding as the uncle had to find the boy in the village as he was hidden from him by the wives. The uncle gets a hold of the boy as Gerald did and takes him into the woods. The only twist from the original story was the outcome of the trip to the woods. In the original, the uncle takes the boy to the woods and both come back alive. In my story, both cats enter but only one survives. Jeff now has the throne of the house and the fact that the boy comes back int he original story makes me feel that there will be a chance to take the throne.
Bibliography: http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/heroes-jealous-uncle.html

Week 9 Story: Skunk and Kangaroo

You would think a Skunk and a Kangaroo would not get along or even live near each other. This is a small story on how that became possible. A kangaroo escaped a zoo on a cold, brisk morning in a small little town called Los Angeles. The kangaroo hopped around and hid from animal control for a considerable amount of time and eventually made his way into the mountains and forest area just East of the city. The kangaroo was so excited to be out and free from his captors at the zoo. The kangaroo fell asleep and woke up in the middle of the night to a face full of black and white. At first, the kangaroo believed that he had gone color-blind and began rubbing his eyes and was extremely concerned about the fact he could have lost the color, but he would be very mistaken
The kangaroo was calmed by a interesting face as a skunk starred the kangaroo down and made sure the kangaroo would be okay to get up. The skunk was a sly skunk and knew the kangaroo was desperate for help and the skunk was about to play around and have a little fun with the kangaroo. The skunk told the kangaroo to follow him to allow the kangaroo to thrive and feel free. THe kangaroo was all in, but little did he know that the skunk had traps and other "comedic" elements near his home. The skunk knew the kangaroo would be hungry and wouldn't ask for permission and would just run away.
The next morning, the kangaroo had a slick plan to wake up early and get away from the skunk and continue his way away from the Los Angeles area. The kangaroo was also going to steal some lettuce and spinach from the skunk's garden as he left. The kangaroo woke up and snuck out the door and grabbed a couple heads of lettuce and got greedy when he went for a third. A rope came out of nowhere and wrapped around the kangaroo and hoisted him in the air and all the kangaroo could do was scream and yelp as he was just hanging by his legs. The skunk heard the commotion and slowly got up and walked outside and just shook his head. The kangaroo begged, "Please sir, I was just a lil' hungry that's all." The skunk proceeded to help the kangaroo out, but got stuck in his own trap. The skunk was hoisted in the air as both the skunk and kangaroo were hanging by their feet. The pair eventually were released after the mailman, brer rabbit, came hopping along and released the two from the traps.

Skunk and Kangaroo meeting for first time https://images.app.goo.gl/kupUL87sgvf8iXWLA

Bibliography: http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/brer-rabbit-mr-rabbit-and-mr-bear.html

Author's Note: I based my story off the Brer Rabbit series story Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Bear. I used a few elements from that story in my own. I used the garden stealing as an element as the garden becomes a problem in the Brer Rabbit stories. I used the trap elements as well for the characters to be trapped in as they try to get into the garden. A couple of small elements that I used were small but still, I think, had an impact on the story. The one dialogue line in my story was in a southernish accent. I tried my best to do so as the original story had a lot of that throughout the story. I also name dropped the brer rabbit which just gave a little bit of comedy and some familiarity to the story.

Week 7 Story: The King of Kings?

There once was a king that lived at home. He wasn't your usual king, but he was a king, nevertheless. His name was Jimmy. Jimmy was a young and thriving 4th grader who loved to play and just have fun. Jimmy was also a massive fan of toys and especially action figures. Jimmy really wanted the new GI Joe action figures for his birthday, but his family had been going through a rough patch and they did not have much money to spend on toys. Jimmy was saddened by the fact that he couldn't get the cool new action figures, but his parents did their best to surprise Jimmy with another toy. Jimmy woke up one Saturday morning to find a bunch of tiny army men standing all around his room. Jimmy couldn't believe what was going on in his room! Jimmy was startled but also intrigued. He began to move around his room, and he noticed something weird. The army men were turning and watching him move throughout his room.

The army men continued for a couple weeks and Jimmy didn't say anything about it. One morning, Jimmy woke up and the army men were closer than they had ever been. Then, out of nowhere, one spoke to Jimmy. "Hello Jimmy, or should I say King Jimmy." said one of the army men. All of the army men then bowed in front of Jimmy and now Jimmy knew the situation that he was. Jimmy began to strut around the house as he was now a King to an infinite amount of army men in his room. Jimmy began to get some ideas about using his army to get what he wants. Jimmy saw the power he had with the army men and began to devise plan to attack another "kingdom" known as his parents. Jimmy saw that if he conquers the house, he can get whatever he wants. Jimmy began to devise a plan to use his army men to train and build the skill to conquer the house. Every day after school Jimmy would come home and begin his training for the army men. He would also begin to do some test runs of his mission to make sure his army men knew the exact plan, so it had zero chance of failing.

Finally, the day came. Jimmy woke up and was ready to take the house for himself. Jimmy got dressed and looked like he was the movie Rambo. He was ready for a long battle, and so was his army men. They were ready with all their training and tactics to take the house with ease. Jimmy stood up in front of his army and gave a small speech. "Today, we take this house for ourselves. We will not serve these people no more. It is our time to rise up and take what is ours!!!" The army men roared and got in formation. Everyone was in their spots and were ready to take on the house. As Jimmy open the door to begin the mission, he woke up. It was still that same Saturday in which the army men had appeared. There was no mission to take over the house and Jimmy just let out a sigh and headed down to the kitchen. He sat at bar, hugged is parents and ate waffles as he has done for the past 3 years. 

A small fraction of Jimmy's Army https://images.app.goo.gl/TvgvJWScxgFn1fNh7

Author's Note: I used the plot structure of "The Dragon King". The Dragon King has a king that has large army that he controls. The Dragon King uses apes as the members of the army compared to my story where I used toy soldiers. The main character of "The Dragon King" begins to train his troops with weapons and other tactics for a battle that will ensue. Jimmy does the same as he begins to train his toys for a battle to takeover his household. The endings of each story go different directions. In "The Dragon King", the main character is in a bind as he has a plan to execute, but all begins to fall apart once he tries to set it in motion but the problem is with the weapons that his army is using and them being too light for the main character. Jimmy's story is ended before it even starts as it just a dream that the battle wants to take place in, but it never gets started and the plan is never put into action. 

Bibliography: http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/sun-wu-kung-dragon-king.html

Week 6 Story: Georgie's Voyage

Georgie's Voyage

Hi, I am Georgie. I am from Portland and I have a story to tell you. I was just a young boy from Portland that was just doing normal middle school kid things. I was playing sports, playing outside, and I especially played in the rain. Rain was my favorite weather as you could do so many different things in the rain that weren’t possible on a dry day. I raced boats a lot when it rained. My brother, Carl, and I would always race boats and he would always win, but I got one win and that win ended up changing my life.

When I beat my brother, it was like a curse was broke or something of that nature. I felt something grab me by my ankles and it startled me. I turned around and saw a group of small beings, about 2 feet tall, that all looked like clowns. For some reason, they were all holding balloons in the shape of boats, but I couldn’t get passed the fact they were so tiny. The clowns began to chant, “Sail with us!”. This was concerning but I made the decision to be adventurous and take up their offer. They lead me into swear which was a little nasty, but it was like I was in a trance. The number of clowns that were surrounding me was too much to just leave and get away. As I made my way into the swear and small ship appeared and the foggy, musty air of the sewer. The clowns lead me onto the ship and named me captain and we set sail.

I had no idea where we were sailing to, but the clowns gave me a map and helped me navigate. The clowns could do everything as they controlled the ship with ease and made the trip as smooth as it possibly could go until the last 15 minutes. A shadow casted over the ship and I could hear the water begin to get angry and waves began to crash the ship from all sides. I looked up and there it was, the king of all Clowns, Dimewise.

It was the scariest sight I had ever seen!! He was at lest 40 feet tall! The small clowns began to run in a frenzy. The clowns had no idea what to do other than run around and hope Dimewise became confused. Dimewise was focused and began to wreak havoc on the ship. I didn’t know what to do except try to fight back. I threw a metal bucket at Dimewise, but that only made him direct his attention at me. Dimewise reached down and picked me up and it was like I was a small doll. I was tossed and thrown around to the point of me being sick to my stomach. Dimewise then stopped. It was like time had stood still as Dimewise stared into my soul then did the unthinkable, threw me in his mouth. Dimewise ate me and that is pretty much the last thing I remembered until now.

Yes, I know you may be wondering how I am telling you this story. Well, there is one answer that you may expect. I still in the belly of the beast. I am sending this through an email in hope of someone defeating the beast. I will survive as long as I need but time is slowly running out for me and the couple other guys in here with me.

The looks of the giant clown that attacks Georgie's ship https://images.app.goo.gl/RbX197DuGAzTzuVt9

Author’s Note: I based my story off of a couple of stories. The first is from the stories of Sindbad. I used the story of the third voyage as a giant eats the captain and creates some turmoil of the ship. I also used the tiny beings concept from the story as well with the small clown characters of the Sindbad story as well. I also used the story of the novel IT. The use of the clowns and the boats in the rain both came from that novel. I used the character names as well with Georgie and the clown’s name.

Bibliography: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/sindbad-third-voyage.htm

IT by Stephan King. https://epdf.pub/stephen-king-it.html

Week 5 Story: The Cat and the Bat

Once upon a time, there was a cat named Gerald. Gerald was your ordinary cat. He would wake up, eat, meow and sleep in that order. Gerald never fazed from that schedule. Gerald had never deviated from the schedule. Gerald was the most normal and cuddly cat a family could have. Then one day, something weird happened to Gerald. Gerald broke his schedule and began to cause chaos in the household.
Gerald's owner couldn't believe his eyes. His cat that was the perfect housecat had become a menace to the house. Gerald began to tear things up and not eat. Gerald would not stop meowing and his sleep schedule was thrown out of whack as well. Gerald's owner decided to make a decision, "Gerald, you need to leaving this household til you nehave and get your schedule back on track!". Gerald was saddened but understood. Gerald gathered his toys and some tuna and left. He walked a good 5 miles and found a tree. The tree was perfect for a nap as it had a lot of shade and no one was by it, or so Gerald thought.
While Gerald was about to doze off, something swooped down at him. It was a bat!!! Gerald was startled by the bat and yelled at the bat, "Who are you?!". The bat didn't say anything at first but eventually replied, "I am the one and only Sam!". Gerald began to roll around and laugh. Gerald was expecting a scary or something like Dracula but Sam was the last name he was expecting. "What? I am going to cause you so much pain your bag of toys!!" screamed the bat and went for the bag and stopped in his tracks. "What? You see a ghost or something?", said Gerald. Sam was shaking and told Gerald he would do whatever Gerald wanted.
Sam had found a bat-like toy and was concerned that he would become a toy as well. Sam told Gerald he would do anything he wanted and there was only one thing that Gerald wanted and that was normalcy in his life at home. "That is it? I surprised you didn't ask for food, another cat, or a luxurious cat world?"questioned Sam. Gerald immediately clapped back with a series of reasons and one being Sam must really want to be a toy.
Sam followed the request as quick as he could. With the snap of Sam's claws, Gerald was sent back home. Gerald felt something was different which was good. The feeling he had when he left was one he didn't want to feel again. Gerald made a knocking sound on the door and his owner opened the door and was in awe of Gerald being there and looking good as new. Gerald would live a happy life as his world was back together and wasn't going to fall apart ever again.

This is Gerald the Cat https://images.app.goo.gl/33STVzznwfX3MQY96

Author's Note: I got my idea from the story of The Ghost of who was Afraid of being Bagged. The story have similarities in the fact that both involve a character leaving home and being brought back due to another character based on a scare tactic. I also got the title idea from Cat in the Hat but just switched to Bat to allow for more flexibility with characters in the story and for a play on words effect.

Bibliography: Folk-Tales of Bengal by the Rev. Lal Behari Day, http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/07/bengal-ghost-who-was-afraid-of-being.html

Week 3 Story: The KATostrophic Mistake

It was dark, gloomy night in the town of Fluffle, Illinois. There was a young man named Carl that called this small town his home. Carl had just began his senior year of high school but something was very wrong once he started class. Carl would stay away from everyone and wouldn't talk to anyone at all. Carl was the highlight of his class as he was brilliant and always cracking jokes to other students. What students didn't know was that Carl lost his mother and his precious cat, Gary. Gary was one of his only highlights when he was home. Carl's dad was always "at a friends" and never was around Carl. Carl was in dark place and nothing could replace Gary and the hole that was in his heart from his lost.

Carl began to miss school days at a time. He would show up about once a week and his teachers and peers began to become concerned. Eventually someone told the counselor that Carl needed to be talked to and see what was going on. "What has been going on?" said the counselor. Carl explained his story and just said he needed to be home to take care of his house and other responsibilities. The counselor released Carl without hesitation and decided that he was fit to go on with what he is doing. Carl returned home and began on his master plan.

Carl began his plan to bring back Gary. Carl would begin to construct a life-size version of Gary and the process would take a while but it was worth the wait, for a while at least. Carl would eventually create Gary and Carl's mood made a drastic improvement. Gary II was perfect. He was exactly like the original and even better in some aspects. Gary II would continue to do everything that Carl's heart desired until one fateful day.

Gary II escaped Carl's home and it was the beginning of the end. Gary II was introduced to the world and many people saw the problem and the scary part of Gary II. This show of technology proved that anything could be created and the fact that robots could be more now than future. Gary II had a slight malfunction once he got out of the house and began to reek havoc on Fluffle. Carl began to see the news pop up on social media of a cat causing so much harm to a small town. Carl had to do that unthinkable and destroy such a precious creation that was meant to help and not harm. Carl found Gary II and destroyed the robot with a few hits. Carl was sad over the fact that he had just destroyed his precious robot but he realized the people and real living things are the way to go and make yourself cope with loss.

The face of Gary, Carl's precious cat https://images.app.goo.gl/7kZC9sjuKqXwjjC89

Author's Note: I took the idea from "The Rabbi's Bogey-man" and put my own twist. I add a tragic backstory to my creator compared to the rabbi just being a outcast and unwanted. The rabbi story has a lot of elements I used in my own story from the reason to create the robot to the ending. Both stories have the destruction of the robots and the main character become the hero after the robot is gone. My story is a story of triumph and the thought and want to survive the fight against depression. There is always someone or something that can help you cope and you are never alone no matter how deep you are. 

Bibliography: Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919). http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/jewish-fairy-tales-rabbis-bogey-man.html

Week 2 Story

The Last Melon

There once was a young family that lived in middle of Springfield, MO.  As Springfield is a growing city, there are many opportunities for stores to open as there is a constant group of customers looking for a store to call their home. A skunk mother named Shea had recently moved to Springfield with her daughter, Libra. Shea had an amazing job as she was the CEO of her own company, Plug your Nose. This was a candle shop that had become a million-dollar business and had continued to rise in popularity. Libra began to grow and be hungry a lot. Shea continued to go to the store 3-4 times a week just to have enough food. Shea took Libra to the store for the first time and there was one thing she wanted, and she want melons.

The local store opened only a week after Shea moved to Springfield. The store was a hot spot for shoppers and the selection was very scarce. The fruit industry was having a rough time to fulfill the needs for fruit. When Shea and Libra travelled to the store there was one melon remaining. As Shea went to grab the melon someone else grabbed her hand on the melon. Shea turned to see the ugliest rhino she had ever seen. The rhino had a look in his eye and Shea was very concerned.

“What do you want rhino?” said Shea. The rhino replied with a smirk, “I want your daughter to come live with me.” Shea was astonished by the remark but wanted to have the melon for her daughter. She decided to let the rhino take her daughter and winked at her daughter as if she had a plan. The rhino took Libra back to his home, and Libra wasn’t on board at first with the situation, but she went with the situation and tried to make the best out of it. The rhino would change her life and Libra would never go back to her mom. Libra and the rhino would move out of the country to Mexico and would live happily ever after.

Author Notes:

I started the story while referencing an old story called Three Roses. I wanted my own spin, so I put Springfield, my hometown, as well as one of my favorite animals. There isn’t a lot to the story other than that I wanted to make a story that replicated one of my favorite Disney movies, Beauty and the Beast.

 This is the Picture from the original story that mine is based off of https://sites.google.com/view/mythfolkloreanthology/fairy-tales

Sources: The Key of Gold by Josef Baudis (1922).

 https://sites.google.com/view/mythfolkloreanthology/fairy-tales