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.

Reading Notes: Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Bear

The second story I decided to read another story from the Brer Rabbit collection and the Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Bear story really popped out as one that could truly be a great one. The story didn't disappoint at all! I love the stories that have been created in this section as the use of animals in stories is always a plus for any reader. The animals create a sense of comedy and feeling that people can simply not create in stories. The story was full of twists and turns which gave it a much different vibe than the first story I wrote about on this blog. This story had many of characters getting trapped by the same type of trap over and over. It was really funny to see the characters fall for the same trick as the others. The dialogue of the story, once again, had a southern accent to the dialogue as the characters seemed to have really heavy accents throughout and especially when they were talking to each other. The main plot of the story came from the goober gardens that the animals had been growing and tending to. Goobers is another way of saying peanuts and comes from and African origin. That part of the story is really cool to have in a story as it gives some flair to the story. It gives the story some life from the time and place that it was written. This gives the story some spunk that is nice to have when reading these stories from other cultures. The characters from this story were funny to watch interact with each other. The characters continued to combat each other throughout the story which gave a comedic feel to the story and made it a great read. The consistency of the characters in the stories from all the stories in the collection is nice. The characters give a balance to the stories and allows for more details throughout which is really nice to have in a series of stories.  

Brer rabbit, bear, and fox animated https://images.app.goo.gl/WThfLTGkrXDwqx4r9

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

Reading Notes: Why Mr. Possum Loves Peace

This week I decided to read from the African Tales in the Americas section with Why Mr. Possum Loves Peace. As I read through the stories for my third week of Asian and African stories, I decided to try out a different route and go with African stories instead of the Asian stories that I have been doing for the past couple weeks. The first thing I noticed when I read the story was that it seemed more laid back compared to the other stories that I had read throughout the past couple weeks. The story was fun for me to read as the inclusion of animals in any story makes the story a fun time to read. The storybook that I created is solely based on an animal which makes it really fun to read and write as well. The sad part about the story was towards the end of the story. The two main characters of the story grow apart as their friendship takes a hit due to the events that occurred in the story and because of Mr. Dog becoming a staple in the story and causing havoc on the characters. One part of the story that I thought was interesting was the dialogue. The possum and coon in the story talk with a very heavy Southern accent in my opinion. There were multiple phrases throughout the story that made me talk with a very heavy accent and it made the story a lot of fun to read as I read it out loud and laughed at myself while I read it. The story as a whole was a really fun read and it made me want to read more of the stories from this section. The touch of comedy that I created by the dialogue that the author implemented was truly a blast and made the story a really fun time to read and dissect.

Brer possum with racoon and Mr. Dog https://images.app.goo.gl/BpyrqTTcuw9aTabSA

Bibliography: http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/brer-rabbit-why-mr-possum-loves-peace.html