Week 5 Story: A Bedtime Story
Tiny cabin in a meadow. Source: art.branipick
In the middle of a meadow sat a small cabin where a mother was getting her children ready for bed. "Will you tell us a bedtime story" the kids begged their mom. The mother exhausted told the kids that she would another night but they continued to beg her. After a minute she relented and sat down at the end of one of the boy's beds. So the mother began her story...
Once upon a time, there lived a momma fox and her little pup. One day, the little pup was venturing towards the outside of their den when the mom called out "Will you come back my little pup, you are causing me fear."
"What is fear?" questioned the pup running back to his mother.
"It is when I am afraid," she answered.
Leaving the den for the first time the little pup set off to find out what fear truly meant to him. While walking through the woods he came across a really large bear. Walking straight up to the bear he said "I am looking for fear can you show it to me?"
The bear thought the little pup was crazy to walk up to him and told him to go to the big Oak tree next to a boulder. So the little pup set off again to look for fear, hoping to find it at the oak tree. After walking along for a while he finally see the tree with the boulder next to it. He could not see anything but he could hear something moving. Suddenly a loud screeching noise came from above him, so he looked above him and seen a mountain lion.
"Can you quiet down, sir? Do you know what fear is?" he asked the mountain lion.
Coming down the mountain lion said "I usually cause fear, so no"
Not satisfied with that answer the little pup turned around and left back to see the bear to tell him about it. When arriving back by the bear the pup told him about what happened and he still did not know what fear was. The bear was still amazed that the pup had not had fear. So, once again he sent him on his way but this time it was to the rivers edge. Once the pup got closer to the river he could see these big things through the trees. Once he got closer he could see that they were moose.
"Hello," said the pup, "Have you had fear?"
Not answering the question the moose told the pup to go to the river's edge, the pup refused. Once again the moose insisted that the pup goes to the edge. So, slowly the pup walked over to the edge and looked down at the water. Next thing he knew he was flying in the air and landed it the water... it frightened him while he dragged himself out of it. Walking over the moose said "that little pup is fear" then he turned and walked away. After experiencing fear the pup ran home to the den where his mother waited for him.
"Did you find fear, my dear?" she asked.
"Yes and I wish to not fear again," he answered.
"The end," said the mother to her two sons who were fast asleep. The mother chose that story because she hopes that her kids never have to experience fear for themselves.
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Authors Note: For my story, I chose to use the story Fear from within the Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignacsz Kunos. It is about a son who learns about fear but does not really know what it is so he sets out to find it. He ends up going through three different situations that should have normally caused fear for the young guy but didn't. Then close to the end he is at a palace eating dinner with the Sultana and he did not want to open the dinner in front of him. Once he does a sparrow flies out frightening him and the Sultana tells him that is what fear is. After experiencing fear he decides to stay there and they retrieve his mom to live there with him. In my story I decided to change it to where the story is a bedtime story that a mom tells her sons. I changed the characters to momma fox and her little pup instead of them being human. I also made it to where he only goes through two situations that should have caused fear instead of three. Lastly, I ended it with the pup going back home and staying there instead of the mom coming to live where he ended up last. This was to show that he did not like experiencing the fear and never wanted to again.
Bibliography: Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignacsz Kunos
What an entertaining story Cheyenne! I think this is the first story I've read this semester that has been formatted as a bedtime story. The story checks all my boxes for what constitutes a good bedtime story! It's G-rated, easy to digest, not too long, and teaches a small lesson. Perfect! What was your inspiration for changing the main character to a fox? Anthropomorphism is one of my favorite elements that people work into their tales and the bravery of the young fox while searching for fear gives it a sort of hero-quest vibe!
ReplyDeleteCheyenne, I really enjoyed your bedtime story. It is wholesome and made me feel how much the mother cared for her children. I liked how you changed the characters to foxes, they are one of my favorite animals. What made you decide to change the characters to animals? I enjoy stories full of adventure. I liked how the pup was able to find fear without being hurt, even though he faced large beasts. Being able to visualize characters is important to me in storytelling/reading. I was able to see the whole story with awe and wonder.
ReplyDeleteHi Cheyenne!
ReplyDeleteYour story was interesting, and it led me keep on reading it without becoming bored. Your story was well written, and it was also a creative take on the original story. I really liked the setting of the story and how you changed up the characters and turned it into a bedtime story for little kids. I felt a sense of warmth and comfort when the mother caved in and told them a bedtime story, even though she was probably tired herself. There are so many different ways you could have changed the characters. What made you choose to change them animals? Specifically, why did you choose those certain animals- a bear, foxes, a mountain lion, and a moose? One suggestion that I thought of is that when the pup fox returns back to the den, he could look a little older and more mature since he changed from finding fear.
Hey Cheyenne,
ReplyDeleteThis was a really well written story. This is definitely the first bedtime story I have read in the past two semesters as I was in Indian Epics as well. I think changing the characters to animals instead of humans definitely elicits more of a bedtime theme. One thing I may mention though is the font may be heard to read for some, otherwise it was a really good read. Keep up the good work!
Hey Cheyenne,
ReplyDeleteI really loved this bedtime story! Growing up my grandma would often read Aesop's fables to us grandkids and this reminds me quite a bit of her old tales. I was wondering how you came up with the idea for the conversion from the original tale to this version? It is most definitely not very intuitive, the way you went about changing the tale into a bedtime story with talking animals for children, but I love the take on it! The only question I have is a timing/wording issue. I thought that the first instance of the fox was leaving the house and his mother called him back was the first time he was out in the world, but later in the story you mention to trip involving the bear, mountain lion, and moose was the first time he left. Were these the same event or different ones? Loved the story!