Week 2 Story
Author's Note: I based my story on The Foolish, Timid Rabbit by Ellen C. Babbit. I took my own spin on this story. The message is the same, just with my twist on it. I used humans instead of animals. I portrayed the message in an everyday sense.
The Foolish, Timid Rabbit, Ellen C. Babbit. https://sites.google.com/view/jatakas/rabbit
Fearful Alice
Alice awoke one morning and her mind was spinning.
The thought crossed her mind, "What would happen if the world was to end right now?"
She was thinking through her life. Would she regret not living life to the fullest? Would the world even end in her lifetime? If she knew the world was going to end, what would she have done differently?
While these thoughts were clouding her mind, she was startled by a loud bang outside her window. She thought that this was it.
Quickly she began running through the house getting ready to leave. Her roommates were confused. She told them that the world was ending and it was happening right this second.
Her roommates followed her and the girls left the house. They just started to run down the street. The girls passed their neighbors.
Shane, their neighbor, yelled and asked why they were running. The girls quickly explained and he ran with them.
After 10 minutes, their whole street was running with them. The crowd had become so massive that anyone who saw them just joined in running. No one was looking back or even questioning how the world could possibly be ending.
Jim saw what was happening and was confused. He is a very grounded, wise man. Jim is the eldest on the street. He saw the crowd and asked why they were running.
Eventually, Jim found Alice and asked why she had this idea that the world was ending.
Alice took Jim back to the spot where she heard the world ending. Jim saw nothing but a trash barrel that fell over.
"Look!", Jim exclaimed, "The barrel falling over is what you heard. That was the loud noise. The world is not ending!"
Jim was frustrated and the crowd dispersed. Alice went back and wondered how she could be so thoughtless.
If Jim would have never seen the barrel, the crowd and many others would still be running.
Let Pretend: I am Jim.
ReplyDeleteWow, it is crazy to think that Alice really thought the world is ending. I wish Alice would have noticed the barrel sooner. what would have happened if I didn't say anything. To be fair, Alice did such a great job at describing the events that it really led me to believe the world is ending. I mean she really thought that she was going to die. She even thought so deeply into her whole life: what did she regret the most, etc. Mob mentality can be so real.
It wasn't that I didn't believe her. I just wanted to see for myself what she was talking about. Initially, I thought maybe the sky was falling or an alien aircraft fell to the ground. What's funny is nobody even questioned her! That is such a scary thought. But, props to Alice though. She had me believing the apocalypse is here for a split second.
Hey Megan,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your retelling of "The Foolish, Timid Rabbit". I thought that you did a very good job at staying true to the story, while still making it your own by giving it new characters, a new setting, and different details. I really liked the idea that the thought of the world ending was something that Alice thought of immediately upon waking up. I think it could be really cool to dive deeper into why Alice felt this impending doom out of nowhere. Great Job!
Hello (again) Megan. I like the retelling of "The Foolish, Timid Rabbit" especially with human characters, which changes the perspective in an interesting way. Were you aiming for a reference to Alice in Wonderland when you wrote this, or is that coincidental? If so, it's a clever trick; if not, maybe that would be worth exploring if you wanted to add more to the story later on - for example, maybe Alice jumped to that conclusion because of something that happened to her previously. Either way, it was a fun read, and that story was one of my favorites from the Jatakas in week 2 as well. Great work.
ReplyDeleteHello for the third and last time (today at least haha) Megan! This was a very fun story to read. You did a great job writing your retelling of "The Foolish, Timid Rabbit". It was fun to get different characters and a different setting. You also did a great job incorporating dialogue int your story. This is something that I am working on myself. Great job!
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