Week 6 Story: A Hidden Hero

Author's Note: So for this week I focused on Sinbad. Here's a link to the original story that I was inspired by: Voyages of Sinbad, Andrew Lang, http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/sindbad-fifth-voyage.html

As with most of my stories I don't really know what direction they are going to go in but I hope this is at least somewhat entertaining. I found my inspiration in the Sinbad story from the shipwreck so I hope this is good. Enjoy :)

Point Reyes Shipwreck (Google Images) 

https://images.app.goo.gl/ttX5DWkxMBzBJ2oL6

Gathering her things hastily, Rose tried to collect her thoughts about what had happened to her that day. It had started out as a normal day, she got ready and left her apartment in the city to travel to the country side where she could take pictures. Things had taken a turn for the worse though once she returned back home. Her apartment had been broken into, all her valuables stolen, mirrors smashed, the overall apartment was trashed. The police refused to help her for some reason. Anxiety ridden, Rose jumped back into her car and headed back to the country where she felt safe. Catching a glimpse of herself in the rearview mirror, she could see her pale face and bloodshot eyes. She looked absolutely exhausted.

Arriving at the ferry station in order to cross the ocean over to the other side of the island, Rose grabbed the one bag she managed to pack and marched herself to the queue to board the ferry. It was quite a muggy day and the air being blown off the waves was stagnant. It was not an ideal day for ferry rides either due to the temperament of the ocean. Unfortunately this was the only way to cross.

While standing in line to board, the sky turned really dark and eerie like it was going to storm real badly. Handing the man at the gate her ticket Rose found the nearest seat. Looking around she could see that there were only a few passengers with her but there was one interesting character that stood out to her. He sat in the very back, hidden under a tattered cloak, silent yet vigilant.

The ferry started its journey across the ocean, the waves hitting the sides violently shook it off course a bit. The storm started to progressively get worse. As the rain started to pour down hard on the ferry Rose started to get scared for her safety. She looked around at the very few passengers but no one seemed concerned. Above her she could see the storm starting to rotate in a much familiar tornado-like pattern. Suddenly the cloaked stranger stood up and started to walk towards her.

Frightened Rose looked at the stranger as he reached into his cloak and pulled out a small bag of something glowing. It wasn't quite a liquid nor a solid. Unable to see his face Rose started to move away from the stranger. He grabbed her arm and offered her the bag. "Um...No t-thank you." Rose stuttered in confusion. The stranger leaned in closer, "I'm not asking. Take it, you're going to need it. Thank me later." He forced the bag into her hand and went back to his seat.

Sitting down, Rose muttered under her breath about people being so weird these days and then slowly opened her hand to look at this bag of glowing substance. It gave off an eerie green glow and sparkled just a bit. The longer Rose stared at the bag the more entranced she became with the glitter and glow patterns; it was hypnotizing. The rain continued to beat down on the ferry and passengers. The rainwater pooled in her hands as she held the mysterious bag. Suddenly the bag started to disintegrate from the water the green glow started to spread all over Rose's hands. Freaking out Rose stood up quickly and tried to wipe off the substance but to no avail. The green glow spread all over her body fusing with her DNA. Feeling queasy Rose glanced at the stranger right before she passed out.

An unknown amount of time passed while Rose was passed out. She woke up to the screams of the passengers. Looking around she saw that she herself was floating on debris, the ferry had been destroyed and was on fire. It was sinking to the bottom of the ocean to be forgotten forever. Lightening struck the remaining pieces of the boat sending Rose flying off her makeshift raft. Submerged in the dark unforgiving ocean Rose was certain this was the last time her eyes would open. Trying to convince herself in her last moments of consciousness that she is okay with dying this way the stranger suddenly appeared underneath the waves with her but something was very different. He had abandoned his cloak but was swimming towards her at an inhuman speed. Shocked she watched him quickly approach her. He was definitely not human. She looked him up and down quickly and saw that he had a fish tail. What a freak.

Rose started to finish up her process of drowning when the stranger kissed her, providing her with air. She felt something deep within her at the DNA level. Rose started to glow green and then she remembered the bag that had broke over her hands. As the light grew stronger Rose's eyes changed color and she was able to see underwater more clearly. Swimming to the surface Rose realized what she needed to do. She needed to save the other passengers. Gathering up all her strength Rose realized she was able to control the ocean around her. Putting out the fires from the lightening and propelling herself up into the air to get a better vantage point to find the passengers Rose attempted to save everyone. With her new powers Rose was able to gather the passengers and push them to the nearest shore. Pulling herself up on the shore as well, Rose realized she could not breathe properly. Gasping for air she looked out at the ocean as the ferry continued to sink and she saw the outline of the stranger. Gathering her willpower she swam back into the ocean, able to breathe better now, and met the stranger. "I told you you would thank me later," the stranger said smugly. Rose, frustrated, "What did you do to me? What is going on?!" The stranger laughed, "My name is Atlas, I did nothing to you but awaken the power that was already burning within you. You are a monster like me, but you are the queen. You are destined for greatness."

To be continued...

Week 6 Reading Notes: Part B: Sinbad: Fifth Voyage

So for these Week 6 reading notes I chose to focus on a hero story and came across Sinbad. Here are the notes I pulled from the reading. I hope these will inspire me for a good solid story this week.

The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).


So Sinbad, as one can imagine is not used to a quiet life in this specific part of his story. In this part he sets sail to an unknown island and Sinbad and his crew found a "roc's egg

Creepy.

The merchants who were travelling forced the egg open killing the birds and setting them on fire.

Ope, the parent birds showed up and were not happy about this situation, the sky darkened.

Sinbad and the others ran back to the ship and tried to escape the parent birds. Giant rocks were being thrown at them and one finally hit the ship right in the middle and destroyed the boat flinging the crew overboard.

This overall was a very interesting story. I hope to be able to build off of it.

Arabian Nights (Google Images)

https://images.app.goo.gl/oZSFswbGkVuyAjoa6

Week 5 Story: The King of the Dead's Prison - Shadows Unknown

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
So for this week's storytelling I am going to attempt to just add some twists and recreate a new story based off of the Egypt stories that I took notes on. I think with this one I had too many details that I was trying to squeeze into a limited word count though. I wanted to try and tie in Egypt and the elements from the story but in the process I think I just got a bit confusing and lost where I was going. I am attempting to be a bit more creative in hopes for my revamping of the story to be interesting and entertaining to read. Also, I know this story is not up to the same caliber as my last story so please have patience with it. haha. So, without further explanation, here is my story for Week 5. Enjoy.

Source of inspiration: Egypt, Mackenzie, http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/egypt-king-of-dead.html

Shadow Bind (Google Images)

https://images.app.goo.gl/nBdXp9WFLeaxnAKZ6

The echos in the cave reverberated violently back to the climbers that afternoon. Everything had been going fantastic up until this very point in time. Andrew checked his rope which was now cut and laying at the bottom of the cave. His team, scraped up and scared, anxiously awaited his plan to escape the depths of this unexplored cave. As his team assessed their wounds and what equipment was left, Andrew paced back and forth looking for a reason as to why or how this happened. His entire team was comprised of expert climbers, professionals, there was no logical way that this should have happened, unless, someone on his team was purposefully trying to sabotage this exploration.

Shaken from the fall and now paranoid that a member of his climbing team was out to injure or kill him or the others Andrew turned to discuss a plan of action. Looking up towards the opening of the cave the only thing to be seen was the now setting sun, a tiny pin-hole of light that shined down on the explorers signaling the hopeless feeling that was now settling in his stomach.

The team of climbers consisted of Andrew, the leader, Sarah, an expert in medical emergencies, and Keith and Kevin (the twins) who were trained climbing guides. All of these individuals were close friends, colleagues, climbing enthusiasts. It made Andrew sick to even think about the possibility of one of them sabotaging their climb.

With all the color drained from his face Andrew turned to address his team, "There, is no way to get out by going back the way we fell. We are going to have to find a different exit. The ropes have been cut and they are now useless. There is no cell phone signal and we have limited resources. We need to take care of any injuries we have now and move on to find an exit because we cannot stay down here much longer. But we have to stick together, do not split up no matter what happens." The already eerie cave fell to complete silence as the team contemplated the words just spoken to them.
Shy to speak Sarah stood up and silently started to wrap Andrew's hands where he had rope burn from attempting to stop the fall. The twins, Keith and Kevin, were already trying to figure out what food was left from the fall. Once everything was salvaged and injuries temporarily patched the team looked behind them into the unknown darkness that mocked their imprisonment.

Unfortunately the flashlights broke from the fall but luckily the twins had brought glow sticks and flares just in case. Each member took a glow stick and activated it. The green light bounced off the dark, wet cave walls creating for even more anxiety about what could possibly await them in the seemingly never-ending darkness. With the remains of the broken rope, Sarah tied all the members together with Andrew at the front to lead them, so that they wouldn't get separated. Hesitantly the group marched into the dark to look for their exit.

With the sun set, and the glow sticks as their only light source, the team carefully walked further and deeper into the cave. The only sound was that of crunching beneath the explorer's feet as they stepped and bated breath. About an hour into their trek to look for an escape, Andrew suddenly heard water but he didn't have time to react before he and his team were suddenly swept away into the violent waves. Being tied together made it difficult for the individuals to swim let alone keep their heads above the water. Yelling for help each time they were able to gasp for air their screams echoed off the cave ceiling. Andrew, stuck underwater and slowly losing consciousness suddenly saw a light above the water's surface. A large figure, unlike that of any man, reached out and grabbed the leader and the team out of the water. Waterlogged and switching in and out of consciousness Andrew only saw glimpses of light as he and his team were being dragged behind this large shadow figure.

Jolted awake by a loud screeching noise the team witnessed something horrific. On the cave wall in front of them were paintings of sins that each of them had committed while living. Hieroglyphics
scattered all over the walls next to the paintings told what each sin was and who it belonged to. No one was safe. Andrew, struggling to stand up, stumbled over to the wall and in the unknown faint light he was able to make out a story about the twins Kevin and Keith. While trying to make out the full story a growling came from behind Andrew and the team and all he could make out before the light faded was that of a monster made of shadows...



To be continued...

Reading Notes Part B: The Two Brothers Part One

The Two Brothers: Part One, Donald Mackenzie, http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/egypt-two-brothers-part-one.html

"The Land and the Book" (Google Images)

 https://images.app.goo.gl/9KfpyLoJpDKLmArW6

The two brothers names are Anpu (the oldest) and Bata.

Anpu seems to be the "successful" one on society's standards because he has a house and a wife.
Bata lives with them and works hard.

Bata could understand what the oxen said.

Bata seems to be the only one working his butt off in this household while Anpu and his wife live it up, at least that what it reads like.

Anpu's wife made a move on Bata?! Nope, nope, nope. That is so not okay. :/

She's a snake! Anpu's wife lied to Anpu saying that Bata had spoke evil words to her and hit her.

I personally am more angry right now that the wife is a liar and because she got rejected from making a move on Bata she created this whole lie. So fun fact about me, lying is one of my biggest pet peeves as I'm sure it is for many individuals. The fact that Bata has worked so hard and views Anpu and his wife as a mother and father and then has to deal with this is just infuriating. This is only part one of this story and Anpu is currently waiting behind the door of the byre to kill Bata with a knife. Although I don't think I'll take notes over part two, I'm not sure yet, I am going to have to read on because I really hope Anpu's wife gets what she deserves.

However, I'm wondering if this story makes the wife the evil one due to societal views? I'm not sure. However, I have lots of ideas for my story that I am going to write this week. Stay tuned :)

Reading Notes Part A: Egypt: King of the Dead

Egypt: King of the Dead, Donald Mackenzie, http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/egypt-king-of-dead.html

Horus (Google Images)

https://images.app.goo.gl/uhaRfA1YkkB3Sj9C9

Hello,

These are why notes for Week 5, part A on King of the Dead. Again I am taking notes as I read in case I need to record any sudden questions that arise while reading and any research that I had to do because of the reading as a whole.

Because this is just a part of the Ancient Egypt unit I have to try and orient myself as to where I am at in terms of time and the events that happened before. It is a bit confusing.

So Set is ruling over Egypt in this moment in time when Horus is supposed to be the rightful king. Although Horus isn't king he still has followers that are essential to him.

Horus has a dream of his father Osiris, which is an interesting piece of information. Set is Horus' uncle. In this dream Horus was urged to overthrow Set and get rid of Set's followers.

However impossible it seemed at the time Horus was able to overthrow Set and run him and his followers out towards the "eastern frontier"

Horus lost an eye!

So one thing that I've noticed in many of these stories is that there is always some kind of higher power depending on the religion and what not of the area in which the story originated. In this case it consists of gods and goddesses that choose judgement and whatnot of those dead and alive. The thing with Egypt in general is that there are many different symbols and uses of things in the culture and definitely in the stories. I think I should be able to use that to my advantage when writing my story for this week. :)

Week 4 Story: The Automaton

*NOTICE: Author's Note*: So this is definitely a twist on
 Ovid's Metamorphosis. (http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/search/label/Ovid)

I tried to switch roles up in the story but still keep the jest of what the original story consisted of. It is definitely rough but here is my take on Metamorphosis. The main character is female now instead of male and it is not an ivory statue that was created here but an automaton. I wanted to go with something a little more technological and progressive. Instead of the gods granting wishes here, the character Veronica uses her connection with spirits to transfer the man. Also, this is a story that I wanted to work on for the past couple weeks but I had some medical stuff I had to deal with, so now I'm making up for it! I hope you enjoy!

Steampunk Time Travel (Google Images)

https://images.app.goo.gl/Tza7Wbu7d8o6nGGVA

The London smog filled the air around the city, making the visibility even less-so than during the daytime. The full moon rose high above the city, attempting to illuminate the world below,  yet struggling due to the dense, black smoke that engulfed the city. The industrial revolution was something that propelled the world into the future, but at what cost? The year was 1835 and London was rapidly becoming one of the more developed countries thanks to the new technology.

Zoelle, a fair girl, attractive, wandered the dark alley ways of the city. Not sure what to do or where to go she just kept walking. As with most women she longed to have someone to call her own, to feel protected, loved. However, Zoelle was different from the other women in the city. She preferred the dark over the light. Her wardrobe reflected that as well, casting her to the outside of social groups. She did not mind though, she was very intelligent and knew her worth, however it got painfully lonely sometimes.

 The night of October 13, 1835 marked a new beginning for Zoelle though. Walking through the dark alley way dressed in her darkest of victorian frocks she slowly passed the many pubs and restaurants that lined the alley. Tobacco smoke wafted out through the smallest of openings making the alley that more eerie. The only sound that could be heard came from the gothic style boots that she wore as they clicked against the rough and wet cobble stone. "Click, Click, Clack." Zoelle was returning from a lecture on art at the local academy, filled to the brim with creativity and ideas. 

Suddenly a man appeared behind Zoelle. Startled she turned to look at his face. He was extremely handsome. His blond, curly hair draped slightly to the right, just over his green eyes, his tasteful facial hair accentuated his strong bone structure. However, he was extremely intoxicated from his time at the local pub. Frightened of what may happen to him if she were to leave him stranded in the alley she helped guide him to her small apartment. Exhausted but safe, Zoelle placed the man down on her chaise lounge where he passed out for the night. Taking her place near the hearth Zoelle started to stare at his beauty when she suddenly got an idea to cure her loneliness. Inspired by the energy of the industrial revolution Zoelle got to work immediately on her invention. 

The next morning Zoelle went to check on the man.

He was violently ill, dying. His pale face gazed up at her and his green eyes struggled to show any sign of hope. Worried and scared that she would not be able to save him, Zoelle contacted a local doctor. The doctor came to the apartment and attempted to help the man, but it was no use. He was on his deathbed.

Refusing to give up Zoelle went with a more taboo option. She reached out to her downstairs neighbor, Veronica, who was a Medium. She worked with the spirit world. After hours of medicinal rituals and various attempts to heal him there was only one option left. Veronica could not save his physical body, but she could save his soul, his essence, his overall spirit, but she would have to find another host that could hold and contain it.

Trying desperately to think of something or someone to place this man's spirit in, Zoelle got an idea. She ran over to her work station and pulled out the invention she had been working on the night before. She rolled the invention over to Veronica and uncovered it. There stood an automaton, life size, ready to operate. The gears glistened and the mechanical face gazed back at them. Her invention now had an even better purpose, it was going to save this man. With the help of Veronica the man's spirit was transferred over into the automaton.

Anxiously they both waited for something to happen. Anything. After a few hours they were both convinced that it hadn't worked and that the man had passed away for good, but then all of a sudden the gears in the automaton started to turn, and he came to life.

Together Zoelle and the man in the automaton worked on inventions and creating a better world to live in. 

Reading Notes: Ghosts of Erebus: Part B

Here are my reading notes for Ghosts of Erebus for Part B.

Homer's Odyssey: Ghosts of Erebus, http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/odyssey-ghosts-of-erebus.html

Ulysse (Google Images) 

https://images.app.goo.gl/v7qNiXYMY1QnMS3y7

So, this is a very intense part of the Odyssey, it seems. Filling their ships with sheep for sacrifice and sailing away to a different land.

I personally like this part because it's a ghost story, 'tis the season of spook! :)

The order and method that went into the actual luring of the ghosts is interesting to me. The dumping of libations and water and then sacrificing the sheep is strange. Some ghost stories just focus on the fact that the ghosts were actually summoned not the full process by which they were summoned.

Once the ghosts actually showed up was also interesting in this portion of the story as well. The ghosts were not just fallen warriors or aged individuals but they were girls who were young. I'm curious to know what happened to them.

I think the Odyssey overall is very interesting, I read it in high school and had to do a project on it. To be able to go back through portions of it is entertaining. If anything I think that this story shows a lot about the social and cultural aspects during the time of its origin. Food for thought, I suppose.