Week 10 Story: The Girl and the Wild Dog

Ever since Molly was a little girl, she longed to have a companion. She wanted someone to make her feel safe and secure no matter what she was going to. As a child, however, she was not allowed to have a companion among her people, as they were thought to be dangerous and it was not allowed. Because of this rule, Molly lived an unhappy lifestyle filled with sadness.

One day, when Molly was older, she decided to leave her tribe to see what the world had to offer. She knew that if she stayed cooped up with the same people and same rules, that she would be filled with regret. With that thought in mind, Molly packed up her essentials and vanished from all of the people she knew to seek her companionship that she desired. She didn't entirely know what she was doing, but Molly thought that the unknown would be better than what she already had.

The first several days on her own were rough. Molly was lost and didn't know exactly what direction to go or what she was going to encounter. She slept on the cold rigid floor of the outside world through the dark nights and was afraid of the creaky noises. She questioned her decision to leave her tribe, as loneliness was starting to creep back in to her life. There was no way she could go back, too, even if she was able to find her way. The people would not be so forgiving. In her thoughts as Molly continued her journey, she noticed from the corner of her eye that there was a creature following her. A little bit scared, Molly knew not to make any sudden or quick movements as to scare off what was behind her. Devising a plan, Molly was able to climb a quick tree to get out of harm's way. Once up the tree, she noticed the most adorable little animal lost in her tracks.

Molly called out to the creature and he seemed timid and unsure of what to do, so she became brave and climbed down from the tree to get a closer look. When Molly locked eyes with wild dog, she immediately knew that she had found what she was looking for. The calmed the dog down and asked it what it's name was. He told her his name was Charles, and that he got separated from his dog tribe. He seemed to have had a hurt leg and asked Molly for some assistance in helping him to get back home, saying that there would be some type of reward if she was able to. She agreed and the two were on their way.

Searching day and night, the two companions were able to finally reach their destination and find the dog's tribe. The wild dog gave the girl a slobbery kiss and wagged his tail with excitement for helping to find his family. Molly was unsure of what to do now, but Charles comforted her and asked her to make a wish. After she made the wish, a special ceremony was performed and she became a dog with Charles. They lived a long and happy life together with puppies and security.

(Wild puppies)

Author's Note: I was inspired by one of the stories from the Native American Marriage Tales called "The Dog-Husband". The original story was way different then the one I am telling and had to do with after the dog and the girl were already together. I also changed the original story, but still isolated the girl from the tribe like she had been. Molly is looking for a companion throughout the story and encounters a dog when she is lost. She helps the dog find his way, and is welcomed with open arms into his tribe. I like happy endings as well, so I gave the story one!

Bibliography: Native American Marriage Tales by Stith Thompson

Reading Notes: Native American Marriage Tales; Part B

The first story in Part B was called "The Dog-Husband". I was excited to read the story because it started off strong, but personally it was a little different than I anticipated. It began with a girl and a dog and at night the dog would turn into a man to sleep with the little girl. Eventually the girl got pregnant and the towns people were not very happy with what happened. The town people destroyed everything and left the girl behind with the puppies she gave birth to. I think I should change the ending of the story if I decide to use this as inspiration for a new story. The ending was a little confusing to understand. The puppies became human again somehow and caught whales. There was also a Crow involved who brought the people back to the town? Not my favorite story, but there are some good ideas that can come from it.

(Puppy running) 

The next story was "The Youth Who Joined the Deer". The story began with the a hunter that had two wives. He was very fond of deer and liked to go hunting. One time he went looking for a deer that he saw the tracks in and came across a woman who wanted him to be his husband. He was then brought back to the Indians and had sex with the woman when he was not supposed to. I didn't like ending to this story very much either. The husband felt bad about leaving his other wives, but this new woman told him to not worry very much about it. Later on in the story he went out hunting and killed some deer. Their bones brought them to life somehow. I liked that idea of bringing the bones back to life as something. I would make a lot of changes to this story to make it flow better. Some aspects were good, but I would maybe add more dialogue.

The last story I wanted to mention for Part B was "The True Bride". I actually enjoyed this story. It had to do with somewhat of an evil stepmother and step sister. The stepmother sent out the other daughter to find berries in the snow even though she knew that berries did not exist in the snow. The daughter went out anyways and got help from her brothers and returned with berries and new clothes. The stepmother wanted the other daughter to do the same, but instead the daughter was rude and did not come back with nicer things. There are a lot of things I could do with the ending of the story. I like the idea of an evil stepmom and stepsister. Happily ever after fairytales are very fun and I think I could do a twist to maybe make the stepmother less evil after something bad happens to her.


Bibliography: Native American Marriage Tales by Stith Thompson

Reading Notes: Native American Marriage Tales; Part A

The first story in this reading was very interesting. It was called "The Piqued Buffalo-Wife". The beginning of the story started out with a buffalo-cow trying to find his human father that helped his buffalo mother and bring them together. The buffalo-cow had to go through a few trials to find the Indian man that did so and he was able to identify him correctly through all the people. When he brought them together, the human father was not supposed to use fire around the mother, but he did so one time when he was angry and the mother and son disappeared. The father felt remorseful and had to go through a few trials to try to find his buffalo-calf son and see if he could correctly identify him. The man was able to pick his son out a few times by different signals, but on the last trial, he was not successful. The father was then trampled by the heard and eventually they found his bones to give to his family and they turned into human being. I thought that this story gave me a lot of different ideas for my own writing. I like the different trials of identification, and also how the buffalo was trying to bring the human father together with the buffalo mom. I also liked how they turned into human beings after.

(headdress of the Matoki Society)

"Bear-Woman and Deer-Woman" was the next story in Part A and I thought it was cool how they were still mixing humans and animals. The into made it seem like something was not going to be successful. These two woman were wives of Chickenhawk men. From the story it seemed that the families of both of these woman were very close. That was true until the Bear decided to bite of the Doe's head and burn it. When the Bear returned, the Doe's children were skeptical and knew that that was their mother. The Bear made them not worry too much about it and so they went of the play with the Bear's children. The Doe's decided to kill the Bears and take them back to the mother Bear and tell them that they were skunks that they killed for dinner. The mother Bear believed them, and then someone mentioned that she was eating her own children. They called her out for killing a person then eating her children's hands. This story was a bit weird, but I like how had a twist and I was not anticipating what was going to happen. I think I could incorporate something like this into one of my stories, by thinking of a weird twist.

The last story that I felt inspired by was, "The Eagle and Whale Husbands". The story had a unique concept to it. There were little girls playing by the shore with eagle bones and whale bones. I thought that part was kind of weird, but could be fun to have random animal parts lying around that transform into other things. The girls then wished for a husband, one an Eagle and the other a Whale husband. Their wishes came true and they were then taken off with an Eagle and a Whale. The little girls did not like this and tried to escape because they felt trapped. They were both successful, but the animals were not. The animals ended up dead. I think it could by creative to continue a storyline with this and have the children trapped and something more happening to them instead of just allowing them to escape. It would have been cool if they turned into the animal or something.



Bibliography: Native American Marriage Tales by Stith Thompson

Week 9 Storytelling: Mescal Pecker

Long ago, woodpeckers used to be Indians. Hidden among the tall rugged trees in the Texas woods, there was a noise heard throughout. The noise was loud and sounded almost as if someone was knocking on a door.

"Tap! Tap!"

The sound made many ponder what was actually happening. What were these tiny birds and why did their pointy beaks make constant sound on just the wood of the trees? Legend has it that these birds were part of an Indian tribe whose parents went out looking for their children, but what they don't entirely know is what happened to their children.

In the Texas woods, lies a plant known as the mescal plant. The plant had magical powers that the Indians did not know about. When people were around them, the world would be much more lively. Things would happen that people did not know about and could not remember. After much observation over this plant, it was told that people should not go near it for fear of what would happen to them. If they did, however, there would be many consequences faced.

The Indian children played among the woods, and knew the rules of the woods. One child, however, took it upon herself to not follow the rules. She was curious and wild, with a heart that wandered. He careless mind took her to the mescal plant. It was so vibrant and green with a mind of its own too. The pointy leaves from the plant tempted the small child to go even closer. The child had also brought with her a group of friends to also see the plant. Some were more reluctant than others.

"Are you sure we should do this?", yelled one little boy.

"I think we should ask our parents", screamed another girl with brown hair.

"Will we get magical powers?", asked another curious boy.

The girl whose idea it was lied to her friends and told them that she had received permission from their parents and that the plant would give them magical powers. What the girl did not know, however, was that there was a magical spell that was put on to the mescal plant.

The children heard the sound of knocking and followed closer to the plant where they thought it was coming from. Soon, they were in another world of their own. Life was a as carefree as the girl anticipated, but a little too carefree at that. They saw things they never thought they would. It was like a never ending dream. Anything they that they were thinking was brought to life.

Everything was going just fine until the children started to hear the knocking sound appear to get louder and louder. All of the sudden, the children started to feel feathers appear and their nose began to lengthen. In the blink of an eye, the children were turned into woodpeckers. They thought it was still part of the dream that they were in so they went along with it.

Soon, the children got tired of being a bird and wanted to go back to their original life... Little did they know that they would be trapped as a woodpecker knocking on trees to find their way out. Their lives became more of a nightmare than a dream from disobeying the orders.

This is why you hear the tapping of woodpeckers trying to find their way out.

(Mescal Plant) 

Author's Note: My inspiration for this post was from the Tejas Legends story, "Why the Woodpecker Pecks". I liked the idea of the story leading up to a greater meaning. I changed the original story up a bit and gave it new ending. In the original story, the children go near the mescal plant that they are not supposed to go to. The parents of the children also go looking for their children and are turned into woodpeckers. I thought it would be a fun twist to have the children be punished and trapped as woodpeckers.

Bibliography: Tejas Legend by Florence Stratton

Reading Notes: Tejas Legends; Part A

The first story was called "When the Storm God Rides". The story takes place along the shore of Texas by the Gulf of Mexico. It involves a storm God, known as Hurakan, who scared the Indians that lived among the land. They also called Hurakan the "thunder bird". I think it would be cool to incorporate some type of God into my writing. I feel like the story is interesting because it describes how the Indians didn't really know what a storm was, so they thought it they were being punished or and hid in fear. The Indians liked it better when the God was away. There was conflict with the Indians that lived there and another tribe who came using weapons. Eventually they prayed for the Storm God to help them and when he came, it was like a hurricane blowing through. Islands were created after for animals and plants specifically.

The next story I enjoyed was "How the North Wind Lost His Hair". The origin of the story was explaining Spanish moss. The story begins with the north wind being afraid of the south. I like that emotions are given to things that usually aren't able to give expression to themselves. That is something I could use in my story as well. The two winds did not like each other. Instead, many people liked the warm south wind as opposed to the cold north wind. The north wind kept blowing, causing spring to not occur. Finally, the north and south winds went at it and younger south wind was able to overpower the old north wind and in doing so he ripped his gray hair out. That is where the Spanish moss came from. I think it would be fun to tell a tale that all connects.

The last story for this part that I really enjoyed was called, "Why the Woodpecker Pecks". I thought it was interesting that the Indian children found a natural source of a psychoactive drug. Even though they weren't supposed to use it, they were still tempted by it and bad things happened. The families were turned into woodpeckers to go find them and never ended up finding them. I think there are a lot of great ideas that can come from hallucinogenic things. I could do a twist on this story and try to incorporate another Tejas Legend with it.

(Wood peckers and tree) 

Bibliography: Tejas Legend by Florence Stratton

Week 8 Growth Mindset

I have had a lot of growth in this course that I have seen since the first week. I feel like my mind has drifted more from being fixed to the growth aspect. I have pushed myself to set goals and constructively take feedback and learn from other people. I think my weakness throughout this course have been my ability to open my mind to write more creatively. I struggle sometimes when writing my story. I also think that I play it safe and take the easier options just because of time management. I need to be better at setting my priorities. I have not followed along with my schedule this semester, just because of other things coming up. Towards the beginning of the week I try to get a lot of things done, but I struggle at the end of the week with things I have left. I can definitely use this class to work on the weaknesses I have by following more of my schedule and working on time management. Having a lot of classes at once can be difficult, especially with so many assignments due during one period of time. Staying focused will help me with this weakness to not procrastinate and to get things done. I love how this class has given me so many options and choices instead of one fixed schedule. I think it has helped me to grow and not stay fixed on just one subject. In addition, I have also been able to see so many aspects of writing and learning.

(Growth Mindset) 

Week 8 Reflections

Reflecting over the first half of the semester, I think I have made some good choices regarding the reading assignments that I have chosen. This class has allowed me to read a variety of stories from different parts of the world. I have been able to see some similarities and differences in the styles and types of stories that have been told. Along with that, this class has allowed me to become a more creative reader and writer. One of my favorite readings was "The Life of Buddha". I knew a little bit about the story, but not the whole aspect of it. I think the story itself allowed me to be creative with my story that I wanted to tell. There are so many twists that I could have added and it was definitely a fun read. For the reading notes this semester, I have found them more helpful to analyze the different stories. It has allowed me to take a moment and pause to brainstorm different routes that my new story could take or different ideas that could inspire an entirely new story. I have never really taken detailed notes on different stories, so I have found them very helpful. I think I am improving each week that I have to do them, which is great. Thinking about what I want to read in the weeks to come, I am excited for the Native American Section. Before moving to Oklahoma for college, I did not know a lot about the history of Native Americans and how vital they are to society. They were very creative people, so I can only just imagine what their stories will be like!

(Native American Stories)

Throughout this semester, I have definitely written more stories than I ever have for any class. Although sometimes I struggle to be creative and write, I have enjoyed the challenge of writing them. I have never considered myself a writer, so these stories have tested my ability. I think I am happy with what I have done so far considering I do not do a bunch of creative writing. With that being said, however, I think there is a lot of room for improvement. I want to write stories that draw people in and use vivid detail. Hopefully the my stories will keep improving each week!

For my storybook, I am very happy with my topic of choice. I think it will be somewhat challenging to keep up with new and creative stories that stem from a certain topic. I love animals though, which I think will be fun to make them more realistic and humanized. I like the concept of a Law and Order case for animals. It is one of my favorite shows on TV and it will be exciting to have new cases each week.

When I read other peoples stories, I admire a lot of the different qualities that people use. I like the dialogue and description. I think that my stories could use more of that. I think at first my comments on other people's stories weren't as detailed as they are now. I have improved on that aspect. To provide better feedback in the future, I think I should use the suggestions that you have provided.