Week 2 Story: The Demon Of The Forest
A group of children from the village were exploring in a nearby forest. They had been talking of stories about mythical monsters and brave heroes. The children had not been out in the wilderness by themselves many times and did not have the knowledge of what lurks in the forest.
As they were playing and pretending to cut down a mythical monster they found, an apple tree, they heard a strange noise in the distance. The children immediately stopped playing and gathered together. They looked through the maze of trees and bushes where the noise had originated from.
One child by the name of Richard was the informal leader of this band of child explorers. He told them all to get behind him, so they did. Richard picked up a rock laying near him and threw it towards the noise. As the rock landed in the bushes, a loud and ferocious roar bellowed out.
Richard, in his fear, exclaimed, "RUN, THE DEMON OF THE FOREST HAS COME TO KILL US!" All the children turned and ran away with reckless abandon. As they weaved through the forest, they came upon a hut. This hut was the home of Zedd, who was a wise old man whom the children had heard that he knew many things.
Richard ran up to Zedd, who was cooking some rabbit outside, and explained the situation to him. Zedd listened intently to Richard's story and looked around at the children who were out of breath and had scrapes and bruises from sprinting through the forest.
Zedd told the children to take shelter in his hut, but commanded Richard to accompany him in his quest to defeat the demon.
Richard led Zedd to where the demon had first made his appearance. Zedd looked around the area and started to approach the bushes where Richard had thrown his rock. Richard yelled out, "STOP! The demon is in there and will tear you apart!"
Zedd turned around and gave Richard a perplexed look. Zedd pulled out an object covered in cloth and said, "Do not worry young one. This will protect me from any foul magic the demon could use against me."
Zedd went into the bushes and was hidden from Richard's sight for some time. After a while, Zedd called out to Richard, "Come here boy! The demon has been defeated!"
Richard rushed to Zedd and looked at the spot where the demon had fell. What he saw was nothing what he had expected though. Instead of a ferocious demon, he saw a mother dog and her children feasting on the meat that Zedd had brought hiding in the cloth.
Zedd turned to Richard and said, "See here, it was simply a mother dog acting in protection of her children." Richard, suddenly feeling foolish, softly said, "I'm sorry. I thought we were all in terrible danger."
Zedd tousled Richard's hair and said, "Do not dwell on this mistake for too long. You tried to protect your friends from a possibly dangerous situation. That is nothing to feel ashamed of. But know this, those boys look up to you and will heed what you say and do. You must be sure to act logically and virtuously as your decisions will affect them more than you know."
Zedd led Richard back to the hut and walked the group of explorers back to the village. On the way, Zedd told the story of how he and Richard had defeated the demon and sent him back to where he came from.
Richard still felt bad about the situation he put his friends in, but was thoughtful about the new perspective he had learned from Zedd.
Author's Note
This story was based on The Foolish, Timid Rabbit. That story involved a rabbit that thought the world was ending because he heard a coconut drop behind him and in his fear, convinced everyone else of their impending doom before being brought to his senses by a wise lion. In my story, the premise is similar, but I used human characters instead of animals. It felt weird writing animal characters acting like humans, so that's something I'll have to get used to.
Bibliography
The Foolish, Timid Rabbit - by Ellen C. Babbitt
As they were playing and pretending to cut down a mythical monster they found, an apple tree, they heard a strange noise in the distance. The children immediately stopped playing and gathered together. They looked through the maze of trees and bushes where the noise had originated from.
One child by the name of Richard was the informal leader of this band of child explorers. He told them all to get behind him, so they did. Richard picked up a rock laying near him and threw it towards the noise. As the rock landed in the bushes, a loud and ferocious roar bellowed out.
Richard, in his fear, exclaimed, "RUN, THE DEMON OF THE FOREST HAS COME TO KILL US!" All the children turned and ran away with reckless abandon. As they weaved through the forest, they came upon a hut. This hut was the home of Zedd, who was a wise old man whom the children had heard that he knew many things.
Richard ran up to Zedd, who was cooking some rabbit outside, and explained the situation to him. Zedd listened intently to Richard's story and looked around at the children who were out of breath and had scrapes and bruises from sprinting through the forest.
Zedd told the children to take shelter in his hut, but commanded Richard to accompany him in his quest to defeat the demon.
Richard led Zedd to where the demon had first made his appearance. Zedd looked around the area and started to approach the bushes where Richard had thrown his rock. Richard yelled out, "STOP! The demon is in there and will tear you apart!"
Zedd turned around and gave Richard a perplexed look. Zedd pulled out an object covered in cloth and said, "Do not worry young one. This will protect me from any foul magic the demon could use against me."
Zedd went into the bushes and was hidden from Richard's sight for some time. After a while, Zedd called out to Richard, "Come here boy! The demon has been defeated!"
Richard rushed to Zedd and looked at the spot where the demon had fell. What he saw was nothing what he had expected though. Instead of a ferocious demon, he saw a mother dog and her children feasting on the meat that Zedd had brought hiding in the cloth.
Zedd turned to Richard and said, "See here, it was simply a mother dog acting in protection of her children." Richard, suddenly feeling foolish, softly said, "I'm sorry. I thought we were all in terrible danger."
Zedd tousled Richard's hair and said, "Do not dwell on this mistake for too long. You tried to protect your friends from a possibly dangerous situation. That is nothing to feel ashamed of. But know this, those boys look up to you and will heed what you say and do. You must be sure to act logically and virtuously as your decisions will affect them more than you know."
Zedd led Richard back to the hut and walked the group of explorers back to the village. On the way, Zedd told the story of how he and Richard had defeated the demon and sent him back to where he came from.
Richard still felt bad about the situation he put his friends in, but was thoughtful about the new perspective he had learned from Zedd.
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| Dog in a forest: Source |
Author's Note
This story was based on The Foolish, Timid Rabbit. That story involved a rabbit that thought the world was ending because he heard a coconut drop behind him and in his fear, convinced everyone else of their impending doom before being brought to his senses by a wise lion. In my story, the premise is similar, but I used human characters instead of animals. It felt weird writing animal characters acting like humans, so that's something I'll have to get used to.
Bibliography
The Foolish, Timid Rabbit - by Ellen C. Babbitt
Dawson, I really enjoyed your story! I enjoyed the original Foolish, Timid Rabbit story and yours was no exception. I know you said in the notes that writing animals as humans in your story was difficult, but I think you did a really great job at it. I also like that you still worked animals into the story, only this time they were the "demon". One part that I would like to see more off was Zedd that lived in the woods. Why was he all alone and how did he become so wise? He knew just what to do with the cloth of meat. Maybe you can work him into a future story. I am not sure if it was your intention, but he reminded me of the sages of the Ramayan, who are ascetic and live alone, but also offer great wisdom and love to Rama in his years in exile and while he is searching for Sita.
ReplyDeleteHi Dawson, I enjoyed reading your take on the original The Foolish, Timid Rabbit! I especially liked the fact that you changed the characters from animals to humans. I believe this change allowed readers to be more able to relate and grasp the story. I wonder what the rest of the children were thinking and talking about when Zedd and Richard were out on their quest to defeat the demon. That is a possible idea that you could explore and maybe consider for future writings. Also, I wonder what the thoughts of the "demon" a.k.a. the mother dog and her puppies were thinking and if they knew they were seen as the "demons?" In addition, what if Zedd did not explain the new perspective to Richard - would he have pouted, been sad, or mad? That could have produced a different outcome to the story. These are cool things that you could explore, but overall, I enjoyed reading your version of this story! (163 words)
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