Week Nine Story: Alora's Journal

Update:

This story is now on my portfolio. To see the revised version follow this link!

October 27, 3181

To be honest I am not sure how to start this, so I guess I will start from the beginning. My name is Alora. I am part of an expedition team that travels the universe in search of...something. The Captain hasn't really told us what we are looking yet because apparently we are not fully trained. Anyways, after I screwed up a tiny bit of the last mission and may or may not have nearly died I have been commanded to write in this thing. So here I am. Writing in this stupid journal. Apparently it is supposed to help me "connect" to my gift, but it seems to just be an annoyance so far. 

October 28, 3181

Hey, there. It's me again. Today my assignment is to explain more about my gift and my sisters. Remember, the whole "connecting" bull crap. So I am a dreamer. Not in some optimistic way, more in a I kinda can see the future/past/present in my dreams. My younger sisters are all gifted too, which is why we were recruited for this mission thing. Utarra is a guide. That means if you tell her to find anything, she can create a map in her mind and lead you to it. The only issue is she has to have a connection to the thing she is finding. Next is Artemis, the huntress. She has some amazing skills with a bow and arrow, but is always getting herself in trouble. Finally there is Eva. The all powerful life giver. Although all she has given life to so far is a couple of dead plants and maybe a fly or two.

October 29, 3181

Today was kinda weird. I had a dream about Artemis getting killed on a hunt but she hasn't left the ship since the last mission. I told the Captain and he said there is nothing to worry about. Probably just a flashback to the last mission.

October 30, 3181

Today we start another mission. Thank god, because I am sick of being on this ship. Artemis is supposed to go do some basic tracking on a small planet and observe the wildlife. When she gives us the all clear we are going to do a few training exercises and exploring. It is pretty routine but I am excited to see a new planet.

November 4, 3181

Well, it has been a few days since I have written. The Captain said I needed to write everything that happened to clear my mind. So here is the short version. Turns out that dream I had about Artemis wasn't just a flashback. As soon as she left to do the tracking I had a bad feeling, but I chalked it up to nerves. Usually Artemis sends some results from the tracking within a few hours, but this time was different. It was a full day and we had still heard nothing and I was starting to panic. The Captain told us to stay put but I knew I had to do something. It was easy to convince Utarra to track our sister but the baby Eva was another story. She has always played by the rules and it took us a full hour of threatening and convincing to get her to go to the planet with us.  It was easy enough to track Artemis with Utarra's gift, but the terrain was rough. Really rough. It was a struggle to climb through this weird living forest and with every turn there was some crazy creature. We mostly just ran from them since we weren't the hunters. Anyways we finally found Artemis wrapped in this crazy web thing. Utarra immediately had a breakdown and swore that she was dead. Eva was the real surprise. She was calm and walked to Artemis and placed a hand on her chest. Before we knew it Artemis was coughing and breathing again, but still in pretty bad shape. We brought her back here and got our own wounds looked at too. So that's all I guess. 

(The Ship, credit to Tombud at pixabay)

Author's Note

This writing is based of a story that originated in Congo titled How the Wives Restored their Husband to Life. In the original story there were three wives and each had a gift. The gifts were to dream, to guide, and the bring back to life. When the husband was killed hunting the dreamer dreamed of his death, the guide found a way to his body, and the life giver brought him back to life. In the end the husband chose most gifted wife, rather than appreciating them each.  When I read this story I really wanted to change the husband to a woman and to make them sisters in order to give them more solidarity. In the original story it seemed like a competition and the husband was the judge and I was hoping to make the story more about teamwork.

Bibliography

Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort, Richard Edward Dennett (1898). Link

Reading Notes: Stories from Congo, B

Reading Notes: Part B

For the second part of reading from Congo I had a hard time choosing a story that held my interest. I did not enjoy part B of the reading as much as part A but I still found a few stories that I could see myself rewriting.

The Fetish Sunga

In The Fetish Sunga, there is a great fisherman named Basa who goes to the river everyday to catch fish. Even though he catches many fish every day, he often lies about catching them because he is very selfish. One day, the fetish Sunga grows tired of his lies and invites him to a feast where she makes him mute so that he cannot lie again. If I were to rewrite this story I think it would be interesting to explain what happens to Basa after he becomes mute. When I was reading the story I was wondering if after he became mute did he continue to hide his fish, or did he learn his lesson and begin to share. I think it would be exciting to explain how he learns his lesson and maybe make him return to the fetish to ask for forgiveness.

(Fisherman, link)

Why The Crocodile does not Eat the Hen

In Why the Crocodile does not Eat the Hen, there is a crocodile that tries to eat a  hen every day. Every day as he approaches the hen she calls him brother and this greatly confuses him. One day he finally has to ask Mbambi why the hen keeps calling him brother and he responds that the hen is a duck and the duck loves the water and lays eggs so they are brothers. If I were to retell this story I would focus more on the dialogue between the duck and the crocodile. I think it would be more interesting if the crocodile confronts the duck rather than going to a friend to ask.

Bibliography

Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort, Richard Edward Dennett (1898). link

Reading Notes: Stories from Congo, A

Reading Notes:

This week I read through Stories From Congo and found a few stories that I could retell this week. The stories include How the Wives Restored their Husband to Life, and Another Vanishing Wife.

How the Wives Restored their Husband to Life

In the original story of How the Wives Restored their Husband to Life, three wives each had a gift. The gifts were to dream, to guide, and the bring back to life. When the husband was killed hunting the dreamer dreamed of his death, the guide found a way to his body, and the life giver brought him back to life. I feel as though if I were to retell this story I could switch the husband to a woman and perhaps make the women gifted sisters.  The new addition would have the gift of being a skilled huntress. Instead of choosing a best gift, in my version I could put an emphasis on the importance of each gift and how they worked together.

Another Vanishing Wife

In the original story of Another Vanishing Wife a scrawny young man was tired of being put second to his strong older brother and being mistreated by his family. In response to this he ran away and found a magic canoe that led him to  magical tree in which he pulled a leaf off and it turned into a beautiful woman. The woman changed his appearance and awarded him with wealth and love. The man went against her warning and went to show off to his family. When he did this he lost the wife and his wealth. If I were to retell this story I would put an emphasis on the moral of the story; it is not necessary to impress people who do not care for you. It would be interesting to tell this story from the perspective of the man and to describe how he felt like he had something to prove.

(The Magic Canoe, link)

Bibliography

Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort, Richard Edward Dennett (1898). Link