Week 11 Story: The Great War

The demons had flooded the earth once again. They were everywhere. Nonstop. Once the floodgates of hell had opened, it never stopped. There was evil and temptation everywhere. People couldn't leave their houses. It was a never ending nightmare that people could never wake up from. The idea of life and death had been altered. Dying wasn't the worst thing that could happen, it was more of a saving grace idea. You either went to the heavens and the pain had ended, or you went to hell where the pain just came and came and never left. The idea of living had altered, because it wasn't so sunny and rosy as people had believed. There was individuals who fought back, but the balance was never restored to how it used to be. There was supposed to be two brave warriors sent to earth from the supreme deity, but that day never seemed to come. Until it did.

The Great War began which lead to many deaths, loses and wins. At one point it seemed like neither side would win, it would just be a slaughter until there was no one left. But then the tides changed. The deities gave the warriors the upper hand, powerful weapons that could slay the demons with one blade crash. The warriors took this weapon and defeated the demons of the earth. The floodgates of hell closed and order had been restored within the land. It was the miracle no one saw coming, all except the heavens and the deities. The earth eventually went back to some type of normal and as time went on The Great War became a fable. A story to tell your children to keep them from doing wrong. Only the heavens and hell knew what had happened so long ago and why things had become the way they were. Ignorant bliss.

Author's Note: I had a hard time incorporating as many original details and story lines from the original story as I wanted to, so I kinda went free fall. I focused more on the aspect of death and going into a heaven rather than the actual characters. I also wanted to incorporate the ideas of demons living on earth, so rather than create characters and a storyline, I wanted to create an abstract story of the ideas of life and death.

Source: Shri Krishna of Dwarka and Other Stories by C. A. Kincaid


(Grim Reaper: pixabay)

Week 9 Story: I Am Woman

There once was a young girl who was told she could be anything. That was until she soon realized that this wasn't always the case. Annabeth was 12 years old when she first was told by a school yard bully that she could never be a marine or a navy seal, girls weren't strong enough. Annabeth was 20 years old when she was told that she would never make it in the entertainment industry, she wasn't pretty enough. Annabeth was 35 years old when she was scolded for never wanting to be a mother, women were always supposed to want to have kids. Annabeth was 60 years old when she was told she would die alone, because she never got married or had babies. These words though never stopped her, she kept on fighting even when life got in the way.

Annabeth had spent her whole life wanting to live up to her parent's expectations, but it never ended up that way. There was always those pressures of who to be and what to do with her life. Annabeth knew she would never been the exact equivalent of the male counterpart, but she knew she had values that were the strengths only a woman could have. This young, scared girl became a powerful woman that not many wanted to face. Annabeth went to law school and graduated top of her class. She was feared inside and outside of the courtroom, and proved so many people wrong that had diminished her in the past. Annabeth was loved by her friends, parents and siblings and that gave her all the satisfaction she needed from life. She knew she didn't have the most typical story, but that's what made hers so great. Annabeth was unique and that is all she could have ever wanted from life.

Author's Note: For my personal story, I chose to turn Shikhandin into Annabeth. In the story about The Maiden Who Became a Knight, we never get to see the pressure the princess felt because she was not the son her parents had prayed for, so I wanted to give her a voice. I always wanted to give every other girl who felt like they didn't have a voice to have one. I didn't keep to most of the story, but I took a major element, repression, I found in this story and turned it into an empowering one. Shikhandin should have been valued for more than just her gender, and I wanted to express that through my story.

Source: The Maiden Who Became a Knight in the Mahabharata by Sister Nivedita



(Women Empowerment: pixabay)

Week 7 Story: Apartment 4D

Jess had had it. It was exhausting. Living with three other dudes was mentally draining. To add to the misery, Coach was moving back in, so make that four dudes. Nick, Schmidt and Winston were so excited to have their old friend back. Jess was at her breaking point though, she was thinking of moving out and running away to another city. She was in between jobs, teaching wasn't going too great for her at the moment. Her best friend Cece was thinking of moving back home to India, so she really had no roots keeping her in the city of Los Angeles. Jess and Nick had long broken up, so she certainly didn't have a boyfriend holding her back. Jess was thinking of moving back to Portland, where all her family lived, her mom, dad and sister, Abby.

It was time to tell the boys that she was leaving. As Jess rounded up everyone in the living room, she began to think over the past memories she had in this loft, and felt a little emotional. All the guys staggered in, really confused what was going on. Nick and Schmidt were bickering about something stupid, as usual, and Winston still was looking for his cat, Ferguson. In a panic, Jess started rambling on and on about a bird she saw earlier that day, nervous to tell everyone she was leaving. Back to Portland she goes. All the guys were shocked, but that wore all quick as everyone started screaming at once. No one wanted her to go, it was something they hadn't seen coming. Jess started telling them how she didn't feel like she belonged anywhere anymore. The guys were all so upset at this news, telling Jess in their different ways that she was a vital part of the loft and their friendship. At this news, Jess started crying and decided maybe all the stress of living with these boys could have been worth it. She just didn't see what was right in front of her.

Author's Note: As I was thinking of what to write for this story, New Girl, the tv show, popped up on tv and I was instantly hooked. I have loved that show for a long time, so I wanted to rewrite it with Indian Epics elements wrapped into it. Instead of running away from the losing battle, Jess is running away from her battle of being the only girl living in an apartment with four dudes. Her final argument, aka battle, was with the guys after they found out she was thinking of leaving. I only took the general plot from the original story and made my own version of what I think that learning opportunity would be if told now days.

Source: Duryodhana in the Lake from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

 
(Apartment 4D: wikimedia)

Week 5 Story: Chasing After a Hopeless Love

There was once the Girl who imagined a life of happiness. Girl had always been fascinated with the idea of love and all the beautiful things it was associated with. She looked up to her parents and saw the happiness they had on the daily. She had always wanted to find the perfect boy, who could sweep her off her feet. Girl was seventeen when she met Boy, and she thought this was it. Everything started off as a fairytale, literally. The flowers, gifts, the perfect dates, it was all there. Words have a powerful role when it comes to love, but actions speak louder than those words. Over time, those actions began to change from the words she was receiving. The idea of that romantic love began to slip away, as manipulation and distrust began to creep in. As time went on, everything became more and more dark. Girl was left vulnerable and all alone, while Boy and the romantic idea of love ran away. The fairytale love was over and Girl realized relationships aren't meant to be like the movies. Love doesn't work like that, it's raw and real. Girl then realized, that young love wasn't meant to last. At least for the most part. There can be imposters, fakes, and even just other people who are as lost as you. And even sometimes, the love was real, it just wasn't the right timing. As people grow in life, they inevitably change. Love you have can change, it can grow, or it can disappear. There are different types of love, from family, friends, and life partners. They all have one thing in common though. Love should be trusting, but also independent. Through all the issues of life, love was just like everything else. Seemingly impossible until you find your true Golden Deer.

Author's Note: I took the story of The Golden Deer and turned it into a hopeless romance story. The Golden Deer is represented in my story as the idea of love and the tricks it can play on the mind. Sita is represented by "girl" in my story, as I wanted this story to be more abstract rather than assign character names. On the same level, Rama and Lakshman's roles in this story are combined to create the idea of "boy". Other than those aspects, I went more or less off base from the original story.

Source: The Golden Deer by Sister Nivedita


(Red Rose: pixabay)

Week 3 Story: The Wild Bear

Author's Note: For my story, I based it off the story of Shurpanakha and Rama. In my story, there are three characters and a bear. This first character is Paul (Rama), the second Matthew (Lakshmana), and the third character is Olivia (Sita). The bear in my story portrays Shurpanakha. These three characters are in the woods on a camping trip, when they are attacked by a bear. This light tale is based off the story of Shurpanakha meeting Rama for the first time, which ends in heartbreak.

The Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie, verse Ramayana, The Epic of Rama, Prince of India

It was a sunny afternoon in Colorado along the Rocky Mountains, when Paul, Matthew and Olivia decided to go on camping trip. Paul and Matthew were two brothers that had been close all their lives. Paul was the oldest and at 26, was married to Olivia. As they were hiking along the trails with all their gear, they saw so many beautiful sights. From the river streaming below the mountain, to the deer drinking from the lake, there was natural beauty all around them. As they neared the camping ground, the excitement built. Once they arrived, they pulled out their tents and began to set up their camping site. Olivia was so excited she could not stop running around and talking at a million words per minute. Paul, the more quiet of the two, was busy at work setting up the tent. Matthew was being his easy go self and cracking jokes at everything. They fished in the river for their dinner and cooked the fish over a warm fire. The smell of the cooking fish dispersed throughout the forest, and it wasn't too hard for a hungry bear to pick up on the scent. This wasn't any average bear though, this was a hungry mamma bear looking for food for her cubs. So as the bear approached the camp, she got louder and louder. Paul, Matthew and Olivia heard this bear coming from a mile away, and they needed to think of a get away plan quick. Paul remembered that he had packed a tranquilizer bow and arrow set in his camping gear, so he instructed Olivia and Matthew to hide in the bush while he attempted to subdue the bear. Even one shot would slow the bear down so they could escape. As the bear came nearer, Paul focused his arrow on the approaching sound and when the bear came through the trees, he shot the arrow straight into the arm of the bear. As the bear fell down to take a quick nap, Paul, Olivia and Matthew grabbed as much of their stuff that they could and booked it out of there.


(Rama, Sita and Lakshmana: wikipedia)

Week 2 Story: Parks and Recreation

This story is about based off the story The Monkey Who Gathered Lotuses. I changed a good majority of the story, but stayed to the same morals and lessons of the original. Brahmadatta became Ron Swanson and Bodhisatta became Leslie Knope. Their kingdom was altered into the Pawnee Indiana Parks and Recreation Department. The self-absorbed "king", Ron, was eventually over ruled by "the son", Leslie Knope.

The Source: "The Monkey Who Gathered Lotuses" by Tayodhamma Jataka in The Jataka: Volume 1


Parks and Recreation 

It was a typical Tuesday afternoon at the Pawnee Indiana Parks Department. Ron Swanson was overlooking his department, as director of the Parks and Recreation Department. Ron was fearful of a subordinate that would overpower his directorship one day, so he used his fear tactics to deter anyone from overpowering him. As an avid outdoorsman, Ron was skilled at all typical masculine activities. He would even describe himself as a mans-man. All was going well, until one day a bright eyed woman named Leslie Knope walked in. As Deputy Director of the Parks and Recreation Department, Leslie Knope has so many dreams about future government opportunities and the entire city of Pawnee. Ron Swanson didn't like this new Deputy Director who challenged everything he stood for. Leslie began to question Ron and the decisions he was making for the department. Leslie noticed abnormalities that Ron said would help the department, but actually did not. As Leslie became more and more suspicious, Ron caught wind of these doubts. Ron had to come up with a plan to get Leslie fired in order to protect his job as Director of the department. So Ron began planning, and had a seemingly brilliant idea. Ron remembered the creepy guy named Joe in the sewage department that he could rely on to trap Leslie in a scandal that would ruin her political career. So Ron sent Leslie to the sewage department to "talk" to Joe about issues with the public restrooms in the park. Joe began to be very creepy with Leslie, and instead of falling for Joe and Ron's plan for entrapment, Leslie reported Joe's antics to the Mayor. Leslie returned back to her department and realized that Ron had set her up. The Mayor was informed on this action and Ron was fired in a fit of fury. Leslie Knope was promoted to Director of the Parks and Recreation Department, and all was well in the small town of Pawnee Indiana.
 
(Parks and Recreation: flickr)