Week 6 story planning: Duryodhana

• Base the story from Duryodhana's point of view. 
• Maybe do small accounts, like a diary possibly
• Maybe one account about how he heard what king of baby he was: kicking and screaming
• It was advised that he should be abandoned because they knew he was going to be extremely jealous and evil later in life. Showed when he was a child too.
• Events that you could use:
• When he tried to poison Bhima and threw him in the river because he was jealous of his power
• Pandavas were expanding their kingdom and becoming successful 
• Yudhishthira named king, made him mad and jealous because he wanted to be king
• Got consent from his dad and he made the palace made of all wood and with all wood furniture, covered it in oil and was going to have his evil guard set it on fire when Pandavas and mom were asleep
• Thought his plan worked because of the homeless people
• He challenged Yudhishthira to play dice (but Duryodhana had Shakuni play for him, he had loaded dice), made Yudhishthira lose everything 
• Played again so they all would have to go into exile for 12 years
• winning the big army instead of Krishna
• Big war, whining that his army isn't good enough or boast about it
• Part D?
• Make all of the accounts personal
• Maybe he's just a big ole spoiled brat that thinks he deserves everything (bratty teenager like)
• Diary entries with dates (figure out what year this is from?) or like "12 nights after the first full moon" something like that
• Maybe have an entry or two where he is scared but doesn't know what to do now because he is in too deep
• Add in some extra entries in between the big events that are just normal days
• "played some games with so and so... got some new clothes... etc."

Duryodhana Battling Bhima

Bibliography

Public Domain Edition Mahabharata, link to reading.

Week 5 Story: Hunky Hanuman

Rama spent years fighting all kinds of creatures and powerful people to get back his precious Sita. He went to the ends of the Earth to get her back from Ravana. He was desperate to have his queen. She was everything to him. Rama's dear friend Hanuman was going to help him get her back, no matter what.

Hanuman was half man, half monkey. That sounds pretty weird but he was actually quite handsome. He was not overly hairy like you'd think and his tail was sorta cool. He was a monkey king because of his great, strong powers. He was the only one that could get to Lanka over the ocean quickly and without having to use anything but his strength. So he bound like a monkey over the ocean to Lanka to try and find Sita.

He waited till night to look around Ravana's city for Sita. He went through all the houses and even looked in Ravana's bedroom while he was sleeping. It took him a while to find her but finally saw her sitting under a tree being guarded. He quietly snuck into the tree above her to try and tell her she was going to be rescued. Hanuman whispered to Sita, "Oh fairest maiden, Rama has sent me to find you." Sita looked up to see Hanuman sitting on a tree branch. At first she was frightened because she had not heard him get in the tree, but after a moment, something changed. She looked into his eyes and her heart nearly stopped. There were butterflies in her stomach.

What is happening to me? I haven't felt this way since... since... I saw Rama for the first time. 

She couldn't pull her eyes away from him, but he finally interrupted her thoughts by asking, "Sita, would you like me to carry you back to Rama?"

Sita replied, "No, I can't let you do that. I am loyal and true to Rama and I would be unclean if I touched another man. Please send Rama to save me, there is not much time."

Hanuman nodded and quickly left to return back to Rama.

Sita waited patiently while Rama and his army marched to Lanka. One evening she heard yelling and clanking and knew the war had begun. Her guards would not let her leave her spot, so she sat quietly and listened to the battle sounds.

Finally after many hours it got quiet and then she heard joyous chanting. "Ravana is dead! Ravana is dead!" The guards left to go see what had happened. Sita ran towards the chanting to find her love, Rama. She spotted him through the crowd and bounded toward him, ready for his embrace. When she reached him, though, he did something she was not expecting. Rama took a few steps back and looked disgusted.

"What's the matter with you, Rama?" she asked.

"You have been in Ravana's power this whole time. How can I know that you have stayed pure all these years?" he questioned.

Sita was enraged. "Are you serious?! I have denied Ravana every time he has made a pass at me because you are my one true love. I would never dream of betraying you. I can't believe you would accuse me of being untrue."

The crowd around them all looked shocked. Nobody knew what to do. Sita looked around at all the faces staring at her and Rama and she spotted Hanuman. Her heart fluttered again. She knew now what she truly dreamed of.

Sita finally spoke again, "Rama, I refuse to be treated this way. I no longer want to be your wife. I have stayed true to you till now, but I have found another."

Everyone gasped and looked around to see who it was that she would leave the great and wonderful Rama for.

Sita simply smiled at Hanuman and everyone knew. He walked over to Sita and took her hand gently and then looked at Rama and said, "Don't worry, I'll take care of her. No matter what happened to her here."

Hanuman slung her on his back and they bound away from Lanka back to his palace where they would live together happily and have many children.

Rama returned home and told his family, to save himself from embarrassment, that Sita had been killed during battle. He never forgot her and never forgave himself for losing her.

Hanuman Finding Sita Under the Tree, Wikipedia.

Author's Note

In the Ramayana, Sita does get taken away to Lanka by Ravana. Rama spends many years fighting various beings to get back to her. He, with the help of Hanuman and an army, comes to save her. Originally, Hanuman does go to Lanka by himself and Sita refuses to go with him because she does not want to touch another man, but she does not look at Hanuman in any sort of way. She only loves Rama. When the war finally ends Rama does initially reject Sita because he is unsure of her purity. She proves it to him, though, and she goes back home with him. Eventually people start questioning Rama for taking Sita back because they don't know that she remained pure. He exiles her to keep his pride basically but later finds her in the forest with two sons (that ended up being his). She proves her purity again by getting taken into mother earth and Rama sees her again in Heaven. I did not like the ending of the originally story at all. It was very frustrating to me that Sita keeps having to prove her purity to Rama after all the trouble he went through to save her. I liked the idea of Sita saying "screw you" essentially and finding someone else that will treat her better. I thought it would be ironic for her to go with Rama's closest friend in the war, Hanuman.

Bibliography

Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley, Youtube.

Week 4 Story Planning: Hunky Hanuman

• Main goal of the story will be for Sita to fall in love with Hanuman
• Might change Hanuman's character some. Don't want him totally to be a monkey (that'd be weird). Maybe he's half man half monkey or something
• He's a king so maybe he has an awesome palace somewhere
• Rama was so rude after he finally saved her with that whole "are you sure you're pure?" crap
• Could have Rama still meet Hanuman the same way, but when Hanuman goes to Lanka, Sita thinks he's so handsome (heart stops, can't catch her breath... etc.). Maybe even tell him about her feelings (or hint at it anyway)
• Still doesn't go with Hanuman though because she wants to stay true to her husband (for now)
• After the big fight when Rama asks if Sita is pure, she could be like "are you serious? I've stayed true to you this whole time, you fought and traveled all the way here, and that's the first thing you ask me?" 
• Could either go with him saying sorry and her going back to him at first or her just totally saying "screw you" and leaving.
• If she stays with him: the next time he questions her purity she could leave, then go to Hanuman
• If she leaves first: goes straight to Hanuman, maybe could be a small fight with Hanuman and Rama, no major injuries, or maybe Sita's powers that she has could come into play. 
• Another possibility: she could defeat Ravana on her own because "she don't need no man" but still fall in love with Hanuman
• She could either still have Rama's boys and raise them with Hanuman or have Hanuman's children
• Rama can still go back to rule at home but just be alone forever and realize that he screwed up big time.
• Sita and Hanuman can rule at his home and live thousands of years together.

Hanuman

Bibliography

Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley, Youtube.

Week 3 story: Saving Sara

A continuation of "Stolen Sara."

Rory had been in the military. He was very strong and tactical. He had become the biggest guy out of his buddies; he was huge! He could take down anyone in his path he wanted. He fought for his country and he'd fight for his lady, no matter the cost.

Larry had not been in the military like his brother. However, he had always been jealous of how big Rory was so every day when Rory worked out, Larry copied him move for move. Larry was strong too but he never could quite keep up with his brother. No matter how jealous he was of Rory, he would do anything for him.

As Rory and Larry traveled west from Chicago to L.A., they came across a man named Seth at a bus stop. They all got to talking and Seth asked, "Why are you guys traveling all the way from Chicago to L.A.?" Rory explained to Seth what all had happened to Sara and that they were trying to find Rex. Seth was deeply saddened because something very similar had happened to his wife as well. Rory and Larry felt bad for Seth so they decided to help him out.

They traveled with him to a small town in Iowa to find Victor, the pimp that took Seth's wife. Seth had heard that was where she was but he did not have the manpower to fight him. He had been too afraid to stand up to him until now. Long story short, they found Victor and while Seth was fighting him, Rory shot Victor in the chest and killed him.

At first, the guys were scared what would happen because Victor had many men that worked for him and they were afraid of an all-out-war. Instead the men and women that were captured or worked for Victor thanked Rory for killing him because he was a horrible man. Seth found his wife and they were happily reunited. He told all the men and women what Rory and Larry were trying to do and they all felt so terrible for Rory that they agreed to help. Especially since Rory basically freed them and saved their lives.

Seth's best friend Heath knew someone that owned a very small private plane so he was able to go to L.A. by himself to try to first find out if Sara was in fact in L.A.. Heath made it to L.A. and found Rex's compound where he figured Sara was kept captive. He quietly broke into Rex's compound, and even Rex's own house, and searched for her. He finally found Sara in a small, rusted shed-like building surrounded by many guards. Heath knew he could not bring her back by himself because there were too many men. So he came back to Rory and his army and told them of his findings. The group all got on buses and drove several days to L.A.

Rory, Larry, Seth, Heath, and the many men and women got to the compound and waited until it was dark to attack. Unfortunately, Rex caught word that they were in town and had prepared for the war that was about to ensue. At 1 a.m. the group snuck up to the compound and started to attack the guards. It quickly broke into an all-out-war. Larry found Rex and tried to run at him but Rex shot Larry in the shoulder. When Larry tried to crawl away, Rex, being the ruthless man he is, shot him once more in the chest and killed him. The war continued for many hours but Rory kept getting more help from the local people because Rex had struck fear into everyone for so long that they were sick of it. They'd do anything to get rid of him.

Everyone was getting tired and a lot of people were badly injured. Rory had had enough. He jumped into one of Rex's armored cars and drove it straight through the middle of the compound till he found Rex. At the last second before Rex could jump out of the way, Rory rolled down his window and shot Rex right in between the eyes. His body fell like a ton of bricks. For a moment, people kept fighting but once everyone realized what had happened, it all stopped. Rex's people sighed in relief. They were happy he was gone. They only fought for him because they feared more about what he would do to them than dying in combat.

Rory found Sara and embraced her. She looked like she had not eaten in days and she had been in the same dirty clothes she was in when she was taken. Sara looked deeply in his eyes and said, "Let's get out of here."

They returned to Chicago to find out that Rory's dad had passed away from a heart attack while they were gone. Since he had passed, the house now belonged to Rory. Rory had lost his brother and his father in the same week, but he finally got to come home with his wife. A few years later they had twin boys that looked exactly like Rory.

They stayed in that house till the day they died.

Rory's Home

Bibliography

Public Domain Ramayana, link to the reading online.

Author's Note

Many of the characters are from the first story of the series "Stolen Sara." Some new characters, Seth and Heath, are Sugriva and Hanuman, the monkey king in exile and his monkey friend. Sugriva's brother (Victor) took his wife from him after a miscommunication. Rama defeated Victor when they went to fight him (like how Rory shot Victor). Hanuman had great powers and did go to Lanka (L.A. in my story) quickly by bounding there and found Sita and reported back. They fought with Ravana (Rex) and his army but Lakshmana (Larry) did not die. He nearly did but was healed with magic. I decided to let Larry die because in real life, there is no magic to cure people. Rama defeated Ravana with a blazing arrow. The end of my story is quite different from the original. I thought the original was very frustrating. When they finally found Sita, Rama did not know if Sita was pure after all that time and she nearly killed herself until he believed her. They went back to Ayodhya so Rama could claim his kingdom (like how they got the house) but people looked on Sita in a condescending manner because they thought she was impure and it was crazy that Rama took her back. Eventually, Rama exiled Sita and she lived in the forest and had the twin boys. One day Rama came across the boys when they were teenagers and noticed they looked a lot like him. He invited Sita back home to prove herself pure, and when she did she was taken into the earth with the nagas and it was said she could be with Rama in heaven. Rama lived for another thousand years until they met again in heaven. I thought that ending was ridiculous because they fought for like ten years to get her back and then Rama wasn't so sure about her anymore. I continued with the modern theme because I thought it was more relatable. 

Week 2 Story: Stolen Sara

“Get out and never come back!” Darius exclaimed to his son Rory. Rory grabbed his shoes and a few things and stormed out of the house. His wife Sara and his brother Larry ran after him, begging him not to leave. Rory explained, “If my father wants me out of this house so freaking bad, then I’m leaving.” Sara and Larry agreed but would not stay in that house without him. Rory pleaded that his wife and brother stay at the house.

They hadn't done anything wrong. Why should they be punished too?

So off they went.

Rory, Larry, and Sara all started walking the streets of Chicago with nothing but their clothes on their backs, some sleeping bags, and a few dollars. They stayed in shelters and just tried to stay out of trouble.

One day they were passing a store and Sara spotted a pair of tennis shoes that she just had to have. She begged Rory, “Please, please, please! Can you buy me those? They are pretty cheap and mine are falling apart.”

I can't say no. I'm the reason why she is out here on the streets. She's so beautiful and caring. She deserves some new shoes at the very least.

There was a park across the street, so Rory left Larry with Sara to keep an eye on her in the park while he went to get the shoes. After a few minutes, Larry noticed Rory was waving for him to come into the shoe store. Sara was reading a book and Larry didn’t want to disturb her, so he left her in the park. What possibly could go wrong?

While Sara was reading, she felt a little tap on her shoulder. When she turned, she saw a sweet little girl. “Excuse me, lady, could you help me find my mom?” Of course Sara felt horrible for the lost little girl, so she put down her book on the bench and followed the little girl deeper into the park, hand in hand.

Little did Sara know, this was all a big trick. Waiting in the park was Rex, a well known pimp from the West.  Rex was charming but very deceiving. Most feared Rex. He had come to Chicago to find beautiful women to bring back with him. Sara tried to run away but Rex had already grabbed her. As Rex was dragging her towards his van, Sara dropped her scarf to leave behind for Rory and Larry to find.

After a few minutes, Rory and Larry finally left the shoe store after bartering with the employee. Rory told Larry, "I can't wait to see the look on her face when we give her these shoes!" When they got to the park bench, they found Sara's book, but no Sara. They looked around frantically and asked a few people in the park but no one had seen anything. Finally, one elderly woman said that she had seen Rex take her. About that time Larry noticed her scarf laying on the ground. Rory didn’t know what to do except cry.

I did this. This is my fault. She wouldn't have been out here in the first place if it wasn't for me. 

Larry tried to comfort him but it didn’t help. After searching for hours, they decided that they couldn't do this on their own. They walked to the police station to report what had happened. None of the officers seemed to believe them or care because of their homeless appearance. As they were leaving the station, frustrated, one officer, Jason, spoke up and told them he would help because he used to be a friend of their family. As he was grabbing his gear, Jason told Rory and Larry, "Stay put for today. Don't get yourselves into any trouble. I will send someone from the station to let you know if I find out anything."

Larry and Rory waited nervously back at the shelter to hear and finally after a few hours one of Jason’s buddies came and picked them up. They were scared something had happened to Sara but the officer said, "Unfortunately, Jason didn't find Sara."

Larry asked, "Well if he didn't find her, then where are you taking us?"

The officer replied, "Jason did find Rex, but it didn't go well. Jason is in pretty bad shape. He asked me to come pick you guys up and bring you to him. He has some information about where she might have been taken."

So he took them to the hospital to see Jason. Jason had found Rex but when he confronted him, Rex shot him and beat him up pretty bad. Jason ended up passing away that night from his injuries, but before he did, he told the guys that he heard Rex was taking Sara to L.A. The boys packed their few things and started heading West.

To be continued…

Park Bench

Bibliography

Public Domain Ramayana, link to the reading online. 

Author's Note

In the original story, Rory was Rama, Larry was Lakshmana, they were princes instead of normal folk in Chicago, and Sara was Sita, still the beautiful wife of Rama but she was a princess. Rex was Ravana, a demon, Rakshasa King of Lanka. Darius was King Dasharatha, still Rama and Lakshmana's father. Also, Jason was Jatayu, a demi-god in the form of a vulture that was a friend of King Dasharatha. In the original tale, Sita saw a beautiful deer that she wanted and sent Rama to fetch it (like the shoes) but the deer was actually a rakshasa trying to trick them. The rakshasa tricked Lakshmana into thinking that Rama was hurt and needed him, so he left Sita unprotected. Ravana disguised himself as a sage to lead Sita away and trick her. He then turned into his true self and fled with her (like Rex, the pimp). Sita dropped her jewelry secretly as they traveled to leave clues behind for Rama and Lakshmana to find her (the scarf). Jatayu tried to save Sita but ended up getting hurt and passing (like the officer, Jason). All in all, the story is fairly similar but was changed to fit a more modern scene and simplified to be an easier (and shorter) read. I chose this part of the Public Domain Ramayana because I have always liked the damsel in distress stories. I picked this image because it pictures the main conflict of the story (Sara being led away from the park bench and taken). I thought about ending the story this week, but decided to keep reading the Public Domain Ramayana (Part C and D) and see how the original story ends. So I guess we will all have to see how the story ends next week!  

Week 1 Story: The Lumpy Mess of a Man

Week 1 Story: The Lumpy Mess of a Man

There once was a man, a lumpy mess of a man, that had it all. His wife was a radiant woman with big dreams. He had three little munchkins, a boy and two twin girls. They loved him more than anything. He had a wonderful job as the CEO of some big-time company and got a big fat salary to match. This man had the life everyone dreamed of but no one thought he was the one that deserved to have it. The man was a horrible drunk but his family looked past it because he treated them well, for now. One day the man went to work, as usual, and had a meeting, as usual. Little did he know, the meeting was about whether he could keep his job or not. At the end of the meeting he called his wife and she was extremely disappointed. He was so depressed that he decided to go straight to his favorite bar instead of home to his family like he should have. He drank by himself for an hour or two until an old buddy from college came in. They reminisced about the good ol’ times while the drinks kept coming. They decided to go exploring around downtown. What could go wrong? The two stumbled around town and got the cops called on them once for being too crazy in public. Even after that, they still wondered around and then one of them got the idea to try parkour. They jumped over trashcans and climbed on cars but decided it wasn’t enough. There was a ladder on the side of a building that looked appealing, so up they went. They reached the top and dared each other to jump to the next building, that looked a lot closer than it was. The friend couldn’t get the guts to do it but the lumpy man was nothing but confidence. He walked backwards to the very edge of the building to get the most distance for a running start. He got close to the ledge but stepped on a beer bottle and started to tumble backwards. He fell down that five story building and turned into a lumpy mess on the concrete. He somehow survived the fall but three doctors from the city and three surgeons from out of town spent hours in that room and could not fix all his broken bones. The lumpy mess of a man would never be the same.

Alcohol

~ ~ ~

Humpty Dumpty sate on a wall;

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;

Three score men and three score more

Cannot place Humpty Dumpty as he was before.

[An egg.]

~ ~ ~

Author’s Note. The original rhyme is about an egg man was sitting on a wall but he dropped off. When he landed on the ground he broke into a bunch of pieces and people tried to put him back together but they couldn’t. I tried to turn the story into a modern situation that you might actually see on the news.

Bibliography. My story is created off the nursery rhyme “Humpty Dumpty” in The Nursery RhymeBook, edited by Andrew Lang.