Week 12 Story: Oh, Where Did You Go Friend?

The world is filled with noise. You try to focus on what is important in life, but you can't help it and get lost in all the other things happening in the world. And you don't realize what you have lost until it is too late. My friends today I will tell you about a time when I had almost lost a close friend.

There was a horse [me] and newborn pup who lived on the same farm. The pup would come to visit me everyday ever since it was able to walk. Day after day the pup would come and play with me and soon we ate almost every meal together. We shared our stories of the day and sometimes were able to roam the fields together. We played together and sometimes were even taken on the same trips. Our farmer was a soft-hearted man with a lovely wife who made pies that made our mouths water. They cared and loved as if we were their children.

Humans are funny people. They tend to tell us all of their feeling and daily goings and give us hugs when they need a buddy. I can't say I don't love my people, because they pamper me with many new items. My humans say that I am their most prized possession and if I will the regional showcase we will be able to go to nationals. That apparently means more money for the farm. I overheard them say we were running low on funds and they'd have to soon sell off some of the other farm animals.

Nationals were around the corner and I was so caught up in trying to win. I paid no attention to my surroundings or the fact that I was ignoring my friend also. The day before I was scheduled to leave for nationals I searched high and low for pup, but could not find him anywhere on the farm. I asked the other farm animals if they saw him...everyone just said "no." I couldn't eat that night, we always had dinner together no matter what. That was one of the longest nights I had ever gone.

The next day on the long ride to the national showcase I heard my humans say that the extra money from the recent dog sale would be able to pay a bill or two. I could not believe what I was hearing pup was gone! GONE! SOLD!

Everything went wrong at nationals, I just could not focus my mind kept going back to pup. My humans say they're worried since I am not eating nor sleeping. I just want to see pup, I need to talk to him, see if he has eaten, and ask why he never said he was leaving. I hear from the stable boy that the humans are trying to figure out why I am so miserable. They continuously bring in people to try to solve the "mystery." One day after an old man had come to see me I heard the bark of pup. I could see him running across the field, oh I was so happy to see pup! We took baths, ate, played, and talked about everything. Night passed and dawn came too soon, but my best friend was with me and now nobody could separate us. Next year's national championship was were I won first place and pup was in the stands cheering for me!


Bibliography: The Faithful Friend from the Eastern Stories and Legends by Marie Shedlock.

Me and my best friend

Week 10 Story: Oh Silly Hare

There once existed a nervous and ever dreadful hare, Demar, who got frightened at the slightest of sounds. He was born to strong and loving parents, who could not understand why in the world their child was always so afraid. When the parents, Delia and Somar were around Demar was a bit less easily rattled. One nice spring day Delia and Somar went to visit some relatives leaving Demar with a a family friends, the Lion. Demar loved Lion like an uncle and thought he was smart and strong. Lion took Demar to park nearby with many blooming trees.

While playing, Demar ran into a tree and caused a fruit to fall down. Demar could not see the fallen fruit and assumed the worst was happening, "the earth is collapsing!" Shouting over and over again that the earth was collapsing Demar ran as fast as he could. Lion tried to stop him, but the young one was just to fast for him. Demar ran past a few other hares in the parks and they started running as well when they heard what Demar was shouting. Soon the birds heard and told the deer who were grassing on the perennials. The wild boars saw the massive group of animals running all shouting that "the earth is collapsing" and started running also. Not much time later the tigers, lions, elephants, buffalos, monkeys, and camels had joined in and were shouting "the earth is collapsing" at the top of their lungs.

The Lion who was left behind at the park by Demar finally caught him and made him stop. Demar was so afraid that he was fighting his uncle to let him go so he could continue to run. At this point the Lion was utterly confused as to why Demar would think that the earth is collapsing. He had Demar explain what he had encountered to make him think that. Demar reiterated how he had ran into a tree trunk and heard a loud crack sound. With that Lion took Demar back to the park to get to the bottom of this mystery.

All the animals followed them and started to wonder why earth was still here and no gone. Demar lead the Lion to the tree and Lion walked the perimeter to discover a fallen coconuts in the back. In a low voice he called Demar over to the other side of the tree to show the fallen coconuts. Soon others started coming over to the tree when they heard Demar repeating "Oh no, what big mistake I have made!" Instead of laughing or getting mad at him the other animals understood that mistakes happen and left after saying "Next time just look before scaring yourself and assuming the worst." Realizing his mistake, Demar slowly became less easily frightened. Whenever Demar was frightened he thought back to his mistake before running off again.

Author's Note: So I revamped this story to hold the original message of the story, but adding a few characters names and made a few events different. Overall the story's message was to think and look before you ask. That was the lesson that the Lion in the original story teaches the Hare in the end.

Bibliography: The Hare That Ran Away, Eastern Stories and Legends by Marie Shedlock

The animals gathered around the tree

Week 6 Story: Never to Question

Ah, the handsome lad is finally here.

I knew the day I had met his father, the son would come sooner or later. Years have gone by, but it is alright I am the Goddess Ganga. Shantanu is here, life sure does know how to make things right. Let me tell you he is the sweetest of all the lads, he comes up to me and asks if he may be of any help to me. The son of a millionaire, asking me? My cafe is tiny, so I choose to do things by myself, sure it takes some time, but each drink is made with love and care. Shantanu leaves after having chai, but says he will be back tomorrow.

Right on the dot at 3pm Shantanu walk in orders a chai and sits down, reads the newspaper and leaves again. Saying again, that he'll be back tomorrow. Days and weeks go by and we have fallen into a routine. I always have his chai ready as soon as he walk in the door, I don't know how much longer he will wait to ask me to marry him, time is running out.

One day, Shantanu doesn't come in and I can't help, but wonder if something has happened to him. For the past three months he has been coming in everyday...

Just as I was about to call the police a few hours later he walks in soaked head to toe with flowers and a ring. "Marry me?" Shantanu asks. I can only marry you on one condition, you shall never question my actions and the day you do, I shall have to leave. "I promise not to, all I want is for you to marry me."

Fast forward one year and we have our first child, the greatest sorrow of a mother is to let her child go, and that is what I am having to do to fulfill the curse of the previous life. It was cruel of me to ask Shantanu not to question my actions, but what can I do, I am bound by duty. With each child that I must let go in the river, I see Shantanu hanging on by a thin thread trying to control his urge to ask me why I am drowning our children. It is getting harder for me to see the longing in his eyes, but he doesn't know about the curse of the previous life that these eight children must fulfill.

Shantanu was doing so good, but he finally broke down today. He asked why I have been drowning the children in the river nearby, I tell him these eight kids are the eight gods, Vasus, who are being punished for stealing Vashishtha's cow by being incarnated in human form. :Leaving my sweet husband behind might have been more harder than anything else in my life, but I know soon I shall be back because our eighth child shall be left in the care of Shantanu, once he is older.

For now I shall remain across the country at my other cafe. Until I see you again Shantanu...

Author's Note: So the original story is what the Mahabharata opens up with. In that the King of Hatinapura asks the beautiful girl he meets by the river, during his hunt to marry her. She does on the condition that he is not to question her actions, the day he does she shall be gone. Each child that is born Goddess Ganga drowns each one, until the eighth one. King questions as to why she is drowning the children in the river, she tells him that the eight kids are the eight gods, Vasus, who are being punished for stealing Vashishtha's cow by being incarnated in human form. Soon the wife disappears, but returns years later with the grown child to return him to his father. The baby is grown to be known as Bhima.

Goddess Ganga with eighth child on the riverbanks, followed by King Shantanu

Bibliography. Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan, online pdf.

Week 5 Story: Sita

This is told from the perspective of Sita:

     Finally after 14 years we are back home. Let me tell you the journey and the forest was all fine, the only part that made everything rocky was Ravan taking me to Lanka. Even though I completed the test of fidelity, mine and Ram's relationship is not what is was like before. I can hear the whispers of the people throughout the kingdom who are questioning my faithfulness to Ram along with his availability to reign after taking a woman back who has lived in Ravan's palace. I must do everything in my power to protect Ram's honor and image in the eye of the people. Ma Kaushalya calls upon me, Ma Kaushalya senses that I am pregnant, but does not mention it. I ask for advise from Ma K about what to do, Ma K advises" do not listen to the people, you must trust Ram to make the right decision. She also mentions that Ram loves me very much."
     The next day Ram decrees that I am exiled to the forest, I understand why he has to make this decision and I do not blame him. He is the love of my life and I will do as he says, because I know in the future we will be reunited. Ram has no knowledge of my pregnancy, knowing this information would have clouded his judgement.
     Forest hello again...who knew I would be back so soon? I had thought if would have been mulitple years. Life is very unpredictable, I must search for a place to live. Thank the gods and goddesses, Sage Valmiki lives in this forest, here I can be able to stay without worry.
     It has been 18 years living in the forest now, the boys, Lav and Kush are looking more and more like their father. Who knew they would serve as a constant reminder of who lives far away. Life has not been easy, but luckily Sage Valmiki has been instrumental in helping raise and teach the boys. Unexpectedly Sage Valmiki, tells me that he is taking the boys to a feast. I wonder what feast it could be, but I must listen carefully to as to who is hosting this feast. They come home the later that days only to return again the next day from the feast. Sage Valmiki tells me that I am to accompany them to Ayodhya in the morning...
     I am ecstatic, my dream is finally coming true, Ram and I shall be reunited. As I enter the kingdom I notice the people, Ram with the boys, everyone is so happy, how will I be able to go back to Ram without upsetting the people. I love Ram too much to put him through any form of humiliation, I must leave forever. O Mother of Earth, if you believe in my fidelity, you shall take me into you. As the ground covers over again I can feel Ram's eyes searching for me as Sage Valmiki had informed earlier that Ram was anxiously awaiting my arrival. I shall soften the ground under those who shall walk barefoot from under here.

Author's Note: So in the Divine Archer by F.J. Gould, the narrative closes with Sita being exiled by Ram upon return to the Ayodhya due to the people's talk. Sita never argues, she lives in the forest in the ashram of Sage Valmiki. There she gives birth to twin boys, Lav and Kush. After many years Ram has a feast where Valmiki and takes the boys and the boys display their talent through the harping and singing of the Ramayana. They come back the next day, where Valmiki tells Ram that the boys are indeed his sons and if he would like to Sita he shall bring her to Ram. Ram says yes, so the next day is when Sita is closer to the kingdom and notices the happiness of all and the father and sons, and calls upon the mother of earth to take her is she holds her earlier statement true.

Bibliography: The Divine Archer by F.J. Gould. Online pdf.

Luv and Kush learning the verses of the Ramayana from Sage Valmiki

Week 4 Story: The Rakshasas of Texas Continued

Ravan coming up to Sita’s house acting like a homeless man

In the year A.D 14 the Republic of the India was coming crashing down. To begin with the president Shiv was exiled for granting powers to a villain. This villain that Shiv granted unnecessary powers to is known as Ravan. The powers that were given to Ravan were being able to disguise, fly, cruse people, and many more powers. After Shiv was exiled from his presidency, Ram and Lakshman, who are brothers took over the Republic of India and started to make it into a better place where families and individuals can spend quality time together. Ram also had just been newly married to a great looking girl who was named Sita, who became the First Lady of the India House. When Ram took office he first and foremost tries to remove Ravan’s evil powers. Ram is very unsuccessful at removing Ravan’s evil powers. Ravan eventually gets wind of this and begins to construct a master plan to get back at the man that tried to destroy him.

Few weeks after Ram takes office, Ram has to make an emergency trip to London where foreign affairs are at stake. While Ram is in London Sita is all alone with out secret service agents or anyone. Ravan gets wind of Sita being alone then believes that now is the best time to put his master plan into action. Ravan arrives to the India House disguised as a homeless man. Sita feels bad for Ravan who she thinks is a homeless man, so she accepts him with open arms into her home. After she accepts him he then revels him true self. Sita quickly realizes who has really showed up into her home then demands Ravan to leave her house immediately. While Ravan was cursing someone he hated, that person that he was cursing put a curse on Ravan. The curse that was put on Ravan was that if he touched a woman without her consent that he would die that instant...thus he pulls the ground under Sita and places it in his chariot and speeds off. An hour after Ravan kidnaps Sita, Ram returns back home. Ram quickly realizes that Sita is nowhere to be found. Ram then contacts his fellow mates to help him track down his wife. One of Ram’s mates, Jatayu, finds Ravan and Sita. Jatayu then tries to stop Ravan in his tracks and is very successful at doing so also, but Ravan utilizes one of his evil powers to try to kill off Jatayu. Ravan then carries Sita to the land of the evil which is Lanka.

Ram and Lakshman have now been looking for Sita for a good two days now. On their way to Lanka the have to pass through the land of Kiskinda which is the land of the monkeys. As the two brothers enter the monkey land they are encountered by a monkey Hanuman who is the leader of the monkey kingdom. Hanuman also had the power to disguise but he never used it in a bad way. When Hanuman went to go talk to Ram he disguised himself as a scholar, but Ram saw right through the disguise. Hanuman wanted to come and help find Ram’s wife but Ram did not think a monkey could help so he put him through a test where he had to shoot an arrow and it had to go through the 7 trees and 7 worlds and 7 seas. Hanuman passes with flying colors so then Ram then tasks Hanuman to serve as a troop to help Ram find his wife. After picking Hanuman up they are close to the land of the evil. Prior to entering Lanka Hanuman is an itsy bitsy creature who then grows to a gigantic size so he can beat Ravan up.

Author’s Note: This story is based off when Ravan hears about Sita’s great qualities and features so Ravan draws both the brothers Ram and Lakshman out of their home so Ravan can abduct Sita. In attempts to save Sita, Jatayu whips up a storm to try to take the chariot down so he can save Sita but instead Ravan tries to kill him, but Jatayu holds on to his life so he can tell Ram who took Sita. While searching for Sita, Ram comes across Hanuman who helps him find Sita and tries to bring her back home safely. Also the powers of the kingdom try to bring back home the beloved wife of Ram because the evil character  could not stand and hear of how good of a wife Ram had gotten. This time I wanted to switch things up a bit and try a new style, hope you all liked it!

Bibliography. Ramayana by N.K. Narayan, online pdf.

Week 3 Story: The Rakshasas of Texas Continued

King Janak finds Sita in the furrow

Here is The Rakshasas of Texas continued, if you haven't read my week 2 post you may be a little lost. No worries skim through my first story post and then this week's will make more sense.

Daddy: "Hey princess! What do you want to listen to today?" 

Little 6 year old: "Will tell me more about Gibbs?"

Daddy: "Oh, let's see, where did we leave off last week?"

Little 6 year old: "Oh daddy it was that part about the sage cursing the Rakshasas."

Daddy: "Oh yes, okay let me tell you a little more about Gibbs and her previous birth. Many centuries ago during the time of kings and queens, there were two well known kingdoms Janakpuri and Kosala. King Dasharatha ruled over the kingdom of Kosala, while King Janak ruled over Janakpuri. King Dashratha had 4 sons, Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata, Shatrughna. These four sons were born after many prayers and yagnas being held, they all were the heart and soul of all of Ayodhya, especially Rama. King D had 3 wives and all of them got along so well that they never thought of each other's sons anything less than their own. Under the wing of Sage Viswamithra Rama and Lakshmana are taken to Janakpuri where it is love at first site for Ram and Sita. 

Sita, was the daughter of Earth, she was found in the furrow of a field being plowed. King Janak took her in and raised her as his known. He knew she was special and after numerous attempts in trying to find a suitable groom, King Janak decreed that whomever could bend, string, and pull the ancestral bow of Shiva shall be the groom of Sita."

Little 6 year old: "Wow daddy are you going to do that for my wedding?"

Daddy: "Honey, remember when I said many centuries ago, we have different traditions now. Now, let's get back to the bow. In an attempt to find the groom a competition was held and lucky for King J, the sage had decided long ago that Rama and Lakshmana would be taken to this event. Okay, listen to this, we are now in the court of King J, in comes Ram and his brother along with sage. Everyone is amazed by the beauty of the two brothers, but listen to me and hear how respectful Ram is. Before taking a chance at the bow on King J's insistence, but he asks Sage Viswamithra for permission to proceed. As fast as the speed of light Ram had strung the bow, but with a few seconds the bow breaks. In come Sita and her sister to congratulate Ram of winning the competition. The four brothers married the four daughters of King Janak and left for home after having a huge wedding with elephants, horses, and thousands of guests. Back home everyone ecstatic at hearing that Ram's coronation is soon. 

But you know so people become jealous and that is not good. There was this one lady in particular who went around turning good people evil. 

Little 6 year old: "What's her name?"

Daddy: "She was called Kooni, but her real name is Manthra. She really was not that bad, but money, power, and ego can all make a person do bad things. Because of her one day Ram was told to live in the forest for 14 years, with Ram went his wife Sita and brother Lakshman. Sita, a girl who grew up in a palace, playing with dolls and her sisters in the palace garden like you do. She lived with air conditioning at home and had a pretty horse too. But she stood by her husband's side and took on the life of a person with nothing. You know how I showed you those poor people living in the mud and grass houses?"

Little 6 year old: "Yeah! You said that was how Sitama lived with Ram and Lakshman."

Daddy: "You remember, Sita never once complained about the troubles, she learned to adapt."

Little 6 year old: "What does adapt mean?"

Daddy: "Adapt means that you fit in anywhere, you change and learn to mix with any situation you are in. Sita was the daughter of Earth and was born to assist Ram in his quest to kill the Rakshasas of Lanka."

To be continued...

Authors note: I chose to continue the original story from my first story post, but this time I chose to bring the the history behind Gibbs. Since we are reading the Ramayana right now I wanted to portray Gibbs as the reincarnation of Sita so I wanted to start from the beginning and make Sita the main character by emphasizing her characteristics that make her the daughter of Earth. N.K. Narayan's version of the Ramayan is very similar to the my narration above, except he does not mention King J having other daughters except Sita, and I chose to omit the parts King D dying, the city in deep sorrow from the loss of Rama and how Bharat refuses the throne. I also did not include the stories that Sage Viswamithra about Thatka, Mahabali, Ganga, and Ahalya.

Bibliography. Ramayana by N.K. Narayan, online pdf.

Week 2 Story: The Rakshasas of Texas

Hey all! This story is now part of my Storybook on a separate website! Check it out: Travelling MansPants!

Rakshas by Jacob Atienza

Ah he who dreams shall never give up...

Daddy: "The end. Good night darlin'."

Little 6 year old: "Wait. Daddy did you forget, it's Friday, so I get one more story."

Daddy: "Oh aren't you clever trying to get one more story out of your old man. Okay, but this is the last one for tonight."

The dad sits back down on the bed and pulls his daughter close and begin the story. 

Daddy: "Let's see where do I start, ah there once were rakshasas that roamed the earth and cared about nobody except themselves. They were everywhere and the scary part was that nobody knew when a rakshas was nearby because they were able to become another person."

Little 6 year old: "Do you mean they were like a clone?"

Daddy: "Exactly. Well, as it goes long time ago in a place south of the Red River was a small country called Texas. That was nicknamed the country of the Rakshas. Anyone who dared to venture into the land never came back for another meal. The rakshasas took on the forms of humans to trick humans into coming back to their country, saying that there were endless mines of gold and diamonds and servants to work, so they wouldn't have to. Blinded by greed and the thought of never having to work again men and women both would go with the rakshasas." 

Little 6 year old: "But don't you say never to trust strangers, then how come are those people going with the rakshasas?"

Daddy: "Hold on, hold on I'm getting there. These rakshasas aren't just taking the shapes of random people, they study who the humans are always talking to and become that person. There was this one particular human named Gibbs, we don't know if the Gods sent her or she was just a girl like you. Gibbs was out venturing one day in the grocery store with her mom and dad, she asked if she could go look through the candy isle and her dad said no. She was upset and tried to convince her mom next, but she refused to let Gibbs by herself for the fear that a rakshas will take her, because in this world it was getting harder to trust others. Frustrated and upset that her parents were still treating her as a little girl, even though her 15th birthday was coming up, Gibbs snuck away and ventured to the candy isle. There she saw the cute boy she had a crush on since 7th grade, but never had the nerves to talk to him, so when she saw him approach she thought she was dreaming. Little did she know he was a rackshas disguised as the boy she liked. Now let me also tell you rakshasas have this ability to capture people with their eyes and command them to do things they would normally not do. The boy started talking to Gibbs and soon they were walking out of the grocery store, and inside Gibbs' parents were frantically searching for her. Back then they did not have cars the rakshasas had birds that would convert to a veman. Gibbs soon arrived to Texas and could not believe what she was seeing. She saw people of all ages playing in fields, but little did she know it was all an illusion that would fade in a few hours."

Little 6 year old: "Daddy what about her parents?"

Daddy: "You see when they couldn't find her in the store, they asked the people there to see if they had seen her. Back then there were no security cameras or cell phones. One person said he had seen a girl kind of like Gibbs, brown hair, blue eyes, and about 5'5' go outside with a boy. Now her parents were left in confusion, trying to figure out who this boy could be, Gibbs had never mentioned a boy before. Her parents went on a search to find more out about this boy with the person. When the person found the boy in a park nearby, he went to question the boy, but the boy said he just came out of his house. Her parents immediately knew she was taken by a rakshas. 
     The daughter woke up and discovered that she was not at home and was in confusion until the boy (rakshas) walked in. Her gut was saying something is wrong, but she couldn't tell what it was yet. She asked the boy if he could take her back to the grocery store now, but he said that it was not possible. Now Gibbs was starting to get scared, because she knew her parents fear was becoming true, she had been captured by a rakshas. Rakshasas are smart they can sense all emotions of humans and they can smell fear a mile away. Gibbs knew she had to get back home, but being the sweet girl she was, she thought about the possibility of other people being trapped in Texas. So she decided she would escape that night somehow. So at night when everyone went to sleep she crept through the house trying to look for a way out, one door she opened she found had a bunch of other doors with a big key on the outside of each door. Slowly she crept into the hall and opened a door and found humans! After everyone was released they made their way to the fields. Now only if they could find someway to cross the Red River and get back home. There was a wise woman in the group of humans who could sense if there was a stream or river nearby, they thought of how they all got there and remembered the birds. 
     The rakshas who had brought Gibbs soon found that she was not in the room and then checked and saw that all of his prisoners were gone. He woke the whole village and they headed to the fields. But unfortunately for them they were all too late, the bird was already too high for them to reach for and soon one by one they started turning to ash. Long ago a sage had cursed the rakshasas and said "The day someone escapes your clutches and takes all of the village's prisoners, shall be the last of the rakshasas in Texas."

To be continued...

Author's Note: So the original story also had rakshasas, but they were females who persuaded men to stay on their island so that they could feast on the men later on. In the that story one a man discovers that his wife is actually a man-eater and informs his fellow shipmates the next day, few believe and others don't. Those who believed him escaped soon with the help of a winged horse, and those that stayed behind we eaten as dinner that night by the rakshasas. In my story I chose to switch things up a little bit. I had it take place a few decades back, Texas is the modern Lanka, and the rakshasas are pretty much the same except with a few more abilities. I really just started typing and this is the product. 

Bibliography. "Goblin City"from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse. Web source.

Veman - what the gods, goddesses, deities, and demons or India used to use to travel