Extra Reading Week 10: Native American Tales

When the Rainbow Was Torn

There is a type of flower that is typically white called the cactus flower. Once the flowers would blossom in colors that the rainbow would carry, red, yellow, orange that the rainbow had given them. When the sun would be out, the flowers would tune their faces up to the sky and take in all light. The rainbow had two ends that would meet somewhere on earth. When the ends met everything on earth would be colored by the rainbow. The white cactus flower always would be hopeful that one day the rainbow would color them, but the rainbow never did. It could have possibly been because the cactus flower had many thorns and could hurt the rainbow.

After a heavy rain the rain was full of water and ready to have its ends meet to shower everything but the cactus in its beautiful colors. On its way down to the ground, it was ready to pour when it noticed a hidden cactus plant. In an attempt to pull up, the weight of the water became too much and the rainbow poured water on to the cactus plant.

The thorns on the cactus tried to capture as much of the color as they could and save it for the flowers. The only colors that they were able to catch were red, yellow, and orange, the rest had escaped. The flowers began to bloom in beautiful shades of color.

Cactus flowers. Source

Storytelling Week 10: Who To Love

Alyssa is crushing hard on the boy with a buzz cut and a bad attitude. No one knew of her secret crush. Heck, it took Alyssa two years to finally accept it. Now she stares at the taut muscles, the buzzed hair, and the "I'm too good to be here" stance by the one and only Parker Reynolds.

Alyssa swoons internally and thinks "What I would do to date him." The only problem is that Parker has a bad reputation for fighting, riding a motorcycle too fast, and being the boy that dads don't want to see their daughter with.

"ALYSSA," her teacher Mr. Connors yells bringing her back to the real world in class. To Alyssa, staring at a cute boy is much more entertaining than learning about the Civil War. As a straight-A student, school comes easy for Alyssa. Turing back to class she answers the question Mr. Connors asks her with the right answer.

As Alyssa drifts off again, she is brought back to the classroom by what Mr. Connors says next.
"Next, I will pair you off to work on the Civil War project. "Jack and Diane. Alyssa and Parker. Carry and Will...." Alyssa is completely taken by surprise and unsure of what she just heard. The world around her has stopped spinning and everyone is staring at her.

"Go find your partner and discuss your assignment," says Mr. Connors. Alyssa makes her way over to Parker and sits beside him. Parker barely acknowledges she is there. Alyssa tries but he just doesn't care. Finally Alyssa says, "How about I do the assignment, we get an A and you just do nothing?"Angry, she returns back to her seat.

When the bell rings signaling class is over, she heads to her locker to get her car keys but is met by someone unexpected. Parker is waiting for her. Unsure of him, she checks to make sure she went to the right spot, which she did. "I'm sorry" says Parker. "I'm having a bad day." They discuss the project and decide to go eat and then get to work on it.

One day of project work became a week. A week became into a month, and before Alyssa knew it, they are dating. Neither one of them has been so happy in their lives. Alyssa finally sees Parker for who he was. He isn't bad, he is just misunderstood.

Alyssa's relationship is going well until the one person she hoped wouldn't find out about them now knows. Her father. He has never liked Parker since he started being the reason for so many police calls. Her father, being the police chief, has to respond to all the calls. Her father knew the kind of trouble that boys like Parker got into.

Alyssa and her father have been arguing for days about Parker, until finally, something changes his mind.

A car driving too fast hits a wet spot in the road. Alyssa is walking along the sidewalk to meet her dad and Parker to discuss their relationship. She is too busy with her thoughts that she doesn't notice the headlights of the car flying toward her. Parker who is walking from the other direction toward her, hears the tires squeal. Alyssa is also unaware of how close Parker is to her. Parker sprints to shove her out of the way of the car. Unfortunately, the car clips Parkers' legs and sends him flying to the ground hitting his head. He is knocked out unconscious. Her father is not able to do anything but watch his daughter's life possibly end. He has 911 on the phone with an ambulance on the way.

Alyssa has some scratches but those would heal. She sits with her father in the waiting room for the love of her life to be okay. As they sit waiting, her father tells her that, Parker and her have his blessing to be together. 

When Parker wakes up, Alyssa shares the news for their relationship. The doctor informs them that, he suffers from a concussion and a broken right fibula but will be able to go home that day.

Her father shakes Parker's hand as they left the emergency room. "I may only know your bad side, but anyone who is willing to put my daughter's life before their own is good in my book." Her father says.


A motorcycle. Source.





Author's Note: The story that inspired me to write this one is called the Bear-Woman. The original story is a Blackfoot Native American story. It is a marriage tale about a woman who has a bear for a lover. The woman had several brothers, a sister, and a father who disapproved. The younger sister tells their father of the older sisters lover. The father and brothers go out and kill the bear enraging the older sister. I decided to use the father and the unaccepted love elements into my own story. I thought having an animal lover would be too strange to make the story more modern. I knew the overall theme of my story but I got stuck trying to make an ending for it. I didn't want anyone to die, unlike in the original story. I typically just allow myself to write and I will let the details sort themselves out. I wanted the story to be longer but I made myself edit it. I can get carried away sometimes. I chose the story I originally read because the title seemed cool. I was completely taken by surprise when I started reading it. I actually had to reread the second paragraph several times because it was not what I was expecting. As the story went on, I could understand why it was titled the way I was. If you are looking for a suspenseful read, than you should definitely look into reading this story.

Bibliography: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).


Reading Diary B: Indian Marriage Tales

Bear Woman (con't) 

The older sister returned home in normal form to find her younger sister walking into the house. She lied about her whereabouts and about how she obtained the jackrabbit that the brothers had given to her. The older sister accused her of lying about the rabbit. The older made the younger sister go out and kill a rabbit to prove that she is not lying.

The younger sister prepared and cooked the rabbit. The older sister refused to eat, so the brothers and the younger ate it all. The older sister became angry seeing there was no rabbit left. The older sister threatened to kill the little sister. The little sister grabbed their baby brother and went off through the path the brothers had to her to take. She met her brothers there in the brush. However the older sister was so powerful that she knew what the brothers were up to. She turned herself back into a bear and went to look for her siblings.

When she was about to strike, one of the brothers took a handful of water and turned it into a great lake. The bear had to walk around giving the siblings a chance to get away. The bear caught up to them. The next brother threw a porcupine tail and the bear stepped on it slowing it down. The siblings ran up a tree but the bear followed close behind. The bear threw a large stick up in the tree knocking down four of her brothers.

A little bird called to the children to shoot the bear in the head. One of the remaining brothers shot her in the head causing her to fall to the ground to dead. The four of the brothers that have fallen dead. The brother with the arrows shot the arrows straight up in the air and each one landed in the dead brothers making them come back to life.

After everyone was alive again, they all decided to live in the sky rather than live on the earth. Now each one of them is a different star in the sky. The baby brother is the North Star. The younger sister and the brothers make up the Big Dipper.

The Big Dipper. Source

Reading Diary A: Indian Marriage Tales

Bear Woman

A family with 7 boys and 2 daughters live with only their father because their mother died many years ago. One of the young daughters had many suitors. She had a secret. She had a bear for a lover. When she had to go retrieve wood for the house, she would meet her bear lover. When her father and brother would go out to hunt, she would leave her little sister alone to run to the bears house.

One day, out of curiosity, the younger sister wanted to know why her older sister was gone so long all the time. On her trip, she discovered her sister's secret. The father never knew why his oldest daughter never wanted to marry until his youngest daughter told him about the bear lover. The father didn't accept that he had a bear for  a son-in-law. He told the village of this news and the village set out to kill the bear.

When the older sister had found out that her little sister told on her, the older sister scolded her younger sister. In anger, she told her younger sister to go out and retrieve fresh meat from the dead bears paws. The younger sister was afraid to go outside though because a dog and her puppies tried to bite her. To help her to scare the dogs away, the older sister, who is a medicine woman, painted the younger sister's face to look like a bear.

The medicine woman sister, tanned a hide for the younger sister to take the baby brother and carry him on her back. The sisters went outside to play in the brush, but the older sister warned her sister to not touch her over her kidneys. Forgetting what the older sister had said, she touched her sister's kidneys and she became a bear. The older sister went into the village and killed many people but returned to her true self shortly after.

The sister ran into her brothers when walking through the woods. She explained to them what had happened that day. The brothers told their sister to go inside and they would scatter prickly pear all over the ground but in one spot and she was to go there to pass.

A bear and a woman dancing. Source.

Storytelling: A Mother's Want

Fraternal twin babies. Source.

A Mother's Want

At 28 years old, all Sammie wants is to start a family with her husband of 3 years, Cam. Sammie has a timeline for her life. So far everything has been on track so far. Everything except a baby. As her 29th birthday approaches she realizes she is almost a year behind on having a baby at 28.

Sammie's phone rings on the counter. It's her sister, she must be going into labor again, Sammie thought. Nothing brings Sammie more joy than her niece, nephew and her new nephew. The only thing that could bring her joy is if she has a baby of her own. It's not from lack of trying, things are just not falling into place for Sammie and Cam.

It's still a boy as Sammie holds her new nephew. She begins to cry, she doesn't want to feel resentment toward her sister but it is just an unavoidable feeling.

Later on as Sammie is walking through the maternity wing of the hospital, she comes across the room where all the babies are taken after they are born to be assessed. The room has 12 newly born babies, waiting to see where life will take them. They all possess the ability to be what they want to be. For 2 babies in there, the possibility is limited.

A group of nurses are arguing over a set of twins. Sammie can slightly hear what they are saying. The mother of the twins has run away leaving the two orphaned. The nurses don't want to see the twins get be separated in the future or taken by someone who will not love them like they deserve to be loved. Sammie knows she can love these babies. She begins thinking of a plan to convince these nurses that she is a fit mother for these babies.

Sammie finds Cam sitting with their nephew in the corner. "It's beautiful." Sammie whispers to herself as she takes in the view of what she so desperately wants for herself.

"Cam, can we talk about something important?" Sammie asks hesitantly. "Sure." says Cam. Sammie explains to him the situation of what she over heard. Finally Cam says, "I'd rather we didn't do that. I want my babies to be mine." Sammie is absolute shock and disbelief can't comprehend he would say such a thing. Sammie runs back to look at the babies and weeps over what she thought was so close. As she cries, a nurse asks which is hers. She wants to point to the twins but can only cry harder. The nurse comforts Sammie until she can finally tell the nurse her situation.

The nurse goes in the nursery and Sammie heads back to her sister's room. She tells Cam she is going to stay the night with her sister since her husband has the other kids. A noise in the room wakes Sammie up in the night. She sees it is the nurse from earlier. "Psst. Sammie." the nurse is calling her o come to the hall. Behind the nurse are two small bundles. One pink. One blue."I have wiped them from the system, they have no records of belonging to the other mom. We can put you and your husbands name on their birth certificates." says the nurse.

Sammie is overcome with joy she immediately begins filling out the information to take these babies home. These faces are worth what her husband will say, Sammie thinks. The nurse informed Sammie that their mother was a drug addicted. She couldn't afford two children. The moment the papers were filled out she drove as fast as she could to get supplies babies needed. The big stuff she could worry about with Cam.

Once home Sammie carried the babies inside, picked them both up, and woke up Cam. Nearly jumping out of the bed, Cam is shocked to see the babies there in her arms. He's even more shocked to know he's a dad now. Sammie and Cam argue until the babies start crying. Cam picks up the pink blanket bundle and can feel the need to keep this baby. He can't believe this feeling. All he knows is that he can't put her down.

A month later, Sammie goes back to the hospital to find the nurse that gave her the babies. With no luck after searching through the maternity wing, she decides to head home defeated. In the parking lot she sees the nurse getting  out of her car. Sammie runs to her. "Why did you choose me for the twins?" The nurse replies, "Because I knew from the way you cried and looked at them, you would love them like they deserved to be loved."

Author's Note:

I wrote this story with the idea from the story The Woman Who had a Bear as a Foster-Son. In the Inuit Eskimo tale, a woman takes in a bear cub that was orphaned by his mother. I chose this story when the title caught my eye. I think being able to be a mom is so important for a woman. So many people are denied the chance of having their own children. I wanted the story I wrote to have a similar plot. I also wanted the story to have a modern and relatable storyline. It may not be the most realistic story but I'm not completely disappointed with how it turned out. I think I might want to add more details. I was trying to go for the short, but with just the right amount details to make it sweet. I'm trying to use this skill more because I tend to be too "wordy." I’m also trying to get more emotion into my writings. I want people to feel something when they read this story. I haven’t figured out how to make the emotion happen, I just don’t want the reader to get to the end of the story and question what I was doing. Let me know what you think!

Bibiography: Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).

Extra Reading: Jewish Fairy Tale

The Fairy Frog

A Tree frog. Source

A man had a son name Hanina who was grown and lived away from his parents. One day his father sent for Hanina to come home to find his father and mother sick. His father asked him to mourn them for 7 days then on the eve of Passover, to buy what is offered to him first. That item, whatever it is, will bring you good fortune.

A week after his parents died, Hanina went to the market place. Not long after he was there, a man with a silver casket that could only be opened by the person who purchased it at the feast of Passover. The cost of the casket was quite large but he knew he needed to purchase it in order to fulfill his father's wish. He took the casket home to open it. Inside was a smaller casket. He opened the smaller casket and a frog jumped out. Hanina's wife was sad with it only being a frog inside but she fed it anyways. The frog out grew the cabinet that Hanina built for it so he was placed into a special shed.

Feeding the frog began to take toll on Hanina and his wife. Soon they were extremely poor and hungry. His wife began to cry, but the frog stopped her crying by informing her that if she wanted something he would make it appear. She wished for food and a second later, there was a knock on the door and a basket of food was delivered. Hanina knew that a frog that could give whatever one wanted was wise. He wished to be able to have all the wisdom and knowledge. The frog made it so.

One day the frog said it was time for them to be repaid all the good they did for the frog. He made the couple follow him into the woods. The frog called upon all the creatures that lived in the woods to bring roots , herbs and beautiful stones. The group of creatures soon created a grand pile. The frog said the contained everything that they will need to cure all disease. Before leaving the frog informed the two that he was the fairy son of Adam and was able to become any form that he desired. He shrunk down and disappeared into the river.

Hanina and his wife returned home where they became rich and famous from their wisdom and medicine.

Reading Diary B: Sioux Tales.

The Story of the Lost Wife

A woman from the Dakota tribe married a man who beat her and was unkind even though he promised to be kind. To escape his cruelty, she ran away to never be found. As she walked the next day she ran into what she thought was a man but was actually a the chief of the wolves. The chief took the woman back to his village filled with wolves. The chief made the other wolves go and retrieve anything the woman requested.
After living for the wolves for a year, the chief informed the woman the people she previously was apart of, would come to their village the next day in search of buffalo. The woman would have to go out and talk to the people to stop them from killing all the wolves. She met the men and they recognized her. They said they would return the next day to talk to her after they have told the village they have found the missing wife.
When the group returned the next they had women and her parents with them. The moment she came in contact with her parents, she fainted because she couldn't stand the smell of humans. She told her father and all the hunters that they must go on a buffalo hunt and return all the tongues of the killed buffalo to her. She sent he hunters to the the tops of two mountains to create a pile of meat between the 2 mountains of meat. The pile was so great, it reached the top of both mountains. She planted a flag pole in the meat between the mountains, then began to howl like a wolf.
Soon many wolves began to howl and feast upon the meat. The woman went back to her original people. Her husband wished she would come back to live with her. She denied him that until one day they settled their differences and lived together again.


Grey wolves. Source

Reading Diary A: Inuit Stories

The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster Son

Brown bears. Source.


A woman lived on the shore by the ocean. The neighbors that lived above her would give her meat and blubber from their hunts.
Once on a hunt, a bear was killed. This bear had a bear cub. The man who killed the bear offered the woman the cub which she took quickly. The poor bear was frozen and she took the time to thaw him out by the fire. She fed him blubber, butter to drink, and he would sleep next to her. The woman would speak to the bear like a human. The bear could understand her, and she could understand the things the bear would want. People would continue to bring her food. The children loved to play with the bear. The foster mother would remind the bear to keep his claws hidden when playing with the children. The bear would keep it claws hidden but he was too rough with the children and would break their toys. He grew so strong that he was no longer able to play with the kids but would play with the adults. But soon, he was too strong to play with the adults. They thought it would be better to go hunting and have the bear accompany them to get seals. While out on a hunting trip the bear was nearly killed the bear. The foster mother made the bear a collar to identify to others that he is no wild animal. The bear now was strong, he never missed a hunt and was tough. People knew who he was.

A group called the Angmagssalik, lived far from the bear. They heard about the bear who was large and could not be caught. They made it their goal to catch the bear. The people were warned not to hurt the bear. The foster mother always would teach the bear to be well behaved. She requested to the bear to treat new people like their family.

One day the bear went on a hunt as usual but did not return at his normal time. The bear made his foster mother go outside to see that he had drug home a dead man. The man as trying to kill the bear and the bear defended himself. The mother wept as she told the bear that he had to go away now. The bear refused to leave until the mother said it was time to go find others likes him. Before he left, the mother soaked her hands in oil and soot then rubbed the bears sides.

It is said today that when the bears come out, you can always find one brown bear with a black spot on its side.

Tech Tip: Blogger template

I added a template to my blog...
My design is nothing impressive, but I was very drawn to it. The pink every where makes me happy. I would say that the alternating pink stripes would be the reason I chose it for sure. The stripes remind me of a Victoria's Secret shopping bag and that is my absolute favorite store!

Reading Plan

Weeks 9-10: Native American
Week 9-Inuit Eskimo tales of ghosts and the supernatural.
Week 10- Sioux Legends

Weeks 11-12: British and Celtic
Week 11- English Fairy Tales
Week 12- Celtic Fairy Tales

Weeks 13-14: European
Week 13- Grimm( LibriVox).
Week 14- Lang's European Fairy Tales

The cover page to the Brother's Grimm Fairy Tale book. Source

Reflection: Looking Forward

Now that I understand more of what is expected of me, I think the 2nd half of the semester will go a lot smoother. I finally know what my work load is for my other classes as well as my work schedule is. This class is actually my heaviest work loaded class. I definitely would like to work ahead this semester. I have started making myself getting everything I can done before Thursday. I know I won't be weeks ahead like I would like to be but having the weekend free is my goal every week. Just the one portfolio revision I have done already has me prepared for doing the next ones. I am excited to do the next stories because I really like them!

A funny motivational poster. Source.

Reflections: Looking Back

Some weeks I would feel creative and some week I wished I didn't have to even write another story. Most of the time I just want to retell the original story but I'd make myself reach in and pull out something more. I really enjoyed writing a couple stories such as, A Different Type of Winning and Picked on then Picked Up. Both of these stories are more than just me typing to get an assignment over with. I want both of these in my project. They're most likely my next step of my portfolio. Now that I have read others and revised one of my stories several times, I think I know how to make these stories better.

Some of the readings have been nicer to read than others. Some such as the Egyptian stories had the worst endings to each story that I felt like I was missing something. I'm happy to read each section and learn something new, but some sections are just me powering through. I typically find myself reading fairytales when we are given the option of choosing our own stories to read and I am not sure why.

This class being online has been great. I can focus on my major related classes in class, and then come do this one after work. I do feel like I am getting used to some people's writing styles. I know when we are assigned to groups, if I get certain people I will enjoy their writing.
I typically do this class after I get off of work. I can cook dinner and type as I go which is nice. I also like to wake up early on Tuesday and Thursday and work on this class. Not having class at all on Tuesday and Thursday allows me to stay up late the night before or wake up early which is nice.

The best part of this class is that I can work on it almost anywhere. I don't have a specific place, I literally work on this class at work, at home in my room or on my couch, on the bus traveling for work, at my boyfriends, and the library. I just do it where ever I can or if I really need to buckle down.

I haven't really done much extra credit, I like knowing I have the option. Once I get down with this class's required work, I have to do my other online class so I'm crunched for time and can't do much extra credit.

A fairly accurate meme describing my mental state so far into the semester. Source.

Extra Reading: Cherokee Myths

The Ustû'tlï
A great snake named Ustû'tlï lived on the Cohutta Mountain. Ustû'tlï means foot. This snake didn't slither like a normal snake would. It had feet on either end of it body that it used to move in jerky movements. The feet of the snake had suction cups and were 3 cornered. It would raise up on its hind feet and allow its head to sway in the wind until it could bend and put its front feet on the ground. The snakes foot prints would signal danger. It was not able to walk beside a ridge because of the jerky movements that it takes to walk. Hunters were too afraid to go hunt for meat on the Cohutta Mountain because of the Ustutli. A feast that was held for one of the northern settlements but only had corn and rice to eat. The man that was visiting from the north insisted that he go hunt for meat or the Ustutli. The village tried to stop him but he insisted on going. They told him he hears a fawn bleat to run but not down the mountain because the Ustutli can go down mountains, but to run along a ridge.
On his journey in the morning he heard a fawn bleat. The man continued to go toward the sound and saw the Ustutli. The snake would make great strides the size of tree trunks toward the man. Scared, the man took off up the mountain but the snake was faster. Just as the man was about to be caught by the snake, he remembered the warning and ran to find a ridge. The snake's movements sent the snake down the ridge allowing the man to get away down the mountain. At the base of the mountain the man set the grass on fire. All the grass, the trees, and the soon the Ustutli burned on the mountain and left nothing but ashes.

A Garter Snake. Source

Storytelling: A Different Type of Winning

A Baseball. Source

"I won't lose."
"I can't."
"I WILL do this!" Tyler thinks as he continues to run. It's almost football season for the athlete. Competitiveness runs in Tyler's blood. His grandpa, dad, and brother, were all athletes and now Tyler is working to be great. He sprints, faster than anyone else on his team. Being last is never an option. That has been instilled in his head for as long as he can remember.

Tyler had a full scholarship to play baseball. He also had scholarships for football and basketball but baseball was his true love. He did the other sports to stay in shape but frankly, because he was good at them. He didn't have a girlfriend because she would take up training time. He did have an older brother Taylor who plays sports just as well. The two have spent their entire childhood competing against one another. Tyler and Taylor lived for the rush of winning.

When Tyler pulled into the drive way after practice, he sprinted inside after seeing his brothers car in the drive way. He stopped short once in the kitchen to see a beautiful girl standing next to Taylor. "Tyler! It's good to see you little bro! I'd like you to meet my best friend Bethany/" Taylor says to Tyler. Now Tyler has never been scared of girls. Girls love Tyler. Bethany had a different affect on Tyler than any other girl has ever had. "It's nice to meet you." Tyler finally managed to stutter out to her. The family and friend sat around the table discussing life and had drinks after in the living.

As Taylor and Bethany were leaving, Bethany slipped something into Tyler's hand. Too nervous to look at it until he got to his room; he slipped it into his pocket. In his room he saw it was a small folded piece of paper. He opened it to find Bethany's phone number and a note asking Tyler to text her. Trying to be cool Tyler waited for a good time to text her and deliberated what to say. He settled for a "Hey :)."  Little did Tyler know that one message would be the start of more trouble than he could comprehend.

As time passed and football season changed into basketball season: Tyler and Bethany grew closer. Tyler still trained but always found time for her. The two were doing things that young love did. When basketball season turned to baseball season, Bethany's stomach grew until she couldn't keep the news from Tyler. Before one of Tyler's biggest games, Bethany showed him the pictures of their soon to be new born baby. Tyler in absolute shock ran away. He could only think of how he is moving away in a month for college. His parents were enraged. His mother said he would stay and take care of his child. His father said, he will go to college and play still. Finally Tyler decided for himself. He was going to college.

Jacob was born and Tyler couldn't be anymore proud of that bundle of baby. He knew he made the right decision to go to college and play. He knew Jacob would be fine. He now was playing for Jacob and his future rather than for himself anymore. As he holds Jacob, he knows, this is what winning really is.

Author's note: I was inspired to write this after the story The Crow and the Coling. In the Filipino Popular Tale the Crow becomes obsessed with winning. He challenges a smaller bird, the Coling, that he knows will not be physically able to keep up with him. The Coling tricks the into carrying objects as they race that will put the Crow at a disadvantage. I took the concept of the Crow's competitive spirit and put it into Tyler. Rather than Tyler losing his scholarship and losing, I allowed him to win but to learn a new type of winning.

Bibliography: Filipino Popular Tales by Dean S. Fansler (1921).