Reading Diary A: Hans Christian Andersen

The Princess and the Pea
A Prince needed a Princess. The Princess couldn't be just any princess she had to be a true Princess. He scoured the land in search of her until he gave up and returned home sad. When the Prince had lost all hope, a huge storm hit the castle. During the storm there was a knock on the castle door. The knock came from a real Princess. The poor girl was completely soaked from head to toe.

The Queen did not like the thought of the Princess being there. The Queen went to the bedroom and stuck a pea under the mattress. She put twenty more mattresses on top of that one. The Princess had slept terribly. She woke up covered in bruises from sleeping on something so hard.

It was that moment, that everyone knew she was a real Princess. Only Princesses would be sensitive enough to feel something so small though so many mattresses. The Prince married the Princess. They put the pea on display in a museum.



Peas in a pod. Source.

Extra Reading: Russian Folktales

Two Dead Corpses

A soldier was able to go home on leave. He went home to pray to the holy spirits and in remembrance of his parents. It was dark on his way home as he walked past a graveyard. Suddenly someone was running behind him scream that "he can't escape." The person running was actually a corpse. The soldier jump and saw a church. He made his way to the church for help.

The church was empty except for the corpse in the middle of it. The soldier decided to hide in the corner and wait. As he sat there, the first corpse ran into the church. The second woke up when the first one entered. The first one told the second that he was going to eat the solider that he had chased into the church. The two corpses argued about who would get to eat him. They fought until the sun came up. When the light had shone in the church the two corpses fell to the ground dead. The soldier praised God that he was able to escape with his life.

A small church I imagined for this story. Source

Reading Diary B: Italian Popular Tales

Sir Fiorante, Magician



Opium plants. Source.

A man has 3 daughters and he works as a woodman. Each day the daughters would take turns taking their father bread into the woods. One day when they were in the woods, a large snake came out. He told their father that he wanted to marry one of his daughters. If none of them accepted his offer, the snake would kill the man.

When the daughters were told of this declaration, they refused the offer. However the 3rd daughter didn't want to see her father die. She decided that she would accept the offer to save him. She found the snake to be handsome and thought snakes were nice. The snake showed up and carried the daughter on his tale to a beautiful meadow. The snake caused a great palace to appear. He himself turned into a handsome man.

The man's name was Sir Fiorante. The daughter was not allowed to tell anyone who he was because she would lose him. There would only be one way to get him back. She would have to wear a pair of iron shoes, a staff, a hat, and would have to fill 7 bottles with her tears. Later she went home to visit her sister. Her sister was sneaky and tricked the 3rd daughter into telling her the husband's name. When the maiden returned home her husband was gone!

She knew she had to get her husband back. She put the shoes and walked everywhere crying. She filled one bottle up after another. Once she had one bottle filled, she met an old woman. The old woman gave her a walnut. The walnut was to be open in the time of need. After the fourth bottle had been filled, she met a different old lady that gave her a hazelnut to crack in a time of need. Finally after the 7th bottle was filled, she was given an almond to open if she was in need.

Finally the maiden reached the castle again. When she arrived she saw that Sir Fiorante had a new wife. The maiden cracked open the walnut, to reveal a beautiful dress. The new wife was in love with the dress and asked to wear it. The maiden agreed if the wife would allow her to sleep with Sir Fiorante. Of course she agreed. Before the night the 2nd wife slipped some opium into Sir Fiorante. The maiden told him she was his true wife. He didn't respond because he was on opium.

The next day the same thing occurred but the dress that came out of the hazelnut was twice as pretty as the first. The maiden went to bed with the husband but not before the 2nd wife snuck in opium. He never responded to her declaration. The 3rd night the servant asked Sir Fiorante if he hears the cries at night. He said he did not. On that night he didn't take the opium before bed. He pretended to take the opium and pretended to be asleep. When he heard his first wife's cry he was torn and had to hold her.

The next morning the two took off to live together in happiness in a different castle leaving the old one to the 2nd wife.

Reading Diary A: Russian Folktales

A Dead Mother

A loving husband and wife lived in a village. The couple had peace and happiness. Everyone wanted what they had. The neighbors were envious. People would be happy to see this happy couple. The wife gave birth to a baby boy. The wife died not long after the birth leaving the husband mourning his wife and to care for their baby alone.

The now widower decided to hire a woman to help take care of the baby. The baby cried all day and night. There was no way to ease the baby's crying. He wouldn't eat at all. But they found relief from the crying for most of the night when the baby would sleep so silently. It was as if the baby was not there it was so quiet. This phenomenon baffled the old woman. She decided to stay awake during the night to see why the baby would sleep so soundly.

When midnight struck the door to the baby's nursery open and someone went to his bed. The baby instantly stopped crying. It was as if someone had picked up the baby up. This same thing happened every night until the old woman told the father of it after 3 days. The father gathered all the kinsfolk to talk about the situation. They agreed that they would all take turns to spy on what was happening.

At night they went to sleep and set a trap with a light in it. At midnight the door opened, the baby stopped crying, and they flashed the light on the cradle. They saw the baby's dead mother leaning over the side of the crib and allowing the baby to suckle on her breast. When the light was shone on her she disappeared out of the room. Everyone was in struck by horror. When they checked on the baby they found him dead.

A ghost woman. Source

Portfolio Index

The Magic Diamond
This is a story about a princess that is granted magical powers but with the power come responsibilities and consequences.

Picked on then Picked Up

This is an uplifting story about a kid who takes a stand against bullies and finds himself.

Who To Love
If, you love a good love story of a girl who falls for the bad boy then this story is for you. Follow
Alyssa as she longs for the bad boy.

Extra Reading Diary: Aesop's Fables

Aesop's Fables book cover. Source

Fables About People

The Wolf and the Shepherd's Boy

• A boy cried wolf when there was no wolf repeatedly
• The town people became upset with his lies
• A wolf appeared and he cried wolf.
• No one came to his rescue
• The wolf ate  him

The Man and the Goose

• A goose could lay golden eggs
• A man was greedy and wanted more
• He killed the goose for what he thought he would find inside of him
• It was just a normal goose on the inside
• Now he has no more golden eggs

The Housewife and her Hen

• A housewife owned a hen
• The hen would lay fine eggs one in the morning and one a night
• The hen became fat from over eating and not moving
• Then hen died

Esop at Play

• Esop is an Athenian
• He is playing with his friends
• A man begins to laugh at them
• The man had no explanation for his laughing.
• The man is just relaxing
• The man is harmless, just enjoying time

The Man and his Mistresses

• The mistresses wanted the love they could get from their man
• One was older
• 2 were engaged at the same time
• One understood art
• Another seemed very young
• One was blossoming and beautiful
• Each wanted the man differently
• Eventually the man went bald from what they each wanted

The Dog and the Quaker

• Quakers are not allowed to hit animals
• A dog had stolen a Quakers bread and cheese
• He did not hit the dog but called out to him
• He used rocks and bricks to break the dogs bones.

Storytelling Week 11: Stealing for Love

A shot gun I picture when I wrote this story. Source.

POW POW POW is the sound I hear as the bullets are discharged from the store owner's gun. This wasn't the first time a gun has been pulled on me but it is the first time to actually be shot at. Normally the gun is just brought out to scare me. I was too relaxed tonight, I need to do better next time.

When your hungry you do what you have to do for food especially when your mother is a drug addict and my little brother is crying because he is hungry. I'd move heaven and Earth for my little brother Ryland.  I try to keep him out of the house away from her but when I have to go get food, I leave him at home so he doesn't get in the way.

I know what you're thinking, "why don't I get a job?" Well I have one, but it doesn't pay enough to get food all the time. Ryland was hungry so I ran to a convenient store grabbed a few things but not before the store owner saw me steal the food and start to shoot.

I can hear my mom screaming at Ryland outside of the house. He's too young to be putting up with her bull crap so I take off running inside to diffuse this situation. Apparently she thought he was doing his homework too slowly, which is funny considering she is a drop out that didn't bother finishing because she was already addicted to drugs. After I send her away and feed Ryland, I help him with his homework and get him ready for bed. You're probably wondering where our father is? Yeah well get in line because I want to know the answer as well. Mom won't tell us who he is.

The next day, I walk into the kitchen to be stopped by several police officers sitting at the table. Crap, I think they are here to bust me for stealing. I'm taken by surprise when they say they here because they want to investigate for child neglect. I don't want them to arrest mom. While sometimes I think she is Satan reincarnated, she is the reason my brother and I get to stay together. I lie my ass off to the police about what happens in our house hold. I can take care of Ryland until he is older.

Once the police seem satisfied with what they have heard, they leave and I go hunt Ryland down to feed him. At dinner he tells me everyone is laughing at how old his shoes are. I mentally put it on the list of things he needs.

I went to the grocery store with what little money that I had on Friday. On my walk to the store I saw a beautiful pair of shoes I know Ryland would love. I'm 25 dollars too short to buy them. So I go to what I know I have to do if I want him to have them.

I went into the shoe store, found Ryland's size, hid them close to the door, and set off to make a distraction. I "tripped" over my own feet, hit a shelf, and knocked the whole thing down sending shoes flying. As the store owner checks on me, then the other costumers, I make my way for the door, grab the shoes and take off running. I hid the shoes before I went to the grocery store.

On my way home, I grab the shoes, groceries in hand, and take the long way that doesn't go near the shoe store. The light in Ryland's eye when he sees his new shoes is the reason I will steal if I have too. His happiness means the world to me.

Author's Note: I had to take sometime to think how I could use the story The Story of The Summoner. In that story the summoner decides to steal money from who ever he can. On his journey, he meets a man. After questioning the man of his identity, the summoner finds out that he is really the devil. The two agree that they will steal everything they can from whoever. I knew after reading this story I had two elements to work with. Stealing and the Devil. I used stealing as the main element in my story. I bet you noticed that my character didn't have a name. I noticed that about half way through and decided to leave it that way. I wanted him to have motivation for his stealing rather than out of greed. You might have noticed I referred to his mom as Satan. I tried to have him have his own devil in his life. I liked writing this story. Stories like these make me want to keep writing and make t story more elaborate. I just somewhat let it flow rather than planning it out. Let me know what you think!\

Bibliography: The Chaucer Story Book by Eva March Tappan (1908).