Week 12 Storytelling: The Cat and the Man

"Hello, it's me, Venus. For those of you who don't know, I am the Goddess of Love. I have made many people fall in love before, but for some reason, those don't end particularly well. I have about a 90% success rate when it comes to couples staying in love. I can make them fall in love just fine, but I can't figure out quite yet how to make them stay loving each other forever, which is why you have divorce in your world. I am not here to talk about my success rate though, and those of you who are thinking, 'You have been alive and doing this for forever, how couldn't you know?' There are a lot of elements when making a relationship work, alright? And it's complicated.... Which leads me to the tale I have for you today.

"One day, this beautiful cat came to me, asking for me to change her into a human, so that she can marry a human man. It was already an odd request to start with, and I did wonder how she fell in love with the man. Turns out this man has been feeding her, taking care of her when he can, and recently just rescued her from the side of the street. She fell in love with his kindness and wants to marry him!

"I tried to explain to her, I did, that me changing her form wouldn't change anything else. Everything about her would still remain the same. She didn't care, only as long as she was a human. So I helped her out.

Wedding (source: ruffledblog.com)

"The couple met each other as humans and instantly hit it off. They soon got engaged and were set to marry... Nothing could go wrong. I was quite ready to run my data again to recalculate my success rate, when a disaster happened on their wedding night.

"Everything was going very smoothly. The ceremony went off without a hitch, the selected food were great, the band was awesome, and everyone was having a good time. Somehow, this mouse made it past the pest control and started running around the venue! Now, when I told her that me changing her into a human won't change anything, that included her basic instinct.

"What would you do if, on the day of your wedding, you see a mouse run by, and a split second later your wife is out of her seat, chasing the mouse around the venue, finally caught it, and devoured it right there in front of everybody?

"Sadly, my recalculated success rate is 94%. That darn cat."

Author's Note
I based my story off of one of Aesop's fables, which was short, so I had quite a bit of expanding to do. In the original story, this cat goes to Venus to asked to be changed into a human so she can marry the man. Venus does it, and on their wedding night there was a mouse, which the cat/human the proceeded to chase. The man broke it off afterwards. It was easier to expand on this than the Robe of Light story (Week 10), and I had quite a bit more fun with it. The man still ended up breaking off the marriage after seeing his wife eat a rat.... I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to change that haha.

Bibliography: This story can be found in the Aesop's Fables (English) Unit, under The Gods chapter.

Week 10 Storytelling: The Robe of Light

Good morning everyone, and welcome to The Museum of Supernatural Artifact. We have a lot of cool things here, like Saturn's ring, Mars' tears, and most importantly, Sun's Robe of Light. Alright, if you guys could line up, demigods over here, fairies over there, and everyone else there. And remember, don't touch anything!

As the mismatched crowd walked through the museum, they were awed by the items they only heard in stories. While the objects were definitely cool, they were all looking forward to seeing the Robe of Light. Even though it was just a replica, it would still be amazing to see what it looked like, and learn more about it.

Dress of light (source: pinterest)

Item: Robe of Light (replica)
Origin: Earth
Date Created: Unknown
Created by: Human Woman
Last in Possession by: Sun
Background Information: The original robe, made out of the skin of small animals such as rabbits and birds, was created by a human woman. The animals were hunted by a human boy to be used as food for him and his grandmother. The grandmother sewed together this robe, which as you can see, is large and bright. It was worn by the boy when he went to spear for fish.

One day, Sun, while out following the trail in Sky Land, saw the robe. He approached the boy and asked for an exchange. Sun always wore a goatskin robe with a long fringe. The boy initially refused, but Sun convinced him. Sun dipped the fringe of his robe into the water, and fish immediately caught on. The boy accepted the exchange, and that is how Sun grew so bright.
Sun used to be pale, similar to Moon. Once he had his robes on, however, no one could look at him anymore, his robe shining too bright for the eyes.

We at the museum have tried our best to create this replica, getting the approval of its likeness from Sun himself. Sun actually mentioned that it's quite a good thing it's just a replica, since no one would be able to see the original due to its brightness. We thank him for allowing us to replicate it, and also for the donation to the museum.

Author's Note

I was having a lot of trouble coming up for ideas for this week, but thought that this could be quite cool. I followed the original story quite closely. The boy hunted for animals, the grandmother made the robe, and Sun asked for it in exchange of his own. I thought having this as an item in a museum would be cool, but since the original story was so short, it was a bit hard to come up with more stuff to write about it.

Bibliography: Why the Sun is Bright from the British North America unit.

Week 7 Storytelling: The Human and the Princess

At the school for young underwater creatures, the old turtle, Gale, is getting ready to tell one of his famous stories. "Gather round kids, it's a new story today!" he says to the children running around the playground.

The little sea creatures all form a circle around grandpa Gale, quieted down, and paid attention.

"One day a long time ago, so long, in fact, that I was still a little turtle, I was captured by a human. The human seemed nice, a young man just helping out his parents, so I was able to talk him out of killing me. He let me go, and I didn't see him again for quite some time. Years and years later, when I was a bigger turtle with a big shell and strong flippers, I saw this human again! He was lost, out at sea, all by himself."

The little sea creatures were captivated by this story. They've heard of those creatures that live above the sea, these humans, but they've never actually seen one! "You actually saw and touched a human?" whispered one of the little fish, in awe.

"Well of course! But don't you go swimming up to the surface without supervision! We won't want you to become some unkind human's dinner now, would we?"

The little sea creatures gasped, some clinging to each other, afraid of the unknown world above them.

Turtle going to take a break (source: riotofinvention)

"Now, where was I? Oh right, I saw this same man again, and he was lost at sea. I had to remind him of who I was, then offered to bring him back to his home. I hadn't realized how far away from the mainland he was, and I was growing tired, so I veered off and brought him down here with me so I could grab a snack and rest for a little bit. While he was here, he caught a glimpse of the princess.

The princess (source: tumblr)

"The princess, a beautiful mermaid, as we all know, and the daughter of our sea king, has never met a human before. The princess became fascinated with the young man, and slowly fell in love with him. The young man, never having met a beautiful mermaid before, experienced what most would call love at first sight. Since it takes quite a while for a big turtle like me to "recharge", the two got talking at got to know each other. When it was finally time to leave again, the princess begged the young man to stay. The young man, having just fallen in love with a beautiful creature, agreed.

"Years passed and they were happy together. Until one day, when the young man missed his parents and wanted to go back to land. The princess was reluctant to let him go, but she did anyway, giving him an ornate box, with strict instructions to not open it. I was to go to him when he called, if he didn't open the box.

"The young man went to shore, and that was the last I've ever heard from him."

"What?!" exclaimed a lot of the kids, "You can't just end there! That's a bad story! Was the princess sad? What happened to the man? He didn't open the box did he? She told him not to! What happened?!" Questions were coming left and right from all the little kids gathered for story time.

"Alright, alright, settle down! I wasn't done with that sentence! I meant to say, that was the last I've heard from him since this morning!" shouted grandpa Gale. "Hahahaha! I got all of you! Of course he came back, the young man and the princess got married and had loads of kids! Who do you think are those mermaids and mermen you see everyday?"

"What?! Those are the princess's kids! I didn't know that! They're so nice and friendly!" chattered the kids, realizing who those beautiful creatures are.

"Well of course they're nice! Well, that's all for story time today! Go back to your classrooms and pay attention in class! Go on, scooot!"

Author's Note
I chose to do this over Uraschimataro and the Turtle from the Japanese Fairytales Unit. I like happy endings, so I changed the ending again. In the story, the young man catches a turtle, the turtle argues that it's too small to be of any use right now, and the man lets it go back to sea. They encounter each other again when he's lost at sea, and the turtle, wanting to repay him, brought him to the sea god. He met the princess, they were happy. Until one day when he wanted to go back to land. The princess, dreading it, gave him an ornate box with instructions to not open it. When he was ready to come back, he was to call for the turtle. When he got to shore, he realized that years and years have gone by. He finds his parents' tombstones, with their date of death the day that they discovered their son was lost at sea. Drowning in sadness, he opens the box, purple vapour comes out, and he's suddenly a mummy, time catching up with him. When he goes to the shore to call for the turtle, it never comes.

I thought I'd follow the majority of it since it's a good story, but change the ending to make it happy.

Bibliography: Uraschimataro and the Turtle from the Japanese Fairytales Unit.

Week 6 Storytelling: Did You Hear?!

Jessica and Gabby gossiping (source: Google)

One day, during their weekly brunch gossip session, Jessica and Gabby discuss the coming and goings of the daughter from the big house down the road. They don't see her much, but have heard so much about her parents, what with them being in the entertainment business and all. The daughter, Rose, seemed like a nice girl, but no one really knows much about her. So when this juicy bit of gossip came through the grapevine, both Jessica and Gabby pounced on it and didn't waste time discussing it with each other.

"Oh my gosh, did you hear?! Rose, you know, the daughter of those famous directors from down the road, yeah, that couple, I heard that she eloped this past weekend! I don't know what she was thinking, marrying that young, I didn't even know she was going out with someone! I wonder what her parents think about this!" started Jessica, immediately giving her opinion.

"You know, I did hear about that. I also heard that the guy, yeah, the one little Rosie eloped with, is actually some long lost childhood friend or whatever. Apparently they grew up together or something in the town they were in before they moved here, but then they moved here, and they lost contact or something! Isn't that sweet?! It's like a fairy tale!" replied Gabby. "Little Rosie is all grown up and married now! I know, I know, I'm only a few years younger than her, but I'm 31, I have a right to call anyone is their 20s little."

"That's what you heard? Really? I heard something completely different! I heard that he got her pregnant! Yeah! Can you believe it? I can't believe her parents would let something like that go on in their house! I would never!" exclaimed Jessica.

"Who did you hear that from? I heard it from Janet, and you know Janet, she always checks her news. I trust her gossip."

"I heard it from Lauren."

Gabby can hardly believe Jessica when she said that. "Lauren! You believe Lauren! That woman only listens to half of what everyone says and then makes up the other half herself! Trust me, Janet never gets anything wrong. I wonder how she gets all these juicy gossip. But whatever, back to the point. Little Rosie's totally going to pop out some kids in the next year. Her parents should make her life into a movie! Can you imagine?! Having to move at a young age and trying to keep in touch with your friends back home, losing contact after years of not seeing each other, but then, surprise! Your childhood sweetheart appears to audition for your parents' movie and the spark is reignited! You fall in love with each other again as if all those years were never spent apart, and finally, your dream wedding. Oh well, I guess that part isn't so fairy tale, since they drove to Vegas and got married by Elvis."

Jessica gives in, "Alright, alright, fairy tale, blah blah blah. I admit Lauren isn't always reliable. I still think she's pregnant though!"

In the end, of course Lauren was wrong, and Rose didn't have a baby until a few years after their wedding, both waiting until they were financially stable before agreeing to bring another life into the world.

Author's Note
I chose to base my story this week from the Cat's Elopement story from the Japanese Fairy tales unit. In the story, the two cats meet each other one day, fell in love, and ran away. One day, they faced a dog, and while the female cat went up the tree, the male one stayed to fight. It finally caught the attention of the princess's servants, and they took him to the palace. The female cat was being bullied one day, the male cat heard and came to save her. She almost didn't recognize him since they've been separated a while and the princess obviously took care and fed him well. They went back to the palace, explained their tale to the princess, got married, and had plenty of babies.

I thought the format of a gossip would be good, since eloping has a negative connotation these days, especially when the people involved are fairy young. I edited it a bit so that the characters (Rose and the guy) met while young, Rose moved, and meet again years later down the road. They had loved each other all this time, so they decided to elope (like the cats). Since I don't gossip, it was a bit hard to come up with a "gossipy" dialogue, but I think it went well.

Bibliography: The Cat's Elopement from the Japanese Fairy tales unit.

Week 5 Storytelling: Rama Online

Rama (source: tumblr)

Name: Rama

Age: 27

Location: Ayodhya, India

Status: It’s complicated

Height: 6’ 2”

Weight: 195 lb

Occupation: King of Ayodhya

Education: Plenty

Interested In: Women

Hey, ladies. My name’s Rama, and I’ve been king for a short while now. I’m looking for a queen, and a friend of mine said that this would be a good way to get the word out. Let me start at the very beginning….

My father, King Dasaratha, had 3 wives: Kausalya, Kaikeyi, and Sumitra. For some reason, none of them had any kids. One day, one of my father’s counsellor found this nutrition supplement that is supposed to help you along or something along those lines. Suddenly, all 3 were pregnant at the same time. I am born to Kausalya, Kaikeyi to Bharata, and Lakshmana and Satrughna to Sumitra. We all grew up like brothers.

At the age of 5, we were all taught by Vasishtha, our governor, in different different areas. We started with the alphabet and grammar. Soon after, we mastered 18 languages. It may seem like a lot, but it’s actually easier to learn pronunciation and stuff when you’re younger. We were also taught music, dancing, and painting. We all know how to play at least one instrument and learned ballroom dancing.

We never left the palace often, and since we had our governor and private tutors, we didn’t exactly go to normal school. As we grew up we picked up some sports like archery and sword fighting/fencing. It was always fun to duel with my brothers and we helped each other learn and grow.

I made a bet with my brothers one day about asking this girl, Sita, out for a date. She is so beautiful, it’s almost impossible she’s real. I had seen her the few times we were allowed off of the palace grounds. I think she’s the daughter of a business owner in our town or something along those lines. Turns out I won the bet and she agreed to go out with me (I mean, who wouldn’t!)

Sita (source: tumblr)

We went out for a bit, before this huge guy, and I mean huge (he was built like a quarterback or something) asked her out. This is the part where it gets a bit iffy. I didn’t see this myself, so I don’t know if they knew each other previously or what, but one of my brothers saw it happen. Now, I don’t know if he knew or not that she’s taken, or what the heck she was thinking, but I saw them out together one day. I tried confronting her, but she keeps insisting nothing happened.

I took her back and we went out for a while after that, before my family and friends voiced their opinions. It always felt kind of wrong after the little spat we had. I never got the chance to ask her outright whether she went voluntarily with the dude (even though it certainly looked it), and she never brought it up. I don’t know if she was purposefully avoiding the topic or just didn’t think she did anything wrong. My family and friends kept saying that she’s denying anything happened because I’m in line for the throne and she just wanted the benefits of going out and someday possibly marrying a prince.

I didn’t know what to think, so I broke up with her. I already had doubts about our relationship, and nothing seemed to be going well after I saw her with the dude; it seemed like we were always struggling just to be civil to each other. There was no more chemistry left with us, and I kind of lost my trust in her. We haven’t seen each other in months, and sometimes I wonder what happened to her and if I could have done something to save or relationship, but my family keeps reminding me that she was the one that went out with someone else, and that I did nothing wrong.

I don’t know much about this online dating thing, but some people seem to find their match his way. Here’s to hoping I find my next queen!

Peace! R.

Author's Note

I based my story off of the beginnings of the Ramayana. The beginning was quite similar, where the king had 3 wives and none of them had babies. I changed the part where the king made a horse sacrifice to a counsellor finding a nutrition supplement. In the story, Rama and his brothers learned all sorts of things at the age of 5. Rama went with his teacher and Lakshmana, his brother, to help out a neighboring city. Went they arrived, the king presented Rama with the bow of Shiva, saying that if he was able to bend it, he would allow Rama to marry Sita, his daughter. Later in the story, Ravana, a 10 headed giant with 20 arms kidnaps her. Rama, Hanuman, and the ape army managed to save her and bring her back. When they got back to Ayodhya, however, Rama decides that he couldn't be with Sita. To prove her innocence, she called the Earth. Mother Earth emerged from the ground with a chair where Sita sat on, and seconds later they disappeared. Sita is now in heaven as the goddess Lakshmi, and Rama, years later, follows her.

I chose parts of the story to write about, and thought that using the dating profile style would be appropriate. Instead of kidnapping, I just said Ravana asked her out when she was still with Rama. I changed the ending to them just breaking up and him not seeing Sita since then rather than killing her off. I tweaked the story a bit to make it fit into a modern setting.

Bibliography: the Ramayana Unit can be found here.

Week 3 Storytelling: The Sick Lion and the Beasts

It is Bilbo Baggins' 120th birthday today. People have come around from all over the Shire to Hobbiton to celebrate this day. Tents are being put up, barrels of ale are set up for the guests, food covers every inch of dozens of tables, and Gandalf has finally arrived with his wondrous fireworks. Meanwhile, although he appears to not know what is happening, Bilbo is preparing his story for the little ones. There are always little ones at large gatherings, running amuck when the parents turn their backs. A good way to contain them, Bilbo found, was to tell a story. The children would then gather round, sitting quietly, listening raptly to the tale that Bilbo has brought them.

"What shall I call this one?" Bilbo thinks to himself. "The Lion that was Sick? No, no, too boring. The Lion Against the rest of the world? Nah, too dramatic. How about The Sick Lion and the Beasts? Sounds almost like the beasts and the sick lion are fighting, can be exciting!"

And so the night of the party has arrived, the venue filled with hobbits from all over the Shire. As usual, kids are running around everywhere, parents have confused expressions on their face when they turn around from a quick chat to find that their child or children are gone, and Gandalf is entertaining the guests with his impressive fireworks.

Bilbo has finally arrived and headed immediately to one of the tents, one to avoid having to talk or even see his relatives, but also to gather round the kids so he can share this exciting tale.

Bilbo telling his story (source: tumblr)

"Gather round here kids, I've got a tale for you today:

There once was a Lion, who ruled the land with terror. He enjoyed his power as the most ferocious beast, and would bully around all the other animals under his dominion. The animals would have to hunt not only for themselves and their family, but also for the Lion. The Lion would hold court at the end of each day, where the animals can come to present their offering to him. If he was satisfied, they were free to go. If not, well, you don't want to know what happened to them. Let's just say they were never seen again.

One day, the Lion got ill. He retreated to his cave and rested for the day, but still didn't get any better. At the end of the day, the animals came as usual to present their offerings, but the Lion wasn't there. One of the hyenas, the Lion's minions, came out of the cave to tell the other animals to enter the cave one at a time and leave their offering for the Lion.

The sick Lion in his cave (source: Google)

Slowly, the animals entered one by one, but none of them ever came out. The animals left outside started getting suspicious and were stirring restlessly. When it was the Fox's turn, he refused to enter the cave. The other animals are getting wary as well, and one decided to speak up.

"All the animals entered, but none of them have come back out. Some of them have large offerings as well, so there's no way they were punished," said the Ass. The other animals agreed with the Fox and the Ass, and started asking for their fellow animals. The hyenas, being outnumbered could do little to diffuse the situation.

The Lion heard the commotion going on outside and decided to put an end to it. When the other animals saw the Lion come out, they knew something was wrong.

"Very clever, Fox, to hesitate entering my domain. You too are smart, Ass, to bring up the size of their offerings. Indeed, they were all quite tasty and sizable. It was even better when it was coupled with the offerers themselves," declared the Lion, smirking menacingly. The other animals immediately realized they were in danger of being eaten themselves and started to run this way and that, trying to escape the Lion and his hyenas.

The Fox and the Ass had rounded up the other beasts and have gathered into a formation, quickly running towards the outnumbered Lion and hyena. The beasts trampled the unfair and terrible ruler, and the Lion is no more. The animals then lived together in harmony, caring and helping for each other. The end."

By the time the story had ended, the kids were still so raptured. "Just remember kids, it is easier to get into the enemy's toils than out again. Think before you act!" Bilbo said, giving the advice to the young children. "Alright then, off you go, it's time for cake!"

Bilbo's cake (source: Google)

The kids cheered as they ran out of the tent, excited to get to the large cake with 120 candles on it. The celebration went on without a hitch, with no unexpected dragon firework or magic rings.

Another year for Bilbo Baggins.

Author's Note
I decided to use the stories of The Ass and the Sick Lion and The Lion, the Fox, and the Beasts (which can be found here) together, since they are quite similar. In both stories, the Lion is sick in a cave, animals come to visit, but none ever come back out. The Ass and the Fox notice this and don't fall into the trap and get to live.

I made up my own ending, since the original stories didn't have them, and used the format of Bilbo telling a story from the list of ideas listed here.

I chose this style because it seemed the simplest. Since they're Aesop Fables, it seemed a logical choice to choose a storytelling style, since they're meant to be told.

The images are footage of Bilbo and his cake from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

Bibliography: The stories are included in Aesop's Fables (Jacobs), which can be found here.

Week 2 Storytelling: Meeting the Future-Mother-In-Law

Cupid and Psyche have been together for a while, more than 2 years now. They met in college, Cupid studying to be a doctor, Psyche to be a nurse, on a blind date set up by one of their mutual friend. Cupid fell in love with Psyche the second he saw her: heart-shaped face, large brown eyes, full lips, and flaming red hair. Cupid himself is not usually set up with others... he is the one doing the setting up. He took a chance when he agreed to this blind date with Psyche, and it's a choice he never regretted. 

Cupid and Psyche (source: tumblr)

Psyche's two sisters, Anastasia and Drizella, though pretty, are not as beautiful as their youngest sister, and have always envied the attention she receives. When Psyche brought Cupid to meet her sisters, he immediately felt something off about them and tried to warn Psyche. Cupid's gut feeling turned out to be accurate. Throughout the first year, Anastasia and Drizella came up with various schemes to break Cupid and Psyche up, from trying to get the couple to misunderstand each other to showing up at Cupid's apartment to seduce him. The couple were smart enough not to fall for it and stayed strong. Eventually, the sisters gave up and moved away.

Throughout the relationship, Psyche has brought Cupid to meet her parents several times, and they got on quite well. Cupid, on the other hand, has only mentioned his family, but not actually brought Psyche over. Today, that's going to change.

"Do you think she'll like me?" Psyche asks, while getting ready.

"She's going to love you," Cupid replies, a little uncertainly, although Psyche didn't catch the little quiver in his voice. To be honest, Cupid isn't very sure how his mother is going to react. His mother, a past Miss Universe winner, is quite vain, never failing to remind people of the fact, and she can get quite petty when she wants to.

As the couple arrived at Cupid's mother's home, they were welcomed with a Victorian style house, complete with a wrap-around balcony and a well-kept yard. As they walked up the steps and knocked, a beautiful woman opens the door. Cupid's mother is quite tall, with dark hair like her son, a straight nose, and full red lips. She was dressed to impress with her well-fitted sundress and heels.

Venus' house (source: pinterest)

"Oh, hello," said Venus, Cupid's mother, while looking down her straight nose at Psyche. "Come in."

The couple walked into the house and was immediately steered towards the dining room by the housekeeper, where they were seated very formally at the table, ready for dinner. Venus walks into the dining room, sits at the head of the table, and begins her interrogation.

"So, Psyche, what are you studying right now?" Venus asks, feigning interest, all the while forming questions in her mind. 

"I'm actually planning to be a nurse," replies Psyche, "That's actually how I met Cupid. Our mutual friends set us up, and we just hit it off."

"Interesting. One of my friends asked me a few questions today that I just couldn't answer, and was wondering if you could help me," said Venus, ready to test her dear son's girlfriend in her wit and thinking. 

"Of course!" said Psyche enthusiastically, clueless as to what Venus is doing. 

"Here is the first one: Steve spent 2 days in the hospital. After the 2 days in the hospital they determined he was in perfect health. But, when it was time for him to go home, he had to be carried out. Why?"

Internally high-fiving, Psyche congratulated herself in having heard this one before, answering the riddle confidently: "It's because Steve is a baby!"

Venus, impressed with her speed, asks the next question: "A doctor and a boy were fishing. The boy was the doctor's son, but the doctor was not the boy's father. Who was the doctor?"

Having heard this question before from one of her female professors on the first day of school, Psyche was able to answer with surprising speed: "The doctor is his mother." 

Venus, getting irritated by this smart and beautiful girl, asked the next question: "There was a window cleaner who was cleaning a window on the 25th floor of a skyscraper. He suddenly slips and falls. He has no safety equipment and nothing to soften his fall, but he is not hurt at all. How do you account for that?"

Never having heard this one before, it took Psyche a few moments before she got the answer: "He was cleaning the windows from inside," she answers, frustrating Venus even more since the answer is correct.

"Very good, I have one last question for you: Five hundred begins it. Five hundred ends it. And five in the middle is seen. The first of all numbers, the first of all letters take up their places between. Join all together and bring before you the name of an eminent king." Venus sits back as she finishes her last riddle, sure that Psyche would not get this one, thus proving, in her eyes and mind, that she isn't good enough for her son.

Never having heard this one either, it took Psyche a little longer to figure this one out. She went through a list of famous kings' names in her head, finally landing on one she think may be right, before trying to decipher why this particular name is the answer. After a few moments of deliberation, she answers assertively, "David."

Venus, thoroughly impressed by her intelligence and speed, grudgingly approved of Psyche, all the while thinking, "How can this darn girl have everything? The looks, the brains, and the compassion to become a nurse. No one's good enough for my son, but she's probably the only one who's going to get anything even remotely similar to an approval from me."

Cupid, relieved that Psyche passed the "test", squeezed her hand assuringly under the table, and the couple shared a secret celebratory smile.

Word count: 1,000

Author's Note

When I thought about having to retell this story, the concept of evil-and-mean mother-in-law just kind of popped into my head. I tried to keep some basics like: Cupid usually setting others up, the blind date (since Psyche didn't actually see Cupid before her sisters' plans), the evil sisters (whose names are actually Cinderella's step sisters), Venus' beauty and pettiness, and the 4 'tasks', in this case riddles, that Psyche had to get past. I got the riddles form various sources: the Steve and David riddle is from reddit, and the window cleaner riddle and the mother doctor riddle are just from 2 websites I found while searching on Google. I kind of disregarded the other part of the original story, the part where it's actually the old woman telling this story and just focused on the actual story of Cupid and Psyche. I did alter the story a little so that the evil sisters didn't succeed in their plan and Cupid ran away, or that Psyche lured them off the cliff and just had them fail and move away. 

The last riddle's answer, David, is actually based on the Roman numerals system, so I thought that was clever. D in Roman numerals is 500. V in Roman numerals is five. I in Roman numerals is one. A is the first of all letters.

In the end of the original story, Cupid and Psyche got a happily-ever-after ending, so that's what I had them have here too, where Venus accepts Psyche and they get to continue to see each other.

The image of Cupid and Psyche in the beginning is actually fanart of Lily and James Potter (from Harry Potter) taken from tumblr. I described my version of Psyche with Lily in mind, for some reason. The picture of the house is just a house with a wrap-around porch found on Google. I thought the house looked really nice, something that Venus would deem 'good enough' for her.

Bibliography: the original story of Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche can be found here.

Week 1 Storytelling: The Lion Beat the Unicorn

The lion and the unicorn

Were fighting for the crown;

The lion beat the unicorn

All round about the town.

Some gave them white bread,

And some gave them brown;

Some gave them plum-cake,

And sent them out of town.

At the 150th Annual International Triwizard Tournament, held this year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry up in Scotland, the three representatives from each school are down to their third and final task. The final task for the champions will be for them to enter a maze designed by Professor McGonagall, where they will encounter obstacles that will require their strength, wit, cleverness, and knowledge of spells. The maze itself is an ever-changing hedge, designed to test the champions on their memory. Should anyone choose to forfeit, they just have to send up blue sparks into the sky.

“The champions this year include: Helen Blackburn of Gryffindor House (whose symbol is a Lion) from Hogwarts, Estelle Bonnet from Beauxbaton Academy of Magic (whose symbol is a Unicorn), and Marko Popov from Durmstrang Institute (whose symbol is a double-headed Eagle). Since Helen Blackburn and Estelle Bonnet has accumulated the same amount of points from the previous tasks, they would get to enter the maze at the same time, then followed by Marko Popov,” said the Headmaster, once the spectators have quieted down. “At the sound of the cannon, the contestants may enter the maze,” declared Dumbledore, followed by the boom of a cannon less than a second later. 

Gryffindor's crest, a lion

Beauxbaton's mascot, a unicorn

Durmstrng's crest, a double-headed eagle

Cheers for each school can be heard from the stand as the champions enter the maze, the sound drowned out once the maze closed itself. Sparks and flashes of light can be seen from the spectator’s stand every once in awhile, showing that the champions are fighting obstacles, and maybe themselves, to get to the cup first. 

After a stressful few hours, Helena appears before the spectators with the glowing cup clutched in her hands, being portkeyed back from wherever the cup had been placed within the maze. The other champions were fetched from within the maze a few seconds later by professors, and the winner is crowned. The prize was gifted to the winner, with consolation prizes given to the other contestants. 

A few days after the excitement of the tournament has passed, the visiting schools travel back to their hometown, and the Hogwarts students get ready to board the Hogwarts Express to travel back to London for the summer.

Author's Note

I chose to use a nursery rhyme since it's short, meaning there was a lot of ways it can be interpreted. The rhyme mentioned a lion and a unicorn, fighting for a crown, in which the lion won in the end. Seeing "lion" and "crown" reminded me of Gryffindor house, and how they frequently won the House Cup. "Unicorn" was integrated into the story by being Beauxbaton's mascot, an all-girl (I'm assuming) wizarding school based in France.

Bibliography

The story is a rhyme called "The lion and the unicorn" from The Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897).