Week 14 Story: Where are the parents?

Hi, my name is Ella. I am ten years old, and I have a little brother that is eight years old named Kit. This is the story of how our parents left us. While it was scary, to begin with, we figured out how to survive, and even though our parents eventually returned, we still have a hard time while they were away. All of the events that I am about to tell you can be traced back to playing a game of hide-and-seek.  
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It was a normal morning; our father was out hunting in the woods and our mother was busy sowing clothes in the house. I had decided it would be fun to play hide-and-seek, so I made Kit close his eyes and count. While he was counting, I went behind my father’s chair and was planning on hiding underneath it when I noticed that some of the boards on the wall behind his chair were loose. I pushed them to the side and had the perfect hiding spot inside the wall. While I was hiding in the wall, I felt something soft. Curious I abounded my hiding spot and brought the item out with me. It was a robe made of feathers, while it was a little dingy, it seemed like it had once been a lovely robe. I called out to Kit telling him the game was over and showed him the robe. We thought it was best to show Mom; it looked to be her size.

When we showed our mother the robe, she became excited and hurriedly slipped it on.  Then she knelt down and gave both of us a kiss and began to walk outside. We had never been left alone before, so Kit and I followed her outside, and I asked, “Mom where are we going?”

She turned around with tear filled eyes and told us, “I am going home. Tell your father if he wishes to see me again, he must find me in the Land East of the Sun and West of the Moon.” She then flew off in the feather rode.

I could not believe what had just happened and when our father returned that night I told him precisely what mother had told me. He then got up and left the house leaving Kit and me alone.

The first night I kept going to our parent’s room to check if they had returned. Finally, I became so tired I passed out. In the morning, I had hoped it was all a dream, but Kit woke me to reality by asking, “Ella what are we going to eat? I don’t think Mom and Dad are coming back? How are we going to live on our own?”

Kit eyes were welling up with tears. Quickly I told him, “Why don’t we play a game? You be the father and go out and see if you can catch or trap any animals. I will be the mother and fix breakfast while you are away. Remember not to wander off too far.”

So, Kit and I learned how to survive on our own. At first, the food wasn’t very good. But over time I learned how to cook, and Kit was able to bring back larger prey the more he practiced hunting. It seemed that this was how we were to spend the rest of our lives when one night while we slept, we heard someone trying to open the front door. Terrified I woke Kit, and we grabbed some weapons and went to check out the noise.

When we readied ourselves for the intruder, we found Mom and Dad standing in the front doorway. They started coming towards us wanting a hug. Kit was overjoyed to see them. He dropped his weapon and ran to them hugging them with all of his might. Then they turned to me.

The first thing I did was DEMAND to know where they had been? Why had they left? Why hadn’t they taken us with them? I began to sob and fell to the floor. My mother and father came over to me, gently picked me up and started the tale of where they had gone.

A swan on the lake. The robe the story is made from swan feathers. 

Source:WikiMedia Commons by Yerpo

Author’s Notes: This is a tale based off of a story found in Joseph Jacobs book, Europa’s Fairy Book. In the story, The Swan Maidens, a hunter is entranced by a beautiful woman who can fly with a rode made out of swam feathers. The hunter decides he wants to marry the women so while she is playing in a lake with her sisters, he steals her robe. He then makes her marry him and hides her feather robe from her so that she cannot return to her homeland. The married couple ends up having two children who play hide-and-seek and one day the daughter finds the feather robe. When her mother gets her robe back, she leaves and goes to be with her family telling her daughter to let their father know where to find her. When the father returns home, and the daughter explains to him what happened. The hunter leaves in search his wife. He spends a considerable amount of time looking for her, but finally, he finds her homeland. It turns out she is a princess and the youngest daughter of the king. The king test the hunter to make sure the daughter is his wife. When the hunter passed the test, the king then grants the hunter permission to marry his daughter (the women that was already his wife), and they return home to their children. I kept my story parallel to the events in the original story. What the original story did not explain was what happened to the children while the parents were away? I decided to create a story explaining what the children did to survive while the parents were gone. I thought it was best to show the daughter as being the stronger sibling since I had pictured her as the older sibling. She attempts to make the best of the situation even though she is angry with her parents and shows that when they return by not forgiving them immediately like the brother. I hope you have enjoyed my story and would love to hear feedback! Good luck on finals!!

Reading Notes: Reading B: Europa’s Fairy Book

For the second part of Joseph Jacobs book, Europa’s Fairy Book, I was surprised to find a couple of stories that were very familiar to me. In the story, Inside Again, a man helps a snake but the snake is very hungry and wants to eat the man. The man tries to convince the snake that he should not because he saved him. The two continue to argue until a horse and dog agree in the favor of the snake but before the snakes eats the man a fox comes in and tricks the snake, where he ends up back under the rock. The man is supposed to give the fox two chickens but his wife convinces him to trick the fox instead and the fox gets eaten by a dog. This is one of the stories that I remember reading before but could not seem to find it back in my journal I take notes in. I am pretty sure in the other story the fox does not end up being eaten though, which I think makes for a happier ending. A common theme with both stories is a sly fox is the one who comes up with the clever idea. I have not made a story about a fox yet and with this being my last story I really want to create a fox that is not so sly. I was really confused in the story, The Swan Maidens. A poor young woman is whisked away from her sister because a hunter thinks she is beautiful and wants her to marry him and steals her road of feathers so she cannot escape. After being married for some time and having children her daughter finds her feather road and so the mother leaves and returns home. The hunter then goes off to find her and when he finally done the King gives him the daughter back to be his wife. The confusing parts of the story for me was, what happened to the children while the parents were gone? Did they just fend for themselves? A story could be created to explained what the children did while their parents were away, maybe a not so sly fox could help them out. 

A fox in a meadow. Source: Pixabay

Reading Notes: Reading A: Europa’s Fairy Book

For my final week of reading I choose to pick an author I have become very familiar with from the readings in this class. I should not have been surprised to find that Joseph Jacobs had written another book for the European reading unit. The book is called Europa’s Fairy Book and consists of five stories for the first part. What I really enjoyed was getting to hear some Disney classics, like Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast from a different (probably the original) storyline. In the story Cinder-Maid, I liked how instead of a fairy godmother helping Cinderella out, it was a tree and a bird that her mother had been buried under. It gave a little more of a connection to the mother. I also was surprised that Cinderella father did not die in the story. Instead he just seemed to let the step-mother and two step-daughter treat her poorly and did nothing to help her or stop them. A different perspective could be told of what the mother thinks when she is up in heaven watching after her daughter and trying to help her out. I think she would be very cross with her husband and maybe plan to get Cinderella away from all of them. I really enjoyed the last story, The Earl of Cattenborough. In the story, the youngest son gets the family cat when he parents die and the cat takes very good care of him. The cat is able to help Jack convince the King that he is a noble with his own castle and land so that the King marries his daughter off to him. What I am curious about in the story is why the cat was so helpful to the youngest son. Did his parents tell the cat to make sure and take very good care of him? Did Jack treat the cat so well when he was younger that the cat felt that he owned something to Jack? These questions could be answered in a story that was a prequel to The Earl of Cattenborough.

A black cat in a meadow. For some reason black cats have always been my favorite and this is how I pictured the cat in the last story. Source: Wikipedia by Colleen Martin

Week 13 Story: Cap o’ Rushes Diary

Diary, today has been a very eventful day. After father though me out of the house for not “loving” him enough. I do not think he understood my message. I have been traveling to try and find somewhere to work. I worry that no one will want to hire me in my fine clothes so I have decided to disguise my beautiful clothes with mud and brush from the earth.

Diary, I found a castle today and the master of it agreed to let me live here and work as a servant. Sine I did not give anyone my name, they have started to call me Cap o’ Rushes, because of my dirty attire. Everyone is very nice here, especially the master’s son, Sterling. But I am sure he is a spoiled brat with all of the wealth and privilege he has grown up in.

Diary, I feel regretful for saying that the son was only a spoiled brat. From hearing the other servants talk he is a respectable man who is generous and kind to everyone no matter what they do or make. I think this a very admirable trait for a man to have, he will make a beautiful maiden very happy one day.

Dairy, it has been announced that a dance will be held tomorrow night and everyone is invited. I want to go but not in my clothes of mud and brush. But if the master and his son find out that I am not really a servant they might through me out. I cannot decide what to do.

Diary, I have pretended to be very tired and unable to go to the dance tonight. But instead I am going to wash my clothes and attend the dance looking like myself.

Diary, I cannot believe that it worked! No one recognized me. And you will never guess who wanted to dance with me all night, Sterling. We did not have much time to talk but there is another dance tomorrow, maybe we can talk them.

Diary, again I pretended to not feel well, but left later as myself to go to the dance. Sterling was waiting for me. We actually got to talk tonight. He has such a kind heart and we have so much in common. I am starting to feel guilty for not telling him who I really am.

Diary, tonight is the last dance. I have not decided if I am going to tell Sterling my real identity. I am afraid he will be upset with me and then not want anything to do with me. What if his father than kicks me out of the house. I have nowhere else to go.

Diary, Before I left the dance Sterling gave me a ring. I did not tell Sterling who I was and it was the last dance. I think it is for the better. He seems to be moping around the castle but I am sure it will go away with time.

Diary, Sterling has become very ill and will not leave his bed. I have decided it is time to tell him who I am. But how do I tell him?

Diary, I put the ring he gave me into a bowl of soup for him. Now I just need to wait and see if he can figure out who I am. 

A picture of a diary. Source: K. Whiteford

Author’s Notes: This tale is based off of the original tale of, Cap o’ Rushes from the English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs. In the original tale, the girl’s father asked her how much she loves him but she does not give an answer the father is happy with so he though her out. She travels along and covers herself in brush and mud and gets a job working for a man cleaning in a castle. None of the other servants know her name so they refer to her as Cap o’ Rushes. The storyline precedes in the same where she goes to three dances and the master’s son falls in love with her. I had read a previous story where someone had rewritten a tale to reflect what the character thought by having it written in a diary form. This is where I came up with the idea of having a diary by Cap o’ Rushes. I only added a name for the son, Sterling and gave him some character triats that I thought a woman would want in a man. I also ended it with her last entry hoping that the Sterling figures out who she is. In the original he does and they are married almost immediately. I choose not to put this in the diary because I felt that after they were together she would no longer be writing in a dairy but talking with her man about her day.