Week 5 Story: The Tale of a Cat
When Wheel of Fortune came on, Tyler knew that it was his opportunity to play with his sister's toys. Sarah, Tyler's sister, loved to watch the game show every night. Tyler knew that this was his opportunity to steal Sarah's toys.
As he approached the game room, the house cat named Mittens appeared. Tyler quietly asked Mittens if he could play with Sarah's toys, expecting no response. To Tyler's surprise, Mittens replied.
"If you want to play with Sarah's toys then go ahead. It is your life, but just remember the story of Justin and the car."
"What is that story?", Tyler instantly uttered.
Mittens began to tell the story.
"Many years ago, there was a 13-year old boy named Justin that created havoc. Overall, he was a nice boy, but he had one major issue. He was an avid thief. Justin had a mindset that if it wasn't being used, then he could take advantage and use whatever he wanted for his own advantage. Usually he stole things from his 17-year old sister, Emma, when she wasn't around. He used the excuse of 'I'm just a little brother. It's what I do'. Justin usually stuck to stealing small things, like her jewelry or diary, but on one particular day he was feeling extra feisty and wanted to try something bigger.
Justin waited for Emma to shower before he followed through with his plan. He also made sure that his parents were busy while he attempted to steal the biggest item thus far. Emma's brand new car. Justin thought that he deserved to take a look at the car and give it a test drive. After all, no one was using it. He claimed that it was just collecting dust in the garage.
Justin sneaked through the kitchen and got to the key hook. Alas, he saw Emma's keys. He snatched them from the key hook and began to make his way to the garage. Before he entered the car, he admired the shine of the red on Emma's brand new car. Justin got in the car, activated the push to start feature, and had to figure out how to reverse. After multiple trials and errors, he found the gear shift. He placed the car in reverse and stepped on the gas and BOOM! Justin drove straight through the garage door and damaged both the car and the house. His parents ran outside and instantly raised their voices in both concern and anger. Needless to say, Justin was in major trouble. He was grounded for weeks on end and had to do extra chores around the house to help towards the costs of damages. Justin learned his lesson in a number of ways. He learned that stealing is mean and it can damage other peoples items. It crushed Justin when Emma saw the damage to her car. It was a feeling he had never felt before. Another lesson he learned was that stealing can put yourself into danger. He never fully thought through the idea of driving the car. Justin would have never done what he did if he knew what would have happened.
After this incident, Justin never stole anything else and started to tell the truth in every situation."
When Mittens finished, Tyler was amazed at the story. He looked at the television where Sarah was watching Wheel of Fortune and saw that the show was nearly finished. Justin turned to Mittens and said "My time to play with the toys is up. I have to wait another day to play with Sarah's toys".
Author's Notes
This week, I read Tales of a Parrot. This story involved a couple named Miemun and Khojisteh. They have a parrot that lives with them. When Miemun leaves for a long business trip, Khojisteh develops an affair with another man. Every night, Khojisteh tries to leave to be with the other man but the parrot tells a story in order to defer her from leaving and committing adultery. The parrot tells moral stories and every time when he finishes, the sun rises and Khojisteh waits another day to see her other man, except it never actually happened. I wanted to take the theme of a character stopping someone from doing something bad so I made up this story. It is a little childish, but I put it into easier terms to understand. I hope that you enjoyed.
Bibliography
Tales of a Parrot written by Ziya'al Dil Nahkshabi, online source
Hi Hannah! I really enjoyed how you introduced your main story with two characters involved with their own story! The fact that the story being told was related back to Tyler stealing made the connection even better. The cat was very clever to distract the boy with a story so he would not play with Sarah's toys. Do you think Tyler will try to steal again the next time he gets an opportunity? I am also curious to see if Mittens tells Sarah what Tyler attempted to do! I think you should add more about Sarah or talk about why Tyler wants to play with her toys and not his own. I wonder if Tyler was able to play with the toys, if that would have led to eventually stealing them! Were you suggesting that with your story about Emma and Justin? A good ending would be for Sarah to catch Tyler playing with her toys! I wonder how she would react.
ReplyDeleteHi Hannah,
ReplyDeleteI loved your story. I liked how it contained two stories in one. I also liked how you story had a happy ending with the boy learning his lesson with out any negative repercussions. I did not read the original story but I did like how your story flowed well telling both stories with no issues. As i said i loved the story.
Hi, Hannah! I really enjoyed reading your story! I liked the storyline as well as the length of the story! I also agree with some of the other comments in that I liked how you kind of put two stories into one big story. I do love stories with happy endings, so I am glad to see that you added your own happy ending to your story. I have not yet read the original story, but after reading your take on it, I am definitely very interested in reading the original!
ReplyDeleteHi Hannah, I enjoyed reading your story. You can definitely see the comparison between your story and Tales of a Parrot. This story reveals an important message. I feel like at some point in a child’s life, their parents tell them a story similar to this. I thought your story was a good length and flowed well. Overall, good job!
ReplyDeleteHello Hannah! This was a really great story! I have not read the Tales of a Parrot but I think that your story was still a lot of fun to read! I think your story was very easy to get sucked into and had a nice rhythm to it! After reading this I will have to go check out the original! Great job!
ReplyDeleteHey Hannah! This story within a story model reminds me of some stories I read from the Arabian Nights collection. However, yours was much shorter and easier to digest. It had a nice flow and enjoyed the idea of the kitten distracting him to that he would not play with her toys. Very clever and well done! Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteHey Hannah! I just previously read someone else's interpretation of the same story, Tales of a Parrot. I like how you took the meaning behind it and relayed it to form a whole new story. A couple of questions...so does Tyler actually understand the moral of the story or is he going to try to play with his sisters toys again? Lastly, you mentioned Justin talking to Mittens in the end...does that mean Justin and Tyler are brothers or was that just a typo?
ReplyDeleteHello Hannah, I thought your story was really great! I really like the more modern twist on the “tales of a Parrot.” Throughout reading it I thought it was written and put together very well. Also I thought the meaning behind the story was great Overall I thought the story was great, keep up the good work! I can’t wait to read the other stories you write!
ReplyDeleteHey Hannah! I loved your story! I watch Wheel of Fortune every night, so I really enjoyed your story. I thought it was well-written and easy to read. Also, the pictures that you uploaded were super clear and added that extra touch that the story needed. After reading this story, I want to read the original one. Overall, nicely done!
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