Story: Why the Cat Hates the Dog

A long time ago, before dogs and cats were enemies, they were great friends. The dog and the cat did everything together and helped each other in one another's time of need. They had no reason to hate each other, for they were both loved by their masters and they both helped each other hunt. When the dog would catch a bigger meal, he would share with the cat. When the cat would catch many mice, he would share his treats with the dog. They were the best of friends.

One day, the cat decided to go hunting for a mouse. He found many mice, but the dog was not satisfied.

"Thank you for the mice," the dog said. "But I am feeling very hungry today and the master hasn't let me out to hunt.. is there any way you can catch something bigger?"

The cat was not as big as the dog, but he was still a good hunter. He had sharp claws and teeth and was able to climb to tall places that the dog could not reach.

"Hmmm.. Okay, I will find something bigger for you. Don't worry." the cat replied.

It was then that the cat began to look around the house. He was an inside hunter, and he had cleaned the house of all the mice so there were none left. Suddenly, he noticed high on a shelf there was a big fish. It was much larger than a mouse and was just sitting there in a bowl ready to be hunted. So he jumped up, and grabbed the fish with his claws. He felt very victorious and took the fish back to the dog. The dog was incredibly happy and ate the whole fish very quickly.

"I'm very full now. Thank you cat." he said.

The next day, the cat heard a shout from his master. "WHAT HAS THAT CAT DONE!?"

The cat was very confused. The master came up, grabbed the cat and threw him out into the cold. "How dare you kill my fish! I was going to give that as a gift to me nephew! I paid a lot of money for that! You are a stupid cat, my smart dog knows not to kill my pet fish!"

The cat was very angry. He had been thrown out all because the dog wasn't satisfied with the mice. From that day on, cats no longer listened to humans and insisted that humans treat them with the utmost respect. They also hated dogs and would scratch and hurt them, and eventually dogs learned to hunt the cat. This is why the dog and the cat are enemies and why the cat does not take orders from humans.

Cat and Dog

Author's note: I retold the story Why the Dog and the Cat Are Enemies from the Chinese Fairy Book by Wilhelm. In the original story. the dog comes up with an idea on how to get a ring back to the owner but needs the cats help. They work together, but the cat is the one able to climb and get the ring to the owner, so the cat is praised and the dog is beaten for not returning the ring. In my story, I wanted to just retell why they are enemies in my own way, and I also wanted to add why cats don't do tricks or listen to humans like dogs do.

Story: The Animal Army

Once upon a time, in a time you probably know well, the land was ruled by humans. Humans were the most intelligent, the most powerful, and the most greedy animal in the world. They treated other animals cruelly, tried to study them, and even locked them up in cages. They would keep cats and dogs and other animals in their homes and call them "pets." It was a dark time, a terrible time, and a time that has left our planet forever ruined with pollution and waste.

Little did they know, though, that time was coming to an end. You see, something amazing was coming. An ape born out of stone, hatched from his rock, he was waiting for his moment to pounce. He lived on the earth for hundreds of years before he learned the abilities he needed for his moment. He was friends with the monkeys in his jungle, big and small, but they all looked up to him. He protected them when they needed it, and he knew that one day he would be strong enough to overtake the humans.

It was difficult to train the monkeys, however. They weren't quite as smart as him or as strong. Over the years, many monkeys would die. But every time a new monkey was born, he would begin it's training. Soon, the monkeys called him the monkey king. Eventually, the monkeys that the monkey king trained begin to pass down what they learned to their children through DNA. They were beginning to become smarter and stronger before they even had any training. All the while, the humans lived their years in charge, unaware that their entire species was in grave danger.

After 300 years, the monkey king finally knew it was time to put his plan into action. With his strong, smart monkey army, with apes, gorillas, and monkeys of all sizes, he lead his army into the city. He knew the humans had guns and bombs that could take them out, but he also knew the humans would be so blindsided and confused that they would have no idea what to do. As they marched, the people of the town ran for their lives. It was the most terrifying thing any of them had seen. The monkeys tore through the zoos, releasing all of the animals, calling them all to join the army.

The Monkey King

With all of the animals joining together, the humans were no match. It was clear that the only reason humans were so powerful was because the animals had not learned to rise against them. However, this army tore through tanks, powered through gunfire with no fear, and eventually took out every army in the world. The animals now ruled. Still, the monkey king was left in charge and called the Monkey King by all of the other animals. Humans were left alive, but locked in cages just as they had done with the other animals. Humans were now the pets and zoo animals of the world. The tables had turned and so they would remain until the end of time.

Author's Note: My story is based off of The Monkey King from Wihelm's Chinese Fairy Book, a story where an ape is hatched from stone, and he craves immorality. Over years, he learns many skills yet he craves more. He overtakes people and steals their power, until he is at war with Heaven. As I was reading this story, I immediately thought of Planet of the Apes. I decided to take some elements from both stories and combine them into a story where animals take over the world.

Story: Twenty-Two Zombies

Hi, my name is Eddy. I'm a goblin. Don't be afraid, though, I'm not a bad goblin. I might not be too pretty, but I'm still a good guy. You want to know who isn't a good guy? The king. That's right, the king of this land is worse on the inside than I am on the outside. He hates us goblins, and he banished us from the kingdom, so now we have to fend for ourselves in the wild. People hate us now because he has painted such a bad image of us. They think we are savages, but really we just do what we can to survive. If the king would stop putting such bad propaganda out about us, we might not be so hated.

So, my goblin friends and I have come up with a plan. We are going to force the king to stop making us out to be the bad guys! Now we are definitely no match for his army, there are only twenty-two of us left.. but we have a plan. After all, we do have some special goblin powers. You know, like being able to take over the body of a corpse. The corpse is basically a shield, even if it gets blown up we'll still be safe inside. So if we just keep jumping in corpses, we'll make it to the king. It's the perfect plan, really.

Here's what's gonna happen: My goblin friends and I are going to go to the cemetery and dig up as many bodies as possible. One-hundred should be a pretty good number. We're then going to wheel them away and stack them just outside the gates of the castle. Will people smell them? Maybe, but eh, who cares. That night, we are going to jump inside of the bodies. Twenty-two dead people are going to be walking towards the castle. You know what really scares those humans? That's right, twenty-two walking corpses. ZOMBIES! It'll be great. They'll try to kill us, yeah, but when they see that more bodies are coming and that we can't be killed, they'll just be scared and run for their lives.

Goblins in corpses

Now, once we make it in, we'll go straight to the king. Only about ten of us in corpses, though. The rest will sneak in as our regular, goblin selves and wait for the opportunity. The ten corpses are going to pretend to attack the king. BRAAAINS! It'll be hilarious. Then, when he really thinks it's all over for him, the eleven other goblins will come to the rescue! We'll "scare" the corpses off and save the day! Then we'll make the king a deal.

If he let's us back into the castle and treats us right, we'll keep those monster corpses away, but if not, we'll let them come back to finish him off! I have a feeling he will choose the first option. Well, I've got to go now, I think my twenty-one goblin friends are gathering to dig up some bodies. Wish us luck!

Author's Note: This story is based off of Twenty-Two Goblins translated by Arthur Ryder. In the original story, a king must go get a corpse from a tree. As he carries the corpse back, he notices it is talking and realizes there is a goblin inside. The goblin tells the king riddles, if the king gets the answer right, the goblin escapes and goes back to the tree, if the king gets the answer wrong he may keep walking. But, if the king knows the answer but does not say, his head will explode. So, there is really only one goblin but he tells twenty-two riddles. In my version, I made it to where there are twenty-two goblins trying to convince the king to let them back in the castle. I kept the king, the goblins, and their ability to get into a corpse but changed most everything else to make a funny little plan from one of the goblins perspectives. 

Week 4 Story: Rama, Sita, and Oz

A long time ago, there was a young boy named Rama. He was strong, brave and all the people in his village loved him. Although he was young, everyone already knew he would grow up to rule the land because of his bravery and strength. His best friend was a girl named Sita. She was the most beautiful girl in all the village and everyone knew that she would one day rule the land beside him. The two grew up together and over the years, became completely inseparable.

Many years later, it was finally time for Rama and Sita to be married and begin their life as king and queen. There was one person, though, that was jealous of the perfect life that Rama and Sita had. She was witch from a far away land who had been banished to the village that they lived. She was once the ruler of her kingdom but she was sent away by a good witch who did not want her wickedness around. Even in this new land though, the witch still had her powers. She now thought it was the perfect time to get rid of Rama and Sita for good so she could become the ruler of this new land.

One night, she went into their room while they slept, and with a wave of her wand, POOF! they vanished. She smiled a wicked smile and prepared to take over her new kingdom.

The next morning, Rama and Sita awoke startled. "Where are we?" cried Sita.

"I don't know," said Rama. "Remain calm and we will try to find our way back home."

After walking for some time, Rama and Sita came across a sign. The sign read "Welcome to OZ". As they looked around, they saw strange creatures and heard shaking in the trees. Frightened, they ran until they stumbled upon a village. In the village, there were many people, small houses, and colorful shops. They felt safe in this village.

"Where are we?" Sita asked one of the villagers.

"Why, you're in OZ!" He replied. "I believe you were sent here by a witch that we banished recently.. I'm sorry about that. We will try our best to get you home!"

After many days, Rama and Sita fell in love with the village. They decided to get married there and the villagers gave them a house of their own. Rama and Sita began to show the villagers how to get food and make bigger houses, and the villagers were very happy.

However, there was another problem beginning. The witch from their former village had a sister, and her sister was not very happy about the new guests.

"How can these strange people come and give the townspeople such hope. They may have banished my sister but I am still here, and I still rule this land!"

In the village, the sky began to turn black. The villagers ran to there houses and Rama and Sita were very afraid. Then, the witch came from the clouds, laughing a wicked laugh. The smoke covered the whole village until Rama could no longer see. By the time it cleared, he noticed that Sita was gone.

Wicked Witch

"What happened? Who was that woman?" Rama cried.

"It was the wicked witch! She has stolen your wife because she does not like to see happiness in the village!" Someone replied.

"We must get her back! What can we do? Will you fight with me?" He asked them.

"It's hopeless. Her sister was easy, but she is much to powerful to overcome. She has an army that is much larger than us!" A villager replied.

It was then that Rama remembered the creatures and the shaking trees he heard in the forest. He immediately thought of a plan. He ran to the trees and shouted at them.

"Who are you creatures! Why do you live your lives hidden in the trees?" It was then that one creature came down from the tree. Rama realized it was a winged monkey.

"We were forced to stay in the trees by the witch. She banished us from the skies or else we will be killed." the monkey replied.

"I think it is time we got rid of this witch!" Shouted Rama.

The monkeys in the trees began to shake them violently as they followed Rama. Rama ran toward the witches tower with a fleet of flying monkeys behind him, even the villagers joined him. Their numbers were great compared to the witch's. The monkeys tore through the tower and found Sita, and brought her back to the village. They then went back and demolished the witch's entire tower and left no one alive, not even the witch.

"Thank you." Said Rama. "All you needed was courage to overtake this villain. You will be rewarded!"

Sita and Rama decided that Oz was a perfect home for them. They sent the monkeys to their old village to kill the other wicked witch and take all the treasures they wanted. They remained in Oz to rule and to help the villagers build and get food. Rama and Sita lived happily ever after in the land of Oz.

Author's Note: This was a retelling of Ramayana, an epic poem from India about Rama and Sita. Rama was banished from his town because of a jealous wife of his fathers, and Sita was stolen by a demon. An ape God then helped to retrieve Sita with an army of monkeys. This story made me think of the monkeys from the Wizard of Oz, so I decided to combine the two stories. I had yet to do a combination of two different stories so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity.

Ramayana as found in Mackenzie's Indian Myth and Legend

Week 3 Story: Creation of Earth

Before there was Earth and before there was the Universe, there was only the Kingdom of Heaven where God and his angels lived. It wasn't a place you could see or visit and it wasn't a place that our minds can understand today. But God in his kingdom began to want more. He wanted a physical world and to create more souls for his kingdom, but he wanted them to have free will to choose to love him rather than to be forced to or to be born loving him like his angels.

So, God decided to create a world of souls outside of Heaven. He knew exactly how he wanted to create the souls. He wanted them to be inside of a physical body that was not immortal. After the physical body died, their souls would either go to Heaven or they would stay in the Earth he created. God created one man, Adam, and one woman, Eve.

However, God failed to know what to create as the Earth. He knew it could not be like Heaven since this was a physical world. So, he left Adam and Eve in darkness.

"What is this place?" Adam asked.

"I'm not sure," Eve replied. "But it frightens me."

As Adam and Eve looked around their new home, they became quite scared. It was dark and empty. They were simply bodies standing on a dark floor with nothing around them but complete emptiness. They began to panic and cry out to God. Quickly, God realized he needed to make a way for them to have light. It was then that God created the sun. Adam and Eve were relieved to see light and their panic began to fade.

After a couple of days, Adam and Eve began to become sick. God noticed that they had no color to their face and they simply laid all day. They even began to complain to one another of headaches. God was new to a physical body, so he quickly realized that Adam and Eve needed to nourish their bodies in order to survive in them. It was then that God created lakes and rivers, animals and delicious fruits. Adam and Eve not only now had food and water, but the world around them also became much more beautiful.

Adam and Eve

After a few more weeks, Adam and Eve met another problem. They found it difficult to sleep because of the constant light from the sun. Their eyes were tired from the light and were in need of a break. God then decided to create night. The sun would shine during the day so they could hunt and see each other, but during the night it would be dark so they could rest.

Adam and Eve were very happy about this, but they soon became quite cold during the night. They decided to work with the land to create items to keep them warm. These clothes helped them against the elements as well. Soon, Adam and Eve were thriving in their new land with free will. God then left them to their new world.

And so, this is how the Earth was created. The things we know today were not meant to punish us but to help us survive in the best way possible without being in Heaven, since we must make the choice whether we want to go there are not. If people choose to not love or follow God, they can stay in the world he created for them although it is not perfect. Only those who love him can live in his perfect kingdom.

Author's Note: In the original story of Adam and Eve, the problems of the world today are a punishment for Adam and Eve disobeying God after they were created. In my story, I wanted to show a different perspective, one that instead made the world we know today as God trying to give us the best world possible without it being Heaven. The world can't be perfect or else it would be Heaven, so instead of our world being a punishment I simply made it to where it is the way it must be in a physical world where God gives us free will. It gives it a bit of a more positive read than the world being a terrible place of punishment.

Adam and Eve from book of Genesis, The Legends of the Jews by Louis Grinzberg, and The First Book of Adam and Eve 

Story: Cupid and Psyche

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess. She was so beautiful that every man in her village wanted to be her husband. Her beauty was compared to Aphrodite and statues were erected in her honor. The princess was called Psyche. Any time she left her castle, she would be bombarded by men who wanted her and would propose to her. It was overwhelming, so she chose to spend all of her time in her room.

Her sister was also beautiful, but not nearly compared to Psyche. She had a husband and lived her life happily outside the castle without any extra attention. Psyche became very envious of her sister. She would sit at her window and watch her laugh with her husband and children. Her jealousy grew until she began to have hatred for her.

"Why must beauty come with such a price?" she would ask herself. "I have no friends, and any man who wants me wants me only for my looks. No one knows me for my true self. I watch my sister live her life happily with a man who truly loves her. It isn't fair that I must spend my life away in this castle while she walks freely!"

With this anger, Psyche prayed to the Gods for assistance."Gods, please hear my prayer. Help me escape this fate of beauty. I don't wish to have this while my sister lives happily. I can't stand to see her outside the castle while I am stuck!"

Venus, Goddess of beauty herself, normally didn't answer such prayers. But, she felt jealousy of Psyche and her beauty. She didn't like that the villagers worshiped her for it when Venus was the only one they should be worshiping. So she sent her son, Cupid, to answer Psyche's prayer. However, her plan wasn't to help her, but instead she wanted Cupid to kill her.

During the night, Psyche heard a noise by her window. Startled, she approached the window to peak out. Her room was high in the sky, so it didn't make sense that someone could be there. But when she looked out, she saw something that left her awestruck. It was a winged creature, a boy, carrying a bow. She was shocked by his beauty and knew immediately that he must be a God. The winged boy approached the window and then entered the room.

"Hello, Psyche." he said. "I am Cupid, God of love and desire. I have come to help you. My mother has heard your prayer."

"I never thought my problem would be worthy of a Gods help.. How will you help me?" she asked.

Cupid found himself struggling with his words in sight of this beauty. His intentions were to kill her, but suddenly he couldn't make himself. He knew his mother would be angry, but he now knew that he had to find another way to help Psyche.

By the next morning, Cupid and Psyche had already become great friends. They had talked all night long and Cupid now felt that he knew everything about her. He understood her hatred for her sister and felt that he had the perfect idea to end Psyche's suffering.

Suddenly, he went to the window, and began to fire arrows at the towns people. Arrows began to rain from the sky as every person was struck. At first Psyche was horrified, but then, she noticed that instead of dying; the towns people were love struck. They were suddenly filled with desire, but not for her, for her sister. Her sister was surrounded by everyone in the village and everyone was admitting their love for her. She ran from the streets into the castle.

"Cupid." Psyche whispered. "I'm free."

"Yes." he answered. "You're free to leave this place."

And with that, Cupid flew away back to his home. He never forgot Psyche, though, and visited her often. Their friendship became strong and eventually they were married. Venus, who originally wanted her dead, was still happy to welcome such a beauty into her family and Psyche was granted immortality, to live happily ever after with Cupid. Her sister remained in the castle for all of her life, with her husband and children, too afraid of the towns people to ever leave.

Cupid and Psyche

Author's Note: In the original story of Cupid and Psyche, Psyche is also a beautiful girl and she is doomed to a bad marriage from an oracle. She weds to a strange man who doesn't show his face (Cupid), and although she is happy with him, her sisters get jealous of her wealth and remind her that the oracle said she was doomed. So Psyche plans to kill Cupid, but as she shines a light on him she sees how beautiful he is and she realizes she loves him. While admiring him she accidentally burns him and he leaves her, angry that she betrayed him. The story ends by Psyche being put through difficult tasks by Venus, Cupids mother, who hates Psyche because of her beauty. In the end, Psyche passes all the tasks and is granted immortality with Cupid to be with him forever. In this story, I eliminated the oracle but instead made her feel like she was in her own prison and instead of her sisters being jealous of her, I made her jealous of her sister. This makes Psyche into somewhat of a villain because she wants to plot against her sister. I didn't want to change the love that Cupid and Psyche have because I really like that part of the story, but I wanted it to be an easier love, one where there isn't so much turmoil but instead happiness between the two from beginning to end. I decided to make the sister have a sad ending because it shows that Cupid would rather strike a whole town with arrows than kill Psyche, and it shows a more wicked side of Psyche that the original story did not. 

Original story: Cupid and Psyche by Apuleius 

Week 1 Story: One Too Many Men

Three wise men of Gotham

Went to sea in a bowl:

And if the bowl had been stronger,

My song would have been longer.

(Three Wise Men of Gotham, Wikimedia Commons)

There once were three friends who lived their whole lives in a small town. One day, the men noticed that they were getting older and they still had not left their village to explore other parts of the world. They began to feel like their time was running out and that they needed to find a way to get across the sea to travel the world, but they didn't have the money to buy passage on a ship. 

"Come on men, we are wise. We can figure out a way to get across this ocean," the oldest man said.

"But how? We have no tools to build a boat, no strong legs for swimming, and no money for passage!" one man replied. 

"Hmm...I know," said the youngest man, "We can gather clay and mud from the recent rains, and we will build a bowl for us to float across." 

The men got busy finding clay to form their bowl. After many weeks, they had finally built a bowl big enough for two men to fit in, but they became very tired and eager to get across.

"I feel like I am getting older by the second," the oldest man complained. "I think we can manage to all fit in this bowl if we try."

"Yes, we should. I can't wait any longer to get out of this village," the youngest man replied.

And so the men piled into their small bowl and set out to sea. As they floated out into deep sea, their bowl began to crack from the weight of the three men. The men began to panic, and the two men quickly shoved the youngest man out of the bowl; but it was too late. The bowl cracked and crumbled from the weight, and the men never made it to the other side of the sea. 

Author's Note: It's clear from the rhyme that the bowl the men went to sea in wasn't strong enough and it sank, but I wanted to give a reason why they were in the bowl to begin with, where they were going, and why the bowl didn't hold up. I feel that it gives the rhyme a moral; be patient, don't be too eager.

Bibliography: "Three Wise Men of Gotham" The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang