For this writing assignment, I chose to write a poem (three stars). However, I was also inspired by another post (also three stars) which used a random word generator as a basis of the content. I decided to do a blend of these topics, taking ten words from the random word generator and attempting to use one word in each line of a poem. This was a bit tricky due to some of the words I was given but ultimately, due to the interpretive nature of poetry, it was quite freeing. Instead of literal meaning, I focused more on the rhythm of words, alliteration, etc. However, I do think there could be potential meaning in what I came up with, I simply don’t intend to set it in stone with my own interpretation.

My randomly generated words were:

1. blame
2. destiny
3. subway
4. charade
5. hills
6. even
7. paralyzed
8. adopter
9. kingdom
10. flimsy

Here’s what I came up with:

An early adopter
Of any charade
That made him feel even with God
A spiritual subway
With no one to blame
A kingdom even he would applaud
Flimsy fickle fingers
Paralyzed in fear
His destiny awaits him
Beyond rolling hills of tragedy

For this assignment I had to go to this Random Word Generator site and generate 10 random words and use those words to create a short story along with using animals as the characters. I thought this assignment was going to be rather easy, but that wasn’t the case. I had a little difficulty with it, given that I’m not really a creative person. But I did give it my best shot. The ten words that I was given by the random word generator are: Agent, reject, exclude, kid, fault, end, cutting, proposal, category, and obstacle. Which are also bolded throughout my short story to show proof of usage.

Short Story With Random Words and Animal(s) (3 stars)

It was a warm summer afternoon in Rio de Janeiro, Secret Agent Lion was training his students Vulture, Bear, Monkey, and Giraffe to be secret agents. Bear and Monkey were the two best agents in training, Vulture was a hard head that rejected most of Secret Agent Lions orders, and Giraffe was really clumsy which didn’t help him at all. They all got along pretty well, except for that they would exclude Giraffe from any outside activities they would do together. Giraffe didn’t like that, so he went to Secret Agent Lion and told him about what was going on. Lion didn’t appreciate that at all. So, Lion called everyone together to talk about the situation. Once everyone arrived, Lion said, “Everyone should be getting along and hanging out together. What is the big deal?” Vulture was the first one to speak up saying, “Giraffe is so big, he’s always running into every obstacle in sight.” Giraffe shot back right away saying, “It’s not my fault that I am so tall, and I can’t really see where everything is. I am just trying to learn how to be a secret agent just like you guys. It just comes a little harder for me.” The next thing that happened was Vulture and Giraffe started getting into it and had to be broken up by Secret Agent Lion. Once Lion got the fight under control, he told Vulture that he needed to stop acting like a kid. That in order to be a secret agent he needed to put an end to the childish games and leave Giraffe alone. This line of work wasn’t for someone that didn’t take things seriously. 

Later, after a long day of training the group along with Secret Agent Lion went out to grab a bite to eat. As they were waiting in line, Vulture was cuttingin front of so many people, but Secret Agent Lion didn’t seem to notice. Well, that was until Giraffe ratted out Vulture. Lion then grabbed Vulture out of the line and started yelling at him. He said, “There are two categories when it comes to secret agents. Those two categories are 1. The secret agents that actually make it and 2. The secret agents that try but can’t seem to follow orders and become villains. Now here is a proposal for you Vulture. Do you want to learn to be the best secret agent? If so, you need to start acting like it, and if you don’t, you’re out of here. The next time that you are bullying Giraffe or doing anything that is mischievous then you are gone. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I will not tolerate this any longer.” Vulture wasn’t having any of that, he realized that he didn’t want to be a secret agent anymore and stormed out and was never seen again.

The task is to create a short story or poem using 10 random words. Go to random word generator and change it to generate ten words then select “Generate Random Words”. From there, choose an animal and find a way to add that animal along with your ten random words into your short story. Your story can be about anything so feel free to get creative.

Assignment Bank-Writing Assignments

I know this was supposed to be a short story, but I got a little bit carried away… (just a warning: this is very cheesy!)

The Secret of Teddy Graham

“Agent Squirrel, we have a mission for you. The Big Bad Wolf is at it again. He has been threatening to blackmail the executive of Teddy Grahams, but we do not know what information he has. We also do not know why the Big Bad Wolf is threatening to blackmail Mr. Graham. Some of us believe he is just going insane. Well, are you up for your mission, Agent Squirrel?”

“Ready as always!” Sammy A. Squirrel replied before quickly leaving the room. What critical information does the Big Bad Wolf have that Mr. Graham doesn’t want everyone to know?

Agent Squirrel ran through the park and toward the Teddy Graham building. It wasn’t easy being a super secret agent squirrel in the city.

“Squirrel coming through!” he shouted as he ran down the sidewalk. “Watch those hooves!” he exclaimed as he was coming up behind a horse. The horse slowed down and looked on the ground by her legs to see a familiar squirrel approaching her.

“Sammy! What a pleasant surprise seeing you! It’s been a little while, but I can see you’re still the same hothead.” she chuckled.

“Sorry, Naomi. I’m in a rush. I’ll call you later, and we can catch up?”

“Seriously, Squirrel? Why are you in a rush? You’re the most simple, boring, and bland person I know.”

“At least I’m not ugly,” he remarked. Naomi snorted at this comment.

Agent Squirrel finally entered the building and rushed across the room to catch the elevator. There was a young raccoon in the elevator with him. To Sammy’s surprise, the raccoon wept uncontrollably on the ride up to the 100th floor. Every now and then, the raccoon would look over at Sammy and wait for him to ask what was wrong. Sammy sighed and turned to the raccoon.

“Why are you crying?” he asked, even though he didn’t really care. The young raccoon sniffled and wiped his tears from his face.

“I-I-I…” Sammy rolled his eyes. The raccoon continued, “I found what looked like a bearskin rug in the boss’s office.”

Sammy didn’t understand what was so important about that. “And what about it?”

“I think Mr. Graham is not a bear, Mr. …?” The raccoon waited for the squirrel to fill in his name.

“Don’t worry about it. What makes you think that?”

“I saw him in his office, or I’m guessing it was him. It didn’t look anything like a bear. His hands, legs, body, head, you name it were misshapen. He also didn’t have any hair! It was an appalling sight to see.”

“Okay, little raccoon… so if what you’re saying is true… Mr. Teddy Graham isn’t a bear, but a hideous, bald, monstrous creature pretending to be a bear?”

“Umm… yes,” the raccoon whispered, realizing how crazy it sounded. The elevator dinged and the doors opened to the 100th floor.

“Thanks, raccoon. You may not be as insane as you think.” Sammy A. Squirrel said as he left the raccoon in the elevator.

Teddy Graham sat quietly working in his office when Agent Squirrel knocked on his door.

“Sammy! It’s good to see you! Thanks for coming on such short notice.” Mr. Graham stood up from his chair and offered his hand to shake with the agent. Sammy dismissed his gesture with a simple nodd.

“So, as you heard, Wolf–” the executive began to explain, but Sammy put up his paw to quiet him.

“I know all about Wolf. I need to know more about you. What do you want to keep hidden from everyone?” Mr. Graham began to sweat and look around his office nervously.

“What do you mean?” the executive rubbed his head, and his skin seemed to shift a little.

“I was talking to one of your employees in the elevator. He was telling me something about a bearskin rug and a bald monster in your office earlier. I was just wondering what your thoughts are on that.”

“Okay, okay. You got me! I’m not really a bear! I’m not a monster, though,” Mr. Graham slipped off the bearskin to reveal his true self, “I’m human, okay?” Sammy backed away in disbelief.

“Is the Big Bad Wolf actually going to blackmail you, or is that a lie, too?”

“He did threaten to blackmail me, but I think I’m just going to suck it up and tell everyone the truth.”

“That’s a… brave choice. I’m sure the agency can help you find the best way to reveal yourself… or just stay a bear, if that’s what you really want.”

“i just wanted to share my idea of graham crackers shaped like Teddy bears with the world. It shouldn’t matter if I’m a human or an animal.”

Sammy respected Mr. Teddy Graham’s decision and allowed the human to brainstorm the best way to share his news.

Although Agent Squirrel was expecting more crime fighting, secret spy drama on this mission, he sure got some drama. Who knew the idea of eating graham crackers shaped like bears didn’t come from a bear?

About this Story

I know that it seems really long, and it could be too long for a short story, but a lot of it is dialogue. Hopefully, you enjoyed the story! I could have stopped it once I had written all ten of the words and included the animal of my choice, but I just had to complete the story. The story does leave some fun questions unanswered like “what happened to the humans?” and “why Teddy Grahams?” I can honestly say I do not have answers to those questions.

When I was writing this story, I had the secret agent theme in mind. This is not really the best spy story ever, but I do like the plot twist (I hope it wasn’t too weird, though.) I literally just followed my mind when I was writing this story, and I really love how it turned out in the end. It is pretty crazy, but this assignment reminded me that my imagination is still active in my brain. I just need to “walk the dog” as my creative writing teacher told us to do when I was in high school.

This assignment was really fun (I’m probably going to say this about all of the assignments). I did not expect myself to write as much as I did. It was definitely a great way to destress and get creative at the end of a long day. I learned that I should probably write more, even I don’t end up sharing my work with anyone. I also learned that it is hard to stop writing a story once you get one started.

Bill the turtle was on a mission to rob a bank. However, if he was going to successfully pull of the heist, he would need some help. Bill decided to enlist the help of a rat names Ben. Ben was the perfect partner because he had access to a pistol. The owner of the house he was squatting at had one, and he was able to successfully steal it. Bill decided that they were going to rob the bank on a Thursday night, Ben thought that they should rob it on a Monday afternoon but Bill had the authority so Thursday night was when everything would go down. Thursday night came and it was time to set the plan in motion. Bill had Ben tape a hacksaw to his shell, and the two of them got inside and to the back of the bank unseen. Once they reached the safe they realized a hacksaw wasn’t going to help them open it. The safe wasn’t locked with an old-fashioned lock kids in school use to lock their lockers, but a code that had to be entered on a electronic keypad. Bill tried to type in the correct code, but nothing worked. After the third try an alarm began to sound. Ben and Bill looked at each other, their hearts racing. “RUN!” said Ben, and he took off running. Bill, however, was not as fast as Ben and was caught by the police.

In this weeks DS106 assignments, I will be doing Short Story With Random Words And Animal(S). This assignment requires you to go to this website to generate 10 different words while choosing an animal and creating a story or poem out of … Continue reading →

I spent a long time sifting through the assignment bank, trying to pick which assignment to complete. I chose to complete this writing assignment titled “With Random words and an animal” to test my creativity. In order to complete this task I first had to visit a site that randomly chose 10 words that I would be required to use within my story. The words that were chosen for me were: bronze, holiday, jewel, sector, abnormal, horses, speed, terror, raven, and ballroom. Next, I had to choose an animal to incorporate into my short story. Taking into consideration my 10 random words, the animal I chose was a black raven.

The Raven’s Race

By: Natalie Motley

Once upon a bright blue sky, there was a black raven who flew and swooped and cackled all day, every day. This black raven lived in a large tree near the land of the great royal family of Zomania. The black raven’s name was Zorro. Zorro visited the farmlands of the royal family daily and was very good friends with the horses who lived in the stables. Zorro and the horses played and talked with each other every day. But, the workers in the farmland sector did not like Zorro because they believed he distracted the horses from their duties.  So, the workers tried to catch Zorro daily but eventually gave up because Zorro was known for his abnormal ability for speed. Consequently, Zorro continued to visit and spend time with his friends in the stables.

Once a year Zomania celebrates their independence day and this special day was approaching quickly. Each year Zomania adds a new jewel to their special flag that is hung in the castle of the royal family. The special day was approaching quickly and all of the workers in each sector of the castle were working diligently at their respective tasks to have the castle prepared for all of the guests. The day before the special event, all was set and prepared. Zorro flew in and out, down and up, all through the castle gathering information about the events to take place and the guests that were to show. He always relayed his newfound information to his stable buddies. The special jewel that was to be added to the flag this year was imported from the exotic island of Tormania. It was said to be an extremely expensive, precious, and rare jewel of a brilliant purple color. As Zorro’s excitement continued to build, the special day finally arrived! All of the guests arrived in their exquisite automobiles and elegant outfits. Zorro could not stop flying around, listening to all the guests’ compliments and news from other lands.

As the night drew on, the official ceremony of Zomania’s Independence Day was to begin. The official ceremony was the practice of the royal family placing the new jewel onto the Zomania flag.  As such, all guests entered the ballroom where the great Zomania flag hung with the new jewel set beneath it ready to be placed onto the flag. But, as the royal family approached to where the jewel was supposed to be terror spread through the entire room. The jewel was missing!

When Zorro saw this he was horrified! He had to do something! He retraced all of his steps of the day, reviewed all of his new information he had learned, and visited his friends in the stables to see if they had noticed anything unordinary. His horse buddies did remind him that a worker had been in the stables doing something with the hay stacks. But that was not the unusual part, the unusual part was that, that specific worker was assigned to the ballroom sector. So, Zorro put the information together and remembered that image of the worker messing with the haystack. Zorro took off with his abnormal ability for speed and picked up a small pointed bronze spear with his beak and searched the hay pile until he found the missing jewel! He flew as fast as he could back to the ballroom with the jewel and laid it in the royal families’ hands then flew directly to the worker that had committed the fraud and pecked at him and as he tried to escape. Other workers then caught the criminal worker and the truth came out! That worker had stolen the flag’s new jewel and was to be put in jail. The royal family was so grateful of Zorro’s speedy ability and detective work that they created a holiday just for him titled “Zorro Day” meaning the Raven with speed!

This assignment pushed my creativity and reminded me how important words can be. Words, randomly chosen, can ignite one’s imagination and push one to create a fun story that may make others interested and allow them also to become inspired by words and the power they have. Leading them to create their own stories and bring joy to others.