In a land filled to the brim with magic and wonder, it was no surprise that some creatures found themselves more well-adjusted than others. One such creature was an incredibly intelligent echidna named Go. He was a simple mammal that spent most of his time combing his mohawk and doing pushups. Whenever he wasn’t studying to control the arcane, that is. Whether by coincidence or fate, one day Go met a peculiar fellow that seemed to be in need. The man was hung low over a  bench as if hungover or nauseous, whille flowers in full bloom magically sprouted around him. In the man’s hand was a bronze ball, smooth and cold to the touch. What Go soon realized that the sick man was a messenger for someone important. He was apparently delivering a ransom for that important person’s daughter who’d been kidnapped the night prior. It only seemed logical for Go to check on the man and see if he was well. Fortunately for the both of them, the man was. He introduced himself as Clyde, a psuedonym he used because his real name was apparently too addictive. Having forged a new bond of friendship, Clyde and Go sat for a moment while the former waited for the poison that sicked him to clear from his system. It was an odd magical brew that was meant to kill him slowly by inducing vomiting but instead made wildlife grow. After resting up, the two decided to set off to finish Clyde’s mission. Until a large, black bird crossed their path…. (to be continued)
The animal I have chosen is a Kangaroo
As Patricia walked blindly through the unfamiliar streets, her dress covered in a crust of dust, she couldn’t help but wonder where she had left her guidebook, and how she would find her way out of the city. She could hear her mother’s words echoing in her head, warning her everything in her life would go haywire if she ever left out on her own to the big city. Her mother sheltered her too much, and she was determined to prove her words wrong. She would change her mother’s perception of her as a helpless child, she would not call for help, she would not admit defeat, and she would finish the trip on her own.
As she wandered the city looking for the bridge back into the country, she felt content in her endeavor. Maybe the trip hadn’t gone perfectly, but she had a lovely time at the theater last night, and loved every minute of spending her first night in the city. She giggled to herself as she remembered the silly kangaroo from the play, tripping all over himself and causing so much mischief. The kangaroo would get into the explorers food rations and he’d get so mad and yell at the beast, but they would always end their days as friends. She saw parallels of her own relationship with her mother in that…
As the songs of the sparrow ushered out the calm hush of the early morning time, she rounded a corner and realized that the giant wall she was staring at must border the outside of the city. A rush of excitement fell over her as she realized she had but to follow this wall until it eventually lead her to the bridge out of the city. She would relish her walk back home, down that old familiar country road, knowing that she tried something new, challenged herself, and managed it all without anyone else’s help.
I chose this exercise because I enjoy creative writing, and I relish the chance when I am able to do it. I tried to sign up for a creative writing course last semester, but I didn’t meet the pre-requirements, so challenges like this take the sting out of that a bit.
When I got my list of words, guidebook was the first word I latched onto. I immediately associated it with blindly, then being lost and needing a guidebook. A picture of a young man lost in the city came to mind. I glanced up at the words again and saw dress, so a quick gender swap later and I was establishing my female character and the backdrop of the city with dress and crust. I knew I would need another character for warning, so I added the mother and tried to knock out a few other words in her actual warning. I suppose I could have used it on a sign somewhere, but I didn’t feel like I would get as much utility out of it. Also, the city a pictured was more rustic and the time period I imagined was maybe a couple hundred years ago, and I didn’t want to spoil my city with signs and whatnot.
Originally, I forgot to use Kangaroo until I was writing this part of the assignment (I just realized it, so I’m writing this as if I’ve already gone back and added it). I think it should be easy to go back and make the kangaroo a comedy relief element in the play, as I can’t think of anywhere else it would fit in this context.
I’m pretty happy with the overall work. I feel like it tells a complete story in a very short space, and those are the stories I enjoy most. I’m a huge fan of Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, but I have a very hard time reading the books. They get so bogged down in detail that they can become boring, and I feel like they hold your hand too much by describing the exact shade of green on the grass. I like to make a story my own by adding in those details myself in my mental picture of the scene. Because of this, I try to stay away from great detail in my writings (ironic, because this portion is getting super detailed).
Being a life-long writer, this seemed quite the enjoyable exercise. Then I saw my selection of words: cruelty, humanlike, align, hotly, water, regret, helicopter, dope, cursed, decade. Great stuff, right? Tough to make something like that very funny. Anyway, here’s my sad little short story.
A Glass of Water
“Am I cursed?” the little girl asked her father.
“Of course not,” he answered. “It’s just the decade we’re living in, honey.”
“I wish we could just get in a helicopter and fly away from all this,” she meekly replied.
For such a young girl to witness these atrocious acts; the cruelty of the Gods sees no end.
“I regret taking you here, little girl. I’m sorry. I’m a dope.”
“Don’t feel bad, daddy…” she said, drifting off in sleep. She quietly murmured, “Water, please?”
The father smiled. “Of course, baby.”
He wandered downstairs, thinking to himself with incessant guilt. The shadows from the stair railings bended across the room in eerie, humanlike patterns. Walking into the kitchen, he opened a cupboard and pulled down a glass. He turned to the sink, lifted the handle, and aligned the cup under the pouring faucet. The glass overflowed in the man’s hand as he stood there, thinking to himself staring hotly in the distance with anger and despair. The sink continued running, the man continued staring.
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.  [Note: I chose a horse named Ralph, the king’s “gallant steed.”]
10 Random Words: cherry, bubble, twelve, southern, dinner, blaze, goldfish, bomb, agonizing, king (words are bold and in italics)
Credit photo Marcia Milner-Brage, Flickr
Once upon a time, there was a handsome young kingnamed Frank, who had no queen. King Frank decided that he would marry the woman who could win his heart through his stomach, that is, cook him the best food he’d ever eaten. Now, dear reader, you must understand that this would be quite a talented lady, because King Frank had eaten many fine meals created by many chefs in his life!
The king sent out a decree that all of the women of the kingdom must present their best dish to him at the castle, beginning the first day of the month. One by one the fair maidens brought their finest food. Every imaginable dish from something the simple Southern Fried Chicken to a dessert as fantastic as cherry jubilee set afire before his eyes!  (It was quite a blaze, dear reader, it burned the official taster’s eyebrows!)
Photo credit Mishari Alreshaid, Flickr
The feasting went on for twelve months, and King Frank thought that all of the food was very good, but nothing impressed him. All the eating became quite agonizing, so one day the King decided to stop the contest to ride across the countryside on his gallant steed, Ralph. King Frank wished to ride alone, unrecognized, so he didn’t wear his royal robes, nor have his knights accompany him. Together, Frank and Ralph, galloped through the countryside, looking for the one perfect food.
One day, Frank came upon a fair maiden picking apples in an orchard, near a cottage. Frank plucked a perfect apple from high off of one tree, dismounted Ralph, and offered the apple to her. She turned to accept the fruit, and smiled at Frank with crystal blue eyes that twinkled. He thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen! They walked through the cool of the evening among the trees. He talked about his horse, Ralph, and she talked about her pet goldfish, Bubble. Frank was enchanted.
It was late in the day, and Frank hadn’t eaten all day.  “Tell me your name,” Frank asked gently.
Credit Photo Cassie Lee, Flickr
“Amelia,” she responded. He thought about his contest, and asked Amelia if she planned to cook dinner. She laughed, her eyes sparkling again, “You know, the King held a contest to find a queen who was the best cook in the land. I couldn’t even try because I don’t cook at all! The last time I tried to warm soup it was a bomb!” Then, she reached into her basket, and offered him an apple.  “Take this. It’s the finest apple you’ll find anywhere.” The fruit was indeed the sweetest, most crisp apple he’d ever eaten, and he was delighted.
There and then, in the middle of an apple orchard, King Frank got down on one knee, revealed his identity, and proposed to the fair Amelia. She was surprised and overjoyed! Amelia said yes, and as you might expect,…
The last Collaborative Character Media Assignments I completed this week was called, “Short Story With Random Words And Animal(s).” The instructions were 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.”
Because we had to have collaborative assignments this week, I decided to base this story around Spencer’s seven character story he created during “writing week.” I’ve gotten to know this story very well, so it will be fun to work with.
(btw I totally cheated and put one of the words as my title, because I had no where else to fit it into the story…shh, don’t tell)
These are my ten words that I was given:
Now for the story, written from Donny’s point of view:
[worth 3 stars]
Jonny wanted to take me out to a club tonight. He is obsessed with going out on the town, and more importantly a fanatic of the ladies. He is always trying to drag me along to those intimate clubs with the mood lighting and sultry singing…not really my thing. Jonny is a wonderful friend, and has been my sidekick for many years now, but can be a bit egocentric when it comes to our relationship. He knows I’ve been through some rough times lately, yet he continues to invite me to things only he enjoys.
Jonny and I met a while back. Probably, five or six years ago now. He was a federal agent when we first had run-ins. Nothing fancy or spy like, but he investigated insurance frauds and impostors for the feds. Since then he’s been canned. I’m still not sure for what reason, but knowing Jonny it probably had something to do with his pesky gambling habits.
*An hour later*
Jonny and I just arrived at the club. I called it. It’s just like I said it would be. Smoke filled, moody, not your typical cheery club. The only good thing about this rat hole is the cabaret singer. Rita Smith, had a harp-like voice. Almost like an angel. The voice accompanied her looks. She definitely captured every man’s attention in the room. She was stunningly beautiful and her voice just carried for miles.
I decided to complete the Short Story With Random Words and Animal(s) writing assignment because it seemed like an assignment that is well suited to this week’s requirement of using multiple characters in my assignments. I was able to create a story in a word document using the first ten words I was given. Based on these words, I was inspired to create a new case for the Steadfast Sleuths following their radio show adventure and I wanted to involve the entire group so I used more dialogue than I usually do. Creating a follow up adventure for the Steadfast Sleuths was a great way for me to figure out how Shelley would interact with people close to her and gave me a chance to enhance her character as a whole.
The ten random words that I used in this story are bolded, as well as the animal:
After closing the door to their car, Sasha, Sarah, and Shelley walked over to the crime scene to put together what had happened earlier that night. There was a man in the alleyway, probably in his late twenties, lying face down on the pavement with a bloodied head and disheveled clothes. Sarah noticed the object lying alongside the man’s head and said, “It looks like a loose brick fell from one of these buildings, bounced off of his head, and killed him”. “Perhaps,” commented Shelley, “but let’s look more closely at what the man has on his person before jumping to conclusions”.
Not content with their first assumption the three women carefully examined the contents of the man’s adjustable knapsack and pants pockets. “I’ve found something you might want to look at,” exclaimed Sasha. In her hand, she held a small business card designed with a raster graphic designed black cat and the text CosmicCats, a local crime gang that had been growing in notoriety within the last few months. “So they’re involved with this,” Shelley remarked while slowly walking away and starting to brood. The Steadfast Sleuths had taken smaller cases concerning the Cosmic Cats before, and knew that if they accepted one involving murder, there was no telling what the gang could do in retaliation to their snooping around. Shelley turned to her friends, “Well, are you up to the challenge?” she said while wearing a small, sly grin. “Of course,” responded Sasha, “We haven’t run away from a case yet and we won’t start now, right Sarah?” Sarah sighed and proclaimed, “I swear, we all must have some unhealthy addiction to danger”, and a small smile crept onto her face, “and we’ll just keep on feeding it. Let’s get started.”
3 stars: I worked with July Laszakovits and we combined not only our characters, but also our assignments. We created a story map to depict the traveling that occurs during this story assignment that includes 10 random words and an animal of our choice. The ten words and the animal are underlined (the first time their used) in the story.
Eden Waz after learning and rectifying the death of her husband by murdering the man who took his life, was fed up with bad men. She kept hearing on the news the stories of the robberies and murders occurring in Andorra, a small country in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain. She had been researching and trying to figure out who it was and how she could stop it. She read online of a famous Scientist who isolated a poison from the Aconite flower and set out from Philly to New York to seek this Scientists help.
After arriving in New York City, she finally met the woman she had been waiting for, Isabelle Franklin. The women grabbed lunch at the Irving Mill Restaurant and discuss Ms. Franklin’s techniques. However, Edie was unable to be discrete and Isabelle quickly picked up on her intentions. Fortunately for Edie, Isabelle also deplored the freaky violence that was ensuing in Andorra and pledged to help her. She even offered to pay for Edie’s flight since she could afford that and more. Edie, already gracious for her help, thought this was a bit excessive, but she accepted the offer as she remembered the dwindling state of her bank account. So the two set off and flew into France, the closest airport to their destination.
They spent a few nights in France researching the crimes. This serial robber and murderer had killed 31 people already, at least that was how many bodies had been found so far. The women were even more appalled when they went closer to the source to gather info. It seemed that someone had been going to great lengths in attempt to cover up details of the killings, but some information still surfaced.
Huge craters were left in the hearts of the families of the victims, especially those who were set up to find their loved ones. Edie and Isabelle wanted this to end. They had deduced that the murderer was royalty, for who else could have access to the poison from the blubber of the lilotee fish, a rare and expensive fish found only in remote bay off Madagascar. The poison was not meant to kill the victims but to paralyze them, so they could still see and feel what was happening to them, their slow and agonizing dismemberment, but nothing could be done about it. That’s why these murders had to end.
Upon their sleuthing around the kingdom in Andorra, Edie and Isabelle came across one of the Prince Jasper’s mistresses. She knew what he had been doing, but feared for her own life as well as her young son’s if she should tell anyone of it. Isabelle, offering the young woman and her son safety and an escape back to America to work in her home, was able to coax the information from her.
With the help of Andrea, the mistress, the women were able to come up with a plan to end the murders– with one final one.
Andrea who could not bring herself to do it, snuck Edie into the Prince’s home and showed her what to do. Isabelle had injected the Actonite poison into the bedtime snack of the Prince, who every night engorged himself with mini-franks and horseradish. Edie carried the snack up to the Prince, pretending to be the newly hired help. After the Prince had eaten about half the platter of food, she told him that he was caught, and he was done. But this wasn’t enough. She wanted him to feel the pain of everyone he had hurt. So, she unveiled every cloaked mirror in the narcissists bedroom. And made him look into the reflection of his own eyes as the poison slowly took effect.
The poison of the flower being nearly untraceable was not found in the Prince’s system. And the lack of heirs to the throne caused the monarchy to crumble. Edie, Isabelle, Andrea, and her son returned to the US with clear consciouses, but heavy hearts.
Edie walked up to the bar. A deflated balloon blew in the cool night air is the rain splattered down around her. She heard the music still playing inside, the type of audio she didn’t want to hear. She heard a scream and it was halting. It sounded like an animal but she knew it was not of that kind. She decided she needed to find the source. She walked towards the building next-door and suddenly a bloodyCanary flew right by her face. This freaked her out and although she knew it was optional she decided to continue looking to find the source of the scream. The ad on building next-door was for a rich chocolate cake covered in decadence. She wished she could be eating that right now instead of heading inside the slightly ajar door that should’ve been locked. As she walked inside she stepped in something wet, but it was not the same when is outside. She turned on the light and noticed that it was not rain, but it was biological, it was blood. And right in the middle of the room, on a pedestal was an open canary cage.
Is this assignment because it looked really fun and sort of like a challenge and because it seems like something I could actually relate to my character.
Using the website, I got these 10 words:
Fiery predator jackknife defect modern arms bird harmonic distribution odd
My animal, Tiger.
Now onto the short story.
Marcus was walking through the Asian jungle in China. He was on a quest to find a harmonic bird so he can record it for his own personal collection of modern birds. Some people would say it odd way to spend their time, however Marcus didn’t really care what people thought of him. One day, will looking for birds, he ran into a Tiger. The fiery predator was hungry and saw Marcus as dinner. Marcus brought out his jackknife and slowly backed away from the Tiger. The tiger began to chase Marcus. Marcus didn’t have enough distance to get a way from the tiger. He tried anyway. Marcus ran as fast as he could, but realized the tiger was on his tail. Marcus decided to climb a tree to defect from the tiger. As he climbed his arms eventually got tired rested on a branch. The tiger gave up a walk away. As Marcus turned to the right, he saw a great distribution of harmonic birds. He can finally finish is personal collection.
