Story: Isis the Scorpion Tamer

She felt faint. Her legs felt weak. Her feet screamed in pain. Her back ached, but yet she carried on. Isis felt as if her and Horus had been walking for year. It had been a long search for Osiris's remains and yet their journey yielded no results. Set was still after them and was relentless in his efforts to find them and imprison them so that they may not carry on with their search. Ra the sun god knew that Horus and Isis's lives were in trouble and thus he sent down seven scorpions to protect the queen and her son. Ra knew the scorpions would be fiercely protective of the mother and son, however he had failed to train them in how to serve as security. Therefore, Ra had sent down seven large arachnids that were powerful and unruly.

At first Isis was eternally grateful that Ra had taken the time to consider their safety and send the beasts to protect her and Horus. However, that feeling of gratefulness quickly turned into disdain. Isis and Horus came upon a small house and upon knocking on the door, they met the woman of the house, with whom they tried to convince to let them stay if only of one night. The woman refuted their request over and over and was joined at the door by her son who was around the same age as Horus. The scorpions saw the young boy and attacked him with their stingers. The mother wailed at the sight of her sons murder and Isis felt those cries deep in her heart, for she two knew the grief of losing a loved one. Isis sang a magical prayer over the boy and, at once, his breath was restored.

One of the guard scorpions

Isis apologized to the mother for the trouble they had caused, but in repayment for her sons life being reinstated, she allowed Isis and Horus to stay with them. The next day, Isis watched as Horus played outside the house with the boy. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the army of scorpions waiting and watching on the side of the cottage. She watched as they inched closer and closer to the two boys until finally, once lunged and stung Horus dead. Isis wailed and screamed as she ran outside to her fallen child. She tried to sing her magical prayer but alas it was of no use. She prayed to Ra to save her son since it was his doing that the scorpions were so wild and untrainable Ra, hearing her prayers, restored Horus and Isis embraced him tightly.

Isis had decided she had enough of the scorpions and their disorderly behavior. The next day she went outside and went to where the scorpions lay sleeping. She conjured a magical whip and then awoke the scorpions with a loud crack. They awoke at once with their stingers ready but Isis anticipated this and cracked the whip on one of the scorpions tails. It shrieked and at the sound of its cries, the other scorpions put their stingers down and held close to the ground, lest they upset Isis and suffer the same consequence. Within a few weeks, Isis had the scorpions trained to obey her every command. They served as great protectors against all the evils that Set tried to send her and Horus's way. Isis felt safe to continue her journey with her son in search of her dear husband Osiris's remains.

Isis and her son Horus

Bibliography:
Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907).

Author's Note:
I chose to re-write two stories and combine them together with my own twist at the end. I combined The Death of Osiris with The Journey of Isis since the two stories flowed together so well. I liked that Isis was strong and could defend herself and her son so I wanted to channel that strength all the way to the end of the story. It made more sense in my mind that she was able to train the scorpions to help her instead of them being rouge and un controllable. I tried to keep the tone of my story similar to that of the original story. I also changed the timeline so that Horus was already born and somewhat older when Isis and him stumble upon the house of the woman and her son. I felt like it made it more relatable to Isis when the scorpion stung the woman's boy because she would have had a son around that age. 

Story: Genie vs Genie

No, of course he was not jealous of him. It wasn't like Aladdin didn't chose him too. They were a team... they were a pair... they were brothers. The Genie of the Ring repeated this mantra to himself over and over as he sat trapped inside his little ring. His brother, The Genie of the Lamp, spent much more time out in the real world than he spent cramped up in his tiny lamp. Aladdin always ran first to rub the lamp when he needed or desired anything, which left the poor Genie of the Ring alone majority of the time, sitting around wondering why he hadn't been chose to be the special one the master favored.

From the moment Aladdin walked into that dimly lit cave, Genie R. had a gut feeling that his brother would be chosen before him and preferred over him when the master realized the power he had stumbled upon. Through all of their past lives, Genie L. had always been the masters pet and was able to exercise his powers more frequently than Genie R. would ever dream of. Even when Genie L. spoke out against their master Aladdin, refusing to fulfill his request because it had been planted in his wife's mind by an evil magician, Aladdin did not scold or chastise him. Instead, contrary to what many masters would have done, Aladdin listened and took to heart Genie L.'s words of insight. There was even a whole three week span where Aladdin lost his ring under his bed and Genie R. was sure he would not be found again until the palace crumbled and a new master found him. Alas, Genie R. was not so lucky and was eventually found and was continually ignored.

One day, while Aladdin was in his court listening to the grievances of the common folk, Genie R. was sitting quietly within his ring prison that rested in a bowl on the side table next to the thrown. A impoverish family came before Aladdin and asked if there was any way he could help with their financial situation. While Aladdin left the chamber with the parents to go discuss with his advisors what they were capable of doing, the children were left to explore the visitation hall. The daughter 'oohed' and 'awed' at all the beautiful sculptures and paintings while the son ran all around the large chamber. He eventually found the ring in the dish next to Aladdin's chair and when his sister wasn't looking, he pocketed it. When the parents returned, the family left to think over Aladdin's proposal.

The family arrived home and the boy ran to his room and began playing with the ring. He ended up releasing Genie R. and was surprised to see such a massive being exit such a small object. Immediately, Genie R. was aware he had been taken whether by mistake or accident from Aladdin's chamber. He sighed aloud and merely assumed Aladdin would be thrilled to no longer have to worry about dealing with him. However, within the hour, Aladdin showed up to the family's house to reclaim Genie R. and the ring that had been stolen. He did not punished the boy but instead explained to him:

"That ring you took is not merely a piece of jewelry. It is a piece of my past, present and future and holds someone who is very near and dear to me. I could not imagine my life without that ring and its inhabitant and therefore now, I reclaim it."

The boy apologized and swore to never steal again and Genie R. realized he was wanted after all.

Slave of the ring

Author's Note:

I was inspired to write this story based on my part B readings of Arabian Nights. The story tells of two genies, one living in a lamp and the other living in a ring. While I read the story, I felt sad because it seemed like the Genie of the ring never got to do anything for Aladdin and rarely left his ring. It inspired me to write a story of how Aladdin really does appreciate the Genie of the Ring even though the Genie may not realize it. I had a little impoverish boy take the ring to symbolize the once rambunctious nature of Aladdin before he discovered the genies and his whole life changed. That is why he did not punish the boy and instead educated him.

Bibliography:

Arabian Nights by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

Gather 'round, It's story time

On a small farm in the middle of the countryside resided a cock and a dog. While they were an unlikely pair, they became close during their years on the farm. However, the cock and the dog both had dreamed of seeing the world outside of the white picket fences that kept them at the farm.

“There is so much more outside of these gates that calls us to explore!” the cock declared.

A rooster walking through the woods

“I agree,” the dog said. “Let us be allies in our worldly adventures.”

A dog panting

Neither of the two friends had left the farm before so both the cock and dog were unaware of what dangers awaited them in the forest. Deep in the heart of the woods lived a sly fox known for his deception and cunning tongue. His greatest weapons were is suave ways  and his knack for devious plots. He preyed upon animals just passing through the forest since the rest of the regular dwellers were aware of his reputation. The fox had no friends or allies because he could not be trusted by any of the animals in the woods.

Late one night, the cock and the dog set off for the forest without any anticipation of whom they might run into during their adventure. They agreed to be allies and watching out for one another. The cock would set up in the trees and alert the dog if he saw any impending danger. The dog was a good hunter and was able to provide meals for the cock and himself.

A fox watching its prey

After a day full of exploring, the cock and dog found a tree that would be suitable shelter for the night. The cock was able to reside in the branches and the dog found a hole near the base which he took shelter in. When they laid down to sleep that night, they were unaware that they were being followed by the sly fox all day long. In the middle of the night, the fox began to creep towards the tree that housed the cock and the dog. The cock heard the rustling of leaves on the ground and woke up startled. The fox, realizing he had been discovered, took to his methods of persuasion and brown nosing to cover his tracks.

“Good evening sir!” he greeted the cock confidently. “I apologize for rousing you, but I was looking for a safe place to lay my head for the night. Could I bother you for some shelter just for this evening?”

The cock pondered this request and unexpectedly heard a soft growl from the bottom of the tree. He quickly understood that the dog had been awakened by this suspicious guest and he too and also did not trust the fox.

“Why of course, it is no trouble at all!” the cock said with a knowing grin. “Come around to the other side of the tree and you will find a hole you may sleep in.”

“Thank you for your hospitality,” the fox said.

Without suspecting he had been tricked in his own game, the fox trotted around to the other side of the tree and was startled to find the dog there with his teeth barred. The dog chased the fox out of the forest and returned to the tree moments later to inform the cock they were safe again. They spent the rest of their night safe in the tree unaware that they had become heroes to the rest of the forest dwellers.

Author’s note: This story is about a dog and rooster who wanted to seek adventure outside the confines of their farm. Their curiosity was strong but they were naive about the dangers of the world beyond the white picket fence that surround them. By becoming allies, they were able to defend and protect one another as they journeyed throughout the forest. I adapted the original story to give more background information on how the fox was rejected by the rest of the forest animals because of his sneaky ways. I wanted to give more depth on how by being selfish he drove other forest dwellers away and was alone by consequence. This way, when the fox is introduced to the story, the reader has a preconception about his intentions. Instead of the dog actually attacking the fox, I changed it so he was chased out of the forest therefore making the cock and dog heroes. I made the title “The Forest” because the story somewhat reminded me of the musical Into The Woods. Innocent adventures hoping to satisfy their curiosity and they wind up in a life or death situation. Of course, like the musical and fable, this story has a happily ever after.

Bibliography: This story is inspired and adapted from the fable “The Dog, The Cock and The Fox”from the book The Æsop for Children written by Æsop and illustrations done by Milo Winter (1919).

Favorite place

My favorite place now would be Seaside Florida. The last time I had a class similar to this one, I chose a favorite place that I had not been to but would like to visit. This time around I wanted to be sentimental and chose somewhere that had aspects of what I loved about St. Barthélemy but also had some personal ties to it.

My family always took a vacation to Seaside Florida once every year during the summer. We stopped going all together whenever my sister graduated college about 5 years ago. It was too much of a struggle between her new job and me starting classes in the fall to get everyone together to get away if even for just a week. The beach has always been a place of solitude for me. While many people like water sports or sand volleyball, my time at the beach is spent detoxing. I would wake up in the morning and run on the beach (running in sand is a fun challenge haha) and the rest of the day I would sit on the shore tanning and reading a good book.

I miss the relaxation for sure but most of all, Seaside is my favorite place because of the memories that are attached to it. My parents, my sister and I would go during the Fourth of July weekend and so we would sit in the big town square and listen to blue grass music play right before the firework display over the ocean. It was beautiful and getting to spend quality time with my family are some of the things that makes this place deeply rooted in my heart.