Storytelling for Week 7: The Newsroom

"I want that report on my desk at 4 o'clock SHARP!"

Arya cringed. Her boss was notorious for being one of the most demanding newspaper editors in the country. However, that voice grated on her nerves every time a command rang out.

Still, she should feel lucky. Not everyone gets to work under such famous leadership. Oh well.

Arya typed away at her computer and kept her head down. She wanted to get this report on the overgrowth of deer population finished and be the best thing she had ever written.

*DING*

News alert tones went off on multiple phones in the newsroom. Arya's heart leapt into her mouth. Breaking news! she thought excitedly. She needed something good. Something big enough to keep her boss from breathing down her neck.

Arya scrambled to pick up her phone with eager anticipation. She stared at the text on her phone.

"Mountain has moved"

What? Possibilities. So many possibilities.

Her boss was standing in front of her desk. "Go!"

Arya took off.

~*~*~*~

As Arya pulled up in her car, a crowd was beginning to form. Of course. Krishna! It all made sense now. The rain had been pouring the past few days. She had not really thought a lot about it but now she saw the nearby town was flooding.

Now it all made sense.

Arya realized that in the good of Krishna's heart, he was providing a way out for the villagers. While he stood there hoisting the mountain over his head, villagers were already gathering underneath to take shelter from the rain that had not let up for even a few minutes.

She stood in awe for a few moments.

Snapping out of it, she realized she needed to work. She moved to people gathering in the crowd. Noticing one gentleman, she approached.

"Sir! Can you explain to me what you saw?"

He turned towards her. "For sure, ma'am. Krishna was going by and he realized that we were trying to evacuate our homes. He looked at the flood waters and saw that we were about to lose everything. But then ... wow ... just wow. He walked over to the mountain and hoisted it up over his head like that. Then he yelled at us to get underneath.

There are just some people in this world that inspire me to be a better person. Krishna is one of those people."

Arya nodded in agreement.

Krishna holding the mountain

Author's Note: I enjoyed the reading this week. In the original story, there is about one paragraph dedicated to this time of Krishna holding up the mountain. Not only did he hold up this mountain, he held it up for an entire week! To me, that deserved a lot more than just a few words on one page. In order to really illustrate the dedication and amazing feat that Krishna pulled off for this village, I decided to show it from someone else’s perspective. This way, the reader can really admire this feat with those in the crowds. The original story is found in Cradle Tales of Hinduism by Sister Nivedita (1907).