Storytelling for Week 14: The Riddles [part two]

Continued from Week 12

“Boy, Goblin, you sure do take awhile to come up with these amazing riddles.”

He huffed. “Hang on just a second. It cannot be just any riddle. I definitely need to get you a good one, especially since you are one of those fancy, educated college kids.”

I looked at the sky and at the ground as the goblin pondered his next move.

“Please do not forget that I have to get to class. I would like this riddle as quickly as possible please.”

The goblin looked at me incredulously. “Boy, what they say about this generation is right. You all have no patience whatsoever. Fine. But just for your outburst, I am going make you answer two riddles. Let us start with our first one. It is a doozy. However, here you go:

A dad and his son were riding their bikes and crashed. Two ambulances came and took them to different hospitals. The man’s son was in the operating room and the doctor said, ‘I can’t operate on you. You’re my son.’”

The goblin now was staring at me expectantly.

“Okay. So the doctor can’t operate because the boy was the son? But his father went to a different hospital,” I mused. The goblin giggled a little. However, I was very determined to not let him win.

THINK THINK THINK

Maybe the son was adopted? Would that possibly be the answer? Or … wait!

“Ha! The doctor was the boy’s MOTHER!” I yelled with sudden mental clarity.

The goblin’s face fell. “You are right. Maybe that one was too easy. Let me give you a great one for the second riddle:

A man leaves home and turns left three times, only to return home facing two men wearing masks. Who are those two men?”

Well, dang. That goblin sure does have some good riddles up his sleeve. I tried to visualize this in my head but realized I just kept getting turned around. I picked up a stick and started making map.

I realized he made a diamond shape with the way the hypothetical man was walking. I chuckled. Too bad the goblin didn’t know that I was very into sports!

when I realized the answer

“The man is a baseball player. So, the two men are the catcher and the umpire!”

The goblin nodded thoughtfully. “You are right. Alright. I will let you pass the bridge.”

With that he went back to his hiding place and I crossed the bridge with no incident. I finished the walk to class as the sun came back out.

Author's Note: Here it is! Part Two of The Riddles. I suddenly realized that a lot of people were waiting for the second part of the story. So, thank you all for essentially pressuring me into completing this. I did not make up those riddles. Those are two riddles that I have heard a lot over my lifetime and I have always enjoyed them. They used to really stump me. In the original story, a goblin tells a king twenty-two riddles. There is one riddle everytime the king goes back to capture the goblin and the goblin escapes again. I thought I would switch it up and play with the "troll that guards the bridge" idea. The original story is in Ryder's Twenty-Two Goblins (2009). 

Storytelling for Week 12: The Riddles

All I wanted was to have a nice, normal day with nothing crazy happening. Silly me. Why did I believe that it was even possible?

It all started this morning. The sun was shining with a gentle warmth and birds chirped cheerfully along my route to school. Instead of driving to campus, I figured a walk would be a great way to start off my day. I had made my special coffee and had a healthy breakfast. Nothing was going to stop me today.

I blissfully strolled by trees that daintily dropped beautiful leaves on the ground. A squirrel chirruped a good morning as he scurried past me. I just loved these moments where all was right with the world and all my cares slipped away.

Autumn

I came to the bridge that transversed the gap over a bubbling stream. I was just about to set my foot on the gracefully worn wooden bridge, when all of the sweet birds suddenly

ended their songs.

The sun ducked behind a cloud like it was fearful of what was about to happen. Wind started a low, haunting whistle through the tree branches. The trees that had seemed fully decked out in autumn glory moments before now seemed to be ominous reminders of the coming dead of winter.

A voice arose from underneath the bridge. It sounded empty and eerie. "Who are you and why are you daring to walk across my bridge?" said the voice.

I was so confused and terrified at the same time. The shudden shift in mood had chilled me to my bones in anticipation of the unknown.

"I am just a college student trying to get to class. Is that okay? Do I need to go a different way?"

The voice laughed a deep, creepy laugh. "I am the goblin that guards this bridge. I do not know if I should let you go across."

Are you kidding me? Goblins are not real. They certainly do not guard bridges. That was just the stuff of stories. I guess, though, something was under the bridge. I decided to go along with ... well, whatever was happening.

"I am sorry. I crossed this bridge last week and I do not remember you being here."

"Ridiculous human! I just moved here."

"Okay, umm. Is there any possible way that I can get across? I do have to get to class."

"Well, I suppose. Education is important. Okay, I am feeling generous today. You can cross if, and only if, you guess my riddle!"

I had to get to class. So, I guess there was just one thing I could do.

"Okay, Goblin, bring it on."

TO BE CONTINUED ...

Author's Note: Ryder's Twenty-Two Goblins is about a king trying to capture a goblin who lives in a corpse. As the king totes the corpse and goblin towards his castle, the goblin tells riddles to pass the time. The king is very quick and correctly guesses the riddles. He avoids the curses of the goblin. However, the goblin always escapes at the end of the riddle, but the king is persistent and keeps going back for the corpse-inhabiting goblin. I knew that I definitely wanted to recreate a story with my own version of the riddles. I was trying to re-imagine this story in a way that any reader could imagine it in a context relative to them. The original story can be found by reading Arthur William Ryder's Twenty-two Goblins (2000).

Storytelling for Week 10: The Godfather

“Is he in?”

The men nodded and I breathed a sigh of relief. It is not easy to catch the Godfather on one of his days in the office.

I was patted down to make sure I was not carrying any weapons and escorted through a dark hallway. The bodyguards stepped away and motioned for me to open the door. This was it. This was the big moment. This was the meeting that I had arranged for what seemed like my entire career. A moment with the Godfather was a moment that could make or break you as a person, much less a journalist.

I took a deep breath and swung the door open. The swivel chair behind the oak desk turned slowly – maybe the word is majestically? The large, older man gave me a look I could not describe. It was one that read my soul but also seemed unamused at being disturbed.

“How can I help you?” The Italian accent floated across the room.

“Well, yes … um, thank you for getting me in to see you. I was just wondering … if you would be so kind as to tell me … I mean …” I was embarrassed at how I was handling myself.

“I do not have all day. Please get it out.”

“Of course. Yes, I need to know what you know about Sita.” There. I had spit out a question that had ravaged my mind for weeks.

The Godfather chuckled slowly. “They always want to know. Most of the time they are much too afraid to publish what I tell them.”

“I promise I will publish this!” I said, way too eager for my own liking.

“Now, kid. Do not get ahead of yourself. You have not even heard what I have to say yet.”

I leaned back in my chair, cheeks red from embarrassment.

“Sita was running an establishment behind Ram’s back. She had a gambling business going. Although, no one understands why she had it. It did not seem that her and Ram were losing money. If they were, it was certainly covered up really well. Anyway, since Ram was away at all of these battles, he never realized what Sita was doing. Until the one day that he decided to surprise her at home two days early. He found Sita hiding money behind a brick. They got into a huge fight. I do not know if Sita was the one who left or if Ram forced her to leave. Whatever happened resulted in Sita out of the home and Ram covering up a huge scandal. I mean, what would the papers have to say about such a story?”

The real question is if you are going to publish it.”

I sat stunned in my chair. Who would have known that Sita was leading one of the biggest gambling rings? Also why had the story not been told? I felt like several reporters would have a great day publishing this. I was going to publish it.

Little did I know what obstacles I was about to face in getting this story to the press.

Godfather

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is coming from a retelling of Sita. It makes it difficult to do that retell of a retelling. So, I decided to go with an idea I had earlier about the Washerman in the original story and how he reminded me of the Godfather. I kept similar plot structure in the story, but spun it so the Godfather was a good guy and gave the reporter her needed information. If I were to continue, I would introduce the Washerman and his men as they attempt to keep the true story of Sita from getting out into the public. I really do not want to give important parts of the book away. I will say that what happened to Sita was not related to her running a gambling operation behind Ram’s back. That just came to me since I was already writing about the Godfather. I highly recommend that everyone watches the Godfather and reads this book. That would be a really fun time. The original story comes from Samhita Arni’s The Missing Queen (2014).

Storytelling for Week 9: The Interview

Aruna choked on her coffee.

Did that reporter really just ask Ram himself about what happened to Sita?

Whoa.

Aruna remembered wondering why Sita disappeared. However, she would never have the guts to ask Ram what happened.

The mood had instantly shifted in the interview. Ram's eyes widened and Aruna thought she saw a hint of panic. Interesting. Was he hiding something?

"Actually, well ... I do have something to say. Something I have been wanting to say for a long time now," Ram started to say.

Now, Aruna saw Lakshmana's eyes widen in horror. He begin to signal people behind the camera.

Ram continued. "Sita was the love of my life and it broke my heart when she left. I thought we were going to be together forever. And now, she has been gone for so long!" Aruna thought she saw tears in his eyes.

Lakshmana cleared his throat rather loudly and shot a death glare at Ram, who did not seem to notice. The reporter had a tissue from her purse and handed it to him. Was it just the one question that had needed to be asked in order to get answers that everyone had wondered about for years now?

Aruna was beginning to be greatly amused by Lakshmana's attempts to derail Ram while remaining as regal as he could in his stretched-out general's uniform. His face was beginning to turn bright red from all of the fake coughing he was doing.

"It really started one day when we had a fight. It was not even a big fight. It was something so little. I think Sita had wanted a pet. For some reason, in my foolishness, I thought it would be too much responsibility for her. After all, she had gotten herself kidnapped by Ravana years ago," Ram said as he shook his head.

Lakshmana had moved in on Ram. None of his not-so-subtle attempts were working to stop Ram from telling this massive secret. "Sir, um, I think we better consider what is best for your well-being," Lakshmana said forcefully. The reporter glanced at the people behind the camera. Aruna assumed that the producer was angry, because a look of fear crossed over the reporter's face.

"No! I want to say it. You know I have been wanting to say this for a very long time!" Ram turned toward the cameras. "Sita has disappeared because

Suddenly, Aruna's television screen went fuzzy. The show had gone off air because Ram was about to answer the question that had been on everyone's mind for years.

Aruna's TV

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow. That was so hard. I had such a difficult time with this week's Storytelling post because I had already been reading a retelling of a story. So, I had to retell the retelling in a way that was unique. It definitely took a few tries to get it to where I wanted the story to go.

In the original story, the reporter asks about Sita, who had disappeared years ago. She asked Ram, the name for Rama in this story, about it while on live television. Originally, Ram took a few political moves and dodged the reporter's question. The reporter then is followed by the powerful guy called The Washerman who oversees all of the media sources in their town. For my story, I wanted to re-imagine the scenario, but make Ram want to answer the question. This retelling is a political thriller, so what if Ram was being forced to ignore Sita's disappearance? I did not have Ram give away the answer to Sita's whereabouts since I have not read that far in the book yet! I suggest checking back in next week to see what happens! The original story came from Samhita Arni's The Missing Queen (2014).

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).

Storytelling for Week 6: Brothers

Timothy was so excited to be a part of his brothers' excursion into the woods. It had been so long since all of them had gone out together. He grinned when he thought of the swimming hole that they were heading for. Once there, they were going to have the ultimate time in one of the last few days of summer.

Jeremy and Jimmy were pointing at something in the trees. It was probably just a silly bird jumping around in the branches. However, those two really loved their birdwatching and they were dedicated to finding all of the birds on the recent edition of Birdwatcher Master Plus list.

Edward led the way as usual. Being the oldest, he was always the one the other brothers followed. George was behind them. He was such a happy-go-lucky kid. That certainly was characteristic of him being the youngest child.

As they took the double fork in the trail that signaled that they were about a half mile away from the swimming hole, they heard a rustle in the bushes.

An old man limped out with a distraught look. "Boys, I need your help."

The brothers looked at each other.

"A giant deer crashed out of the woods. It scooped my cane out of my hands, winked and ran away. Would you be able to catch him while running using those young legs of yours?"

All the brothers nodded simultaneously. They ran off in the direction that the old man pointed. Timothy briefly wondered if this was a good idea. After all, how well did they know this man? He brushed away the branches that hit his face. He stumbled a little, but caught himself. After he regained footing and looked up, he realized his brothers had disappeared.

"Guys? Where did you all go?"

He stumbled through the woods. In a few minutes he realized he had arrived at the swimming hole.
He did not see any of his brothers around the area.

Timothy gazed at the water. He suddenly became aware that he felt really hot and sweaty. "It would feel fantastic to just take a dip!" Timothy mused.

"Wait just a second, young man!"

Timothy paused with one foot in the air. "Yes?" he asked with hesitation.

"I need you to answer a quick couple of questions for me."

"Okay, shoot."

"What is black and white and red all over?"

Timothy paused. What in the world? Luckily, George was a fan of ridiculous jokes like this.

"An embarrassed zebra?"

"Correct! Your brothers thought it was a newspaper!"

Timothy realized this was probably super weird and he should be careful about talking to a random voice. In fact, why was he talking to this voice?

"You did so well on that that I will let you bypass the other questions. Here, I will release your brothers."

With that, four brothers fell from the trees. They sat on the ground trying to recover from what had happened.

"Wait! Who are you?" Timothy yelled to the sky.

"There is no need for you to know that just yet. You will find out soon enough. Just enjoy your day!" the voice responded cheerfully.

The brothers stared at each other, looked at the water, and began to walk home.

was the deer real or made up?

Author's Note: I have to admit I was feeling a little uninspired this week. I got slammed with tests and had to work overtime to cover shifts. The Mahabharata just did not have that spark to me this week. It did not really help that much of this selection of the pages was violent and gory. However,
I am stubborn enough to work through a bit of writer's block. I started with a story that I thought was somewhat interesting and let the words come.

In the original story, the Pandavas brothers do not heed the warning of a mysterious voice above the water. They just wanted to drink up and quench their thirst. The last brother decided to listen to the questions and was granted his brothers back to him. I wanted to twist it up a little bit and make it maybe more relatable. It certainly has the possibility of coming across as a little silly. However, if it makes you laugh during this tough week, I will say it was worth it. The original story was from The Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan (2008).

Storytelling for Week 5: Thoughts

I brushed my long dark hair out with contemplative strokes while gazing at the white, fluffy clouds that graced the sky. I smiled for what seemed the first time in a long time. Life was not that bad in this particular moment.

the sky on the fateful day

Memories came back to me of a particular time I would rather forget. I stood before five brothers who just argued all of the time. Did they not realize that they were presenting themselves to be just five immature little children? They had not been thinking of my feelings in that moment for sure. The least they could have done is actually presented themselves to be men worthy of having me as their wife. After all, was I not the princess?

Who could really reason with them, though? After all, they had forced me to be the wife of five men. Of five men! I was really astonished that this was a thing. It had been mentioned that it was inappropriate for a woman to the be a wife of five men. She would be considered a "public" woman ... no, I was considered a public woman. I pondered this sadly for a few moments. I used to have a great reputation. Now, look at me. The humiliated woman who had five husbands.

Some indignation arose. How was it that a man could have five wives and not be considered immoral? There was an astonishing lack of equality in society. I could not do a thing about it, though, because I was a woman.

I thought of my mother and how she would have been deeply saddened to see me in this situation. She had higher hopes for me and my future. I had higher hopes for myself.

"Draupadi!"

I was startled from my thoughts and turned to see one of my handmaidens come running in a desperate rush. She looked somewhat terrified as she stopped to catch her breath,

"What is it?" I asked with hesitation. Did I really want to know?

"They ..." she gasped, "They have gambled you away to another man."

My heart sank. Why does this happen to me? Why always to me? I stood frozen in shock while her words slowly ran through me. Another man? I was to have six husbands? Or just one? What had my current husband done to me?

I realized I had to think quickly. Knowing his gambling problem, I was probably not the first thing he had lost.

“Go back and ask if he gambled away himself first.”

Her eyes lit up as she realized what I meant. She took off out of the room. I waited with my breath held and the hope that this was going to work.

Author's Note: This story is very close to the original. Draupadi, the princess of Panchala, had been given to five brothers as their wife. It had been brought up that her reputations was going to be ruined since she would be considered a “public” woman. However, it was done and she became the wife of five men. It was worked out that she would spend one year with each man. After that year, she would then move on to be the wife of the next brother for a year. In turn, the brothers had to agree to erase her from their mind at the end of their allotted year. So, Draupadi received the wrong end of that deal. She was not even going to be remembered by her husband with whom she had just spent an entire year. My hope in writing this story was to help the reader see more of Draupadi’s side. I want them to see how this situation must have made her feel. It was not good in any possible way. It was a horrible situation and it is somewhat astonishing she was able to still think quickly to attempt to find a way out of her circumstances. The original story comes from The Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan (2008).

Storytelling for Week 3: The Visit

*knock, knock*

Tressa looked up from her book. She had been thoroughly engrossed in her new copy of Gardening in Indian Climates for Beginners. She would develop that green thumb one day and show Michael that he had not married a girl without the ability to cook.

*knock, knock*

Tressa was slightly confused. She and Michael were new to town and had not really met anyone would just come on over for a visit. Should she open the door? She had sent Michael to the store for a new bag of rice, so no one was at the house besides her.

On the other hand, she could just picture the happiness on Michael's face if he came back and found her chatting with a new friend while they both held cups of steaming tea.

*knock, knock*

"Coming!" Making up her mind, Tressa moved to the door. Opening it, she found an older gentleman.

"Hello, my dear! I noticed you and your husband had moved into the neighborhood and wanted to introduce myself. I brought cookies!" With that, he presented a tin decorated with charming deer in a lovely grassy area surrounded by woods.

Tressa hesitated. This seemed a little off, but he did seem like a sweet old man. And how could she refuse cookies?

imagine this full of cookies

"Of course! Come right in!" she opened the door for him to shuffle inside.

"Thank you, dearie, thank you so much," he settled into the sofa she motioned him towards, "There are not a lot of people who would be willing to spend time with a lonely old man like me."

Her heart softened. Why did she have misgivings about this situation again?

"No, I bet you are just lovely. I was just thinking that I needed to meet some people in the area. Oh, and my name is Tressa," she paused as she waited for him to give his name.

He did not share his name. "Oh, my dear, I am surprised you are not swamped with visitors already! But tell me, is your husband out?"

"Yes he is," as soon as Tressa said this, she regretted it. She should not have mentioned that she was here alone.

The old man began to chuckle. Tressa was very confused. As his chuckle grew louder and slowly morphed into an evil laugh, she realized she had made a very big mistake.

"Who are you?" she cried as light began to encircle him.

The light was blinding and then it vanished. The man was no longer a cute old man. He was blue! He had ten heads!

"I am Ravana, the lord of the demons! I am here to take you hostage!"

"What in the world??" Tressa couldn't breathe. Ravana scooped her up with the ground surrounding her and ran out the door with an evil chuckle.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: In the original story, Ravana disguises himself and meets with Sita while Rama is away hunting the golden deer (which coincidentally made an appearance on Ravana’s cookie tin in the above retelling of the story). Sita let him in although the reader obviously knew it was a bad guy. This made me wonder what it was like from Sita’s point of view for the whole situation. I thought it was kind of a hilarious encounter when Ravana scooped up Sita and took her away. It made me wonder what had been going on in Sita's mind during their little "visit" and how she was probably terrified when Ravana transformed into the ten-headed lord of the demons. So, I tried to imagine what she was thinking with some different characters in a slightly more modern setting to help readers relate to the shock and terror when she finally realized what was going on in her house. Except I just kept laughing when I thought about her seeing him with the ten heads. I hope the seriousness and the comedic touch came through in this retelling. The original is from R. K. Narayan's The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic (2006)

Week 2 Storytelling: What Happened to the Weather?

Lily was enjoying the cooler weather. It had been a scorcher of a summer. She had looked forward to the cool breeze of winter for a long time now.

She had spent the day cleaning her house with the last bit of warm weather. It was a good choice because as soon as darkness began to close in on the day, a gentle breeze brought a refreshing crispness to the air.

Her husband had already gone to bed. She was sitting in the soft, cushy chair by the window while looking at the stars that had begun to peek out. All was right with the world.

Suddenly an oppressive heat hit her. "What is this?" Lily wondered to herself. Any hope of winter seemed to have been erased from the air. It was almost unbearable. As it began to increasingly heat up to what felt like the middle of summer, Lily became alarmed.

She stepped outside to see if it gave her any clues. As she gazed into the distance, an enormous gust of wind nearly blew her over. It began to pour rain like the heavens themselves had opened.

Ravana's Monsoon

Lily was now becoming terrified.

She sprinted inside, grabbed a towel and began to dry out her hair while she ran towards her husband who was unsurprisingly still sleeping. "Hugo! Hugo! Wake up!"

It seemed like the sun itself had heard her. The darkness disappeared and the sun was suddenly in the sky. Hugo stirred. He turned to see Lily standing in the door with her mouth open.

"What is it? Oh, am I late for work? How did I sleep in so late? Lily, are you okay?"

Lily just stood in the doorway. "You...what...weather...sun..."

"Lily, what happened? Are you okay? Why is it so hot outside?"
 
Suddenly, the sun disappeared. The moon was back in the sky. It was like nothing had ever had happened.

Lily was still silent and Hugo was way more confused than ever.

In another part of the world, Ravana was pining over Sita. His frustration was driving the seasons back and forth and causing confusion among every resident of the earth.


Author's Note: In the original story, Ravana, who is the lord of the demons, essentially throws a temper tantrum when he realizes he does not have Sita as his own wife. He does not like it when the weather was cold and he hated when it was warm. He wanted it to be daytime and then he wanted it to be night again. A monsoon even arrived in the tumultuous changing weather patterns. Personally, I thought it was hilarious and unexpected change in the pattern of the story. It definitely added a comedic note to the story where it was getting kind of serious. I was trying to imagine what someone would have thought to see these drastic changes occurring. In order to communicate that confusion and utter chaos, I wanted to write about what someone was going through somewhere else while these seasons were switching back and forth. I hope the reader can feel how strange it must have been while Ravana threw a fit. It definitely made me laugh while I wrote the retelling of these few paragraphs. The original story is from R. K. Narayan's The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic (2006)

Week 1 Storytelling: The Mice, The Cat, & The Plan

"Attention! Can I get everyone's attention?" Timothy, the colony leader, called through the his megaphone, which happened to be a leaf from the nearby pecan tree rolled into a cone shape.

The mice at this particular colony meeting quieted down and turned towards Timothy.

"Thank you," Timothy smiled, "I have called everyone here today to talk about a very important topic."

Timothy really hated to bring up this topic, but it had to be done. He worried what it might do to Don, the colony's oldest resident, who had also fought in the Great Mice and Cats War of 2008. Summoning up all of his leadership ability and the most courage his five inch frame could muster, he plowed onwards with his speech.

 "You are all probably aware the Miller family has adopted a new... well, a new cat."

 Small gasps and frightened nods could be seen in the audience.

The Big Bad Cat

 Timothy continued, "I think we need to do something about him. He has learned he can taunt us by sleeping right outside of our hole. We are living in fear at all moments! What suggestions do you have to help us vanquish the cat?"

 Suddenly there was an excited murmur of mouse voices. Timothy knew that this had been a constant worry on all of their minds. He counted on the fact that at least some of the mice had already been thinking of solutions.

 Robert, the mouse in charge of colony food stores, raised his paw. "Well, what if we slipped some sleeping medicine into the cat's food?" Robert always came up with plans related to food.

 There were immediate groans.

 "No, Bob, the cat already sleeps enough!" "He'll wake up eventually and we will be back to square one." “Wow, Robert, just wow.”

 "Well, what if we were to open the door and lure the cat outside into the great outdoors?” Winnie, the colony’s school teacher, suggested.

 There was a moment while the colony considered this plan. Mice scratched their heads as they considered every aspect of this idea.

 “The cat can just ask the humans to be let back inside. This is not the long-term solution we are needing,” someone in the back stated.

 Timothy noticed a little paw that just barely made it past the shoulders of the older mice. “Yes, Junior? Do you have an idea?”

 The tiny mouse stepped forward and cleared his throat. “I think I have an idea. What if we just put a bell on the cat’s neck? Then we would always hear when the cat is around and we wouldn’t have to be afraid of the cat sneaking up on us.”

All mice sat stunned by the idea and then cheered simultaneously. Timothy was amazed they had not thought of such a brilliant idea before today. He thought of a life without constant fear of the cat. Junior was beaming.

Suddenly, Timothy heard a mouse clearing his throat. Don, the Great War veteran, shuffled to the front and held out his paw for the megaphone. Timothy did not know what else to do, but he handed Don the megaphone.

"That is a great plan, Junior. Quite a nice plan, indeed. But I have to ask, who is going to put the bell on the cat's neck?"

Suddenly there were many excuses as mice began to make their exits from the meeting.

Don sighed and turned to Timothy to say,

"It is one thing to say that something should be done, but quite a different matter to do it."

Author's Note: This is based one the Aesop's Fable called "Belling the Cat". My story follows the same plot, but I wanted to add more details to better paint the picture for readers to imagine a group of mice scheming to stop the cat. The original story can be found in The Aesop for Children by (anonymous), illustrated by Milo Winter (1919).