Week 11 Storytelling: Goddess Help Me Write This Paper

Saraswati Wallpaper via Santa Banta

Operation write my final essay has officially begun. In case you’re new to my blog, you should know that I am currently one essay away from graduating. And here I am telling all of my readers about said essay instead of actually writing it. Oh senioritis, why must you afflict me so?

What’s worse is that it’s for my capstone so I literally need it to pass the class and to be able to graduate. It’s not even a hard topic, but it’s so difficult because I don’t want to write anything. My major is Professional Writing and I have to write a 20-page paper on any topic that involves writing. Ironically, I could write about not wanting to write. I won’t though because I think my professor was born before the invention of sarcasm and laughter.

Anyway, I have my topic and I know what I want to write, but I just can’t. Some call it writer’s block, but I call it my stupid brain wanting me to join the McDonald’s workforce instead of graduating. Yes, my brain has it out for me. Friends have told me I’m crazy, but I know my brain wants me to fail at everything in life. But I have a plan that will solve all of this!

I’m going to invoke the powers of Saraswati, the goddess of words and writing. I figure she can be my own personal muse for this essay. Since I can’t seem to be able to do this alone, perhaps she’ll be able to help.

I’ve already got all the ingredients for the invocation. I’ve got some sage, a little bit of all four elements, a ceremonial knife, and tons of candles. I’ve seen The Craft like 50 times, and if seeing them invoke the spirits as many times as I have has taught me anything it’s how to summon up some magic. I mean, if I can’t invoke Saraswati then I don’t know who can because no one has seen that movie as many times as I.

Yes, I realize that I am using The Craft as my encyclopedia for all things invocation involved, but I don’t really give a damn. It’s a brilliant film inspired by real life and real magic. Everything in that film is real, you guys.

So I’m signing out now to go invoke my future muse. If it doesn’t work I’ll be back online immediately to write up a hate post on my. If it works, however, then I will see you all tomorrow after I write up the most pristine final essay for class and ace my final semester of my undergrad. Ciao for now!

THE END.

Author’s Note: My inspiration for this retelling just same from Buck’s invoking of Saraswati at the beginning of his version of the Mahabharata. I was just thinking that I really could have used a goddess of words and writing during quite a few of my writing classes (my capstone included). I thought it would be fun to just do it in a blogging style, since I totally don’t get to blog enough. But that’s the gist of it. I just wanted to utilize the character of Saraswati in my own story.

Buck, William (1973). Mahabharata.

Week 10 Storytelling: One Simple Question

The Lady of the Lake from Order White Moon

            King Arthur did not simply become a king by being a brilliant leader. He also did so by being an excellent listener. He and his knights of the round table worked every day to push the boundary lines further and further to widen Camelot’s territory.

It was a difficult task, and some of the men felt burdened by such work. So every night they went home and drank until they passed out. They liked to say they drank to the success of King Arthur and Camelot, but King Arthur knew they drank for far more vain reasons. He couldn’t exactly fire his knights though; that made him a bad king. So instead, he simply kept his ears and eyes open for any moments when he saw potential danger too trying for his knights or whenever his knights seemed too burdened by their tasks for the day.

            Today was an important day. Today, King Arthur and his knights were going to push their territory farther than they’d ever gone before. They had a lot of ground to cover and had to make in past the entirety of a lake so as to claim it wholly for Camelot.

It was the only day to make the trek for Merlin predicted a terrible storm in the air, which meant that today would be the only clear and beautiful day. King Arthur knew from looking at his knights that today was not a good day.  He wanted to listen to what he knew to be true, but his knights swore that they were well and good for the trip. They set out for the lake at dawn.

            It was to be a two-day trip. They travelled all day and reached the lake. It was a gorgeous lake. It glistened with the setting sun and sparkled like sapphires. It was a truly tantalizing sight that made even the most hydrated man thirsty, and that it did. All of King Arthur’s knights felt their mouths go dry like the Sahara desert. King Arthur decided to go and look for wood for a fire and told his men not to drink from the lake, but to wait for his to return.

            King Arthur never liked to take his knights with him for mere firewood searches. He may be a king, but he is not weak. So he ventured out and left his knights by the lake with worn bodies, dry mouths, and a desire for something they couldn’t have until they returned home from their journeys. When King Arthur left, however, the knights learned that they were not alone by the lake.

            The lake had powers unknown to anyone. The lake made the knights more and more thirsty while King Arthur was away. This was because in the lake lived a lady with great and amazing powers. She knew King Arthur from his younger years, and knew that he needed her assistance even though he did not quite know it yet. She made the knights thirsty and then spoke to them in their minds. Though they could not see the lady of the lake, they heard her enchanting voice echo through their thoughts.

            “Answer my questions and drink from my waters,” she said. “Simply drink from my waters alone, and die instantly.”

            The knights were already so thirsty and exhausted from their travels that they could not bear such petty games. All of the men went to the shore of the waters and drank to their hearts content. Sadly, they all died instantly right as King Arthur exits the forest with his armful of firewood.

            He ran to the lake to try and rescue his knights, but it was already too late. And so, the lady of the lake gave King Arthur the same words as she gave to his knights. King Arthur knew looking around that his knights did not listen to him or the lady of the lake. He knew that this time he would listen to his mind, unlike how he did not that morning when he saw his worn knights.

            “Ask away, m’lady,” he responded to her statement.

            “One simple question is all I ask,” she said. “Who am I to you?”

            “Why, m’lady, what a simple question. You are the lady of the lake who gave to me my sword Excalibur and a sour warning that someone close to me would be my undoing. I could never forget you or your warning,” he said.

            “To listen and to remember are all that I ever ask. You may drink from my waters, King Arthur.”

            “And my knights? They may not listen, but they are loyal and true.”

            “I only wish to help you, for one day not all of your knights will fit under that definition. Are you certain that you wish for me to awaken them.”

            “M’lady, I head your warning and say that whatever may come shall come whether I wish it or not.”

            “Then sadly this will not be the last time we meet, but your wish is my command.”

            The lady of the lake’s voice faded from King Arthur’s mind and the knights slowly awoke from their deathly slumber. King Arthur drank from the water, but all he tasted was bitter from the warning still fresh on his mind. One of his knights was not going to loyal one day. King Arthur dreaded the day he would find out who.

THE END.

Author’s Note: The story I chose to retell was the voice in the lake. I mashed it up with King Arthur and his knights of the round table. It only seemed right. I’ve always been a huge fan of King Arthur’s stories and when I read this story in the Mahabharata I just knew that this story was the way to go. The Pandavas went to a lake and the lake told them if they drink without answering her questions they’ll die. All but one failed this test, and I knew that this guy was my King Arthur.

Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata.

Week 7 Storytelling: Lady in Waiting

Waiting for You from Imgion

            Though I am with my Mother, I still feel utterly alone. She has done nothing but love and adore me, yet I cannot help but still feel the heat of bitterness constrict my heart like the coils of a king cobra. And that king cobra is the love of my life Rama. They always say that love is a heavy burden to carry, but what they do not mention is the weight of a doomed love. Doomed is exactly what Rama and I were always going to be. I knew this even before Rama defeated the ten-headed rakshasa Ravana.

            I never told Rama, nor will I ever now, that Sumantra told me the story of mine and Rama’s doomed love before he would ever even tell Rama. I knew pretty early on that Rama was more than a man, though I cannot lie and say Vishnu’s avatar was not a surprise. It certainly was, and his inevitably run in with karma due to his transgressions as Vishnu was bound to amount to this sort of payback. I told myself that while karma was hard, such a thing was against the stars.

            Yet here I am, living in the earth with my Mother after a long banishment done unto me by the same man I promised I’d never betray and never have. I do not regret the time I spent with Rama, however I do regret that I could not give him the loyalty needed for fear not to so cloud his eyes and judgment in the end. But even our love could not save Rama and I from what was karma’s destiny for us in this life. It is a tragedy because while I wish to spend eternity and more with my love, this life gave us so little time together. We were together, and then Ravana ripped me away and it felt like only shortly after Rama rescued me I was banished. This life was indeed a tragedy.

            I still have hope, though. Because while I can feel our time in these lives waning, I feel the birth of our new lives awakening and the things Rama has done right for us in this life will surely appease karma for his past wrongdoings. In my heart I know that my love and I will have our whole lives to spend together in peace and happiness. So I will wait out my time here with Mother, until my new life is ready and waiting.

THE END.

Author’s Note: The story I took from this week was basically where Rama banishes Sita for things she didn't do and yet she still comes back to him to prove her innocence. The way she proves it is that if she is loyal then Mother Earth should take her into the earth with her (which happens because she's innocent and loyal to Rama). My retelling picks up there. Sita waits in earth with Mother Earth and she recalls that she knew Rama was going to have bad karma in this life and that she hopes her next life will be better and longer with her love.

Buck, William (1973). Ramayana: King Rama’s Way.

Week 6 Storytelling: Harry the Hopeless Romantic

Shakespeare Quote via Rachel Jane Lloyd

            Harry has always been the hopeless romantic type. He’s fallen in love 30 times (twice with pizza, but that’s a different story), and had his heart broken 35 times. He’s never let it get him down though, because he knows that the right one is out there. Sadly, this story is not about the right one. No, this story is about one of those 30 times he fell in love. This is a sad story with an interesting ending, just as all stories should be.

The woman’s name was Cindy and she was probably twice Harry’s age at the time of this story’s partaking. She was a real maneater, with an appetite for something young and fresh. Harry was right up her alley, and he had just fallen out of love with his toothbrush. Perfect.

They met in passing, by chance really, when Harry was exiting an adult video store and Cindy was haggling her way out of a parking meter ticket. Harry knew the parking meter woman, so he helped Cindy out. As chance would have it, they began to talk and Cindy was a huge fan of the movie Harry got from the video store (it name will not be mentioned for… reasons).

Soon after, they began dating and it was the best of times for Harry. He absolutely knew he’d found the right one. He hadn’t though, and Cindy was plotting when she would devour Harry’s innocent, little heart and soul. Well that time came exactly 52 days, 17 hours, 15 minutes and a few seconds.

Harry was well and truly in love, and Cindy rose up and swallowed him whole. Of course this is all metaphorical. She actually just said all the right words to break Harry’s heart into a million itty, bitty pieces. She might as well have swallowed him whole and spit him into the sea of shame and humiliation.

But I won’t go into too much detail. It was atrociously embarrassing for poor Harry. It involved too few clothing, too much wine and too much Jell-O. Oh, and a camera of course. Anyway, needless to say, Harry was downright devastated.

Approximately 3 days later, however, and he figured out how to exact his revenge. He took his heartache and fueled it into the perfect game plan. In the end, it was Cindy who ended up with her heart ripped out and shredded into confetti. And the sweet, smooth words Harry poured into Cindy’s ear made it to where she didn’t know any better. Years later and Cindy would never know what happened to her, only that her life had changed and that she was no longer a maneater after that moment.

Now, I don’t want to give everything away. So if you’d like to hear the rest of this particular love tragedy, you will find it in The Complete Autobiographical Life and Love of Harry Vo. 12.

THE END.

Author’s Note: The story I rewrote was that of Hanuman and Sinhika. In the original, Sinhika comes out of the water and swallows Hanuman, but then Hanuman crushes Sinhika’s heart and escapes through her ear. I made this modern and had it be a “love story” between Harry and Cindy, where Cindy is a maneater and only wants to “eat” Harry. But after it all, Harry has the resilience to fight back and he comes out on top.

Buck, William (1973). Ramayana: King Rama’s Way.