Sarah was a beautiful little girl with a smile of pure innocence. She grew up in a small house full of siblings and dark secrets. She was the oldest child and therefore very self reliant. Maybe her independence helped to disguise her. As she grew up she experienced tragedy that most children cannot imagine. She never told anyone or even asked why these things happened to her. She always felt she new the answer to that question. As the pain of her silence grew along side her she continued to withdrawal. Each morning she would dress in silence and all in black. She allowed her hair to hang across her face, covering her eyes to hide her pain. Her only hope was to fade into the chaos. No one seemed to notice that the once beautiful girl had all but disappeared, until one day that is exactly what happened. Sarah left the place some called her home. The mother she thought never cared cried herself to sleep every night with worry. After years of Sarah being gone her mother moved on from the life Sarah knew, but she never lost hope that she would one day see her only daughter. One day Sarah's mother passed a young girl sleeping in the park. It had been ten years since her little girl had ran away. Her own life had changed and she longed to have her daughter back and to give her the life she deserved. The young lady in the park was much older than she remembered her Sarah. Her face was dirty. She looked scared and lonely, but one glance into her eyes told Sarah's mother she had found her beautiful daughter. Sarah no longer needed to hide. She could discard her disguise and be herself.
Author's Note:
My story is inspired by the fable "The Ass In The Lion's Skin." The story tales of an ass who thought he was clever as he covered himself in a lion skin. The lion skin had been discarded by a hunter. The ass placed himself inside the skin in an attempt to fool the members of his town. His disguise might have worked if he had not spoken. Although his disguise made him look like a fierce lion the sound of his voice revealed him as a fool. Many children feel they are unable to be themselves. I used this fable as inspiration to tell of such a child. The story may seem dark in nature but in the end the girl finds herself. -H
Work Cited
"The Ass In The Lion's Skin."The Fables of Aesop.Joseph Jacobs.Web.8/13/2016.
https://archive.org/stream/fablesaeso00aesouoft#page/128/mode/2up
fanpop.goth-girl-photo
Wow, Heather, you have done some powerful stuff here in your story! The way you set up the picture here with the text wrap-around is really attention-getting: it sets the mood for your story right away — it's like she is looking at us as we read! I also love this phrase at the start of the story: "full of siblings and dark secrets." The image sets up the character as you describe her in your words so that your gives us that haunted inner life we can only guess at from the picture. It is so emotionally intense and with a dramatic ending that makes it very modern compared to the ancient Aesop's fable, and you did a great job of turning the animal story into a human one. And it's so cool how the Aesop's fable is about making fun of someone in a negative way while your story starts out gloomy but gets to a hope of salvation at the end. That's a wonderful meditation on the original fable that goes in a totally new direction, and you did a super job of summarizing the source fable in your note.
ReplyDeleteTitle: When you do a story, don't forget to give it a title of your own. The title is a really important way of setting the mood for a story, just like with the image. So, think about a title you could use here that would help your readers transition into your own story world as soon as they come to your post.
Story: ___(fill in the blank)___
(you don't need the Week 1 in the title, but having your own title is important: it's how you first connect to your readers)
And for the links, make sure you read the note I left you about link text; you need clickable link text for the image source and the story source — it would work like this:
Fanpop: Goth Girl
Internet Archive
(you can choose whatever link text you think is best; the idea is to give your readers some info about just where they are going when they click)
I am taking it as a good omen that the very first story of the semester is such a powerful one: it's wonderful!
Thank you, I had a tittle I'm not sure how I excluded it but I will add it now. I am having a lot of fun figuring all this out.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's what the first week is for: figuring stuff out! You'll be using the blog for most things you do in this class, so pretty soon it will start to feel just as automatic as opening a spiral notebook and writing with a pen... you've just had a lot more practice with the notebook and pen over the years. :-)
DeleteI changed the text on the link for the photo but when I try to add the link in a caption under the photo it jumps my photo and wording around.I placed the text over the photo without using the caption but it creates a awkward bar across the top of my story....
ReplyDeleteYou don't need to use the caption option in the photo box; just type the image information down at the very bottom of the blog post. That really is the easiest. Or you can type it under the image. But that caption box can get messed up with just the least little thing. I never use it; I just type the image information where I want on the page, and that's so much easier! You could put the image info down there with the works cited, and that way it won't distract from the power of the image in any way! :-)
DeleteI really enjoyed reading your story! I appreciate darker stories so you had my attention immediately from the start. I also liked how you transitioned the fable into your own storyline and plot. I found it really powerful and touching to see it from a different perspective. Great story Heather! I look forward to reading more of your stories this semester.
ReplyDeleteThe picture and format of your blog was very captivating and drew my attention. I immediately noticed while ready how detailed you were!! I thought your Author's note was very good, you explained the fable very well and I felt like I could understand your story more after reading it for a second time after reading your authors note. Your post was very well written and I look forward to reading more posts from you!
ReplyDelete