Week 4 Story: Dearest Lanka
This story has been updated. You can find the new version on my portfolio website.
Dear People of Lanka,
You see, I had the best of intentions. I just got a little in over my head and I don't think I should be blamed for that. Okay, let me back up a little so you can see my side of the story.
It all started when the Rakshasas tried to torture me. Can you imagine? A sweet, innocent monkey like me being tortured? Someone should have definitely called PETA. Anyways, I am being tortured for telling secrets and being a spy, which in my defense no one specifically told me that I wasn't allowed to be a spy so they should have been more clear. So they decide that regular old torture isn't good enough for me and they LIGHT ME ON FIRE. Now of course, I was going to fight them off because obviously monkeys are the superior species and I have great strength, but there were too many of them and they were trying to burn me alive. Okay, well not all of me, just my tail but it was still very traumatizing. Now I am burning to death, but I am very heroic so no one can tell that I am in excruciating pain, and then all of a sudden I feel nothing. I am pretty sure it is because I have a super high pain tolerance being a hero and all. At first, I thought they had put the fire out but when I turned around and saw it still aflame, I knew now was the time for action.
So I spring into action, and start using my tail to start fires all around Lanka. It was a pretty genius strategy. This is where my memory gets a little fuzzy. I may have gone a little overboard and lit the entire town on fire in revenge, but can you blame me? I was still on fire, and they totally deserved it. When I realized that I had started so many fires and that the whole place was blazing, I ran to the ocean and put out my tail. I realize now that I could have just done this in the beginning, but I was just defending myself.
I was a little worried after putting out my tail because I had forgotten that Sita was in town and that she was the reason for all of this to begin with. So I started searching high and low and soon found her sitting under a tree, totally safe.
After rescuing Sita and myself, I went to Mahendra, where they greeted me as the hero I am. I am a humble man, but it was great to get the recognition I truly deserve after all I endured. So yes, I am sorry to have burned all your houses down and like your entire village, but as you can now see, I had no other choice. Anyway, hope you can rebuild fast.
Best,
Hanuman
Author's Note: This is an adaptation from The Burning of Lanka. It is told from the perspective of Hanuman and he is apologizing for burning down Lanka. I thought it would be fun to try this new type of storytelling instead of changing something that happened. I imagine that people in Lanka were upset that Hanuman set everything on fire, and so I figured he owed them an apology.
Bibliography: The Burning of Lanka. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914). Source
Image Information: Hanuman, Wikimedia Commons, Source
Dear People of Lanka,
You see, I had the best of intentions. I just got a little in over my head and I don't think I should be blamed for that. Okay, let me back up a little so you can see my side of the story.
It all started when the Rakshasas tried to torture me. Can you imagine? A sweet, innocent monkey like me being tortured? Someone should have definitely called PETA. Anyways, I am being tortured for telling secrets and being a spy, which in my defense no one specifically told me that I wasn't allowed to be a spy so they should have been more clear. So they decide that regular old torture isn't good enough for me and they LIGHT ME ON FIRE. Now of course, I was going to fight them off because obviously monkeys are the superior species and I have great strength, but there were too many of them and they were trying to burn me alive. Okay, well not all of me, just my tail but it was still very traumatizing. Now I am burning to death, but I am very heroic so no one can tell that I am in excruciating pain, and then all of a sudden I feel nothing. I am pretty sure it is because I have a super high pain tolerance being a hero and all. At first, I thought they had put the fire out but when I turned around and saw it still aflame, I knew now was the time for action.
(Picture of me being strong while being tortured)
So I spring into action, and start using my tail to start fires all around Lanka. It was a pretty genius strategy. This is where my memory gets a little fuzzy. I may have gone a little overboard and lit the entire town on fire in revenge, but can you blame me? I was still on fire, and they totally deserved it. When I realized that I had started so many fires and that the whole place was blazing, I ran to the ocean and put out my tail. I realize now that I could have just done this in the beginning, but I was just defending myself.
I was a little worried after putting out my tail because I had forgotten that Sita was in town and that she was the reason for all of this to begin with. So I started searching high and low and soon found her sitting under a tree, totally safe.
After rescuing Sita and myself, I went to Mahendra, where they greeted me as the hero I am. I am a humble man, but it was great to get the recognition I truly deserve after all I endured. So yes, I am sorry to have burned all your houses down and like your entire village, but as you can now see, I had no other choice. Anyway, hope you can rebuild fast.
Best,
Hanuman
Author's Note: This is an adaptation from The Burning of Lanka. It is told from the perspective of Hanuman and he is apologizing for burning down Lanka. I thought it would be fun to try this new type of storytelling instead of changing something that happened. I imagine that people in Lanka were upset that Hanuman set everything on fire, and so I figured he owed them an apology.
Bibliography: The Burning of Lanka. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914). Source
Image Information: Hanuman, Wikimedia Commons, Source
Hey Kennedie,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your story! This was a very interesting way of retelling the burning down of Lanka. I liked the way you portrayed Hanuman’s character. Even the image caption reflected the personality you created for Hanuman. I was wondering something about the story though. It seems like Hanuman’s tail was burning for a really long time. What if you incorporated some quick backstory that would explain how the fire lasted as long as it did. It could be Hanuman saying something like, “…and because I’m such a great hero, I had the foresight to dip my tail in Fire-Torture Repellant before getting captured. I knew it would come in handy!” Or something like that which would follow the personality of Hanuman as told in your story. But that’s just a suggestion! I thought you’re story was pretty solid regardless! One last thing though, was there a reason the text was a different color in the first couple of sentences? I wasn’t sure if that was intentional or not.
Hi Kennedie! First and foremost, I really enjoyed that you wrote this story from Hanuman's perspective. I utilized this style of writing as well in some of my stories thus far, and I thought it was really fun to write. Now after reading yours, it is really fun to read as well! Your caption was incredibly clever and made me smile! Continue to utilize this humor in the future! Something you could do if you like writing from an alternate perspective is maybe "re-tell the correct story". What I mean by this is maybe the original Ramayana got it wrong, so that character is re-telling the story from their perspective but alters the entire story - maybe even the ending - to their *opinionated* point of view! Overall, great job!
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