Portfolio Intro

This is an index of all my favorite stories

The Boy With Excuses
This story is about a boy who didn't study for an exam, but comes up with a bunch of excuses as to why it is ok for him to cheat on the exam.

An Old Hound Dog
The story is about an older dog who feels as if his owner has forgotten him and moved on with a younger dog. Roge the older dog goes off on an adventure to find the most beautiful place he has ever seen since his owner no longer wants him or at least that is what he thinks.

The Poor Good Man
I wrote this story about a man who was very poor and out of work. He comes up with a plan to feed his wife and children. Thinking his plan has gone off with out a hitch he heads back home to his wife and children. Little does he know he is actually going to get caught.

Always Trust Your Wife
The man in the story is very poor and is trying to feed his family. One day he meets a random lady who claims to be his sister. She takes in him and his family to take care of them. His wife warns him of her, and he does not listen to his wife. In the end he should have listened to her. You should always trust your wife.

The Jealous Ex-Girlfriend
This story is about a boy who has a jealous ex-girlfriend that he lets control his life. When he meets a new girl he really likes, he tries to keep it a secret. We all know secrets come out in the end!

Storytelling Week 3: The Jealous Ex Girlfriend

A beautiful boy named Tommy once had the most gorgeous girlfriend in the school, and her name was Victoria. Tommy and Victoria were always together, and always having a good time. Till one day Victoria caught Tommy cheating, and it wasn't just one girl either. There were multiple girls who Tommy had been with.


Victoria loved Tommy so much she could not let go. She wanted him to be happy, but she also knew it could not be with her. Since she could not be with him, she knew she wanted jurisdiction over everything he did including the women he saw. Tommy allowed this since he felt he owed it to her.

A new girl showed up to school one day, and she was as beautiful as any girl Tommy had ever seen. Every guy wanted to be with this girl. They had never seen anyone like her before, and suddenly people started to forget who Victoria was.


The girl’s name was Annabelle. She had long blonde hair, blue eyes, and sun-kissed skin.


Of course Victoria's first words that day to Tommy were "she is off limits." Victoria was used to the guys looking at her all day with heart-eyes and not at someone else. So it all makes sense why she would not want Tommy to be with this beautiful girl.


Victoria had a plan to ruin this girl. She wanted to put hair dye in her conditioner bottle to turn her beautiful blonde hair black. She also wanted her sun-kissed skin to fry so she would be as red as a lobster.


But Tommy was fed up with Victoria and her awful requests of him so he went and spoke to Annabelle. They hit it off right away, but he informed her they could not be seen in public together or there would be horrible repercussions.


Anna, short for Annabelle, started to make friends, and she would talk about this guy she had been seeing. Her friends did not believe her, and they pestered her till one day she finally came out with the truth about who she had been seeing the whole time.


It came as a shock to Victoria. She was not used to someone defying her, and especially not twice like Tommy had done. She knew right then she was going to make Anna's life a living hell.


Anna was a sweet girl, so when Victoria asked her to do all these irrational things she complied because she wanted to be nice to Victoria. Over and over again Victoria came up with horrible tasks for Anna to complete and she did them with ease never getting caught when it was something she was not supposed to be doing.

Anna thought if she did all these things for Victoria she would forgive her and let her and Tommy be together with no stipulations. That never happened Victoria was jealous of what Anna had. She was never going to get over it.

In the end Victoria lost her status in the school as the most beautiful girl, because on the inside she was the ugliest girl anyone had ever seen. No one wanted to be around her. Therefore no one did anything she asked of them.



And Tommy and Annabelle got to be together with no strings attached. Well, at least no Victoria attached.

A Jealous Ex Girlfriend

Source:Get Back Your Ex Girlfriend

Author's Note:

My story was based off of the story Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche. The story is about a beautiful young girl named Psyche, and everyone came to see her from far away just to look at her. Venus was used to being the most beautiful girl there was, and people came to see her also. Venus got jealous when people stopped coming to see her to see Psyche instead. So, she called upon her son Cupid to make sure Psyche was taken care of. Instead of doing the horrible things Venus wanted Cupid to do to Psyche, he married her without his mother knowing. In the end it came out that Cupid had married Psyche. Venus got very angry and wanted Psyche to complete tasks that were impossible but with the help of others she completed them all. In the end Psyche and Cupid had a wedding with everyone there including Venus. I wrote my story from the jealous ex girlfriend perspective, because to me Venus was acting more like the jealous ex-girlfriend type rather than a mother. Unlike in the original story, Victoria, which is portrayed as Venus, never accepts the two like Venus does in the original story. I liked this story because it shows that people are jealous no matter if they are a god or just a regular human being. You could be the prettiest person in the room and not be able to make friends, and be jealous of the ugliest person because they are really good at making friends. My favorite part of the story was the lesson that was being told. That is what I wanted everyone else to get out of the story, but I gave it a little bit of a modern twist. I sure hope no guy lets a girl dictate his life like that.

Bibliogrpahy:

" Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche" by Apuleius. Website:Un-Textbook

Storytelling Week 9: The Poor Good Man

There was once a very poor family. The head of the family was Fabio, and he was not sure where he was going to get the money to feed his family. For a couple of days Fabio sat and pondered on ideas and ways he was going to be able to get the money, but nothing seemed to make sense. During this time nobody was making any money because jobs were scarce, so working for the money was not going to happen. Almost everyone in the village was out of a job and starving. Fabio needed to think of something and he needed to do it fast!


Fabio liked to think of himself as an honest hard-working man who always had his family fed even if it meant he himself was not able to eat. The decision Fabio came to was not an easy one, but it was one he believed to be necessary. Fabio was going to travel to one of the nicest villages he knew of and become friends with the people so he could take their food. He was not going to tell him he was taking their food, but instead he would just leave a note letting them know one day he hoped to repay them. Desperate is the only word that could describe Fabio at the time.


It was a cold winter day when Fabio set out on his journey to the village where he was going to find his family’s food. He only informed his wife he would be leaving to work a job, because that is all she needed to know.


When he arrived at the village he made friends easily at the local gathering spot. Soon after arriving a man named Louis asked Fabio to join him for dinner. Louis was a hard-working man just like Fabio. Since Fabio had nowhere to stay that night, Louis offered his house and a free meal. Fabio could not believe how easy it was going to be to get the food.


That night Fabio had a wonderful dinner with Louis and his wife and children. Not sure how he was going to get out with the food without getting caught, Fabio decided to stay the night and make a plan. He was awake all night planning the perfect escape with the food.


The next day came and Louis told Fabio he could stay as long as he liked, but he was going to be going to work and his wife was walking the children to school. That was the perfect time for Fabio to implement his plan. He got all the food he believed he would need and wrote a note to Louis thanking him. Louis tried explaining why he did what he did, but it would not come out right, so he just went on his way hoping everything would be okay.


Fabio got all the way to the edge of town when he came into contact with the sheriff of the town and Louis. He just thought he had gotten away. Earlier the day before Fabio had told a gentleman about his plan, and it just so happens that gentleman works with Louis and told him everything.


Louis was so disappointed in Fabio because he thought he was a standup guy like himself, but Fabio proved him wrong. If Fabio would have just asked Louis for some food he would have happily of given it to him. Instead Fabio is now sitting in jail in a village nowhere near home. Which mean he has no way to feed his wife and children, or even let them know of what has happened to him.

Author's Note:

When writing this story I had the story The Theft of Fire in my head. In that story the Karoks were cold and did not have a way to warm themselves up. The Coyote offered to steal some fire from the Hags for them. All the animals got in a line so the Coyote could hand them the fire and they could pass it down the line. The Hags let the Coyote in and he scoped the place out and made a plan with the Indian for the next night. The Coyote managed to make it out of the tepee with the fire and handed it to the Lion, and it made it all the way to the Frog who put it on the driftwood. They got to keep the fire. In my story Fabio is without work and unable to feed himself and his family. He goes to steal food from a new friend and is caught. So, instead of getting away with the food like the animals got away with the fire Fabio was caught. I wanted him to get caught because a lot of the time if, you just ask someone for something they will give it to you. Especially if they believe you are an honest person, and Louis did believe Fabio was an honest person. Just because you need something does not mean you can just steal it. I wanted to make my story a lesson instead of the bad guy getting away with it like they usually do in these stories. I did use people instead of animals also because I have a hard time believing some of these animals all worked together like that since I never even see them together in the real world. I am not sure why but I even though I know these stories are not real it is hard for me to make fake stories like that.

Bibliography:

Picture: Man behind bars

Source: The Inquirer

"The Theft of Fire" by Katharine Berry Judson, from Southwestern and California Legends. Website:UnTextbook

Storytelling: An Old Hound Dog

There was once an old hound dog name Roge. Roge was used to being with his owner every day, and they were the best of friends. One day Roge's owner came home with a new puppy, and he spent hours and hours playing with Roge. Roge remembered when his owner used to play with him like that. It just seemed like he does not even know Roge is alive.

Roge thought to himself about what he should do, because he could not sit here every day and look at his owner with a new puppy. That would just make him sad. After contemplating for a while he decided he would go out on an adventure of his own. It is not like his owner would notice anyways.

Not thinking anything through, Roge decided he was going to leave right then because if he did not he might end up changing his mind. On his way to his destination he saw an old bull and asked him if he would like to come along. Of course the bull asked, “what is your destination?” and Roge answered, "The most beautiful place you will ever see: there are mountains, beaches, lakes, and many other beautiful things. “With that in mind the bull thought, "Well, yeah, I could use a nice vacation from all this grazing I do every day."


So the two went on their way to the most beautiful place you will ever see. Then the two first stumbled upon a donkey, then a cat, and finally a cock and a goose.


Roge and the bull explained to them each time they met someone new where they were going, and asked if they would like to join. Each time the animals had to think about it, but in the end all decided the same thing: that it sounded like a wonderful place to visit.


Hunger had set in and they all realized they had no food. Roge was so excited to leave he forgot to bring food with him. They were not sure what they were going to do. Randomly as they were walking they stumbled upon an old house with food on the table, but the owners were not home. Inside it was thieves stealing all their stuff and eating the food.


They came up with a plan to get the thieves out so they could have their chance at the food. All together they would make these horrible sounds. Roge made a loud barking noise, the bull started to kick his feet, the donkey made an ass of himself, the cat hissed, and the cock and goose chirped back and forth at each other. The thieves got scared and ran from the house. At last the food was theirs and they would get to eat.


The food made them happy, and they even had a place to sleep for the night. The next morning they all woke very early since they were anxious to get to their destination later that day. It was a long hot day, but they finally made it. It really was the most beautiful place any of them had ever seen.


Roge was so happy when he finally arrived, but after a few days he started to miss his owner. Then Roge decided it wasn't worth being away from his owner even if his owner did have a new puppy. Maybe he could teach the new pup a thing or two. It had only been a week and Roge said goodbye to his new friends, and set off to his home where his owner was waiting for him.


His owner was so happy to see Roge. Roge couldn't believe it. He thought he would have forgotten about him! Roge became the new pup’s mentor and taught him everything he needed to know.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Author's Note:
I wrote my story following the original story The World's Reward. This story was about a dog whose owner was sending him away because he was too old. Along the way the dog found some friends to go with him and they got hungry. They stumbled upon a house where there was an awesome spread of food, but robbers were having their way with it. They came up with a plan to get the robbers out. It worked, and they ate all the food they could. There was still some left so they wanted to stay to eat it in the morning, but they knew the robbers would come back. They came up with a plan using all the animals to keep the robbers out. The plan worked and they scared the robbers off when they came back. That is how the original story ended. My story was the same as in it had the same animals, but I did not go into scaring the robbers back off. I made up the most beautiful place you will ever see as the animals destination and that was what happened after they ate the food. The dog Roge then went back to his old owner because he missed him so much.

Bibliography:

Picutre: Old Hound Dog

Source:Rocket Dog Rescue

"The World's Reward" by James Honey(1910), from South African Folktales. Website:UnTextbook

Week 2 Storytelling: The Boy With Excuses

There was once a boy new to school named Bobby, and his parents had great expectations of him. Bobby had big dreams for himself also, but did not know how he was going to achieve those dreams for he was not as smart as he thought. Public school had always been so easy, but college -- now that was a different story. Like most people Bobby was unsure of what to expect from college, and he had no idea it was going to be so much harder than public school.

One day at the end of anatomy class the teacher announced that there would be an exam the next class, and all the students should spend a decent amount of time studying because this test would be worth more than all the others. "Teachers exaggerate about that kind of stuff all the time!” is what went through Bobby’s head when he heard the teacher announce the exam.

Some of the students had formed a study group and invited the Bobby to join. He thought that it couldn't hurt to study since he didn't have anything to do that night anyways, and maybe there would be pizza involved.

The night the study group got together Bobby’s friend Bryan dropped by to invite him out since there was a big party that night that he was sure Bobby would not want to miss. He was correct Bobby did not want to miss the party, and that there would for sure be pizza at this party. Knowing he was supposed to go to the study group, he texted Kyle, one of the members to let them know he would not be there.

Cheating was wrong and Bobby knew that, but he just kept coming up with excuses as to why it would be okay.

"It will only be this one time."

"I can't disappoint my parents, so I have to pass this class."

"I won't get caught."

"The party was way more important than this exam."

The list went on and on. Bobby knew he should not have cheated, but he justified it with many excuses.


Bobby left class that day feeling refreshed. He got to go to the party, and he was confident he did well on the exam. Nothing was going to be able to stop him now. Well, that is until he got an email from the professor asking him to come speak with him in his office.

It turns out Bobby did not really get away with cheating like he had thought he did. He obviously was not very smart in how he cheated. Bobby took the answer from the student next to him word for word, so it was very obvious someone had been cheating. Not only did Bobby get in trouble for cheating, but so did the girl Sarah who Bobby cheated off of. Sarah had no idea Bobby was taking her answers, and they weren't even friends. Since she did not cover her work Sarah was also in trouble.


At that point Bobby was in trouble and he knew it, so finally he decided he would do what any decent human being would do. He told his professor everything and informed him Sarah was not involved at all, and she had no idea Bobby was looking at his exam.

In the end Sarah was cleared of any wrongdoings, but Bobby was not. He was taken out of the class, and cheating will be on his academic record from now on. His parents were disappointed more than ever.


It looks like all those excuses he had didn't work out for him in the end. He might remember that for the next time.




Author's Note:
I have written my story based off of a fable I read this week, Jacobs 2. The Wolf and the Lamb (Perry 155). It is about a wolf wanting to eat the lamb and coming up with as many excuses as possibly as to why he should eat the lamb. None of the excuses were valid, and he ate the lamb anyways. I have changed my story up the lamb was innocent in the original story, and in my story the main character was not innocent. In my story the boy finds as many excuses as possible as to why he was going to cheat, and it didn't really matter he was going to do it anyways. The end result was going to be the same: he was going to cheat, and he was going to get caught. When the teacher caught him, the teacher did not care about any of his excuses because cheating and cheating with excuses is all the same. I think this is a good lesson for everyone to take with them. You should never cheat on an exam, and if you didn't study that is your own fault and you deserve the bad grade you are going to get.

Boy cheating on Exam

Source: The Sanity Of A Mad Woman

Bibliography:

"The Wolf and the Lamb" by Joseph Jacobs, from The Fables of Aesop. Website:Un-Textbook.

Text message between Bobby and Kyle
Source:Fake Phone Text

Boy cheating on Exam
Source: The Sanity of A Mad Woman