Week 2 Story: Trust the Captain
Portfolio: Intro
The moon is high in the sky and the waves are getting choppy. I can see the storm heading towards us, and there is no land in sight. The crew hasn't slept all night because we the know the ship won't survive the storm. We're sailing towards the Island of Ceylon hoping we get to land before the storm hits. Just as the storm reaches us, I can see the island through my telescope. I can see a town lit by lanterns, but no one is in sight. I can't see a single person. Even with the wind of the storm, our boat couldn't get to land fast enough. The waves were over forty feet high, and crashed on the deck with authority. The crew tried to maintain the ship, but it was impossible. As the ship tipped over, we all jumped into the ocean and started swimming towards the land. By the time we reached the beach, the storm had passed, and the sun was rising. With 500 sailors on my side, I knew we'd need to find food and water quickly. To my surprise, a large group of women greeted us at the beach and offered us food and clothing. When I saw the city from the sea, it looked like a ghost town. While the whole crew didn't hesitate the follow the women, it seemed suspicious to me. However, I didn't have much of a choice. Following my suspicion, I asked one of the ladies where all their husbands were. With no hesitation, she told us that all of their husbands had gone out to sea years ago, and never returned. She explained that they must have crashed and drowned. This made me less suspicious and after all the hospitality that was shown to me and crew, we all became comfortable living here. After being on the island for some time, myself and all the sailors had found our soul mates. For awhile, we all lived happy lives, but I could tell something was changing. One night, I had woken up from a deep sleep, and my wife wasn't next to me. I got up to search for her but she was no where in sight. Suddenly, I heard someone approaching and laid back down and pretended to be asleep. Out of the corner of my eye, I could barely see anything, but what I saw wasn't my wife. There was a Goblin in my house. It was chewing and crunching on what looked like flesh. I thought for sure I was next, but I calmly watched as the creature sat in the next room. It started walking towards me and right before I planned to jump up and run, the Goblin turned into my wife. She laid back in bed with me and fell asleep. The next morning, I tried to tell the other sailors and warn them about what was going on. Some of them agreed with me saying that they had heard there wives saying a chant about eating human eat, but the others told us that we must be dreaming dream. I was thinking of ways to escape but there was no way out. Goblins hate water, so a ship would be perfect, but we didn't have one anymore. As me and the crew were out on a walk, I saw a bright flying horse with huge wings flying down towards us accompanied by a fairy. The horse asked us if we wanted to leave the island, and many of us, filled with joy, agreed and started getting on the horse. The fairy, with her magic powers, started to shrink us one by one so that we could all fit. I tried to persuade the other men to join us, but they were content with their lives here and didn't want to leave. As the horse started to carry us away, I saw the massive group of women shape shift into Goblins and mangle the rest of my men. I thanked the kind fairy that rescued us, and the horse took us home.
Author's Note: The original story is told in third person, and gives multiple point of views throughout the story. In the original version, the captain's point of view is followed briefly, but mainly follows the Goblins. In this version, I tell the same story, just from the captains perspective in first person. The original version doesn't mention how the ship crashed, but it does give more insight of the background of the Goblins.
Bibliography: "Goblin City" From The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India By W. H. D. Rouse. Web Source
The moon is high in the sky and the waves are getting choppy. I can see the storm heading towards us, and there is no land in sight. The crew hasn't slept all night because we the know the ship won't survive the storm. We're sailing towards the Island of Ceylon hoping we get to land before the storm hits. Just as the storm reaches us, I can see the island through my telescope. I can see a town lit by lanterns, but no one is in sight. I can't see a single person. Even with the wind of the storm, our boat couldn't get to land fast enough. The waves were over forty feet high, and crashed on the deck with authority. The crew tried to maintain the ship, but it was impossible. As the ship tipped over, we all jumped into the ocean and started swimming towards the land. By the time we reached the beach, the storm had passed, and the sun was rising. With 500 sailors on my side, I knew we'd need to find food and water quickly. To my surprise, a large group of women greeted us at the beach and offered us food and clothing. When I saw the city from the sea, it looked like a ghost town. While the whole crew didn't hesitate the follow the women, it seemed suspicious to me. However, I didn't have much of a choice. Following my suspicion, I asked one of the ladies where all their husbands were. With no hesitation, she told us that all of their husbands had gone out to sea years ago, and never returned. She explained that they must have crashed and drowned. This made me less suspicious and after all the hospitality that was shown to me and crew, we all became comfortable living here. After being on the island for some time, myself and all the sailors had found our soul mates. For awhile, we all lived happy lives, but I could tell something was changing. One night, I had woken up from a deep sleep, and my wife wasn't next to me. I got up to search for her but she was no where in sight. Suddenly, I heard someone approaching and laid back down and pretended to be asleep. Out of the corner of my eye, I could barely see anything, but what I saw wasn't my wife. There was a Goblin in my house. It was chewing and crunching on what looked like flesh. I thought for sure I was next, but I calmly watched as the creature sat in the next room. It started walking towards me and right before I planned to jump up and run, the Goblin turned into my wife. She laid back in bed with me and fell asleep. The next morning, I tried to tell the other sailors and warn them about what was going on. Some of them agreed with me saying that they had heard there wives saying a chant about eating human eat, but the others told us that we must be dreaming dream. I was thinking of ways to escape but there was no way out. Goblins hate water, so a ship would be perfect, but we didn't have one anymore. As me and the crew were out on a walk, I saw a bright flying horse with huge wings flying down towards us accompanied by a fairy. The horse asked us if we wanted to leave the island, and many of us, filled with joy, agreed and started getting on the horse. The fairy, with her magic powers, started to shrink us one by one so that we could all fit. I tried to persuade the other men to join us, but they were content with their lives here and didn't want to leave. As the horse started to carry us away, I saw the massive group of women shape shift into Goblins and mangle the rest of my men. I thanked the kind fairy that rescued us, and the horse took us home.
Author's Note: The original story is told in third person, and gives multiple point of views throughout the story. In the original version, the captain's point of view is followed briefly, but mainly follows the Goblins. In this version, I tell the same story, just from the captains perspective in first person. The original version doesn't mention how the ship crashed, but it does give more insight of the background of the Goblins.
Bibliography: "Goblin City" From The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India By W. H. D. Rouse. Web Source
The Flying Horse That Carried the Sailors Away
Hi Jake!
ReplyDeleteThe way you retold this story was very entertaining, being told both in a more dramatic fashion and in the first person. None of the short stories we read or the stories in the Ramayana were told this way, and I think it's a good idea to include some first person perspective in them. I also liked your added scene about how the ship sank and how the crew got to the island. More detail is always helpful.
Hey Jake!
ReplyDeleteI was so interested reading this story! The way you told it in a different way was truly fascinating and I enjoyed every minute of it. I was so shocked when all the wives had turned out to be goblins, it was an interesting play on the original story. I originally thought the wives could have been sirens or something, so when I read that they were goblins I was shocked. I was wondering what gave you this idea to write about it in this fashion, as it is very unique continuing from the original story in this way. It would be really cool to see this story from the eyes of the men who didn't think that there was something wrong with what was going on! I like how you changed it from multiple perspectives though to this single one. I can't wait to read more stories from you in the future!