Story Lab week 15: Six Word Stories/ Microfiction

     

Henry Mills, The New Author

Henry Mills sat in his room thinking over how he had just become the Author, keeper, and teller of all stories. He couldn't believe it. Of course, he came from a fairy-tale family, but he never thought he would have any magical abilities or anything. He trembled a bit as he felt the weight of the responsibility. He then wondered how he could use his newfound power for good. He thought and then was reminded of all the reformed fairy tale villains. Henry smiled softly to himself. He picked up his magic quill and ink and got to work writing.  

 

Henry's story book. (Source: Fandom Wiki )

  Once Upon a Time: Beginning and Ending

It begins and ends with hope. 

A/N: So this is my last post of the semester! I've been wanting to do a microfiction and six-word story post since I did the story lab option for it and I thought it would be a good way to wrap everything up. Also, since I am a fan of Once Upon a Time and twisted tales, I thought I would base it off of that. I don't know if I am technically allowed to do this, but I am hoping it's allowed. If you haven't seen the show you should totally go watch it! I really liked doing this activity because it made me really think about what I wanted to write. It really made me dig deep and think about it. I've always been one to use a lot of words, so this post has helped me see I can be more concise about my writing and still come across with lots of meaning. 

 

Reading Notes Week 15 Grimm (Librivox): Part B

 Grimm Notes

Barbie and the 12 dancing princesses illustration. (Source: Fandom Wiki )

The Queen Bee

-2 princes went out into the world to seek fortunes

-had a brother who was "a little insignificant dwarf"

-he tried to find his brothers but they laughed at him

-the older brothers though he wasnt capable because they werent 

-came across an ant hill the elder bros wanted to knock down but the younger wouldnt let them 

-"Let the poor things enjoy themselves," repetitive 

-came across ducks the elders wanted to kill but younger said no

-came across a bee hive with honey and dwarf stopped brothers from huritng the bees

-came to enchanted marble castle

-eldest brother first challenge with pearls

-turned to stone b/c he failed

-next brother failed too

-dwarf was last to try

-dwarf sat on a rock and cried because the job was so hard. 

-King of ants (who he had rescued) heard and helped him find them

-the second challenge was to gte a key from a lake

-the ducks helped

-the last to choose the best princess

-queen bee helped to pick the right one

-enchantment was broken

The 12 Huntsmen

-kings son had a bride he loved

-king sent for him because he was dying

-told his bride he would return and gave her a ring

-made a promise to his father to marry a different princess

-she cried and her father asked her what she wanted

-she wanted 12 other girls just like her

-she had costumes made for all

-went to court of the prince and asked to be hsi hunstmen and he said yes

-kings pet lion told him the truth

-king put hunstmen to the test

-truth revealed and lion believed again

Jorinda and Jorindel 

-old castle in a gloomy wood

-old fairy

-fairy had the power to shape shift into animals except at night she was always an old woman again

-any men that came near her castle were sent away, women she turned into birds and kept

-beautiful purple flower with a pearl in it 

-the flower disenchanted everything and turned Jorinda inot a maiden again

-"They lived happily ever after"

The Fox and The Horse

-a farmers horse too old for work

-horse was "very melancholy"

-farmer said he had to have the strength of a lion

-fox said he would help him

-fox helped him catch a lion and bring him to the farmer

-farmer ket him stay

The 12 Dancing Princesses

-king had 12 daughters who all shared one room with 12 beds

-even though they were locked up, their shoes were always worn through the next day as if they had been dancing all night

-king put it to a challenge to find out  how

-if a man could figure it out in three days and three nights he could marry one of the girls he chose and become king, but if not was put tot death

-an old soldier

-old dame warned not to drink wine and gave him an old cloak

-youngest knew something was wrong but eldest made fun of her for it 

-went through a trap door in the floor

-12 princes in 12 little boats

-soldier married the eldest

The Turnip

-2 soldiers who were brothers, one poor, and one rich

-poor soldier became a gardener

-grew a huge turnip and thought to give it to the king

-kign rewarded him and made him richer than his brother

-the brother got jealous and was determined to become rich too and got the king a gift of gold and horses

-hired villians to kill his brother

-got tied up in a sack and tricked a student to let him down

The Willow-Wren and The Bear

-Willow-wren- "King of Birds"

-talking animals

-bear saw nest of willow-wrens and thougth the children disreputable

-king and queen said they would punish the bear with a bloody war

-fox leading floor legged animals'-willow-wrens all flying insects and animals

-Willow-wrens won but children said the bear had to come and apologize to them

Bibliography and Sources

sources come from the Grimms' Fairy Tale sbook published by the Project Gutenburg
website- Project Gutenburg

Reading Notes Week 15 Grimm (Librivox): Part A

 Grimm Reading Notes 

Disney's Sleeping Beauty (1959). (Source: Tumblr )

The Frog Prince

-young princess in bonnet and clogs (German?)

-golden ball was her favorite plaything 

-lost the ball in the spring when playing with it 

-a frog offers to help in exchange for the princess' love and letting him live with her and eat from her plate and sleep in her bed

-princess thought to trick the frog 

-when the frog got the ball for her she ran home and did not stay to listen to the frog 

-"Open the door, my princess dear, Open the door to thy true love here!
And mind the words that thou and I said
By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade."

-after three nights the frog turned into a prince 

-princess married the prince and they lived happily ever after

Rapunzel

-a man and a woman prayed to God for a child 

-had a window that looked into the enchantress' garden  

-the woman craved the rampion (rapunzel) in the garden 

-she started to look sick because she craved it so much

-her husband went to get it not caring about the consequences

-the wife then wanted 3 times more 

-the enchantress showed mercy as long as they gave her the baby

-Ell- measurement of cloth, usually as long as a persons arm

-Rapunzel locked into a tower at age 12 

-prince climbed up her hair and talked to her like a friend 

-enchantress cut off her braids and abandoned her in the desert

-prince jumped out the window and lived, but was blinded by thorns and wandered around the forest

-found Rapunzel with the twins she had given birth too and when she cried over him, two of her tears healed his eyes

The Straw, The Coal, and The Bean

-a poor old woman was cooking a dish of beans 

- a bean fell out near a piece of straw and coal

-all three reflected on what would have happened to them and decided to stick together 

-when they left they came to a small brook

-the straw offered to lean across it and make a bridge

-the coal went across first, but got scared in the middle and stopped

-the straw burned and broke into two pieces and fell into the brook and so did the coal where it died

-the bean laughed so much it burst, a tailor saw and took pity and sewed her back together and used black thread

-since then every bean has had a black seam 

The Mouse, The Bird, and The Sausage 

-starts with "Once upon a time"

-all three set up house together

-"When people are too well off, they always begin to long for something new."

-bird refused to do his part

-dog ate the sausage 

-mouse burned up in the pot

-bird drowneed in water

- a lesson to learn 

The Musicians 

-an old donkey ran away from his owner so that he wouldnt be killed and wants to be a musician 

-saw a dog and asked the dog to join him and he did 

-they cam across a cat and aksed her to come with

-found a rooster and invited him to come along with them 

-saw a house far off while travelling and went there to try to find shelter and food 

-scared robbers out of house with "music"

Clever Elsie 

-parents wanted to get her married to a man named Hans

-Hans said if she wasnt really smart he didnt want her for a wife

-cried over if she married Hans, had a child, and he had to draw beer that the pick axe may fall on him and kill him

-Hans found her clever and took her as his wife

Briar Rose 

-sleeping beauty story

-"Once upon a time"

-king and queen were grieved that they had no children 

-Queen helped a litttle fish from dying and the fish granted her wosh for a daughter

-had a party to celebrate the child

-but when inviting the thirteen fairies, they only had 12 plates, so left one out

-13th fairy cursed the girl to pirck her finger on a spindle when she was 15 and die

-the 12th fairy softened the curse by saying she wouldnt die but just fall into a 100 year sleep

-king had all the spinning wheels burned in the kingdom 

-on her 15th birthday, was left alone in the castle and found an old woman at a spinning wheel spinning

-was curious about the spinning wheel and pricked her finger on it 

-everyone and everything went inot a deep sleep with the princess

-thick thorns grew around the palace and killed any princes who tried to get through it to the castle 

-another prince heard about it from an old man who warned him but went anyway

-because 100 years were up, prince did not see the thorns but flowering shrubs and walked through them easily

-found Briar Rose and kissed her 

-she woke up along with the rest of the palace

-they lived happily ever after

Bibligraphy and Sources

sources come from the Grimms' Fairy Tale sbook published by the Project Gutenburg 

website- https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2591

Famous Last Words: Getting Ready for my Future

 

A quote we used to use with youth I worked with. (Source: ourmindfullife.com)

So, this week has gone by super fast. It seems like since we are at the end of the semester, everything is super fast or super slow. Depends on the day for me, I guess.

The readings for the week went okay for me. I read the Faerie Queene unit this week. I will confess though, the story seemed to kind of drag on and on. I got to the end and wanted to see everything work out for the characters, but it left a lot of mystery about Lady Amoret. So that's what I did my story on. I had a lot of ideas about how I wanted the story to go, but with keeping it under 1000 words, I wrote about just her capture and what that may have looked like. That has probably been the biggest challenge for me this semester as a writer. I have had to learn to be more concise. In my other classes I am used to having to fill word count requirements for papers and assignments, so this has carried over into my other writing. I think I am improving on it though. I really appreciate Laura's and my classmates' help, as well. I had the chance to read some other people's writing earlier in the week because on Monday I was catching up during the grace period. My interest was really piqued in writing microfiction and six-word stories. Hopefully, I get a chance to try it out before the class ends. 

My other classes are going well. I am juggling everything quite nicely. *knocks on wood* I really cannot wait for the semester to be over though. I already have a job and am looking forward to starting my career. I am really excited to put the skills I have learned over the last 4 years in college to use to help people. 

Next week, I hope to start wrapping things up. I only have one final to do for one of my classes, so that's going to be a lot less stressful than usual. I am also apartment hunting and will hopefully find somewhere soon. Finally, my last week at my current job is also next week. I am looking forward to finishing things in this chapter of my life and moving on to the next. 

Week 13 Story: Lady Amoret's Capture

 The Capture of Lady Amoret

How I imagine Lady Amoret might look. (Source: Tumblr)

The sun started to set and the shadows started to lengthen when Britomart decided to stop for the night. She, her horse, and Amoret were all weary from their long journey and all the trials they had faced. They currently were wandering through a desert to get to the forest that lay on the other side of it. But it was vast and would take days to travel through. Britomart found a sheltered place in a vacated cave that had the evidence of past travelers being there. 

"Let's stop and rest here for the night. We are both weary and the sun is setting. We will make little to no progress in this state if we continue and do not rest," Britomart stated.  

There was cut dried kindling and wood stacked from past travelers just inside the entrance to the cave. Both Britomart and Amoret said a silent thanks to their gods for the strangers' gift.

 "If you will help me get the fire going I shall cook some of the meat we still have left from the last hunt you took," Amoret offered. Britomart agreed and they both got to work on preparing a small meal for the two of them.

Once they had eaten they were sitting around the fire almost fast asleep, when Amoret thought she heard rustling outside of the cave. "Did you hear that, my friend?" Amoret nervously looked over to Britomart who was almost asleep. 

"Hmm? Oh, it was probably an animal that smelled the food. Not to worry though, the fire will keep them at bay. Wild animals won't dare come near a fire like this and we are both behind the fire. That is why I made it near the entrance of the cave." Britomart dismissed Amoret's worries and fell fast asleep. 

'Well, she's probably right, I am just being paranoid. I need to rest while I can. I want to get back to Scudamour, my love as soon as possible.' She thought to herself as she too fell fast asleep. 

Little did Amoret or Britomart know, that someone from the tourney had followed them. Sir Satyrane, furious at being bested by not just the Savage knight, but also the Knight with the Ebony Spear, had followed where the strange knight was taking the fair lady he won. At first, Satyrane thought to some distant castle but was outraged to overhear and see the truth about Britomart and Amoret. 'I shall show them what happens when you try to make a fool of me! Lady Amoret is rightfully mine, husband or no. I will have her!' He thought with fury. 

So, Satyrane continued following them until they stopped for the night. He knew that he was no match for Britomart and would lose against her if it came to combat. So he waited until their exhaustion overtook both of them and put his plan into action. 

He swiftly but quietly scooped up the Lady Amoret from where she was laying and quickly made haste to his horse. The lady was so exhausted from all of her previous adventures and capture from the Enchanter, she never even stirred. 

She awoke to the sun shining in her eyes and laying against who she thought was Britomart on horseback. She was quite disoriented and wondered why Britomart did not just wake her earlier. But even as she thought this, she slowly came to her senses and realized it was not Britomart she leaned against. 

"Oh, you're awake, lovely. My lady, we shall be home shortly." Satyrane smirked to himself as he spoke to her. 

"Home? Sir Satyrane? What are you doing? Why have you taken me from my dear knight? I demand you bring me back at once!" She pounded on his back to no avail. He never stopped or even slowed the horse carrying them down.

He chuckled sinisterly to himself. "I know the evil trick you and this Britomart played on the rest of us. But I am no fool! You are rightfully mine and shall be my wife! You will grace me with your beauty all of my days," He said dreamily. 

Amoret fought as hard as she could to get him to let her go. She planned and tried many escapes but she could not beat him. She prayed that Britomart and her love, Scudamour would come to her rescue and soon. She shivered to herself to think what was awaiting her at Satyrane's castle. 

A/N:

First off, thanks for reading! While reading the tales of Britomart this week, I got so frustrated. It took forever for Britomart to find Artegall and for her "happily ever after," so to speak. Then we have her best friend, Amoret, who was separated from her husband by a wicked Enchanter who Britomart saved her from. So when Britomart finds Artegall and Scudamour, we find out that Lady Amoret had been taken and Britomart had no clue about who had taken her or to where. The last story in the unit said Amoret's story was for another book, and let me just say, I was super disappointed to not be able to read at least something about her! So that's why I decided to write my story post about her capture at least. Satyrane seemed very arrogant to me in the original story and I wouldn't put it past him to do something like this for revenge. Actually, a lot of people seemed to be getting revenge on each other during this unit, so it fits well with the story to me. I didn't want to give too much detail and wanted to leave some mystery, as I haven't yet read any of her actual story (if there is one) and I just like leaving my readers wanting more. Hope you enjoyed it! Feedback is always welcomed! 

Bibliography:

Stories from the Faerie Queene by Mary McCleod, with illustrations by A.G. Walker (1916). 

Faerie Queen Reading Notes: Part B

 Faerie Queen Notes

Britomart by Cristian Gonzalez (Source: Reddit )

The Enchanted Chamber

-What Britomart Saw in The Enchanted Chamber 

-Shrill trumpet 

-"brave Princess" 

-"Then stepped forth a grave-looking person, in costly raiment, and bearing in his hand a branch of laurel."

-name of man was Ease 

-iron wicket

-joyous band 

-Fancy, Desire, Doubt, Danger, Fear, Hope, Dissembling, Suspicion, Grief, Fury, Displeasure, Pleasure, Spite, and Cruelty all personified. 

-Love was also personified and was "tyrant of the castle" and had a winged figure 

-also- Reproach, Repentance, Shame, Strife, Anger, Care, Unthriftiness, Loss of Time, Sorrow, Change, Disloyalty, Rioting, Poverty, Death-with-Infamy

-all returned to the inner chamber they had come from 

A Wicked Enchanter 

-How Britomart Rescued a Fair Lady from a Wicked Enchanter

-Britomart tried to open the door to the inner chamber and couldn't because it was closed by magic

-no one but the enchanter and the lady was in the inner chamber. her hands were tied up and a chain around her waist

- the enchanter was drawing figures in blood trying to use magic to make her love him

-Britomart didn't kill him because he had to undo the spell over the lady 

-Glauce and Scudamour left to look for more help, so when Britomart and Amoret came out, they weren't there 

Strange Meetings 

-What Strange Meetings Befell on the Way

-As they were looking for the knight and Glauce, Amoret shared the story of how she was captured with Britomart

-her and Britomart became best friends 

-Duessa and Ate-treacherous and in disguise 

-Strife

The Golden Girdle

-How Britomart did Battle for the Golden Girdle

-last day of the tournament 

-Knights of Maidenhood

-The Savage Knight- Sir Artegall, The champion of justice 

-Britomart beat all the other knights

-Girdle of Florimell- wearer said to be peerless

The False Floimell

-How the Golden Girdle was Awarded to the False Florimell

-Snowy Lady- impersonating the Lady Florimell

-"Unlucky maid, to seek her enemy! Unlucky maid to seek far and wide for him whom, when he was nearest, she could not discover because of his disguise!"

The House of Care 

-How Sir Scudamour Came to the House of Care

-Scudamour wants revenge of Britmoart b/c Ate filled his heart with jealous rage 

-Care- a blacksmith by trade, ragged and dirty appearance 

-6 servents who were strong men 

Two Knights

-How the "Savage Knight" met the "Knight with the Ebony Spear"

-Scudamour and Artegall meet

-they both agreed to help seek revenge on Britomart

-Britomart fought both and won

How Britomart Ended her Quest

-Britomart and Artegall are made known to each other

-Glauce makes everyone make amends

-Amoret is missing

Bibliography-

Stories from the Faerie Queen by Mary McCleod, with drawings by A.G. Walker (1916).

Faerie Queen Reading Notes: Part A

 Faerie Queen Notes

Britomart walking into the fire. (Source: www.oldbookillustrations.com )

Sir Guyon

-"How Sir Guyon met a Champion mightier than himself"

-Acrasia- the wicked enchantress, captured

-he traveled with Prince Author- (possible connection with king Arthur later???)

-traditional chivalry and knight cade

-saw another knight with a golden lion on the shield 

-Guyon wanted to be the one who fought the knight 

-Guyon fell off his horse because of an enchanted spear he was holding 

-knight was actually a maiden 

-maiden was actually the famous Princess Britomart, daughter of Ryence, King of South Wales.

-she was trying to find Artegall- the champion knight of justice

-she saw him in a magic mirror Merlin gave to her father

-definite connections to Arthur 

-traveled and fought together, when they lost to one another they were graceful about it 

How Britomart Fought with Six Knights 

-a milk-white pony rushed past them with a lady on its back

-Florimell- name of the lady on the pony

-Arthur and Guyon started to fight the woodman chasing her

-Britomart found a "stately castle" 

-she saw one knight fighting six others on the plain that was in front of the castle

-Britomart ran to help

-story reads like a fairytale 

-"There dwells within this castle a fair lady whose beauty has no living rival. She has ordained this law, which we approve: that every knight who comes this way and has no lady of his own, shall enter her service, never to leave it. But if he has already a lady whom he loves, then he must give her up, or else fight with us to prove that she is fairer than our lady."

-Britomart won, entered the castle 

Britomart in Castle Joyous 

-Lady of Delight and Castle Joyous 

-the lady always satisfied her own desires no matter what

The Magic Mirror

-How Britomart Looked into The Magic Mirror

-explains to her companion knight that she is traveling and disguising herself as a knight to seek adventure but also find Artegall

-lied about how she felt about Artegall to hide her feelings from the other knight 

-"These words sank into Britomart's heart and filled her with rapture, but still, she would not let her companion see it."

-mirror was round and hollow like a globe

The Cave of The Magician Merlin

-How Britomart went to the Cave of the Magician Merlin

-saw Artegall in the mirror and was plunged into grieving thinking that she would never see him again

-went to Merlin to try to find out where Artegall was

Britomart's Quest

-How Britomart Set Forth on Her Quest

-the nursemaid helps her to come up with a plan to sneak away to the Faerie Queen's land to find Artegall

The Castle at the Churl Malbecco

-How Britomart Came to the Castle at Churl Malbecco

-a great storm 

-churl-an impolite and mean-spirited person

-the churl refused to let Britomart into his castle away from the storm

-he eventually let her and other knights into the castle where they all shared stories

How Britomart Walked Through Fire

-saw a giant chasing a man

-wandered into the forest to find the giant and both got separated

-Britomart found a sobbing knight

-knight told her that his lady love had been taken by an evil enchanter 

-she vowed she would rescue her or die with her 

-found a great magical fire at the entrance of the castle

-Britomart's boldness helped her to pass the fire 

-castle was richly decorated 

Bibliography-

Stories from the Faerie Queen by Mary Mcleod, with drawings by A. G. Walker (1916).