Together Through
Unlikely Events
Once upon a time in a village far away there were numerous
animals that roamed throughout the forest. The forest that the village was
nestled in was lush with green trees and had lakes of sparkling clear water.
The trees served a huge purpose and that was to provide a barrier to keep the
citizens safe. The barrier kept most unwanted people and creatures out.
The citizens were comprised of every animal you could think
of from birds to cows to wolves to snakes. Most of the time the animals kept to
themselves. They enjoyed sticking with their own kind. They found it easier to
not venture in to other animal’s circles. Now there always has to be one
species that is superior and top of the food chain, which was the wolf.
One of the female wolves in the village was getting ready to
have a baby. Because of this she was preparing for it by collecting food ahead of
time. So all of the animals knew that they had to be on high alert at this
time. They all knew when in the day she would set out to hunt so they
established hiding places.
Before the baby wolf was born, his mother had watched the
mother cow and her calf, but she was never quite able to catch them. The mother
cow knew the wolf was hungry but did not understand why she was after her.
Source: Flickr
(The mother wolf
before she passed)
Some time passed and the mother wolf of the forest had her
baby. Her new baby was tiny and always had quite the appetite. The mother wolf
had collected food before the birth but she was eating so much so she could
feed her baby milk. She knew it was time to venture out and leave her baby
alone in order to get more food. She trusted that she would only be gone a few
hours and would return home to him. The baby waited days and his mother never
returned. He was scared and did not know how to survive without her. Word got
out and spread through the forest that invading hunters had killed the mother
wolf. So now the newborn baby was left with no mother.
Many of the animals felt bad for the baby but wouldn’t go
near him or help him out of fear. However the mother cow knew she had to do something
to help. The cow knew she couldn’t raise the baby because she had so much anger
built up towards the wolf. So she called upon her human friend the Saint to
come rescue the baby wolf. He came to the village the following day and took the
baby wolf in to his arms.
The Saint often brought the wolf back to the village to see
the other animals. The baby wolf knew what the mother cow had essentially saved
his life by calling upon the Saint. So
every time the wolf came back he thanked the cow and vowed to do anything for
her. The mother cow appreciated it and befriended the wolf.
The End.
Author’s Note: I am retelling the story of The
Wonders of Saint Berach. In the original story a wolf was so incredibly
hungry that she ate the mother cow’s baby. The mother cow had always despised
the wolf because she was always trying to attack the mother cow and her
helpless baby. Saint Berach bought the grown wolf and cow together to learn to
live in harmony. He challenged them learn to live with and help each other. The
mother cow was now a mother to the grown wolf son. I decided to change this
story up a bit and put a different spin on the characters. I didn’t want the
wolf to eat the baby so I took that part out. I thought it would be interesting
to have the mother cow call upon the Saint to come rescue the wolf baby and
raise it. I think in this story it was useful to keep some details and to do
away with some to retell a new version on the original story. I took a
different spin on this story and think I have learned to recognize which
details to keep in the future. I also thought it would be useful to add more
detail about the setting to make it more visually appealing.
Bibliography: The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts by Abbie Farwell Brown (1900)
Emily, I think it is great how you really took the original story and made it your own! I love that you took license with the plot and characters, adding some details and characters while deleting others and really exploring what differences these seemingly small changes to the story would make. Isn't it so cool how just the characterization and description of a particular character plays so much into how said character is perceived? I didn't really view the mother wolf in the story as much of a villainess so I thought it was really interesting that you said that, in the original, she most definitely is! It really made me want to go and read the story just so I can compare the different characters. I also found it really impressive that you added the baby wolf as a new character to the story entirely. I think that it was the baby, who was dependent upon its mother that made me see the mother wolf as less of a villain and more of a mother who simply needed to provide for her young, so just the addition of that character alone gave a whole new perspective on the wolf. I hope you continue to play with characterization and details in your future stories! I will be sure to revisit your portfolio to see where your exploration takes you!
ReplyDeleteEmily, I enjoyed reading your story about the wolves and the cows. It was a very short story but you managed to get the point and the moral of the story across quickly and sufficiently. The beginning of the story really grabbed my attention. I was happy that a wolf had just become a mom to a newborn baby, how sweet! Then it turned tragic rather quickly which increased my curiosity to what was about to happen. As I read further into the story, I was still interested in what was going on. Great job keeping the readers attention! My favorite part of this story is that you changed it to a more loving and peaceful story compared to the original story. I liked that the wolf did not eat the baby cow and that the mother cow was able to step in willingly to help the orphaned wolf. In our world today you do not see very many people helping those who have hurt them or angered them. It was a great take on the story that the baby cow and the baby wolf were also able to become friends. There was no jealousy from the baby cow and he allowed the baby wolf to love his mom as his own.
ReplyDeleteEmily, this is such a great story of doing the right thing even when it is the last thing that you want to do. So many people forget about this in this crazy would we live in now, and you demonstrated this in a vey touching story about a cow and a wolf. Being the bigger person (or animal in this case) is probably one of the more difficult tasks that we have to deal with, yet it yields some of the greatest results and is the greatest representation of good character. Even in your story it tells that it was incredibly difficult for the mother cow to put away her pride and to take care of the baby wolf, but in the end the wolf and the calf became the best of friends (and quasi-siblings) and loved the mother cow with all of their heart. Even though it was not the wolf original mother, he loved the cow as his mother anyway. This was a very clever retelling of your original story because you were still able to stick to the overall message of getting over your own pride to achieve an overall bigger purpose in the universe. I loved your story. Keep up the good work. I look forward to reading more of your portfolio in the weeks to come.
ReplyDeleteHello Emily! This is in fact my first portfolio that I have read. I’m super happy that you were my first one that I read. I’ve always found wolves to be such interesting and intelligent creature. Now first things first I enjoyed your stuff, it was a light and simple read. I found it interesting how despite the hatred the cow felt for the wolf, her maternal instincts overruled that. She was able to push aside her hate and help the baby wolf in his time of need. I like how you also adjusted the original story to a less violent version, this version is definitely more suitable. The only thing that I personally think would make this story better, would be to be more descriptive. I found it hard to envision the whole story in my head, and couldn’t quite picture the scenes. Despite this I think your story was still a great read. It not only taught a good moral lesson but it had a happy ending. Like I’ve stated many times before on other comments, I love love love happy endings! Keep up the good work and I’m looking forward to reading your other portfolio stories soon!
ReplyDeleteHey Emily, I enjoyed reading the story about the families of the wolf and the cow. The moral of the story that it is always good to help people out when they are in need is a great one. I find this ideal to be lacking quite a bit in today's society. I thought that your title was really clever, it goes hand in hand with the idea that you are trying to get the audience to understand. I did feel that the story was a little short. I didn't really connect with baby wolf, or the cow. I think a couple of extra descriptive sentences would really help snag the reader. As this is my first portfolio to read, and that it is the first week for portfolio stories, I was wondering if you were going to stay with a theme throughout your stories. Anyways, I enjoyed reading this story, I thought it was well laid out and flowed smoothly. Hope you enjoy creating the rest of your portfolio.
ReplyDeleteHi Emily,
ReplyDeleteI recognized the original story underneath your retelling of Together Through Unlikely events as I was reading it, and I thought you did a good job of preserving the original story while making it your own.
I was a little confused about whether the mother wolf ate the baby cow or not. You didn't come right out and say it, but then you did mention that the mother cow was angry with the mother wolf. So I thought maybe the baby cow's death was implied.
I definitely thought your ending made more sense though. In the original, I thought the mother cow would be way too upset to raise the baby wolf. So I liked how in your version the baby wolf grew up knowing that the mother cow had saved his life; I also liked how that made the mother cow become friends with the wolf.
I also enjoyed how you setup the trees as protectors of the animals. That was a cool visual.
Your author's note clarified my question about whether the mother wolf ate the baby cow. But if she didn't, why was the mother cow upset with the wolves?
Hi, Emily!
ReplyDeleteI just read through your first story in your writing portfolio, Together Through Unlikely Events. First off, I have to say that you did a really nice job retelling this story! I did not read the particular reading unit that it was from, but your author’s note was very helpful and informative.
Based on how you summarized the story in your author’s note, I have to say that I am glad that you put a new spin on the characters and made some changes to the plot. I thought that it was very interesting and creative to have the mother cow call upon the Saint to save the baby wolf. When I was reading the story, I initially thought she might just try to raise the baby wolf as her own and did not understand why she had so much hatred towards the wolves. But once I kept reading, it all made sense! Also, I am glad that the mother wolf did not kill the baby cow! Although that is rather realistic, it would have been very sad.
Overall, everything looks really good and I look forward to reading more stories from your portfolio! Also, a little side note, I really like the picture you picked out!