Week 13 Story: Why the Fairy Hates the Goblins

"Goddamnit, not again," sighed the fairy as she rolled over in her bed and pulled the pillow over her head. This was the third time this week that the goblins had decided to have their meal after midnight. She wouldn't mind there odd meal times if it wasn't for the screaming. It always woke her up.

When they first moved into her island, the goblins actually weren't terrible neighbors. The helped her deal with her pest problem, since all of the little humans had gotten it into their heads that the fountain of youth was located on the island. Her protective storm charms usually blew them off course enough to keep them away.

Recently though, the fog charm had begun to fade (she really needed to get around to redoing it). This meant the sailors could actually see the island and would swim to shore if the storms wrecked their ships. She understood that the goblins couldn't eat their previous prisoners while the next group was around, but did they have to torture the poor men before eating them? Hadn't anyone ever taught them to not play with their food???

It had been about a month since the midnight feedings had begun, and the fairy was sick and tired (literally) of never being able to sleep through the night. "I need to figure out a way to teach them a lesson," she thought. "What if I rescue the next lot that comes in? A few days of hunger might teach them to treat their food better."

And so the fairy began casting her spells. When a group of sailors washed ashore, she watched them and determined which one was the leader. Later that night, while the men slept, the goblins snuck away to feast on the group before that was in the dungeons. "Wake," the fairy whispered in the captain's ear. He snapped awake and realized his wife was missing. In the distance he heard screaming, but thinking it was just a nightmare, he quickly settled back into sleep. Until his wife returned that is. Already having been shaken from a deep sleep, he heard her come in the door. She was singing about all the men she had eaten. She stepped past the window, and in the moonlight the captain saw that his wife was actually a goblin!

He pretended to be asleep and first thing in the morning called for his men. "We must leave this place! Our women are not women at all! They plan to eat us!" he cried.While the crew was doubtful, they trusted their captain. Seeing that her plan had worked, the fairy revealed herself to the group. The men were startled at first, but the capitan recognized her from the night before and reassured him.

"Thank you for heading my warning, young sailors," she said, "For far too long I have listened to the cries of the goblin's prisoners at night as they are eaten alive. I cannot stand it any longer. Meet my pegasus by the sea cliffs after your brides have snuck out to feast tonight. You will be taken home to safety." The fairy turned on her heel and vanished into thin air.

That night, the sailors all pretended to fall asleep early. When midnight struck and the she-goblins snuck out for their dinner, the men all met by the cliffs. A brilliant white pegasus appeared out of the night and by some magic fit all 12 of them on it's back. It rose into the air with two powerful beats of its wings and the next thing anyone knew, they had been dropped off at the beach outside of their village.

The fairy was awakened once more that night by the sound of frustrated cries when the goblins returned to find their meals missing. She smirked to herself and dozed off...

via Pixnio
Here's to hopefully being somewhere warm and sunny for the summer

Author's Note: This is a story that never got posted from ALL the way back in week two. It's based on W. H. D. Rouse's Goblin City. In the original story, it is mentioned that the fairy hated the goblins. I wanted to expand on that. At the end, only half of the sailors believed their captain and went home, but I chose to save them all.

Topic Brainstorm

I started out in the Project Ideas Index. The Weapons of the Gods suggestion was the first to catch my eye. My mind immediately went to a weapons store walk through, which had apparently already been done. I'm sure I would have no problem making making my project unique though, so it's still a possibility.

The next suggested topic that inspired an idea was the Loving Couples one. I think it would be neat to research the couples in these epics and make a spoof dating profile site. Maybe joint facebook or instagram accounts? I'm not 100% sure what I would do, but I think some fun could be had with that topic.

Of course I couldn't see the word "Food" listed and not check it out. Unfortunately, only one of the two listed projects linked was still up, but the Indian Scrapbook project looked to really well done (and made me hungry!) Using my project as an excuse to eat indian food would not be a terrible idea. Maybe I could attempt to recreate dishes specifically mentioned in the stories a la Binging with Babish.

Finally, I think focusing on reincarnation could be a good back up if one of these other three don't work out. It's such a broad topic with so many possible applications in fiction writing that it's a solid choice for any style of writing.

There was a project I remembered seeing when I took Myth and Folklore that was a Choose Your Own Adventure design. I think that would be a fun idea to explore too! Here it is

Via Flickr

Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

1. The Foolish, Timid Rabbit, Ellen C. Babbitt

• Synopsis
• The rabbit awakens from a nap and thinks "what would happen to me if the earth began to fall apart?"
• At that point, a coconut falls behind him
• He assumes that the noise from the coconut is the earth cracking
• He begins to run, telling another rabbit he passes that the earth is falling apart
• The second rabbit begins to run with him
• The second rabbit then tells a third rabbit and so on and so forth
• A large group of many different animals all begin running together
• The group meets the lion king at the base of a mountain
• The lions asks what's going on
• When the original Rabbit reveals that he thinks the earth is falling apart, the lion takes him back to his nap spot to investigate
• The earth was found to be very much intact, but there was a coconut found on the ground...
• Possibilities
• What if the earth really was falling apart???
• What if instead of running, it was a gossip ring?
• Area 51???

3. The Cunning Crane and the Crab, W. H. D. Rouse

• Synopsis
• There were many fish in a pond that began drying up in the summer
• A crane offered to take them to a nearby pond that was cool and spring fed
• The fish sent their old, one-eyed friend to see if the Crane could be trusted
• After taking the old fish to the lake, then bringing him back to tell all of the others about it, he began taking the fish one by one to the lake
• except they never make it to the lake, he eats them
• The last one to go is a crab, who holds onto the cranes neck with his claws rather than riding in his mouth
• When the crane tries to eat him, he snips his head off
• Possibilities
• What if the crane is true to his word
• Vegan Crane?
• Fish are friends, not food

Found on Etsy via Google Images

8. Goblin City, W. H. D. Rouse

• Synopsis
• There was a ship wreck off the coast of the Goblins' island
• When the men was ashore, the she-goblins use their powers to make it look like the island is inhabited
• The men agree to marry the women, thinking they're humans
• One man wakes up while his wife is down at the prison eating her previous husband and realizes what she is
• The next day he tells his friends what he saw
• not everyone believed him
• There was a nearby fairy that hated the goblins
• She sent her pegasus to rescue the men
• Those who believed were flown off the island and back home
• The non-believers were eaten that night
• Possibilities
• Back story: Why does the fairy hate the goblins?
• Perspective
• Either the goblins or the men
• How do the male goblins feel about this?
• Epic Boss Battle when the men are escaping

Week 2 Reading Overview

To start off this semester, I think I'll be sticking to the public domain option for Ramayana. The layout for that mirrors how things were organized when I took the Myth and Folklore class and will decrease the amount of effort needed to get "back in the swing of things" so to speak. Plus, that's one less book I'll have to buy. I'm already in three science courses, and the class materials are NOT cheap.

The two comics I read through were Hanuman to the Rescue: Hanuman Brings the Sanjeevani and Hanuman: The Epitome of Devotion and Courage

These two in particular caught my eye because I recognized Hanuman's name from the video embedded in the overview page

As it turns out, the two stories were actually connected! I of course managed to read them out of order, but it was an enjoyable surprise nonetheless.

When I moved on to the video section, Ancient Technology - Atlantis and India caught my eye right away because I love the idea of  Atlantis. Next I clicked on Hindu Creation Stories to learn about Hinduisms particular take on the creation of the world. I'm a fan of the idea that the truth lies in the middle of all of the world's religious teachings. The more data you have, the more accurate your average should be.

This of course led to Harry Potter Meets Hindu Mythology being auto played next, which I had to stick around for because, well, it's Harry Potter!

The monkey god Hanuman, who is so muscular and defined in nearly all of his visual representations that it makes me uncomfy
(via Good Free Photos)