Week 3 Story: The Dog and the Tree
This Story can be found at my Portfolio Website and here is a link: The Dog and the Tree
On a cool fall morning in South Africa four Boston Terrier puppies were born into the world. Out of these four puppies there was one puppy that was much smaller than the rest. His name was Charlie and he was the runt of the litter. He was a very happy puppy with lots of energy and a curious nature. With that being said, his new owner who happened to be a zookeeper, was going to be a perfect match with Charlie's high strong nature and curiosity. The zookeeper brought Charlie to live with him on the wildlife reservation that surrounded the zoo he worked for. The next couple of days Charlie followed the zookeeper on his daily duties of feeding the different exotic animals and cleaning them and their habitats. During these days Charlie saw the most strange creatures all the way from an alligator to a lion.
Charlie was always in the mood to play but the bigger animals at the zoo would just turn their backs to him and say, “your to small” or “to fragile to play with us.” Even the small animals like the lemurs would not be his friends because they played in the trees and he could not climb. This made him sad so one day he went off exploring on the reservation in hopes to find someone that would treat him as an equal. After walking for about an hour he came upon a huge willow tree. He thought to himself this would be a perfect place to get some shade and rest for a while.
As he curled up on a root that was sticking out of the ground, he began to hear laughing. He looked around and could see know one in sight. But there it was again, the sound of faint laughter. He pounced up and let out a squeaky bark and said, “Who’s there?”
All of sudden the tree began to move and a face appeared on the trunk. “Well hello little one,” said the tree. “I did not mean to startle you but you were tickling my roots.” Charlie was shocked he had never seen a tree that could talk before. Then the tree asked, “What is a little creature like you doing way out here?”
Charlie replied, “I was looking for someone who would play with me and be my friend.”
The tree smiled warmly and picked up Charlie with her willow branches and said, “I would be honored to be friends with such a brave and strong dog like you.” “You know it takes real courage to come out on this big reservation and especially travel as far as you did.”
Charlie jumped for joy for he had never been referred to as “strong” or “brave.” He then began playing a game of tag with the willow blanches of the tree. Charlie had finally found a friend and it happened when he was least expecting it.
Authors Note: The Aesop for Children is a collection of Aesop fables, which are short stories that convey some type of message about life. Most of the stories have animal characters where they portray a teaching of a life lesson through the interactions of the animal characters. In my story I used a dog as my main character, which was also a prominent character in many of the Aesop fables that I really enjoyed reading. Further, even though animal characters are the most prominent some of the stories I read did contain human characters. I choose the specific characters for my story because out of the many Aesop fables I read there were three archetype characters that kept on showing up in the Aesop Fables. Therefore I wanted my story to incorporate all three types of characters. In my story I had a human character, an animal character, and an unconventional character like a tree that could talk. Also, for my story I created my own setting, which was the African savanna because it would allow me to incorporate a diverse group of animal characters. Lastly, for my story I came up with my own life lesson quote. Nonetheless, I still tried to keep the same platform that is used in the Aesop fables, by putting the quote at the end of the story and only having it be about one sentence long.
Bibliography: The Aesop for Children with illustrations by Milo Winter. Web Source.
On a cool fall morning in South Africa four Boston Terrier puppies were born into the world. Out of these four puppies there was one puppy that was much smaller than the rest. His name was Charlie and he was the runt of the litter. He was a very happy puppy with lots of energy and a curious nature. With that being said, his new owner who happened to be a zookeeper, was going to be a perfect match with Charlie's high strong nature and curiosity. The zookeeper brought Charlie to live with him on the wildlife reservation that surrounded the zoo he worked for. The next couple of days Charlie followed the zookeeper on his daily duties of feeding the different exotic animals and cleaning them and their habitats. During these days Charlie saw the most strange creatures all the way from an alligator to a lion.
Charlie was always in the mood to play but the bigger animals at the zoo would just turn their backs to him and say, “your to small” or “to fragile to play with us.” Even the small animals like the lemurs would not be his friends because they played in the trees and he could not climb. This made him sad so one day he went off exploring on the reservation in hopes to find someone that would treat him as an equal. After walking for about an hour he came upon a huge willow tree. He thought to himself this would be a perfect place to get some shade and rest for a while.
As he curled up on a root that was sticking out of the ground, he began to hear laughing. He looked around and could see know one in sight. But there it was again, the sound of faint laughter. He pounced up and let out a squeaky bark and said, “Who’s there?”
All of sudden the tree began to move and a face appeared on the trunk. “Well hello little one,” said the tree. “I did not mean to startle you but you were tickling my roots.” Charlie was shocked he had never seen a tree that could talk before. Then the tree asked, “What is a little creature like you doing way out here?”
Charlie replied, “I was looking for someone who would play with me and be my friend.”
The tree smiled warmly and picked up Charlie with her willow branches and said, “I would be honored to be friends with such a brave and strong dog like you.” “You know it takes real courage to come out on this big reservation and especially travel as far as you did.”
Charlie jumped for joy for he had never been referred to as “strong” or “brave.” He then began playing a game of tag with the willow blanches of the tree. Charlie had finally found a friend and it happened when he was least expecting it.
Do not be too quick to judge because the gift of an unexpected friendship is the best type of surprise.
Dog playing with Tree. Wikimedia.
Authors Note: The Aesop for Children is a collection of Aesop fables, which are short stories that convey some type of message about life. Most of the stories have animal characters where they portray a teaching of a life lesson through the interactions of the animal characters. In my story I used a dog as my main character, which was also a prominent character in many of the Aesop fables that I really enjoyed reading. Further, even though animal characters are the most prominent some of the stories I read did contain human characters. I choose the specific characters for my story because out of the many Aesop fables I read there were three archetype characters that kept on showing up in the Aesop Fables. Therefore I wanted my story to incorporate all three types of characters. In my story I had a human character, an animal character, and an unconventional character like a tree that could talk. Also, for my story I created my own setting, which was the African savanna because it would allow me to incorporate a diverse group of animal characters. Lastly, for my story I came up with my own life lesson quote. Nonetheless, I still tried to keep the same platform that is used in the Aesop fables, by putting the quote at the end of the story and only having it be about one sentence long.
Bibliography: The Aesop for Children with illustrations by Milo Winter. Web Source.
Wonderful story! It kind of tugs at the heart strings a little when the poor little dog can't find a friend. It was a nice turn in the story and in most stories in general to give the tree not only life but personality. If I was to think of a willow and what it would act like if alive I believe it would be quaint and kind much like you have portrayed it. Now I know that the zoo keeper picked up the little pup but what happened to the rest of the pooches? None others were adopted by the keeper to give Charlie a friend? That would have been nice of him haha. It was a well thought out story for sure and I wouldn't like to change much. What if however the tree and the dog would have gone back to the place where the other animals were and showed how brave the dog was. I wonder what kind of ending that could have had then. Or perhaps the dog would have saved the tree from danger showing his bravery. Anyways, loved getting to read this rendition of the fable!
ReplyDeleteHello! So I also read some of Aesop's Fables, and I really enjoyed that you respected the life lesson component that all of Aesop's Fables posses. I really enjoyed the different setting and the creativity behind making the dog belong to a zookeeper and that is how the dog was able to explore for new friends. I must say I have the mental image of Grandmother Willow from the Disney movie Pocahontas in mind when you described the willow speaking.
ReplyDeleteReally great story. Gives me a warm feeling at the end. You did a great job of sticking close to the original theme of Aesop's Fables while creating your own original story. You also translated the setting into a modern zoo from the ancient settings of old, so great job keeping it simple but sweet!
ReplyDeleteHi Sydney, I thought you did a wonderful job in creating your story. I thought it was really awesome that you didn't do as some others did with their stories and just take an old story and just updated it. You went and created your own story, while using Aesop's Fables as merely an inspiration. This shows a great sense of originality and creativeness. Realistically, there are no real complaints for me, but for the sake of the assignment, what if you had made the zookeeper a more prominent character. I know that a big theme in Aesop's Fables is the use of personified animals, but I felt that the zookeeper could have easily been subbed for the tree. The zookeeper seemed to have a special bond with Charlie that could have been better expanded on. For my "I wonder...", I was wondering why you chose a tree. Nothing was wrong with your selection, and I saw that you mentioned that it was "unconventional" so that was why you chose it, but I was wondering if maybe you could have used another character as well. Again, Sydney, I am just nitpicking at this point for the sake of the assignment. You did an amazing job!
ReplyDeleteHey Sydney,
ReplyDeleteI really love the moral of this story. I think we are all often guilty of judging other individuals before we get to know them. I think this is a story that can really hit home for a lot of people. I try my best to avoid judging others, but I know I am still guilty at times. It is nice to have a reminder every so often that teaches us the importance of being kind to others. We should never give up on someone before we meet them. Like the story, we could become great friends with someone if we give them a chance.
Hey Sydney!
ReplyDeleteYour story is actually very adorable and tugs at the heart because it involves a wee ol' puppy! You know people can't resist a good puppy right? I really enjoyed the story because it started off sad where you felt pity for the main character, but they it ended on a happy note which tied everything up perfectly!