Week 5 Famous Last Words

I really enjoyed writing my Storytelling assignment this week. It came surprisingly natural to write about a strange dream. Speaking of strange dreams, I had a really odd one last night:

My family and I were all at the hospital because my mom was having a baby. While she was giving birth, we all waited in this big room full of presents, all wrapped a different color for each woman who was giving birth. My mom came out later with the baby...yay! She opened some of her presents and then we all went home. Here's where it gets weird. I drove by myself in a big truck with the car seat (which was covered with a blanket...I assumed to help keep the baby asleep? I don't know!). Then my car runs of out gas 3 minutes from returning home. I freak out, not sure what to do. I start walking home and then realize, duh, the baby!! But I don't want to carry to baby home in the freezing cold and snow. Somehow I end up home with, as it turns out, an EMPTY car seat. And my family just makes fun of me for hours and hours about the whole thing. Eventually they just start teasing and tormenting me, being really cruel (which is totally unlike my family). I get really upset and try to defend myself but it just makes them laugh at me harder and no one takes me seriously. If you've ever had that happen to you, it's an awful feeling. The rest of it gets kind of fuzzy. What strange dreams do you guys have?

Yesterday I started a book called Fante, a memoir written by Dan Fante. It starts out about him telling the story of his Italian immigrant grandfather, and then father. His father, John Fante, is a novelist but ends up writing screenplays for a bunch of Hollywood shows and movies just to make a living, which he seriously resents. If you want to look him up, one of his books was made into a movie in 2006: Ask the Dusk. Although according to Dan Fante, the movie did not do the book justice. Anyways, the book talks about his father's struggles with writing and alcoholism. It eventually comes to his own story and his own struggle with surviving in New York in the 60s and 70s, alcoholism, and somewhat mental illness. It's been a great read so far and I've almost finished. I'll share a quote with you that I really enjoyed! 

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Week 5 Storytelling: The Dream

The red sky (Source)

Dear Rama,

My stay with Grandfather has been very pleasant. I wish you and the family were here to enjoy time with him, too. Last night I had the strangest dream. It's left me a little shaken, to be honest. You've always been able to give me sound advice. Maybe you can make something of it!

I was walking along the ocean shore. The sun was setting, tinting the sky red and orange. The soft waves were lapping at my feet, and I felt completely at ease. I stood, facing the ocean, and closed my eyes. I felt the water pool around my ankles and then retreat with the tide. I waited for it to come back, but felt nothing. I opened my eyes and water was rising up into the sky. As if it were raining upside down, the water going from the ocean into the clouds. I watched on and in seconds it was gone. The ocean was gone. All I could see for miles out was rock and mud. Fish and plants lay dead without their source of life.

Terrified, I ran home to tell father what had happened. As I approached Ayodhya, I noticed no fires were lit in any homes. The sun remained near the horizon but would not set, casting long shadows. The sky seemed red and angry. The air was so still and dry. I could hear the elephants cry loudly, their bellows cracking through the air like thunder. I looked around to try and help the ailing animals, but could not find them. All that could be heard were their painful laments. I slowly began to walk up the palace steps and felt something beneath my feet. I looked down and saw shattered pieces of something. I bent to get a closer look and realized the cause of the elephants' cries. Their tusks, big and sturdy, had fallen and shattered into thousands of pieces.

I ran up the palace steps hoping, needing to find anybody. Though I climbed and climbed, they did not seem to end. Finally I reached the top of the stairs and was high in the sky. The tall tower crumbling beneath me. Frantic, I tried climbing higher until I reached the very top. The sun finally began to dip below the horizon. Below me the earth burned with red light. The moon appeared in the high night sky. Its face resembled my mother's. 

"Help me! Please!" I cried out to it, afraid I might fall.

"Jump onto me,  and I will keep you safe," it replied.

Just as the last step fell to the Earth, I reach up and grabbed the moon. I pulled myself up into its curve. I felt cool sweat on my forehead, but began to calm. Only moments later, the moon and I began to fall. Smoke and sun glared up at us from the ground and I screamed. I called out for you, Rama, but you were not there. Just before I hit the ground, I woke up.

I don't know if it means anything at all or if it's just a silly dream, but I cannot help but feel uneasy about it. What do you think, Rama? Please respond speedily, as your words will calm me. I see three horseman with the Ayodhya flag coming up to grandfather's palace. Perhaps they have a message for me!

I miss you, dear brother. Give my love to father and the rest.

Love,

Bharata

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Author's Note: This story was adapted from William Buck's "Ramayana." In the chapter titled 'Bharata Returns,' Buck mentions that right before the horsemen arrive to give him news of his father's death, Bharata awakens from a bad dream in which he sees the ocean dry, the moon fall, his father's elephants' tusks shatter, the fires of Ayodhya go out and smoking rising from the Kosala hills. I included all of the elements into my story and expanded upon each one, telling a detailed account of the whole dream. 

I decided to expand on this part of the story because I believe dreams can be a really fascinating way to see view our lives. Sometimes, they are meaningless. Other times, dreams can be an outlet for our subconscious. In storytelling, dreams can also be a great way to either foreshadow or express a character's feelings in a more descriptive way. Bharata is an interesting character in that he is offered a kingdom, and yet can see that Rama is truly meant to rule. He feels anger towards his mother and loyalty towards Rama and his father. I wanted to expand on Bharata's role and allow him to have a kind of adventure of his own (even if it is only in a dream). It is obvious in the Buck's story that he does not want to rule, and hopefully my story conveys that he really doesn't even have the ability to rule. He is always asking for help or seeking someone else.  

Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way. 

Week 5 Reading Diary A: Buck's Ramayana

pg 110-161

• Bharata's dream as possible story (111) 
• I can really picture the city after the King's death. Like an old mining town that thrived in the 50s but now is desolate and empty
• I like the interaction between Bharata and the queens in this version better than in Narayana's
• Possible story: Kaikeyi in her next life - what will it be like? (117)
• Birth of beautiful women from tree vines
• Bharata and his mother hugging after Kaikeyi was 'forgiven' is a nice addition. Her shame makes her more likable 
• Rama and Sita going for a walk in the forest - what would they talk about? Beautiful scenery setting

Rama shooting the crow that attacked Sita (Source)

• What is the point of the crow scenario?