Week 15 Story - Exit The Inferno

exit the inferno

author's note: i start off in the final circle of hell in this story and see where that leads. since this is my last story of the semester this is going to be really free form and loose.

bibliography:
dante's inferno translated by tony kline

what am i even doing down here. why am i here?
who did you betray said a voice in the distance.
betray? no one.
only betrayers live here. we all betrayed someone.
i didn't betray anyone!

the earth shakes as hell knows that is a lie

i didn't!
if that were the case the earth would not be as mad as she is.
does going out to dinner with a life long friend count as betrayal?

the earth screeches

in what sense? asked the voices.
i took a life long friend out to dinner while she was in town. got hit by a cab outside the restaurant.
are you married? asked the voices.
yes.
then that is the betrayal.
i would never. there is some mistake.

mother earth begins to realize that it could be a mistake so she presses those in the ninth circle of hell to make him speak more.

who is she? asked the voices.
a friend from childhood that i haven't seen in a decades.
why was she here? they asked.
to have dinner with an old friend.
what is she to you? they pressed.
a friend and what should have been a business partner.

mother earth opens up as she sees the mistake she made and sends him back to the land of the living.

he awakens in a hospital to his wife and friend making small talk.

what'd i miss? he asked.
we just hammered out a deal where we can be business partners the friend replied.
your friend is persistent. i can see why you two were the best of friends for so long.
well she's a thorn in my side and now she gets to tell me i can't do x, y, or z because i could mess everything up again he said.
did you two date? asked the wife.
no. she ran the lemonade stand i bankrupted us for three summers in a row when we were growing up. he answered.

waking up from a highway out of hell

Week 13 Story - King Arthur

Author's Note: Merlin and his followers have enlisted Arthur and his Knights to fight against the Saxons who are invading and killing their families.

Arthur and his Knights have long been unbeatable on the battlefield. That record will be tested against the Saxons. After years of trying to kill the young Roman Knight, Merlin has enlisted Arthur to help repel the invading Saxons. The Romans and Britons shared a common enemy in the Saxons. Together they hoped to repel the invaders. But the Saxons easily overwhelmed the defenses of the Britons and Romans through sheer strength in numbers. The Roman cavalry led by Arthur covered the infantry's retreat to Hadrian's Wall. At Hadrian's Wall the Britons and Romans prepared massive traps. The Britons Archers were lead by Guinevere, when she saw the advancing Saxons she ordered the archers to empty their artillery and to charge out for hand to hand combat. In awe the Roman cavalry lead by Arthur and Lancelot charged into the teeth of the Saxon army. Thousands died. But the Romans and Britons prevailed. The remaining Saxons retreated back to their homeland or were cut down by Roman cavalry before they could board their ships. Merlin and Arthur made a new found alliance to protect Britain long after the Romans left. As a result Knight Arthur became King Arthur. Together he and his new bride Queen Guinevere ruled Britain fairly. And it was all thanks to Merlin being able to put aside his petty difference and join together with an enemy that truly could be his friend if they had just spoken to each other instead of trying to cut each others throats the entire time. Finally, the deceased Knights and Britons were never forgotten. They were never mourned. They were never celebrated. Their memories and sacrifices were handed down for generations to come. Of how King Arthur and his Knights made Britain. An country that would become its own empire as the Romans had theirs.

King Arthur and his Knights

Week 6 Story: The Life and Death of Buddha

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BUDDHA

Author's Note: For this story we'll be taking original elements from Part One of The Life of Buddha by Andre Ferdinand Herold. Instead of starting from birth to becoming the Buddha, we will start in the middle of Siddhartha's story as he becomes the Buddha and finish with his death/rebirth with more of a humble origin story rather than being a Prince. 

STORY

A depressed Siddhartha looks out upon the world.
He’s shut himself and has isolated himself.
His father does not like the state of mind in which his son is in.
The father decides to throw a party.
Everyone is laughing and happy.
Everyone except Siddhartha.
He doesn’t want any of this.
He thinks there is more purpose to his life than being a farmer boy.
After the party Siddhartha decides.
He decides he’s going to leave home and never look back on his past.
On his journey to find himself he runs into an old man.
The old man handed him an old robe and other clothes to guard his skin from the natural elements.
Siddhartha journey continues up a mountain.
Siddhartha reaches the top of the mountain.
In his new robe Siddhartha feels like he is king of all.
Siddhartha ultimately changes his mind and chooses to return home to his mother and father.
On his way back he encounters invaders from distant lands.
The name of this foe is Mara.
Mara’s army has never lost.
They have a reputation of being butchers to populations that do not surrender.
Siddhartha approaches Mara.
Mara orders Siddhartha to remove himself from the path.
Siddhartha refuses to do so.
Mara orders the army to open fire on Siddhartha.
Before Mara’s army could get of an arrow.
Mother Earth emerged and swallowed Mara’s army whole into the ground.
Mara surrenders to Siddhartha, the new Buddha.
Siddhartha journeys home.
He finds his mother and father.
Tells them of his adventure.
He tells them that he believes his journey in this life is complete.
It was at this moment that his parents finally feared death.
They knew their son was about to part from their world.
They thought it would be a bloody exit.
But Buddha simply disappears into the sunset.

Officially reincarnated into a god.

Siddhartha Gautama

Bibliography: Part One of The Life of Buddha by Andre Ferdinand Herold

Story of Week 3

Author’s Note:
This story is inspired by The Iliad which was adapted from The Iliad by Alfred J. Church
with new twists and allies for the Trojans.

Story:
Greeks and Trojans. Trojans and Greeks. Neither liked each other but tolerated each other. Greek ambition and the idea of Greek freedom.

The Greek General Menelaus had an alliance with the Trojans, much to the displeasure of his own brother Agamemnon. One night his city-state was hosting the Prince’s of Troy, Hector and Paris, for their collective triumphs on the battlefield. Helen, the wife of Menelaus, seduced the Trojan Prince Paris to her private quarters. There they plotted their elopement to return to Troy.

The next morning Helen boarded the ship to Troy and left her husband behind. The Trojan entourage was completely unaware that the had a stow away on board, much less the Queen of Sparta. The Spartan Imperial Palace Guards were notified of the Queen’s departure and informed General Menelaus who ordered the Spartan Navy to hunt down and sink the Trojan ship at all costs.

Due to the Trojans having better and faster ships the Spartans never caught up with them and docked safely in the Port of Troy the following week. Angered by this, Menelaus enlisted the help of all the city-states to attack Troy. They set sail for Troy with 50,000 ships and 2,500,000 soldiers on board.

During their journey to Troy they destroyed Mediterranean Trojan allies in Chryse that left thousands of civilian’s dead. The Chryse navy set sail for Carthage to inform the young Queen Artemis of the Phoenicia Empire of the invasion force headed for the beaches of Troy. Artemis ordered her Grand Armada to be ready and to set sail in a week.

Within the walls of Troy the Trojan army was getting ready for a fight as news of massacres of their allies in the Mediterranean Sea had reached their ears. The winds of the sea were carrying the Greeks closer to Troy and by weeks end the Greeks would have an invasion force marching for the gates of the city. Within these meetings the wife of Prince Hector, Andromache, raised concern for the amount of lives that would be lost defending the indecent relationship of Prince Paris and Queen Helen of Sparta.

A week later the Greek fleet was insight and preparing for a landing. Prince Hector readied the Trojan army for battle and charged at the Greeks when they landed while the Trojan war machines destroyed hundreds of Greek ships so the Trojan infantry on the beaches wouldn’t be overwhelmed. The Greeks were able to land the Myrmidons and their leader Achilles before the ship was lost. Achilles led his men on a crusade to destroy the war machines to allow the Greeks to land their entire army. By night fall the Trojan army was pushed back as the entire Greek navy had landed.

Not wanting to let the Greeks reach the gates of Troy, Prince Hector and Prince Paris led the Trojan army on a counterattack with the cover of darkness. With Achilles not wanting to fight again so soon his own cousin Patroclus led the Greeks into battle but perished when Hector impaled him with his spear.

The Trojans retreated to the city. Achilles ordered the army ready for battle. But little did the Greeks know that Phoenician Armada was about to land an hour after they left for Troy.

Engaging the Trojans in battle Achilles met Hector in one on one duel during the fight. Achilles was quicker and stronger than Hector, but the Prince of Troy was smarter. The wits of Hector would only last for so long as Achilles stabbed Hector in his chest.

The demoralized Trojan army was about to retreat when the horns of the Phoenician Army sounded and cut down the Greek army like corn.

With the deaths of all Greek Generals and the Death of Hector, Prince Paris was in charge of peace negotiations. The terms were unconditional and the Greeks returned to Greece with Trojan escorts so the Trojans took all of the city-states riches to pay for the war.

Prince Hector and Prince Paris of Troy

Week 2 Story

Author’s Note:
This story is inspired by Metamorphosis: Pygmalion and how he fell in love with a statute. In this story we take the basic parallels of it to make our main character Logan falls into a state of depression with his own reflection in his mirror thinking it's his wife. The story is set in suburban Chicago during 1995 shortly after Logan’s wife, Alexandra, passed away in a car accident. 

Characters:
Logan – Main Character
Alexandra – Wife of Logan (deceased)
Thomas – The Butler
Edith – Daughter of Logan and Alexandra

Story:
A dark and thunderous night swept across the Chicago metropolitan area one Sunday morning. Racing home from an overnight shift at the hospital was Alexandra to be with her family well before church started. The water on the pavement made the drive home much more treacherous than usual. The slick roads made Alexandra swerve out of control until she hit a tree and died on impact.

Two hours late Logan and Edith were notified by the state troopers that a car registered to the family had been involved in a single collision accident a mile away from their house. Grief stricken both Logan and Edith retreated into their house for many months and Thomas, the butler, assumed day to day control over the house. When Edith started school the following term her father was st
ill in a deep sense of depression, never coming out of his room.

In his bedroom, Logan constantly stared at the mirror. In the reflection there was Alexandra telling him to move on as they still had a daughter to care for. The reflection of Alexandra quickly took two forms, one for Edith, and the other for Logan. Logan’s reflection said that they were all together even if Alexandra was in the afterlife. Logan still remained in a state of depression and denial, so he smashed the mirror into pieces.

Thomas went to retrieve Edith from school as it was a half-day due to the inclement weather that was expected. During the drive back they saw Logan at the site of the accident on his knees and crying in the rain. The two got out of the car to ensure he was safe. Logan told Edith that he was sorry about not being there for either her mother or herself after her passing. The three then went home.

At home the two bonded over pictures of Alexandra. Soon after Thomas entered the room to inform them that a hooded lady was at the door, it was Alexandra. Telling them that they could all finally move on. 

Moving on