Storytelling, Know The One You're with: Blind to the Fact PART II Week 7

Brittany rolled over in the bed while stretching her arms out and yawning, expecting to feel Deontae's well chiseled chest... when she felt an empty spot instead. She hurriedly opened her eyes to see if where he was at.

(Woman sleeping)

"Tae! Babe, where are you?!"

She pulled the sheet off of her body and hopped out of the bed and mumbled, "Where is he at? Did he leave me? Why isn't he in the bed?!"

"TAE!" she screamed out, as she walked out of the room.

"What, bae, what you yelling for?" Tae said, as he continued to scramble eggs in the kitchen.

Realizing that Tae was still in the house and hadn't left her, Brittany quickly calmed town and walked towards Deontae to give him a hug saying, "Oh, I was just trying to figure out where you went. You know how I feel about waking up without you. I hate that feeling."

(Man and woman hugging)

"I know you do, babe, I just wanted to cook you some breakfast and didn't want to wake you because you were sleeping so peacefully," Deontae said.

The two got dressed and headed to work. During the car ride, Brittany realized that she had forgotten to take one of her pills that she was trying so desperately to hide from Deontae, in order to keep her secret just that... a secret. 

Once the two got to the office, she noticed that the secretary, Alicia, was being a little too friendly to her man, Deontae.

Brittany thought to herself, "What does Alicia think she's doing? She knows that Deontae is off limits. Period. I'll take care of that. This will be the last time she'll disrespect me."

The next day, Alicia didn't show up for work. Some people tried to call her, but no answer. No one worried too much, though, because their boss received an email from "Alicia" saying that she needed to take some personal time and that she would be staying with her family in D.C. for a while.

Little did they know, Brittany had taken care of Alicia in her own way that previous night.

"I wonder what happened to Alicia? That's so weird." Deontae mentioned to Brittany as they ate dinner.

"I'm not sure, honey. You should let me try your pasta, though." Brittany relied, completely ignoring the statement or showing any true concern.

Six months into the relationship and Deontae still didn't know about Brittany's time spent in the Paulview Psychiatric Facility, nor that she was the cause of  Alicia's disappearance.

I guess it would have been good for Deontae to #KnowTheOneHesWith before he got himself in too deep.


Author's Note: This story is the second half of the story previously posted. In Nigerian story entitled, The Pretty Girl Who Killed the King, by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910).  In the original story, the "pretty girl" was actually a witch that was paid to kill the king of a neighboring town that was tormenting the people of another village. This king was making each day for the other villagers absolute hell. So, one day, the other villagers decided that they were going to put an end to their torture and have the king taken care of. The villagers decided to pay a witch to shape shift into an attractive young woman, seduce the king, marry him, and then behead him in his sleep. She managed to do this and slip away completely undetected. No one in that village suspected it was her because she was so beautiful and the last person to commit such a heinous crime. It was from that very last part that I coined this story's hashtag, #KnowWhoYoureWith. 

This second half of the story is a continuation of Part I of the first story that I wrote. I haven't quite decided how many parts will be added to this story. It is really just a matter of what feels right for Brittany and Deontae's hectic lives. Thanks for reading!

Story Source: Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910).

Storytelling, Know The One You're With: The Introduction PART I Week 7

Know Who You're With: The Introduction

(professional woman outside)

"I'm going to marry him. I don't care what anyone says," Brittany said as she roughly brushed her hair while looking in her vanity mirror.

"I DESERVE TO BE HAPPY! I didn't ask for this life, and I refuse to not get this man to marry me. Deontae is so fine, and I'm going to make him mine. Period."

That next day at work, Brittany made sure that she wore the skirt that hugged her curves the best, made sure sure that her curls were on point, and that she wore her new ColourPop lipstick, called Subduction. 

Brittany got in the car and was on her way to get her man. While listening to her favorite Jazmine Sullivan song, she looked in her rearview mirror and said to herself, "Go get your man, girl."

After giving herself a pep talk, she parked, got out of her car, grabbed her purse and business bag and walked in to work.

"Hey Alicia, what's on the agenda today?" Brittany asked the office secretary as she put sugar into her cup of fresh black coffee.

"Well, it looks like you and Deontae have a presentation today at 11, followed by a luncheon and then a few off site calls."

Brittany felt her plan being put into motion and tried to contain her mischievous excitement.

"Hey Deontae, you ready for this presentation today? I hear all of the big shots will be there."

"What's going on, Brittany! Yes, I'm ready. We're more than prepared to rock their world!"

"You don't even know the half," Brittany thought to herself.

"Well, let's go do it!"

Brittany and Deontae headed to the lecture hall, gave their presentation and impressed everyone that was in attendance.

"Wow, you did a great job up there, Brittany!" Deontae said as they walked down the hall to the luncheon.

"Thanks, love! So did you! Hey, you want to just skip the luncheon and get a head start on these off site calls?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan.  Let me just go get the keys and we can head out!"

The two headed out to the offsite office visits and engaged in small talk unrelated to the office.

Fast Forward to 6:00pm after the offsite office visits

"Well, I think we accomplished what we needed to there today, don't you think?" Deontae asked Brittany while walking back to the car. 

"Yeah! We did awesome! I'm really glad I got to do this with you today!" said Brittany as she softly caressed his arm. 

"You want to go get a bite to eat, De? I'm starving after all this hard work today! I know a nice little spot off of Peachtree that has the best soul food."

Suddenly intrigued by the offer, Deontae responded saying, "Soul food?! Say no more, tell me which way to go."

Brittany felt her plan starting to go into full effect. Right when the two crossed the threshold into the restaurant, Brittany turned her professional side off and the subtle seductive side on. 

(Couple at Dinner) 

"So, De, why haven't we hung out like this more often? We're clearly enjoy each other's company, yes?"

Deontae took a sip of his Whiskey Sour and responded, "You know, I've been thinking the same thing. I actually was going to invite you to dinner last month, but you just disappeared on me."

Brittany replied, "Yeah, I just had to take care of a few things for a bit. But I'm back now, better than ever... Better. Than. Ever." 

As the evening grew, Deontae and Brittany's conversation got deeper and more engaging with each sip, bite, and laugh they shared. 

That following month, Brittany and Deontae were an item and everyone at the office knew it. 

But there was one piece of the story Brittany failed to mention. The time that Brittany spent away from the office, she was actually in Paulview Psychiatric Facility for displaying psychotic tendencies... #KnowWhoYoureWith

Stay tuned for part II

Story Source: Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910).

Author's Note: This particular story written below currently has two parts, and it is based upon the Nigerian story entitled, The Pretty Girl Who Killed the King, by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910). After reading the story, of course, I took it all in, in it's entirety, but the very last sentence stuck out to me. That last sentence shaped the direction I wanted to take in both the story below, as well as the one written as part two. I wanted to break this story into two parts because I really wanted to paint a picture and to set up the background of the story and the two main characters, Brittany and Deontae, in order for the reader to be on the same wave length as me. The inspirational sentence for this story is "Never marry a stranger, no matter how pretty she may be." These words can actually be words to live by each day, whether it be marriage, relationships, and even friendships. This sentence, or more so quote, can be interpreted however you see fit for any situation! 

In the original story, the "pretty girl" was actually a witch that was paid to kill the king of a neighboring town that was tormenting the people of another village. This king was making each day for the other villagers absolute hell. So, one day, the other villagers decided that they were going to put an end to their torture and have the king taken care of. The villagers decided to pay a witch to shape shift into an attractive young woman, seduce the king, marry him, and then behead him in his sleep. She managed to do this and slip away completely undetected. No one in that village suspected it was her because she was so beautiful and the last person to commit such a heinous crime. It was from that very last part that I coined this story's hashtag, #KnowWhoYoureWith. My story isn't identical to the original story. 

Storytelling for Week 6: De Tale A'Da Lollipops

(Candyland Art)

Hello Chiren!

Gatha around, fa de story of de lollipops. I'm gan' tell ya 'bout de lollipop field in Candyland. 

Once upon a time, dere was a little boy, bout your age, da lu'da candy, all type a candy. 

Er'day walkin' to school, de lil boy would pass a field fill wit candy an' a gran' lollipop tree. Na dis tree wa' so big dat it could be seen miles awhey. Each time, dere seem to be more an' more lollipops on de tree. 

One day, de little boy wanted a candy so bad that he went to go get it. But to his su'prise, dere was a guard. Although this guard couldn't read not one word, he took his job v'ry serious. 

The liddle boy, bein' turn down, went to school, but n'eh stop thinkin' bout a way to get de candy from da tree. 

De next day, de boy brought a telegram dat say de guard 'pose to let him get all de lollipops he wan' to eat. The guard, to the boy surprised, say "Ya, you go get all da lollipop you wan' yun'man!"

De lil boy, although surprised, started to get all the candy he wan. But lil did he know, de tree was made to catch de little kids dat try to trick de guard. 

As de lil boy climb de tree, de guard started to laugh because he knew what was going to happen. 

Wit each climb, de lil boy ate a lollipop, and once he got to the top, he was too sticky to get back down de tree, and de tree began to engulf de boy. 

He hollered down at de guard say, "Le'me dahwn nah!" 

The guard acted as though he didn't hear the lil boy, and the boy spent the rest of his childhood in dis tree. 

The next week, anahda lil boy walk past de tree an wan the lollipops. He could'n believe how many lollipops were on de tree! "Gee, I really wan de candy! I gotta get it!" 

Wit'out known de truth about de tree, de little boy went to de guard and say he supposed to eat de lollipops. 

With a suspicious smile, the guard say "ya lil boy, get you some lollipops from da tree!" 

The boy start climb de tree, an eat all de lollipops. When he got to de top, he wa too sticky to get down. When he look to his left, he see his classmate, stuck in the tree, green from all da lollipops he ate. 

De boys talk to each other and find out that they would be stuck dere forever. Each of de lollipops in de tree were kids that over time, changed colors, and eventually transformed into lollipops.  

Author's Note:

This story was based upon the story of the The Gub-Gub Peas by Martha Warren Beckwith (1924), where the main character tricked the guard of the peanut tree into letting him eat all of the peanuts that he wanted. Once the owner of the peanut farm found out that this person was eating the peanuts, he told the guard to hold him there so that he could get punished for stealing the peanuts. I tied this concept in with the thought of one of my favorite childhood games, Candyland! In the game of Candyland, the game is a forrest of candy. With those two things combined, this is how the De Tale A'Da Lollipops came about. 

Reading Diary: Week SIX

Hello there Diary, 

This week, I am reading stories from the African unit. Today I started reading in the Jamaican stories and these stories are a tad bit different than other stories, but in a good way. I like these stories because of the type of language that is used. The speak that is used in Jamaica comes to life in this unit. Each word has a different spelling, encouraging the reader to reader to read the stories with a newly adopted accent. I love it. I think it's interesting to get a sense, in some manner, of how others speak across the world. A character that stuck out to me was Anansi. Anansi is a character that is very manipulative in order to get his way and to get out of tight situations, especially in the story of The Gub-Gub Peas. 

 (Jamaican Flag) 

Thoughts About Comments, Week 5

I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you.. yes YOU.

This post is dedicated to the comments that are posted on my blog posts. There are different types of comments that can be left on posts, and each type of comment leaves me with a different feeling. 

Some comments can contain critiquing information, in order to make my material better over all. Of course, when you release something, it is your baby so sometimes I feel a little defensive Then I realize that the majority of things said are meant to help me improve as a writer, so I am all for that. 

I've learned a lot of difference skills that I am trying to implement when I write. 

There is also another type of comment that can be left, this type of commenting is what I like to call "active commenting." When active commenting is being practiced, it is almost as though the person commenting is right there in the story with me. This type of commenting is my personal favorite because it allows me to see what stuck out to the reader and which pieces they took away with them.

Over time, as i've left comments, I like to give a combination of both types of comments. Although, the majority of the time, my comments end up being heavier on the "active commenting" side. 

All in all, this is a great opportunity to grow. To grow and be great...er. 

Reading Diary, Week 5

Hello beauties,

This reading diary is about covering the story that I chose to base my story on. In the story of the
Santal: The Killing of the Tiger. In this story, there were some great points that stuck out to me.

"...So the Raja called together all his soldiers and promised to give half his kingdom to any one of them who would kill the tiger, but not one of them was brave enough to make the attempt; they said that their business was to fight men, and not tigers and leopards. Then the Raja extended his offer to all his subjects, and the petitioners went home to consult about it, and the news was published that the Raja would give half his kingdom to the slayer of the tiger."

This excerpt gives a basic back story as to what was going on in this story. After this point, there was one brave soul that stepped up to the plate to kill this dangerous tiger. Once the man set out to find the tiger, he decided that he wasn't going to kill the tiger, instead, he ended up cutting off the claws, tips of his ears and tongue to serve as proof of the kill. 

The man did the with the intention of sparing the tiger's life, however, the tiger died from the pain of the injuries he suffered. 

I decided to take this story, flip it around, and make it into something that was a little out there, but still had undertones of this original story line. 

- Bri.

Storytelling Week 5: The broken hearted...

The Broken Hearted...

Jazmine.

Jazmine!

Jaz, it’s time to wake up, sweetheart! 

--Mom, just five more minutes, please!

Nope! 

Shuffling the curtains she says, you know once you take your “five more minutes,” it’s harder for you to get up, so come on, baby. Besides, I don’t want you to be late for your first day, this is a really important day for you. 

Still wiping the sleepy from her eyes, Jaz sits up in her bed and says to her mom, “You know I really don’t even want to do this. I just don’t know why we have to start these classes right away once we turn 16.”

Jaz, you know how this works, don’t look at this in a negative way, look at it as a coming of age right. How about that?

I just don’t know how it got to this point, I remember all those stories you would tell me about when you were my age back in the early 2000’s and y’all never had to do anything like this. 

Oh sweetheart, reaching in for a hug, I know times are different, but learning these skills are vital to your survival in the real world… the new real world. Things are so much different from when I was your age, but these beings that have come to our planet aren’t like you and I. 

Yes, they have feelings, yes they have families, but their brains are like machines, once the sun goes down, something terrible comes out of them. That’s why you have to take these classes, so that you’ll be able to defend yourself. You understand, don’t you?

Yeah, I understand, but didn’t they come to this planet to help us? Why are we trying to get rid of them now?

With obvious nervousness, her mom began to explain to her the history of these beings that were up for discussion. 

Honey, years ago, around 2034, the United States discovered another life source on a different planet called Uniktion and after conversing with the Uniki’s, they were invited to come live on our planet. We gave them the experience of living on Earth for the exchange of taking away global warming. It sounded like a pretty decent trade to us, until about 2040. 

What happened in 2040, ma?

Well in 2040 it was almost like a switch turned in their minds. The Uniki’s just started killing random humans, and then the next day, they woke up and didn’t remember what had happened the night before. 

After a few more murders, we decided we had to do something in return, something to let them know that this is OUR planet and that we were afraid and tired of them killing us every night. 

That’s when we decided that we were going to start a class that taught our youth how to defend themselves at night. 

Patting Jaz on the head, so that is why it’s important for you to go to this class and learn how to defend yourself. 

--- 

So, after Jaz had completed her course, she was sent out to perform her first task; exterminate the first Uniki she saw out that night. She was told to bring back the EmoShield on it’s neck in order to officially graduate from the program. 

Jaz set out to find her a Uniki, but was shocked to discover what she found. The Uniki she found looked just like her, it looked like they were around the same age. There was no way she could kill this girl. So she made a deal with the Uniki…

“I was sent out here to kill you, but I can’t bring myself to do it, but I’ll get in trouble if I come home empty handed. How about I take your EmoShield and that will be that?”

The Uniki responded with a grateful heart saying, “thank you for your mercy because I definitely don’t want to die tonight. I’ll let you have my EmoShield and I’ll just go and get another one.”

Jaz left with the EmoShield, and thought that everything would be settled. Little did she know, the Uniki couldn’t get a replacement EmoShield in time and died from feeling all of the disparities of the world.

(Photo of broken heart by Nicolas Raymond)

Author's Note:

The inspiration behind this post was the story of the Santal: The Killing of the Tiger. In this story, there is a tiger that had been killing travelers in the village, so someone was sent to kill this tiger, in order for traveler to safely get through the village. Once the person found the tiger they were supposed to kill, and had a brief conversation with the tiger, they decided to only cut off its claws, tips of its ears and the tip of its tongue as proof of death. After the person cut these items off, the tiger ended up dying the next day. 

I chose to use that story as my base and then added a bit of a futuristic twist to the story I wrote, with some undertones of some popular movies we've more than likely all seen, such as iRobot. Hope you enjoy!