Once upon a time, there was a land of beauty and grace, a land filled with joy and happiness. There was no judgment, hate or discrimination among people because they were all the same. These people were not like the people we see today, these people were witch people. Witch people once roamed the globe and were blissfully happy. One day, there was a conference between the witches so they all gathered together in a cave on the side of a mountain. They spent the night telling jokes, dancing and brewing potions. When it started getting late and the moon was the only light in the sky, the witches gathered in a circle to have a story-telling competition in which the object of the competition was to tell the scariest story. The stories were of all kinds; potions gone wrong, animal attacks, and fires and they were truly entertaining. However, the blissfully happy atmosphere changed with the witch who told the last story. This story was heart-wrenching, it was awful and cruel. It was composed of disease, famine, fear and slaughter. When the other witches were listening to this story they were awestruck and terrified, some had to cover their ears and some had to leave. When the telling was finished there was a silence among the other witches until there was an agreeance made that this was the scariest story. But, the witches were still terrified of this story and pleaded for it to be taken back. Unfortunately, the witch replied to them that it was too late, that the evil has already entered their world, “for once a story is told, it cannot be called back” (King, 10).
I enjoyed writing this blog post and found it fun to watch the expressions on the faces of the people I told it too. For example, when I asked to tell my friend Robin the story she was more than happy to listen. When I began telling the story to her, she was smiling and interested by the light and happy tone. However, when I began telling her about the last witches terrifying story her facial expression turned from smiling and happy to concerned and slightly uncomfortable. I believe the reason for this change of expression was due to her expectation of how the story would end. As the story began on a happy note and stayed as such for most of the story, she was inclined to expect the story to have a happy ending. When the story started taking a turn for the worse, her expectations were shattered. This assignment really taught me the importance of tone within storytelling and the effects it has upon the story and the audience.
Works Cited:
King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. Peterbough:Anansi Press. 2003. Print.