On a cold morning in the middle of winter, a girl was sitting at the kitchen table. She looked to her father, who was seated across her, and asked him a question.
“Why is everyone so unhappy all the time?”
The father took a deep breath. He had been waiting for the day when his daughter would ask him about this, as he had already thought of how he would respond. He replied to her with a story, one that he had been waiting for years to tell.
“There was once a city, full of sleek buildings, colorful storefronts and people happily going about their lives. There was a peaceful sense of harmony and light in this city, with everyone helping each other and doing their part to help maintain the city’s success. There was enough food and clothing for everyone, and the city thrived. One day, however, this all changed. People began noticing that all the supplies, food and resources began to diminish faster than ever. This had never happened before, so everyone was confused and frightened as to how they would regain the stability and happiness that they had previously known. As more and more resources disappeared, more and more people began to struggle. Nobody knew what the cause was, until one day when a man discovered that his neighbour had a secret.
One night, when the rest of the city was asleep, the man was awake and worrying about how he could help his family and his city regain the happiness they once had. While he was thinking, he suddenly heard a large crash outside the door of his apartment. He went to his door and looked through the keyhole. He saw his neighbour in the hallway, and a large box flipped over on the floor with all sorts of food and clothing spilling out. The man opened the door, and his neighbour was frozen in place. The man asked his neighbour where the box of supplies had come from, but the neighbour did not respond. The neighbour tried to block the man from seeing into his apartment, so the man became suspicious. He pushed past the neighbour and saw that the apartment was full of supplies and food and everything that had been running low in the city.
Unbeknownst to the man, several other similar incidents had been taking place, with people discovering that their neighbours or friends or even family members had been secretly hoarding the city’s resources for themselves. The city was thrown into chaos, not only because of the diminishing supplies, but because of the newly realized greed and selfishness of the city’s people. Ever since, the city has struggled to maintain its sense of goodness, as people have become more and more desperate. The day that evil entered our world was the day that more and more of us started to become unhappy.”
Once the father finished his story, he was relieved in a way that his daughter now knew the truth about the place she called home. However, he also felt the weight of this revelation, for once a story is told, it cannot be called back. Once told, it is loose in the world.
Commentary:
This assignment proved to be quite challenging for me, as I have not done much creative writing in the past. It gave me a further appreciation for the art of storytelling since it’s not an easy task to put ideas into the format of an enjoyable, comprehensible story. It was interesting reading this out loud to my family and seeing how my tone or pauses influenced how my story came across. I realized that the story as written on page can be interpreted in different ways when told out loud, and of course the storyteller plays an important role in how a story is portrayed. This assignment emphasized how complex storytelling is, and I think it’s fascinating that our understanding of stories continues to develop as more and more mediums allow us to dive into all sorts of narratives. With that being said, I think the act of simply telling a story, face to face is such a simple, traditional way to connect with others and that is why it continues to be a special part of our society.
Works Cited
Ted. “How to Tell a Story.” TED Talks, www.ted.com/playlists/62/how_to_tell_a_story.
“The Untold Storytelling Festival.” BBC Radio 4, BBC, 17 Aug. 2019, www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0007psh.