Of Mice and Bears (A1:5)

Once upon a time, in a small cozy house on the edge of a big green forest, there lived a Cat and a Dog. Cat liked to sleep during the day, and woke up each evening with a satisfied stretch. It was Cat’s job to chase all the mice away from the house he shared with Dog, and so each night he woke up, stretched, and went in search of mice.

I am the best at chasing mice, thought the Cat. I am strong and quick and clever, much more clever than any dumb mouse.

Indeed, Cat was very good at chasing mice. With his strong legs, he never got tired; with his quick claws, he never missed; with his clever whiskers, he never got lost. The mice that lived around the Cat’s home knew about the Cat, and his strong legs with quick claws, and clever whiskers to guide his way. So, each night some mice would try to fight the Cat, and some mice would try to outrun the Cat, and some mice would try to hide from the Cat.

But, this Cat was very good at chasing mice, and so each night he would fight the mice, and chase the mice, and look for their hiding spots, and each night he would always win. After Cat was finished chasing all the mice away he would return home, to the small cozy house on the edge of the big green forest. 

As the sun rose so did Cat’s friend the Dog, who liked to sleep during the night, unlike her friend the Cat. Dog woke up each morning with a satisfied yawn–it was Dog’s job to chase all the bears away from the house she shared with Cat, and so each morning she woke up, yawned, and went in search of bears.

I am the best at chasing bears, thought the Dog. I am strong and quick and clever, much more clever than any dumb bear.

Indeed, Dog was very good at chasing bears. With her strong jaws, she never let go; with her quick paws, she never slowed down; with her clever nose, she never got lost. The bears that lived around the Dog’s home knew about the Dog, her strong jaws and quick paws, and clever nose to guide her way. So, each night some bears would try to fight the Dog, and some bears would try to outrun the Dog, and some mice would try to hide from the Dog.

But, this Dog was very good at chasing bears, and so each day she would fight the bears, and chase the bears, and look for their hiding spots, and she would always win.

After Dog was finished chasing all the bears away she would return home to the small cozy house on the edge of the big green forest. As the sun set the Dog would settle down to sleep, and Cat would wake up and start stretching.

During this time, when the sun was rising or setting, and Dog was yawning and Cat was stretching, the two friends would share stories. Eager to impress his canine friend, Cat would boast about how many mice he had chased, how strong his legs and quick his claws. Hoping to impress her feline friend, Dog would brag about how many bears she had chased, how strong her jaws and quick her paws.

The two friends were very competitive with each other, and each morning and each evening they would stay up longer, wanting to share more stories about their daily adventures. At the end of each of his stories the Cat would loudly boast about his mice-chasing skills, eager for Dog to agree and praise him.

I am the best at chasing mice, the Cat would say. I am strong and quick and clever, much more clever than any dumb mouse.

And so, the Cat would go on, telling and sharing and boasting, and each night his stories would get a little bit louder. Not wanting to be out-done, the Dog followed suit.  At the end of each of her stories the Dog would loudly brag about her bear-chasing skills, hoping for Cat to agree and compliment her. 

I am the best at chasing bears, the Dog would say. I am strong and quick and clever, much more clever than any dumb bear.

And so, the Dog and the Cat would go on, telling and sharing, boasting and bragging, and each night their stories got a little louder. Their stories got louder and louder, until one night their stories got so loud that the sound they made escaped from their cozy house and floated out into the big green forest. The mice, tired from being chased by the Cat, pricked up their ears, and the bears, drained from being chased by the Dog, lifted up their heads.

That sounds like the Cat who chases us, thought the mice. That sounds like the Dog who chases us, thought the bears. 

The Cat and Dog, unaware of their audience, keep talking and laughing, night after night, and the mice and bears keep listening. After listening, night after night, the mice figure out that the Cat hates water, and start hiding near the river. The bears make out that the Dog hates thunder, and start to come out during rainstorms.  Soon enough the creatures of the forest have figured out all of the Cat’s tricks, and made out all of the Dog’s weaknesses. Chasing mice gets harder and harder for the Cat, and finding bears gets more and more difficult for the Dog, until eventually the two friends living in the cozy house, beside the big green forest, have no more stories to boast and brag about at all.

Once you have told a story, you can never take it back. So, be careful of the stories you tell, AND the stories you listen to.

Fin.

Writing this story was a very different and interesting task for me! Because I knew I would be orally reciting this story, I departed pretty heavily from my usual writing style. I definitely have a lot more experience with academic-style writing than I do anything else, so this is firmly outside my comfort zone. For inspiration I wanted to draw on my actual experience of hearing oral stories, which for me was mainly in childhood. When I was younger my older siblings would often entertain me with made-up stories, so I tried to create a story that would work in that context. I’m fairly happy with the finished product! Before I started writing I also did a bit of research into this particular kind of oral story–being, improvised and for children–and tips for telling them. 

Based off my own experiences and that aforementioned research, I tried to use simple language and a very clear plot structure when writing this story, so that it would be easy to remember and suitable for a young audience to hear. I also tried to pay close attention to the rhythm and euphonics of my words and sentences, focusing on how it would sound when spoken out loud. Having repeating words or sentences is something I usually try very hard to avoid when writing, but that I used heavily in this story; repetition makes the story easier to remember and also increases the soothing, rhythmic quality it can have when spoken out loud. I attempted to include rhyming or alliterative words when possible, as well.

There are many benefits to oral storytelling apart from simple entertainment, and I would say it is as important for kids to be exposed to oral narratives as it is for them to have experience with reading. Having to write this story down made me think more deeply about how, exactly, oral and written stories differ. As previously stated, my experience with oral storytelling primarily has to do with entertaining kids–remembering the stories I was told as a child, and also my experiences telling stories to my currently young nieces or other kids. These stories were/are almost entirely spontaneous–meaning, I make them up as I’m telling them. Ordinarily, it would never occur to me to write one out and memorize it ahead of time. Doing so made me aware of a lot of storytelling techniques that I was already using unconsciously, such as repetition, or ones that I could incorporate more of. As a student I am often thinking critically about my writing skills, so this was a good opportunity to apply that same focus to my skills with orality.

Works Cited

Daryl, Bellingham. “Creating and Improvising Stories for Children.” The Art of Storytelling, updated 10 Feb. 2011, www.storytell.com.au/artnscreat.html.

Davis, Jennifer. “Towards a Further Understanding of What Indigenous People Have Always Known: Storytelling as the Basis of Good Pedagogy.” First Nations Perspectives, vol. 6, no. 1, Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre, 2014, pp. 83-96, mfnerc.org/resources/fnp/volume-6-2014.