Stories that Shape the World

I have a great story to tell you.

A long time ago, when our world was still in its early stages, there was a story-telling competition. People from all the nearby lands came together, ready to share a story from their own culture. They brought stories that had been passed down for many generations in their world, stories that they had told many, many times, stories that were of great importance to them and to their people and to their land.

The contestants gathered together in this new land. The first story-teller began. She told an eerie tale of a creature from her land called “owl”. She described this graceful, wise creature in great detail, and explained how, one night many years ago, while a mother owl was sleeping, a large eagle swooped in and snatched up one of her owlets. Despite her exhaustive efforts, her babies were never found, and from that day forward, the owl never slept at night again, instead flying through the forests, crying out, “Who stole my babies? Who? Who? Who?”

As the first story-teller wrapped up her tale and took her seat among the other speakers, the soft rustling of feathers could be heard up in the trees, followed by the haunting hoo hoo hoo of the new land’s first owl.

The second story-teller began. He told the story of a great hero from his land who challenged a renowned maker to craft an unstoppable spear, one that would never fail to find its mark and could penetrate even the toughest hide. The maker sat in his workshop for many days, making spear after spear, each found wanting by the hero. One night, while watching a dark storm rage across the plains, the maker was struck by inspiration, and with all his craft and guile, shaped a pronged spear that crackled with power and energy. So formidable was this weapon that it could be seen from great distances and lit up the night sky. The great hero threw the spear, and watched it obliterate a tree, leaving only a charred stump. Satisfied, he declared that the maker had succeeded in crafting a force like no other.

As the second story-teller returned to his seat, the first lightning bolt to appear in this new land sparked swiftly across the sky.

Others shared their tales. As the competition went on, the world around them filled with the details from the stories, and soon the land was alive with new sights and sounds, smells and sensations.

Finally, it was the last story-teller’s turn. Now, unlike the other story-tellers, he had not taken much time to consider his story. See, he was very handsome, and quite revered in his land. In his experience, the audience enjoyed looking at him so much, it wasn’t necessary for to put much thought into his words. However, he had heard about this new land, and wanted to be a part of the competition, so he too, made his way to this gathering. Truth be told, he hadn’t been paying much attention to the previous story-tellers. He had enough confidence in himself (as well as prior experience) to believe that his audience would be engaged in his words.

He started to share a story that he had heard before from the story-tellers in his land, a story about a brother and a sister who get lost in the woods. The children stumble upon the home of an old woman who had been cast out from her village for her gruesome deformities. Frightened by the woman’s disfigurement, the children run away, but the brother stumbles and falls, hurting his leg. As the cold night descends upon them, the sister realizes that she has no choice but to bring him back to the home of the old woman for help.

At this point in the tale, the beautiful story-teller paused. In the original ending of the story, the one he had heard many times, the children are welcomed into the home of the old woman, who turns out to be kind-hearted and merely one who was wrongly judged by the people of her village. But suddenly, to this particular story-teller, it simply did not seem thrilling enough. How could he win this competition with such a simple and predictable tale?

So he made a hasty decision. Continuing the story, he began to make some changes. Instead of the warm and welcoming cottage owned by the old woman in the original version, the story-teller described a dark and gloomy abode. He described the eerie art on the walls, the chilling silence of of the house, and the stale odours that filled the rooms. And instead of describing a benevolent old woman who gently bandages up the young boy, he described a dark-hearted monster who is cruel and violent towards the young children. It was a story filled with gore and wickedness.

The story-teller looked around, pleased to see that he had the full attention of his audience. They looked horrified, but what did it matter? Were they not hanging on every word? He opened his mouth to continue, but then stopped. Embarrassed, he realized he did not have an ending to this story. He wracked his brain, desperately trying to come up with an ending that would be captivating, but nothing came. So with a forced smile, the beautiful story-teller simply sat down.

The audience was hushed. And then, things changed. Momentarily, the sky darkened, though it returned to normal so quickly it could have easily been confused with a passing cloud. The space chilled, but returned to normal so quickly it could have easily been confused with a sudden breeze. The contestants all felt a flash of pain tear through their bodies, but it was a pain that disappeared so quickly, it could have been imagined. Nonetheless, everybody felt different afterwards. A heavy feeling seemed to permeate the air.

“What’s happening? What is this?” asked the beautiful story-teller, fearful.

Nobody said anything at first. Finally, the oldest story-teller at the competition spoke up.

“This is your story,” she said. “You brought these elements to life. You created a terrible tale, full of horror and evil, and gave it no closure.”

The beautiful man bristled. “It’s a story,” he said. “Only a story. Forget I said anything!”

The older woman shook her head. “That’s not how it works. Once a story is told, it can not be taken back.”

 

Reflection

I’m on maternity leave this year, so my intended audience was my husband, my 7-month old twin boys, and my dog. With that in mind, I tried to keep my story simple and fun, with a little bit of repetition, since I’ve learned that babies are amused (and learn!) by repetition in stories.

I am not a great speaker, which may be ironic since I am a middle school teacher. As a student in elementary and high school, public speaking events were a nightmare to me. If I can read off a paper, I am fine- I think I speak clearly, with good pacing and appropriate tone. When my husband and I first started seeing each other, we spent many hours reading books aloud to one another. However, when I am asked to memorize a story or a speech, I lose all confidence and all momentum. I worry about forgetting details, and become so fixated on including everything that I cannot allow myself to relax and tell a story that- while may not include all the original details- is appropriate for that particular situation. Even in front of babies and my husband, I still stumbled with nervousness, One of the main points I took away from the first chapter in The Truth About Stories is that stories are fluid- there are different ways of telling a story (King’s example is when he explains how he changes Charm’s story a bit when sharing it with younger kids), but the essence of the story is what remains. This is something I need to work on; it’s okay if a story is different each time. As an oral story-teller, you have the opportunity to get immediate audience feedback (even if it’s non-verbal) and tweak your story-telling for the situation.

While writing this story, I also kept thinking about how it would sound. This is not something I think about when writing material that is not intended to be read aloud, nor is it something I teach my own students. We discuss the importance of including a strong voice in a our stories, but in this exercise, I truly felt the value and effect of “voice”.

Works Cited

Zeus undergoes routine health check-up in his eyes. Wildlife Learning Center. N.d. Earth Touch News. Photograph. 22 January 2019.

Bealing, Jacqui. “Again, again! Why repetition in reading help children learn more.” University of Sussex. 17 February 2017. Web. 22 January 2019.

Brownie, Marianne. Listening to a Story. 2019. Photograph.

King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. Peterbough: Anansi Press. 2003. Print.