Finding Freedom
An orphan from birth, Kang always felt like an outcast in his African village. He had no last name, and therefore no title. No girls wanted to marry him and no men wanted to be associated with him. Although he remained polite and respectful to everyone he met, he could feel his resentment towards the village people grow the more they neglected him. As he grew older, he began to have thoughts of leaving his village. A new life surrounded by all new people became more appealing as the days passed by. However, they were the only village within miles of any other human civilization, and in order to go to a new village he would need to venture days through the wilderness. He finally worked up enough nerve and left in the morning.
Running away from the village- he never felt more free. It was as if he could run for hours without any pains or fears. Nightfall came and he found a large rock which to sleep by. He fell asleep peacefully but awoke to the sound of a lioness's roar. Startled he thought he would surely be eaten. However, the lioness was standing over him, protecting him from a hyena. Once the hyena was chased off, the lioness laid down next to him. Within the next few minutes, her entire pride came and surrounded him. For the first time in his life- he felt like he was a part of a family. When morning came, he knew he could either continue on his way to another village or stay with the lion pride. The choice was easy. Years passed by and his love for the pride only grew stronger. They accepted him as one of their own and watched out for him. When hunters would come into the area, he would negotiate with them to keep the pride safe. Every couple of years a person would venture upon the pride, trying to escape their old life just as Kang once did. The lion pride would welcome every person that meant no harm, and eventually a small village grew alongside the lions. Kang now had a human and an animal family, and spent everyday surrounded by loved ones and a lived a fulfilled life.
[Lioness Pride. Image information.]
Author's Note
This story is based off 'A Child of The Woods'. In that story a woman escapes a village of cruel men and seeks refuge among tigers in the jungle. I decided to switch the main character to a male and alter the setting to take place in Africa. I kept the author's inital idea of creating a village of people in the middle of the wilderness, surrounded by animals. I hope you enjoyed reading my take on 'A Child of the Woods'!
Bibliography
Fleeson, Katherine. A Child of The Woods. Laos Fold-Lore. 1899. Link.
Katie,
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite parts about this story was in the beginning, where you outlined the background to the characters and what you were planning to talk about. I think that it sets the story up for the rest of the story. Something that I would add that I feel would add more depth to the story would be to include a dialogue between the characters that can bring a better understanding of the characters in the story. Overall, I really enjoyed your story! I look forward to reading more from you.
Hey Katie, I really enjoyed reading your version of this story. I really liked how smooth your writing is because it made reading the story very enjoyable. My favorite part of the story was how you described how Kang felt once he ran away from his tribe. I thought that part was very well-written. Overall, I think you did a great job.
ReplyDeleteHi Katie,
ReplyDeleteThis was a beautiful story. I certainly felt bad for Kang, but I was glad to see that he found love and a family with the lion pride. I think the story is good as is, but it would also be great to create/rewrite the story with more details or elaboration! Maybe you want to break up the story into paragraphs and add some dialogue? Or there could be some backstory on Kang and why no one wanted to associate with him in the first place. These are just ideas I thought of when I read your story; your story is still great and I enjoyed reading it!
Hi Katie, I really enjoyed reading this story. I think it was a good idea to set the story in Africa. It flowed very nicely. I wonder why Kang doesn't have a name. Does he not know his parents? It would be nice to add some details there. I also love the ending where the pride takes in more people who leave the village and that they get to slowly grow into their own village. Overall, I think you did very good with this story.
ReplyDelete