Skip to main content

Week 9 Story: Finding Freedom

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.
Labels:

Comments

  1. Long NgoOctober 25, 2020 at 9:30 PM

    Katie,

    One 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.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 25, 2020 at 11:02 PM

    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.

    ReplyDelete
  3. soriyanaOctober 25, 2020 at 11:26 PM

    Hi Katie,

    This 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!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Helen DoanOctober 26, 2020 at 11:20 AM

    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

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales, Part B

 Fairy Ointment I was quick to click on this story because I used to love reading about fairies and other mythical creatures when I was growing up. I was very pleased to see that this story was very intriguing and reminded me of similar stories from my childhood. The story began by introducing a nurse named Dame Goody. One night she awoke from her sleep and went downstairs to see a small, strange looking man asking for help with his sick wife. Although she was suspicious, she decided to help him because that was the nature of her job. So, the two hoped onto the back of a horse and rode fast until they reached a small cottage house. Inside the house, she saw a sick woman with children playing on the floor besides her. The mother gave her a baby boy and asked her to rub ointment on his eyelids, and the nurse did so but was curious as to why. When no one was looking, she rubbed the ointment on her right eye as well and when she opened her eyes the small cottage transformed into a eleg...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales, Part A

 The Old Woman and Her Pig When I read this story, it seemed as if this was written to be more of a riddle than a story. The way the story flowed and the sentences were structured was a bit unusual compared to most stories. However, I really enjoyed reading it because it seemed like something I might have heard in my childhood.  The story began with introducing an old woman. She lived in a little house and she noticed one day that it was dirty and needed to be swept. So, she decided to clean the house and while she was sweeping, she came across a crooked sixpence. After discovering the pen, she decided she wanted to use it, however, she had no animals to put in the pen. To solve this dilemma, she went into town and bought a piglet. On her way back from the market with her piglet, the piglet was hesitant and would not go over a stile on the ground. So, in order to fix the problem she goes and finds a dog and asks the dog to bite at the pig so the pig would go over the stile. Af...
Post a Comment
Read more

Week 11 Story: The Hidden Oasis

The Hidden Oasis In a poor village, there was a boy that was known for this love for animals. Although not getting enough food to satisfy his own needs, he always would give portions of his own food to his animals in order to keep them alive. He had a three dogs and two cats that he loved more than his own family. During one part of the year, there was a terrible drought that cost the village countless lives. Food was scarce and the boy struggled to gather enough food for his animals. He begged his parents to help him gather enough food for his animals, but the parents did no such thing. In fact, they threatened to kill the animals for a source of food for themselves. Although he didn't like the idea of stealing, he knew that is what he must do to keep them alive. He stole food from his parents, friends, and other villagers. Soon enough, people started to notice that his animals were growing stronger and fatter. The village was aware that someone was stealing, so they concluded it ...
4 comments
Read more