A few years ago, I really got into writing stories as a way to warm up my brain for academic work. Writing requires practice, and I just felt like I hadn't practiced enough. Plus, academic writing is its own genre, and it really weighs on the brain after awhile. Every so often, it's nice to produce something different, just for fun.
So I wrote short stories. A lot of them had princesses as their protagonists (pretty much all of them). Princesses are problematic, but I just think of the word as a synonym for girl. I don't mean to start a fight about feminism, nor about what we should be modeling for girls (though I like to think that these princesses model a lot of creativity and independent thinking, in addition to self-care and compassion).
I didn't really know what to do with these stories, but I didn't want them just languishing away in my old journals, so I decided to type them up here on Saturdays, to give you all a glimpse into another facet of DNortonLand. So for the first Storyboard Saturday, I give you: The Wolf Princess.
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There once was a princess who lived in the woods. Well, actually, she lived in a tree. A rather large tree, if you ask me; a quite sturdy oak with broad limbs and leaves, and a spacious aerial view of the river a short distance away. She led a quiet life--peacefully gathering berries, herbs, and nuts, occasionally catching a small trout, and weaving spiderweb silk into cloth for a winter coat. This latter task was easily the most arduous, because the thread kept breaking and sticking to her fingers, but she was sure that her cloth would be far warmer than any fur she were to tan precisely because its tight weave would keep the wind out.
One day, as she was returning from gathering trout, she noticed a small wolf following her. As she had caught more than she had intended in her traps, she tossed a fish to the pup and clapped when he expertly caught it with a flick of his jaws. Though she couldn't spare any more fish, the pup followed her to her tree house and lay down at its roots. Right before the sun fell, she tossed him another fish, in the hopes that it would satisfy him so he would wander off. But this pup was bedded down for the night, and when the young princess peeked outside the next morning, he was lying in the exact same position as the night before: ears tucked and nose under tail.
At least, he was lying in the same position until she stepped on a creaky branch. He jumped up, tongue out and tail wagging, and whined and whined until she pulled out another fish. She threw it far away from the tree so that she could hop down while he chased after it. And then, she went about her day's business: weaving, cooking, cleaning and fishing. And when she was on her way back from the river, the wolf was waiting for her once again.
And that's how she learned that if you give a wolf a fish, you'll feed it for the rest of your life.
So I wrote short stories. A lot of them had princesses as their protagonists (pretty much all of them). Princesses are problematic, but I just think of the word as a synonym for girl. I don't mean to start a fight about feminism, nor about what we should be modeling for girls (though I like to think that these princesses model a lot of creativity and independent thinking, in addition to self-care and compassion).
I didn't really know what to do with these stories, but I didn't want them just languishing away in my old journals, so I decided to type them up here on Saturdays, to give you all a glimpse into another facet of DNortonLand. So for the first Storyboard Saturday, I give you: The Wolf Princess.
_____________________________________________________________________________
There once was a princess who lived in the woods. Well, actually, she lived in a tree. A rather large tree, if you ask me; a quite sturdy oak with broad limbs and leaves, and a spacious aerial view of the river a short distance away. She led a quiet life--peacefully gathering berries, herbs, and nuts, occasionally catching a small trout, and weaving spiderweb silk into cloth for a winter coat. This latter task was easily the most arduous, because the thread kept breaking and sticking to her fingers, but she was sure that her cloth would be far warmer than any fur she were to tan precisely because its tight weave would keep the wind out.
One day, as she was returning from gathering trout, she noticed a small wolf following her. As she had caught more than she had intended in her traps, she tossed a fish to the pup and clapped when he expertly caught it with a flick of his jaws. Though she couldn't spare any more fish, the pup followed her to her tree house and lay down at its roots. Right before the sun fell, she tossed him another fish, in the hopes that it would satisfy him so he would wander off. But this pup was bedded down for the night, and when the young princess peeked outside the next morning, he was lying in the exact same position as the night before: ears tucked and nose under tail.
At least, he was lying in the same position until she stepped on a creaky branch. He jumped up, tongue out and tail wagging, and whined and whined until she pulled out another fish. She threw it far away from the tree so that she could hop down while he chased after it. And then, she went about her day's business: weaving, cooking, cleaning and fishing. And when she was on her way back from the river, the wolf was waiting for her once again.
And that's how she learned that if you give a wolf a fish, you'll feed it for the rest of your life.
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