Friday 18 April 2014

BA3: 500 Word Creative Piece

To apply our new knowledge of Vladimir Propp's "Spheres of Action" we have been given the task of creating a short story for a character created during a parlour game seminar. The character I have is shown below:



I have decided that this particular character will be the Helper, which means that he will aid the main hero of the story in some way. We're not allowed to give our character a name though, so this will be a challenge. Here we go.

Have you ever wondered what happens in the wonderful world of the earth worm? No? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. This is a grand tale of adventure, valour, and of course, worms. So you really should stay and listen. I shall begin my story, naturally, at the beginning.

Under the earth where humans cannot see their cherished kingdom, live the humble earth worms. But the worms we see on the surface are just that, the surface, the workers that build the kingdom and maintain the endless tunnels that twist and turn in your very own garden. This world of wonders is ruled by a Worman, a magnificent creature, the head of a worm, the slim body of a human, tentacles instead of arms and, in this particular Worman's case, two peg legs. All these elements come together to form a creature of truly epic, but still very small, proportions. Under the rule of this great creature, the kingdom prospered and all its citizens were happy. However, things were not as happy as they seemed, and the great Worman knew of this but kept it from his people for their own safety.

Instead, he called upon his only son; Wigwam, in secret to express his concern and ask him to do something about it. In truth, the king was a very wise man, but he had no power other than his knowledge. After losing his legs, the great king could hardly stand at all let alone complete the task he was about to entrust to his son. And so Wigwam came to his father as his father had asked, eager to hear of the request he had. The king told his son how, in just three days time, the kingdom will be subjected to a terrible flood that would fill all of the tunnels with water and drown all the citizens, not even the great king will be spared if the floods were allowed to continue. The great king watched as fear filled his sons face and twisted his expressions with horror, but didn't lose faith in his son. He instructed Wigwam to take 50 of the fastest builder worms in the kingdom to the very highest point in the kingdom and to dig a huge space to fit all of the citizens of the kingdom, and therefore save them from the floods. Wigwam accepted his task, and turned to leave the palace in search of these workers. His father watched with new found faith. "My son will succeed, I know he will" he thought to himself.

As the days turned to nights, the great king of the worms awaited his sons return. On the third day, the king had still not lost faith, and as if on cue, his son returned explaining his success and that he wanted his father to be the first saved from the floods. But the king refused. Instead, fighting back tears, the king then instructed his son to go to his mothers chambers. Upon arrival, Wigwam walked into his mothers room with a confused look on his face, until he heard the laugh of a new born child. The room was never meant to save the kingdom. Instead, it was to welcome a new Worman into the prosperous world that lives on your back garden.


After all, how could a being no larger than a worm know of a flood that will destroy the kingdom?

And there is my story.

No comments:

Post a Comment