Week 2 Story - The Shark, the Sting Ray, and the Manatee
The Shark, the Sting Ray, and the Manatee
Once upon a time, a shark was caught in a fishing net. The greedy shark belly rolled and belly rolled but only seemed to make his situation worse. In despair, he let out a large sigh knowing that he indeed was stuck.
A charming Sting Ray came swimming by. "Sting Ray, help me out of this net would ya?" yelled the Shark.
"Why would I do that?" the Sting Ray yelled in response. "You always bully people of my kind and act as though you own these waters."
"Oh dear, I am so sorry you feel that way. I promise I do not mean to come off that way. If you help me out, I promise I will be more kind and leave all of you and your buddies alone for as lone as I live!" the Shark pleaded.
The gluttonous shark wailed and besought help from the Sting Ray. The charismatic Sting Ray was too easy to win over. Once the Shark said that he would be more kind and leave him and his buddies alone, the Sting Ray foolishly believed him and went to assist the Shark in his escape.
The Sting Ray used his barbed tail to slice the net and free the Shark. The net fell from around the Shark and he immediately opened his jaws and captured the Sting Ray. Through mumbled speech the Shark told the Sting Ray that he must round up as many as his friends as possible, for the Shark desired to thank all of his buddies as well.
The Shark opened his jaws and the trembling Sting Ray swam out. In fear he left to find his buddies.
As the Sting Ray swam to find his kind, he could sense the Shark lingering behind him. He knew that if he did not do as the Shark told he would be a goner.
The Sting Ray ran into an Eel. "Mr. Eel, have you seen any of my kind around lately? I saved the Shark and now he wants to thank me and all my friends!"
"I'm sorry, Sting Ray, for I have not seen anyone like you today," the Eel said in a hurry to get back behind his rock safe from the lingering Shark.
The Sting Ray began to feel a little discouraged. He heard the Shark's stomach growl and began to feel anxious. He knew he needed to find his friends fast!
As the Sting Ray continued swimming, his panic beginning to show in his mannerisms. A Manatee called out to him, "Sting Ray, where are you going in such a manic? Where are all your friends?"
The Sting Ray told the Manatee all that had happened, and that it was imperative that he found all his buddies. The Manatee noticed the Shark haunting the waters a few meters back, heard his stomach growl and figured out what was going on. The Manatee knew that he had to play along.
"How nice of the Shark to want to thank all your friends for your act of kindness! That is so encouraging that he wants to make a truce with you all! I think I remember seeing a bunch of your friends swim this way, let me take you to them!"
The Sting Ray swam back to the Shark, "The Mantatee said he knows where all my buddies are, and he is going to take us there now, Mr. Shark, so that you can meet my friends and tell them how I saved your life! They will be so exited to hear that you will no longer be bothering us!"
"Right, thats exactly right. I can't wait to taste, uh - I mean meet all your buddies!"
"Well the, follow us Mr. Shark!" The senseless Sting Ray beckoned.
The Manatee lead the way to where he knew several fishing boats were sitting. He called back to the Shark, "That is so kind of you to make a pact with the sting rays, you are such a generous and loyal friend!"
The Shark blushed with joy, he could pretty much taste his dinner, his plan was working so well.
After about ten minutes the Shark became impatient and yelled, "Where are you taking us? This journey is taking to long!"
"Mr. Shark, you seem hungry, perhaps we could stop and wait for you to have a snack. Look! There is a seal over there!" The Manatee urged the Shark to go to a bite, for he knew it was a piece of bate.
The Shark's mouth watered as he smelt the flesh of an injured seal. "Perhaps I quite bite to eat would be good. Stay right here, I will be back!"
The Sting Ray looked at the Manatee in confusion as the Shark swam up towards the bate. The Manatee grind and winked at the Sting Ray, sure of what was going to happen next.
The Shark chomped down on the piece of seal, and sure enough he was fooled! I hook pierced his jaw and before he could shake loose a giant net was placed around him. He rolled and rolled, trying his best to break free, but it was too late. He ended his day as he started, though this time it seemed that his fate was much worse.
Author's Note: This story is a spin off of "Tiger, Braham, and Jackal" which is an Indian Fairy Tale about a poor Braham that discovered a tiger stuck in a cage. The Tiger convinced the Braham to let him out of the cage. The Tiger said he was going to eat the Braham, but first the Braham went to find some help to convince the Tiger that he shouldn't eat the Braham. He ran into some things that were not any help. Finally, I clever Jackal ran into him and acted as though he did not understand the dilemma. The Jackal asked the Tiger to help explain and react the whole thing. The Tiger was extremely irritated by the Jackal's "stupidity" and acted out the whole thing, and as soon as the Tiger got in the cage the Jackal locked him back in there.
Bibliography: "The Tiger, the Braham, and the Jackal" from Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs (1912). Story Source
Once upon a time, a shark was caught in a fishing net. The greedy shark belly rolled and belly rolled but only seemed to make his situation worse. In despair, he let out a large sigh knowing that he indeed was stuck.
A charming Sting Ray came swimming by. "Sting Ray, help me out of this net would ya?" yelled the Shark.
"Why would I do that?" the Sting Ray yelled in response. "You always bully people of my kind and act as though you own these waters."
"Oh dear, I am so sorry you feel that way. I promise I do not mean to come off that way. If you help me out, I promise I will be more kind and leave all of you and your buddies alone for as lone as I live!" the Shark pleaded.
The gluttonous shark wailed and besought help from the Sting Ray. The charismatic Sting Ray was too easy to win over. Once the Shark said that he would be more kind and leave him and his buddies alone, the Sting Ray foolishly believed him and went to assist the Shark in his escape.
The Sting Ray used his barbed tail to slice the net and free the Shark. The net fell from around the Shark and he immediately opened his jaws and captured the Sting Ray. Through mumbled speech the Shark told the Sting Ray that he must round up as many as his friends as possible, for the Shark desired to thank all of his buddies as well.
The Shark opened his jaws and the trembling Sting Ray swam out. In fear he left to find his buddies.
As the Sting Ray swam to find his kind, he could sense the Shark lingering behind him. He knew that if he did not do as the Shark told he would be a goner.
The Sting Ray ran into an Eel. "Mr. Eel, have you seen any of my kind around lately? I saved the Shark and now he wants to thank me and all my friends!"
"I'm sorry, Sting Ray, for I have not seen anyone like you today," the Eel said in a hurry to get back behind his rock safe from the lingering Shark.
The Sting Ray began to feel a little discouraged. He heard the Shark's stomach growl and began to feel anxious. He knew he needed to find his friends fast!
As the Sting Ray continued swimming, his panic beginning to show in his mannerisms. A Manatee called out to him, "Sting Ray, where are you going in such a manic? Where are all your friends?"
The Sting Ray told the Manatee all that had happened, and that it was imperative that he found all his buddies. The Manatee noticed the Shark haunting the waters a few meters back, heard his stomach growl and figured out what was going on. The Manatee knew that he had to play along.
"How nice of the Shark to want to thank all your friends for your act of kindness! That is so encouraging that he wants to make a truce with you all! I think I remember seeing a bunch of your friends swim this way, let me take you to them!"
The Sting Ray swam back to the Shark, "The Mantatee said he knows where all my buddies are, and he is going to take us there now, Mr. Shark, so that you can meet my friends and tell them how I saved your life! They will be so exited to hear that you will no longer be bothering us!"
"Right, thats exactly right. I can't wait to taste, uh - I mean meet all your buddies!"
"Well the, follow us Mr. Shark!" The senseless Sting Ray beckoned.
The Manatee lead the way to where he knew several fishing boats were sitting. He called back to the Shark, "That is so kind of you to make a pact with the sting rays, you are such a generous and loyal friend!"
The Shark blushed with joy, he could pretty much taste his dinner, his plan was working so well.
After about ten minutes the Shark became impatient and yelled, "Where are you taking us? This journey is taking to long!"
"Mr. Shark, you seem hungry, perhaps we could stop and wait for you to have a snack. Look! There is a seal over there!" The Manatee urged the Shark to go to a bite, for he knew it was a piece of bate.
The Shark's mouth watered as he smelt the flesh of an injured seal. "Perhaps I quite bite to eat would be good. Stay right here, I will be back!"
The Sting Ray looked at the Manatee in confusion as the Shark swam up towards the bate. The Manatee grind and winked at the Sting Ray, sure of what was going to happen next.
The Shark chomped down on the piece of seal, and sure enough he was fooled! I hook pierced his jaw and before he could shake loose a giant net was placed around him. He rolled and rolled, trying his best to break free, but it was too late. He ended his day as he started, though this time it seemed that his fate was much worse.
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| The Shark's Fate. Source: Wiki Images |
Bibliography: "The Tiger, the Braham, and the Jackal" from Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs (1912). Story Source
Hey there Elizabeth!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting story. I have never read anything like this before. It came across as very original, and I was entertained throughout the whole story. I went ahead and read the source story because I liked the idea of it so much. I think that stories with clever characters are always really entertaining to read. The story had another level of depth to it by adding a sense of cleverness to the characters. I really like the manatee and its role in the story. The manatee was clever enough to play along and bring an end to the shark's hunt for all of the sting rays. Overall, I think you did a great job!
Hi Elizabeth!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, your blog is super cute and I love it!!! I read the original story last week and saw all the parallels between that and yours! I thought you did an excellent job of changing out the characters in a way that still made sense but also made it unique to you! Make sure you go back through at some point and fix those typos! I just noticed a couple so it's no big deal. Overall, great job and super cute formatting! Keep it up!