Week 12 Storytelling: Beowulf
John was sitting on the edge of the playground, about to open his lunchbox. This was his favorite part of the day. His best friend, Alex, wasn't at school today, and they usually ate lunch together. Since he was gone, John was probably going to eat by himself. This might have bothered some kids, but not John. He actually enjoyed some alone time every once in a while, to think by himself.
He had just gotten back from filling up his water bottle, and was about to sit down to open up his lunchbox...Then it happened.
He saw the blood on the ground before he could register what had happened. His vision was blurry, the side of his head hurt. Through eyes that had started to involuntarily fill with tears, he could make out a figure.
Sam.
John slowly stood, trying his best to maintain his balance. Sam laughed at him, and picked up his lunchbox. He took out an apple and took a bite of it, looking directly at John.
"Whatcha gonna do, nerd?"
This had been going on for a while. Sam was a little bit bigger than John, and a lot meaner. John never wanted to cause a scene and would usually let Sam just go ahead - take some of his lunch, cut him in the line at the water fountain, things like that.
But today was a little different. Today, the teacher hadn't come out for lunch duty. John knew it was time to fight back.
He slowly walked toward Sam, as he usually did, and pretended to extend his arm for the lunchbox, as he usually did. A grin spread across Sam's face as he dangled the lunchbox just out of reach.
Suddenly, without warning, John swung his right fist, hitting Sam on the jaw.
Sam nearly fell down, shocked at this move of aggression.
The lunch box fell to the side, and the two began fighting back and forth. Silently, they battled - not wanting to draw attention from students elsewhere, or from any teachers that might happen to wander outside.
John started to sweat, as did Sam. They traded punches, eventually ending up wrestling on the ground. One would be on top, but in a sudden move, they would switch positions.
Finally, John had the upper hand, and he had pinned Sam on the ground. Both had blood on their hands and faces.
He held back his fist, as if to land one final punch. Sam closed his eyes.
But John stopped. He had proven himself. He had shown Sam that he wasn't going to take this anymore. He moved off and grabbed his lunchbox as Sam sat there, stunned.
After several moments, Sam stood up and dusted himself off. He nodded at John, then slowly walked away.
Author's Note:
This playground fight was derived from the story of Beowulf. Several individual narratives in the Beowulf reading this week involved battles. In one instance, Beowulf battles Grendel, and in the other, he battles a dragon. Both fights involve gridlocks and intense moments, leaving the audience curious as to who will win. Parallels are drawn, then, to the playground fight. To defend his honor, John fights Sam, much as Beowulf battles against Grendel and the dragon. Though the endings are a little bit more severe and dramatic in the Beowulf stories, I thought that ripping an arm off or possible death would be extreme for a playground fight. Thus, the story ends without any severe injuries, but instead with a lesson learned - that Sam had overstepped his bounds, and that John had stood up for himself.
Bibliography:
"The Story of Beowulf: The Battle with Grendel" by Strafford Rigs; online link
"The Story of Beowulf: The Battle with Grendel" by Strafford Rigs; online link
Image Information: Kids on a playground.
Image Link: Image
Hi Jake! Quick note about the story: you can declare this for Week 13, and I'll put it in that randomizer next week; I had already done the randomizer for the Week 12 stories today, but there's be another one for Week 13's stories (and that will be the Week 14 comment assignment like usual). Happy Friday! :-)
ReplyDeleteHi again Jake!
ReplyDeleteWow I love this story! The concept of using a playground fight to parallel Beowulf is so creative, and something I never would have thought of! And I like that the ending was a moral lesson rather than a physical injury. You did a great job with this story and I’m excited to read more of your stories in the coming weeks.
Hey, I'm using your story to practice my feedback for this semester's class, just in case you're wondering why and how a stranger found your story.
ReplyDeleteI thought the moment where you talked about John walking towards Sam and eventually fighting him was well done. The detail was good in lots of places and it made it feel really tense.
I was left wondering what had happened in the past between Sam and John to make them so bitter towards each other, usually there’s something more to a bully than just raw meanness, and I think diving deeper into that would be really cool.
What if, in your future writing, you show more of John’s emotions after he gets hit. You did a good job of showing what he saw, but I was left wondering what he was feeling. Was it anger, or vengeance, or a sense of justice? I think telling us how he felt would really make the story more grabbing, and it would make sure that I knew that I should be rooting for the right person.