"Holy cow!" said Rob as his eyes hungrily read the digital article in front of him, "Donald Trump nukes Russia!"
He couldn't believe his eyes. His mind raced over what this meant. Did Trump really just plunge the world into chaos. Rob's nervous hand runs through locks of hair as he considers how his life would be affected. He had to tell someone.
"Trump nuked Russia!"
Rob was standing fanatically in the door way of his best friend Jeff's house.
"What?" Jeff said half-heartedly, head buried in his phone screen. His fingers typed away busily, he was always plugged in.
"Trump nuked Rus..." Rob is interrupted by a soft ding from his pocket. As he pulls his phone out he begins talking, "You tagged me in a post?"
Rob eyes the post, a ten paragraph rant on the American situation concluded by the terrifying News of Russia's demise.
"You wrote that quick."
Jeff replies with a half shrug, still not looking up.
The doorbell rings, Rob quickly opens the door.
"Is it true?"
The gossip of the town, Sarah Tupper, stood at the door, notebook ready for an answer.
"Of course!" Rob was insulted at the doubt.
"O. M. G." Sarah walked away, content that she had the new scoop to share with her friends.
The next hour was a blur. Worry and fear permeated Rob's small town, news travels fast after all.
Rob takes his phone out. He had to read the article again. As he opened the article he sees something he missed the first time.
A little above the provocative title was the name of the website, unseen before, but painfully obvious now.
The article had been written by the onion.
Author's note: the original story of this was the timid Rabbit, the story of a rabbit who freaks out over nothing and subsequently freaks out his entire community. The moral of that story was to not let yourself be scared at every little fright, with an undercurrent of "check your sources". My version of the story leans far more heavily on the secondary message.
Jataka Takes by Ellen C Babbitt. Digital sourceDigital Source.
Joshua,
ReplyDeleteThis was such a clever way to tell the story of the Timid Rabbit! I also told this story, but I have never through about it in a way such as this one-- I love that you incorporated the modern world, politics, and technology to this story. So many people will be able to relate and be interested in this version of the story. I will definitely be keeping up with your posts from now on; you have so many great ideas and clever ways of interpreting these ancient stories!
Hi Josh,
ReplyDeleteI liked how you made this story related to today's world and on going events. Especially with Trump and Russia. I read this story and really enjoyed it especially how at the end, how the rabbit was proven false. You also ended the story in a good way by adding magazines being proven wrong because it's relates to modern magazines, which just writes story for gossip.
Hey Josh! I really liked this story and how you told it in such a unique way. At first I wasn't sure what story you retold, but the last line and the Author's Note definitely cleared it up! I thought it was amusing to read just because it mentions real life events and also depicts how many people and the media are nowadays; buried in their phone and just wanting the latest gossip.
ReplyDelete