Embedded Files
Elizabeth
Since for my character people mistake me,
I thought this story was fitting, for you see,
The guy in my story is mistaken too
about what he is. His thoughts are askew!
I believe that my story speaks for itself.
I’ll waste no time; into it let’s now delve!
The Actress' Tale
This is a story about Edelweiss,
Seymour Kenton the Third to be precise.
A barrel racing, pole weaving, show cowboy,
With his trusty horse named Tony Rob Roy.
He’s won trophies, buckles, and medals galore;
They cover his wall and cover his floor.
He’s prouder than any champion should be.
He swaggers around for everyone to see.
His fancy clothes are almost from a dream.
His boots are shined and his spurs sure gleam.
He won his belt buckle; it weighs a ton.
Some say it’s even brighter than the sun!
With his hot pink shirt he must be gentle,
For it is on temporary rental.
His black cowboy hat has a rhinestone brim.
His whole outfit is delightfully prim.
One day, just after a successful show
Edelweiss was packed and ready to go.
When a man walked up, a frown on his face,
looking at him as if he were a disgrace.
Edelweiss couldn’t help frowning as well,
for the man looked like he very well might dwell
in a muddy hole, based on all the dirt
from head to toe and all over his shirt!
His boots were cracked, dirty and so worn out,
They could be from the Wild West without doubt.
His shirt was faded and his hat was plain.
They had both obviously been in rain.
The man raised an eyebrow and began to talk.
He had an accent that made Edelweiss gawk.
“What are ye supposed ter be?” The man scoffed
But a moment later he bent and coughed,
“Are yer wearin’ yer momma's old perfume?
Someone needs to come and air out this room!
Where’d you get that shirt?” he asked with a frown.
“Did you take it from some unsespectin’ clown?”
Edelweiss could hardly understand a word,
Though wasn’t pleased with what he had heard.
“I am a cowboy as plain as the day.
The question is what are you? I might say.”
The dirty stranger was laughing once more.
Yer a cowboy? Then I’m an entrepreneur.”
He said still obviously quite amused.
“Son, I’m afraid yer a might bit confused.
You come to my ranch and I’ll show you my ways.
You’ll see what a cowboy is in just days!”
Edelweiss stood up straight. “I’ll come with you
And prove that I’m a cowboy through and through!”
“Alrighty then, come and show me your worth
Though I doubt you’d know a cinch from a girth!”
Edelweiss, indignant, knew he must go.
“I’ll come this very afternoon and show
you what I am capable of!” he said.
This man was doubtlessly daft in the head!
After giving him driving instructions,
“The name’s Hank.” He started introductions.
“I’m Edelweiss Seymour Kenton the Third.”
Hank looked like he couldn't believe what he'd heard!
He eyed Edelweiss. “What kind of a name is that?!
“Why that kinda name my wife would give the cat!”
Edelweiss packed up his trophies and boots,
Then packed Roy’s grain, vitamins, and beetroots.
He loaded it up and left in an hour,
his expression becoming more and more sour.
He got to the ranch, crossing a cattle guard.
He passed some cows and reached the barnyard.
Hank was there to meet him with his ranch hands.
“This is Lil’ Joe, Bill, and Russ; they work my lands,”
He said. “And boys, this here is Eldelwise.
He don’t know his horse flies from his botflies,
But he’s here to learn to be a cowboy.”
They grinned. “He ain’t nothin’ but a pretty boy!”
He didn’t understand their dialect,
knew they were grammatically incorrect,
and after he looked them up and down fast,
found each one was dirtier than the last.
“Today we are off to find a lost cow.
My herd is short a number as of now.
The boys will each take their horse and ride out...
Can yers keep up? He sure ain’t as stout.
This here is Ol’ Blue and that there is Trusty
Over there’s Bandit and this one is Rusty.
You saddle up now, providing you can,
If not, Bill can surely lend you a hand.
You’ll ride along with him and Ol’ Blue
Searching the north ridge to the valley view.”
Everyone did what Hank had said.
Then Edelweiss rode behind while Bill led.
Roy was quite skittish, not used to a trail
He’d only known rings, riding by a rail.
Edelweiss managed and they rode along
Until they heard a cow and it all went wrong!
Roy went back and sideways all in one leap.
He landed in mud, his hooves sank in deep,
He panicked and reared, charging through the brush.
And that's when Roy met the cows in a rush.
They took off on an uncontrolled run.
The tug-o-war of the reins the horse had won.
Roy saw all the cows and stopped quick to stare,
Edelweiss was catapulted in the air.
A bush is where he had chosen to land.
It tangled with his buckle, he couldn’t stand.
There was a flurry of hooves as Roy passed by.
His nostrils were flaring and the dust did fly.
Bill came riding up a little while after.
“Your horse,” said he, “I’ve seen no faster.”
Bill dismounted and despite the protest
He cut Edelweiss’ belt and left him in distress.
Edelweiss sat, lamenting his loss...
“So Edel-vasewhastit where’s the hoss?”
Edelweiss shrugged, nothing else he could do.
Roy was long gone, to where he had no clue.
An announcement began; the story was paused.
"We're sorry for the delay our stop caused.
We are approaching our destination.
In a few minutes, we'll reach the station!"
Author's Note
This is the first part of my final story for my project. It was over the word limit so I broke it into two pieces. The Actress' Tale will end in the next section.
Some people have asked how I came up with my stories. The first one about the cat is modeled off the popular myth that cats have nine lives. My friend actually made up the base for the story. Her idea was about a cat who regretted the way she lived her lives. I fleshed it out more and made it into the tale written in verse.
As for Howie's story about Dan, I wanted to model my first two stories in the same manner Chaucer set up his first two stories with one countering the other. So I came up with a story that I felt was almost the opposite of the first one. I had just read the story that was my inspiration so it was easy to take it and make it my own.
Finally, this last story is a bit more nuanced. I actually wrote this story first and then came up with the character. This story is about thinking you are one thing and then turning out you are wrong. From there, I created the actress who everyone mistakes for the evil character she plays on screen. I figured she would tell a story like this to illustrate that not everything is as it seems. Beyond that, sometimes you aren't as great as you believe you are.
The stories I used for inspiration are a few short Aesop's Fables which I describe in detail in this Lab on my blog.
Bibliography
Aesop's Fables by V.S. Vernon Jones:
Photo Credit: nytimes
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