Late at night, Rabbit and Possum were searching for food to survive the night. The winter had been hard on the two friends, but they had remained steadfast to each other throughout the season. Nevertheless, it was necessary for them to find some food or perish. Thus, the two friends decided to search some of the neighborhoods next to the woods they called home. Meticulously Rabbit and Possum went to house after house, rummaging through the trash bins to look for food that would survive them for the night. Yet, they continued to fail to find their nourishment. The two friends were soon becoming alarmed as they knew there was no chance that they would survive the night without food. However, as they approached a quiet house on the corner on the neighborhoods, Rabbit came across a pleasant surprise. Sitting ripely underneath the balcony of the porch was a tasty trove of leafy greens for both the Possum and Rabbit to eat. Rabbit quickly became eager and urged Possum to join him to steal this newly found treasure. However, Possum was hesitant as he noticed the people of the house were still moving around the house. He told Rabbit about his observations, but Rabbit was relentless in his desire to eat the leafy greens. As such, Rabbit began to sneak his way to the porch with Possum lagging slowly behind him. With a mighty leap, Rabbit placed himself among the greens and began to indulge himself with no worry. Possum, seeing the Rabbit filling himself up decided to join his friend. Little did they know was that the people of the house had quietly opened the door upon noticing ht two animals ruining their mini garden. With a mighty boom, they smacked the rabbit and quickly captured Rabbit using a basket. Possum was scared as he saw the people approaching him. Using his wits, he decided to play dead so that they would leave him alone for a temporary amount of time. As a result, the people decided to leave him also as they did not want to touch a wild animal with their hands. Once the people left, Possum quickly ran away with a new strategy to escape any future troubles.
Author's Note: The original story is much shorter and does not have much detail so I tried to incorporate a new plot with the same conclusion. Instead of the Rabbit and Possum looking for wives, I had them searching for food. I also set this in more modern times rather than in a Native American setting. Ultimately, the possum does learn to play dead but to the expense of his friend unlike the original story where the rabbit survives the fight.
Bibliography: Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson (1913).
Wikimedia: The possum, full of green leafs and the ability to play dead
Hey Neal!
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job telling this story. I love the aspects of friendship and desperation that you highlighted. Your sentence "The two friends were soon becoming alarmed as they knew there was no chance that they would survive the night without food" showed the sense of urgency the animals had. While reading, I wondered how possum and rabbit became friends. You did a great job of using descriptive words to draw readers into the scene. Nice job with this tale!
Hi Neal!
ReplyDeleteI really liked the details you added to your story and the modern setting you used. I noticed one sentence toward the end where you say "they smacked the rabbit and quickly captured Rabbit using a basket" that I think would read better if you used "him" instead of rabbit the second time. It also helps to be consistent with capitalization. Is his name Rabbit or is he just the rabbit? Either way is fine but it helps to use the same one throughout. I also noticed a few typos towards the end of your story but overall you did a good job of adding your own twist on this story.
Hi Neal!
ReplyDeleteThis was a really interesting story for the origin of why possums play dead. I like the way you adapted it to modern time, as well - I think it transitioned really smoothly! I hadn't read the original story, and at first I assumed it was a Brer Rabbit story, but I was interested to learn that it had been a Native American story!
Hi Neal! What a cool story. I was looking around at your blog and instantly got drawn to this story by the title. I love stories that answer a question in a fun creative way. I think they are great stories to have in the back of your head to tell to kids! I wonder whatever happened to rabbit. I hope they let him go haha. Anyways, great job overall and awesome story.
ReplyDeleteYa know...I've always wondered where the phrase "playing possum" came from. Now I know. I like it. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAlso, cute story! There were a few small places of awkward word choices, like "Survive them for the night" when you might have meant "sustain them for the night." Also, the possum tried to stall them for a "temporary amount of time." This is a little clumsy. Maybe just say he wanted to stall them.
I also wasn't clear about the tasty trove under the balcony. It is was a garden or a trash can. Maybe just describe it a little.
Other than those really small things, I really enjoyed the story and the lesson about our Marsupial friend. :)
Hi Neal,
ReplyDeleteThis was a really cute story. I love origin stories so much. I think that the story would be easier to read if it was broken up into a few paragraphs, instead of one large one. Even though the story isn't that long, it feels a little monotonous. Some of the phrases you used were a little awkward to read, I think that simplifying them would be the best idea for this type of story.