Week 13 Story: Kamsa's Nightmares

Kamsa was the cruel king of Mathura, a city in India. The people of Mathura badly wanted a new king. However, Kamsa kindly helped arrange a marriage between his sister, Devaki, and her husband, Vasudev. The day of his sister's wedding, a voice spoke down from the heavens telling Kamsa that he was to die at the hands of Devaki and Vasudev's eighth child. Kamsa was furious and terrified. Ironic, isn't it? Kamsa's death would ultimately be due to one of his very few kind acts. Kamsa immediately acted upon his fear and anger; Kamsa wanted to kill his sister and her husband. However, he was convinced to imprison them instead.

Devaki and Vasudev spent their honeymoon in a prison cell in Kamsa's palace. Kamsa didn't really feel bad. He was only doing this to protect himself. However, no one else saw it the same way. When Devaki gave birth to her first six children, Kamsa would visit the prison cell and throw the baby at the wall, brutally killing the baby. This cruel display of power disgusted the guards, Devaki, and Vasudev. However, Kamsa felt that he was only doing what he had to do.

Kamsa had nightmares about what his death would be like. Hearing his fate left Kamsa on edge at all times. He faced serious anxiety about dying some day. He would much rather have not known how he was going to die. He would regularly have nightmares about his death. One night, he had a particularly vivid nightmare. His dream was filled with flashes of bright light and a feeling of impending doom.

When Kamsa heard that Devaki had given birth to her eighth child the following morning, he visited the cell to once again kill the baby and save his fate. However, when Kamsa got to the prison cell and saw a baby girl, he was confused. How could he die at the hands of Devaki's daughter? He did not think he had a chance of being killed by her. Nevertheless, he felt the need to save his fate. He grabbed the baby girl and was about to throw her at the ground when all of a sudden a bright flash of light stunned him. In that moment, Kamsa was certain that his dreams were foretelling this moment. If his nightmares had foretold this moment, what else had they correctly foretold? Kamsa snapped back to reality to notice Durga standing before him. Durga told Kamsa exactly what he was now aware of: Devaki's eighth born child was moved to another location and he would someday kill Kamsa. Durga wanted Kamsa's fear of his fate to consume him over the next years. Kamsa was confused as to why the process had to be drug out for so long. He couldn't take the anxiety. He wanted the resolution and he wanted it quick. If it resulted in his death, at least he didn't have to live in constant fear.

He couldn't be certain of when his foretold death would occur, but he was going to fight fate. He couldn't believe how cruel the gods were to make this all happen so slowly. He decided that his only option was to deal with rakshasas to fight his destiny. He was going to send out rakshasa after rakshasa to find and kill Devaki's eighth born child.

Kamsa trying to kill Devaki's 8th child only to learn
it had been swapped with Durga.
Image from Wikimedia

Author's Note

This story was developed from the Krishna series of Epified videos on YouTube. The videos explained Krishna's life from his birth to slightly after the killing of Kamsa. In my story, I tried to focus more of the plot on Kamsa and less of the plot on Krishna. I wanted to show that Kamsa was truly going mad with the frustration of not knowing when he would die but knowing how. It seems very harsh to know how you're going to die, but not when. It would surely consume a person. And it is shown to in this story. Kamsa was going to kill his own sister on her wedding day but spared her after intervention from others. However, he still locked his sister and her family in a cell for the rest of their lives and killed all of their children. I hoped to not make people feel bad for Kamsa, but to understand that he truly went crazy and would resort to anything to preserve his life.

Bibliography

"Epified: Krishna: Part A". Epified. Youtube. Link

Week 11 Story: The Framing

The Framing

There once were three dogs who lived with a family. One dog was named Maggie. Maggie was a great dog. She was ten-years-old, a beagle-mix, and very calm. Maggie never did anything bad. Along with Maggie, there was an eight-year-old chihuahua named Fred. Fred was also a very well-mannered dog, but he was prone to some relapses in his behavior from time-to-time.

Maggie is always happy to be petted. Image from me

Maggie and Fred had a younger friend named Niko. Niko was a puppy who was six-months-old. He was a silver lab mixed with a catahoula, and had a very pretty silver coat.  Niko was a very smart dog but also liked to cause trouble and play rough. Every day, Niko liked to test the limits of his owners. He would grab things he knew he was not supposed to have just so he could get a reaction out of his owners. However, Niko also pushed the limits of the other dogs. He would often do his best to get on Fred's nerves by bumping Fred over and sitting on him.

Niko sitting on Fred's head to try to get a reaction.
Image from me.

One day, Fred and Maggie were left alone in the house when Fred started to feel particularly mischievous. He went into the mudroom and grabbed his owner's shoe and chewed the shoe up. He knew that he could get in trouble, but he had a plan. He was going to frame Niko. Why wouldn't the owners believe that Niko had chewed the shoes? After all, the owners had Fred for eight years but had only had Niko for six months. Fred took some scraps of the shoes and took them to Niko's kennel. He knew the owners would think that Niko had done the shredding. He just had to get Maggie on board. Maggie was easy to convince because she knew she could look guilty since she was also left inside. She was going to help blame Niko.

When the owners got home and saw the shredded shoe in Niko's kennel, the owners were furious. Niko should have known better than that. They were going to punish Niko by making him stay outside for the rest of the week. Niko heard the owners talking and knew he had to act fast. Niko ran up to the owners and the owners said, "Bad dog! Why would you destroy Marshall's shoe?"

Niko calmly responded, "I could not have chewed Marshall's shoe. I was outside all day chasing butterflies."

The owners rebutted, "Then who could have done it!"

"Fred was the only one inside today. He had to have chewed the shoe."

The owners began to realize their mistake and apologized to Niko and sent him on his way inside. The owners then handed down the punishment to Fred and Maggie instead. The owners learned their lesson to not hold judgment until all of the evidence and facts have been gathered. Niko was given a new chew toy and some treats as an apology for the accusation and was treated more fairly from then on.

Author's Note

I based my story off of the jataka "The Guilty Dogs". In "The Guilty Dogs", some of the king's dogs chewed up leather harnesses and reigns for the horses. The king immediately thought that it was a dog from the village, and ordered all of the village dogs to be killed. The chief village dog went to talk to the king and explained that the village dogs could not get into the palace, so there is no way they could have chewed the leather. He urged the king to purge the stomachs of the palace dogs, and, sure enough, they threw up the leather. The king punished his dogs and rewarded all of the village dogs with good meals. I thought the story had a good moral, and the story reminded me of my dogs back home. Niko, Fred, and Maggie are all dogs my family actually has, and, like the story says, Niko is naughty, Maggie is calm and good, and Fred can be naughty at times while he is typically good. The story reminded me of the past summer when I came home from work to one of my crocs being chewed up by one of my dogs. While Niko really did do it, I thought it would be fun to merge this story with the plot of "The Guilty Dogs". Niko also does love to chase butterflies.

"Twenty Jataka Tales". Retold by Noor Inayat. Found Online at this lin

Week 9 Story: Parikshit's Family History

Parikshit settled into his chair next to his young son, Janamejaya. Parikshit had a saddened look on his face, and Janamejaya knew that they were settling in for a serious conversation.

"Son," Parikshit said, "It's time that you learn about our family history."

Janamejaya was intrigued. He had never learned much about his family. He hadn't met his grandfather, aunts or uncles, or cousins. He had always wondered who his family was, and how his family was royalty in Hastinapura. 

"Yes, father," Janamejaya responded with an eagerness that he struggled to contain.

Parikshit slowly began to tell the story, though it was clear in his voice that he did not want to tell it, "So the story begins long ago with your great-great-great-grandfather, King Vichitravirya. I never even met Vichitravirya, he was gone before my time. But he was a very noble man."

Janamejaya was leaning in, visibly eager to hear more. Janamejaya wondered why Parikshit had waited so long to tell him stories about their past and wondered if maybe it was just too uneventful to tell. However, Janamejaya could not have been prepared for how wrong he was.

"After Vichitravirya passed away, his grandsons, Dhritarashtra and Pandu both became kings. Pandu, your great-grandfather, was king first. He had five sons named Yudhishthira, Arjuna, Bhima, Nakula, and Sahadeva. Together, they were known as the Pandavas. Dhritarashtra was blind but that didn't stop him from having plenty of kids - he had 100 children, including your cousin Duryodhana."

Janamejaya was confused. How could he have at least 100 cousins but he's never met them? Why hadn't he met his grandfather or any of his great-uncles?

"Well, starting early on, Duryodhana had severe jealousy issues with the Pandavas. In fact, this jealously lasted all his life. When Duryodhana was a young man, he tried to kill the Pandavas. He attempted to light their house on fire with their mother, Kunti, in the house as well. Thanks to a half brother of the Pandavas and Kauravas, the Pandavas were alerted to the plan and escaped to the forest. While the Pandavas were outside of Hastinapura, they met Draupadi, a beautiful princess. They all married Draupadi. And, eventually, Yudhishthira got a new kingdom."

Janamejaya was shocked. But now he understood why he had never heard of Duryodhana.

"However, Duryodhana was not satisfied with his evil deeds yet. He knew Yudhishthira had a gambling problem, and he exploited this issue. Yudhishthira lost everything while gambling. Dhritarashtra was not pleased with Duryodhana's trickery and forced him to return everything to the Pandavas. However, Yudhishthira made one last deal, and he lost. The Pandavas were forced into 12 years of exile and 1 year of disguise."

Janamejaya couldn't believe what he was hearing. But why hadn't he met any of the Pandavas or his Kaurava cousins?

"Following the Pandavas's exile, there was a great war between the Kauravas and Pandavas. Yudhishthira led the Pandavas, and Duryodhana led the Kauravas. During the beginning of this war, all of the Kauravas except Duryodhana and a few others had been killed. During the night time while Pandava forces were sleeping, the Kauravas went to their camp and slaughtered all but a few of the Pandava forces. The Pandavas went to find Duryodhana who, at this point, was hiding in a lake. Once they found Duryodhana, Bhima challenged him to a fight and broke Duryodhana's thigh, which killed Duryodhana slowly. At this point, your only relatives that were alive were your great grandfather, Arjuna, your great-grandfather, Uttara, your grandmother, Bhima, Yudhishthira, Nakula, Sahadeva, Draupadi, and Dhritarashtra. But this was the end of the story for almost all of them. After the war, Yudhishthira was the king, and Dhritarashtra passed away shortly after the battle. The Pandavas then left for heaven, and I was named king. And you will follow me as king. Any questions?"

Janamejaya was shocked. His family history was messy, bloody even. He couldn't force himself to ask any more questions if he had any, and he told his father he had heard plenty. He knew he could never live with as much jealousy as Duryodhana, and aspired be a noble, peaceful ruler when he became king.

Pandavas meet their grandfather, Vyasa. Image from Wikimedia

Author's Note

I adapted my story from C.A. Kinkaid's telling of the Mahabharata. I was left wondering what Parikshit must have felt like, and how he would tell the story. So, I did some research on Parikshit and learned that he had one son, Janamejaya, and made the story as Parikshit telling his son the family history. I retained many of the major plot points of the Mahabharata, but was able to tell the story from a new point-of-view and show how I think a descendant of the characters of the Mahabharata would take in the story.

Bibliography

"Parikshit". Wikipedia. Found Online at this link

"The Mahabharata". C.A. Kinkaid. Found online here

Week 7 Story: Duryodhana's Battle

Here I sit, in heaven, reflecting on the battle where I eventually lost my life. The whole time, I knew what destiny had in store for me, but I did not want to accept it. I knew the twelve years of exile were soon to be up for the Pandavas. I dreaded their inevitable return to me. I knew that the Pandavas would want the kingdom, and I was not willing to give it up. When the Pandavas finally showed up, asking for the kingdom, it was time to go to war. Krishna tried to peacefully settle the situation, but we all knew that this wouldn't work out. I was not ready to make peace with the Pandavas, and they weren't ready to make peace with me. Once Krishna returned to his kingdom, I knew my best chances at winning the war were to get him on my side. Krishna was always so powerful. I showed up at his kingdom, and Krishna was asleep. Then, to my disbelief, Arjuna came strolling in too. It was only fair that I got Krishna's help since I was first. However, Krishna defaulted to Arjuna for advice first. However, Arjuna turned down Krishna's army and instead took Krishna. This was the first time I felt confident in our chances. I thought Arjuna was foolish for neglecting to choose the army. Oh, how I wish I would have known better...

In a last-ditch effort, Krishna came to my palace and assumed the All-Form of Indra to threaten us to make peace with the Pandavas. I thought that he knew that the Pandavas would lose the fight, and was trying to get us to accept peace. I was wrong.

The battle broke out soon after. At first, our forces seemed level with the Pandava forces. I thought we would pull ahead. We had the numbers, and fierce warriors in Bhishma, Karna, Drona, and others. However, we soon fell behind, thanks to Bhishma. Bhishma was not aggressive enough. He failed to exploit the weaknesses of the Pandavas. I'm sure we would have made more progress if he had been a better warrior. I tried to pressure Bhishma into letting Karna take over, but Bhishma denied. Eventually, Bhishma decided he would make a push. I was happy to hear this, but knew a quickly planned battle would not go well for our forces against Arjuna. However, I didn't mind to see Bhishma relinquished from duty. Sure enough, Bhishma perished at the hands of Arjuna - as I expected. Bhishma was not a strong enough warrior or leader to win a fight with Arjuna. Then, I put Drona in charge. In retrospect, I wish I had put Karna in charge. Drona followed in similar footsteps as Bhishma, and faced the same fate. Around the time Drona fell in battle, we also lost many other formidable soldiers. At this point, I knew my forces were doomed to lose. We had hardly anyone left, and the Pandavas still had great forces. Arjuna slew Karna in a cowardly way, but what else could I expect from a Pandava? However, I couldn't live to see my kingdom in the hands of the Pandavas...

I went to hide in a lake - I thought that the Pandavas would assume I fled and would not hunt me down. However, Bhima found me. Bhima had it out for me. Sure enough, we did battle. I thought I would surely crush Bhima. However, he cheap-shotted me in the knee with his mace. What a cowardly way to end a battle. This was my fate. I'd rather be dead than see the Pandavas in power.

In the end, I do not regret doing battle with the Pandavas. I only regret not electing more powerful generals. Bhishma and Drona cost me the war. I should have taken Krishna on my side, he was more powerful than his entire army - even when not fighting. I should have won. The kingdom should still be mine.

Me and Bhima fighting to the death.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia

Author's Note:

Instead of rewriting one small story from the Mahabharata, I decided to rewrite the battle from Duryodhana's perspective. Throughout the story, I wondered what the story would be told like if told from Duryodhana's point-of-view. Would the Pandava's be cast as the bad guys? I wrote the story of the war from Duryodhana's perspective, and I felt that he was quick to cast blame to others and was excessively confident. He was quick to throw both Bhishma and Drona under the bus when things went south, and I think that he would blame the loss on the two of them. I felt that Duryodhana and his forces generally did not recognize their wrongdoings throughout the Mahabharata. For example, Karna did not hesitate to ask for safety while he fixed his chariot but fired upon Arjuna while he restrung his bow during their fight. I hope to have captured a sense of arrogance while accurately retelling events from the war from Duryodhana's perspective.

Bibliography:

"Indian Myth and Legend" by Donald A. Mackenzie [Online]

"Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists" by Sister Nivedita
"The Story of the Great War". By Annie Besant 

 

Week 6 Story: WWE, Indian Mythology Edition

Tonight, here on SportsCenter, we are going to show you the Top 10 plays in India this year. It was a year with many great athletic feats, but one athlete claims the top two spots. Many compare his bold feats to Rama, but I think he's even more impressive because he doesn't even need weapons. Here are SportsCenter's top two plays of the year. Both feature Bhima, a superhuman superstar in the WWE. Let's roll some footage.

Footage 1 - #2 Play of the Year - Bhima vs Baka

"Baka, an asura hailing from Ekachakra, has been harassing the townspeople. He's been eating one townsperson every week, and Bhima, the hero who trained under the legendary fighter, Drona, is going to attempt to put a stop to it tonight. They're entering the stage now!", Vyasa stated.

"Bhima appears to be taunting Baka; he has been eating rice while calling Baka's name. Surely this will upset Baka," Vyasa noted. "And it does! Baka is charging Bhima with a tree branch! What will Bhima do?!?"

The crowd fell silent as Baka charged, but cheered uproariously as Bhima caught the club with a single hand and grabbed Baka with his other hand. No one expected Bhima to be able to counter Baka so effortlessly. Then, Bhima threw Baka to the ground. The crowd roared, "Finish him!"

Bhima, using his signature move, the Bow-and-Arrow, placed a knee on Baka's back, one hand on Baka's neck, and the other at the waist of Baka and shattered Baka's back. Bhima hadn't even broken a sweat!

Following the fight, Bhima gave an announcement on the TV, "Townspeople of Ekachakra, Baka will no longer bother you."

Footage 2 - #1 Play of the Year - Bhima vs Hidimba

Vyasa announced, "In one corner, we have Bhima, who has not yet fought a rakshasa, and in the other corner we have the formidable rakshasa, Hidimba."

In one side, Bhima, his brothers, and his mother enter the room with minimal applause; no one knows exactly who Bhima is yet. On the other side of the room enters Hidimba and his sister, Hidimbi. Hidimba had plans to cheat. Hidimba forced Hidimbi to take the form of a very beautiful girl, and he was planning to distract Bhima so the fight would be quick and easy. Bhima noticed the beautiful girl, but knew not to fall for the trick. Hidimba and Bhima have now entered the ring. Hidimba notices that Bhima is not distracted, but now also notices that Hidimbi has fallen for Bhima.

"Can you believe what we're seeing?! Bhima has gotten Hidimba's sister to fall in love with him! Surely Hidimba will take offense!", Vyasa exclaimed.

And, as Announcer 1 had suspected, Hidimba had taken serious offense. He charged Hidimbi, but Bhima stepped in the way. The crowd fell silent, eager to here what the hero and rakshasa were going to say.

Bhima boomed, "You coward, you're here to fight me!"

Bhima and Hidimba fight while the Pandavas cheer Bhima on.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia

Hidimba turned his anger towards Bhima. Hidimba rushed Bhima, but Bhima caught him by the arms before Hidimba could land a blow. Bhima threw Hidimba to the ground, and then drug him offstage. The crowd was going wild. They had never known of Bhima, and he is manhandling Hidimba! After minutes of wrestling, it became obvious to the Pandavas that Hidimba was trying to make the fight last a long time so he could finish off Bhima once Bhima wore out. Arjuna, aware of the plot shouted, "Finish him, Bhima!"

Bhima climbed to the top rope, and the crowd fell silent. He was towering over Hidimba, who still lies on the ground. Bhima flew off the top rope, bodyslamming Hidimba. The crowd went wild, cheering Bhima's name. Bhima then showcased his signature move in front of the eager crowd - the Bow-and-Arrow. Bhima picked the rakshasa up by the neck and waist and then threw the rakshasa over his knee, breaking Hidimba's back. The fight was now clearly over. However, not only did Bhima defeat Hidimba, he then added insult to injury by marrying Hidimba's sister after she witnessed the stunning victory of Bhima over Hidimba.

Author's Note

While reading the Mahabharata, I noticed that described fights had a lot of drama and followed a common theme with Bhima ending the fights the same way. It was around midnight at the time of me reading the Mahabharata and my tired brain for some reason made me think of the Mahabharata fight scenes as a WWE-esque story. I adapted two fight scenes from the Mahabharata (Bhima vs Hidimba and Bhima vs Baka) into a WWE atmosphere while mirroring the plot points from the stories into my story. I put Vyasa as the announcer as he was the one who authored the Mahabharata so I thought it was fitting.

Week 3 Story: The Wild, Wild...East?

On July 18, 1849 a man by the name of William McCoy was elected the first mayor of Independence, Missouri. At the time, Independence was beginning to boom - it was the gateway to the West and had a rapidly growing population that had finally surpassed 1,000 citizens and economy. As a man looking to set up a family in the West, William prayed for a son to carry on the family. William's prayer was answered - William eventually had a total of four sons, though each was with a different wife. With his wife Katherine, he had a son named Remi. 

Remi was quite the extraordinary young man. He learned exceptionally well from any book he could find, and he was as good of a shot with a rifle as anyone in Independence had ever seen. Remi would regularly venture out into the wilderness to bring home a deer or squirrels for his family to eat. As soon as he entered manhood, Remi was given the office of Independence Sherriff. 

One day, a man named Victor that owned a trading post in the town of Council Bluffs, Iowa, went to Remi's sherriff quarters to report that his trading post has been vandalized frequently by outlaws. Remi volunteered to help stop the outlaws and went with Victor to Council Bluffs. However, Remi wanted to bring along his brother, Larry. Victor was eternally grateful for the young men to help, and he paid them with guns that seemed straight out of the heavens; the guns were powerful and shot straighter than Remi or Larry had imagined guns could shoot. Sure enough, Remi and Larry made short work of the outlaws, capturing or winning gunfights against each outlaw. After dealing with the outlaws, curiosity caught up with Remi and Larry and they wanted to experience more of Council Bluffs.

The young men decided to talk a walk through Council Bluffs to see what they could find. While touring the young city, the men happened upon the mayor's house. The house was the biggest that either brother had ever seen, and was decorated perfectly. The yard was filled with flowers of all types - from the soft pink wild rose to the vibrant yellow goldenrod. While walking around the mayor's yard taking in the beautiful botany, the mayor's daughters happened to walk outside. Remi caught a glimpse of the mayor's daughter named Sally and instantly fell in love. Sally was beautiful, and she took a quick liking to Remi as well. Remi approached Sally and confessed his feelings, and Sally let him know that the feeling was mutual. After a month of meeting up daily, Remi asked for Sally's hand in marriage. Sally was happy, but the mayor was not yet convinced that Remi was the right man. To convince the mayor, Remi would have to capture a bison. However, the mayor greatly underestimated Remi's strength, courage, and intelligence and when Remi returned with a buffalo, the mayor happily let Remi have Sally's hand in marriage.

Remi and Larry with the celestial weapons given to them by
Vishvamitra. Image from Pinterest

Author's Note:

This story was derived from the Part A readings from the Public Domain Edition Ramayana. These readings start by telling the story of how Rama ventured into the jungles with his brother, Lakshmana, to help Vishvamitra rid of the rakshasas terrorizing his hermitage. Vishvamitra gifted the young men with celestial weapons, and Rama and Lakshmana slew all of the rakshasas. While helping Vishvamitra with the rakshasas, the young men ventured into the town and went to the king's palace to pick flowers. The king was named Janaka, and he was the father of Sita. While there, Rama met Sita and they instantly fell in love. The king told Rama that he could only have Sita's hand in marriage if he could string Shiva's bow. Sure enough, Rama attempts to string the bow and does so well that he actually breaks Shiva's bow. The king is then convinced to let Rama have Sita's hand in marriage.

Bibliography: 

Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

Week 2 Story: The Tsunami that Never Was

The Tsunami that Never Was

Jack was a young fisherman who lived on a remote island nation with a population of around 100,000 people that was located within the Pacific Ocean. As you may know, many islands in the Pacific Ocean lie within the Ring of Fire, a notoriously seismically active zone of the world. In fact, the island nation itself was born from origins much like Hawaii - from fiery magma rising through the crust of Earth and slowly building a taller and taller mountain.

The residents of the island were all used to the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, but all of the locals feared that one day an explosive eruption or massive earthquake would be the demise of the island nation. In fact, there was so much fear that the locals were apt to have nightmares of their island being destroyed.

One day, Jack was alone and fishing off the shore on a remote part of the island when he heard a rumble. Immediately, Jack thought that this rumble must be an earthquake, but he was not too concerned as the rumble did not last long. However, Jack noticed the rumbling emanating from the rocky slopes leading into the ocean again and immediately feared that there may be a larger earthquake than he had experienced before. Jack then noticed a large, 40-feet tall wave approaching the shoreline. Jack was sure that an earthquake had struck and caused an incoming tsunamic. Jack left his fishing gear and tore off back towards the town to notify the island news station.

This image from Pixabay depicts a wave much like the one Jack saw.

Jack entered the news station out of breath and with panic clearly in his eyes. Jack quickly told the station that a tsunami was approaching the island, and everyone needed to evacuate before it arrived. The news station thought Jack surely would not lie about this impending disaster, and they wasted no time and quickly sent out news alerts that a tsunami was on its way to drown the island. As the citizens got the alerts, panic ran high. Residents vigorously pounded on their neighbor's doors trying to alert the others of the impending disaster. The panic quickly spread through most of the nation, and many residents began to abandon their homes and belongings.

Jeff, a geologist on the island, was at his laboratory when the news finally made it to him. He was confused as to why there was panic; his seismographs never detected an earthquake in the past day. To quell the panic, Jeff called the news station and informed them that there had not been any earthquakes, and asked where the story arose from. The news station told Jeff of Jack's story, and that they ran the story because Jack told them there was a 10-feet tall wave at his fishing spot. The news reported that the tsunami was a false alarm, but residents were still panicking.

Jeff had to find out what had happened so that he could ease the fears of the public. Jeff communicated more with the news station, and the news station was able to get hold of Jack. Jack agreed to take Jeff to his fishing spot to show Jeff where the incident occurred.

When Jeff arrived at the fishing spot, he noticed that 1,000 yards down the bank from where Jack was fishing, there was a slope of rocks that had not yet been oxidized by the air - a clear sign that the rock face was fresh. Upon further inspection, Jeff noticed that there were rocks with no algal growth or other organisms; these rocks were very fresh. Jeff had pieced together the story.

Jeff arrived back at the news station and told them that Jack was near the site of a rockslide that displaced enough water to cause a large wave, but that there was no serious danger. The news reported this to the public. Jeff discussed with the news station that they should not report unless they have credible evidence, and the news station learned a valuable lesson.

Authors Note:

This story was based on the Indian mythology story "The Foolish, Timid Rabbit" about a rabbit who thought the world was ending. The rabbit caused hysteria amongst the animals as animal after animal believed that the world was ending, until a brave lion went and confronted the source. When I first read this story, I immediately thought of the current state of news in the United States. False information has spread virally through social media and has even made it from social media into mainstream media. However, I wanted to be more subtle, so I adapted the story to make it easier to read and more entertaining.

Bibliography:

"The Foolish, Timid Rabbit" from Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt. Online Source