Storytelling Week 13: What Goes Bump in the Night.

It all began on a calm foggy night. All I could see of the moon was a large fuzzy silhouette that gave of just enough light in order to see no more than five feet in front of the car. As I travelled down the dirt road riddled with trees close to each side.

“How much further is it?” asked my brother Alex.

“Shouldn’t be long now.” responded Jacob.

Strangely, we continued the ride in silence for the next couple of miles. When the three of us get together it is normally a non stop rag fest. Being friends since the sixth grade, the filter on our speech has ceased to exist. The longer the silence lasted, the more my thoughts created an anxious tension in my driving.

“You ok?” asked my brother, obviously sensing the tension.

“Ya, I’m ok, just a little nervous about how dense this fog is.” I said slowly, trying to keep my attention on the road.

“I haven’t seen anything this dense since I talked to my little sister this morning!” said Jacob jokingly.

I smiled to myself knowing that joke could have been a lot worse that what it was. When the line is drawn, Jacob likes to find it and then take leaps beyond it.

After passing a four way stop sign and getting back up to speed, my brother turned his head around quickly as if he had seen something. I quickly looked at the rear view mirror on that passenger side that Alex was sitting on to see if I could see anything as well. All I could see was a short black mass as we sped away from it.

“Did you see something?” Jacob asked warily.

“Not sure.” responded Alex. “Could have just been my imagination, but I thought I saw something move across the road really quickly.  

I drove on, thinking only of the few dozen miles left in the trip. Ten minutes passed as we continued in the eerie fog. Suddenly we heard a piercing screech off in the distance.

Alarmed, I asked if either Alex or Jacob could see anything thing through the wall of condensation that surrounded us on all sides. As soon as I asked this, I heard a loud thump come from the top of the car causing me to serve back and forth along the road.

Looking up through the windshield, I could see a pair of talon riddled feet and a large wing that looked as if it belonged to a bat, a disproportionately big on at that. The car continued to swerve due to me overcompensating in trying to get us straight again. Eventually we came to a screeching halt thanks to the back end of my car and a large tree.

(Jeepers Creepers: Thoughless Deviant Art)

The last thing that I remember hearing before I passed out was another large thump on the top of the car.

Author’s Note: While reading the Dante’s Inferno unit, it reminded me of a time that me, my twin brother Alex, and my now roommate Jacob were going to a friends house in the boondocks near Moore. The fog was so bad that we literally couldn’t see 5 feet in front of the car. I decided to include a creature in the story that probably would have come from Dante’s Inferno. The description of Geryon in the story Descending on Geryon’s Back and the description of Satan in the story Satan allowed me to come up with the creature in this story.

Bibliography:

Book Title: Dante’s Divine Comedy

Book Author: Tony Kline

Year: 2002

Story Title: Descending on Geryon’s Back

Source: Descending on Geryon’s Back

Book Title: Dante’s Divine Comedy

Book Author: Tony Kline

Year: 2002

Story Title: Satan

Source: Satan

Week 13 Reading Dairy: Dante's Inferno

I chose to read Dante's Inferno this week. I have heard much about this book but have never seized an opportunity to read it.

Dante and Virgil: Learned about who Dante and Virgil where. Interested to see how Dante's trip goes.

The Gate of Hell and Charon: The idea of a ferryman for the dead reminds me of the 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

Limbo: It is unfortunate for the people who lived before the creation of the proper way to pray to God. They were given no chance to prove themselves and end up in a hopeless situation.

Poets and Philosophers, Heroes and Heroines: I like how Dante reacted to seeing all of the great people before his time. In todays society it would be like a young girl seeing Taylor Swift. In some ways that saddens me though.

Paolo and Francesca: I was confused about how Dante knew who the couple was. I am assuming it must have been a well known story throughout the land.

Cerberus and Plutos: I couldn't help but to think of the Cerberus character from the Disney Hercules movie when I read this story.

Fortune and Phlegyas: I did like Virgil's explanation of Mother Fortune. She is unpredictable and you will eventually lose. The picture that went along with the description was also a nice touch, showing that you can't always hang on to that wheel.

The Fallen Angels: I was confused as to why the fallen angels would not let them in.

The Furies and the Heretics: I didn't realize that Furies are deities specific to vengance. Now the notes at the beginning of this story makes more sense.

The Minotaur and the Centaurs: I had originally thought that Centaurs were half man half horse. It was good to see that someone was "willing" to help them.

The Harpies and Capaneus: I found it a little gruesome that the sinners in this story were stuck in what I understand to be boiling blood.

The Old Man of Crete and Geryon: I liked the idea that there was a statue somewhere in the world that fed water to the circles of hell. That stream also helps shape the geography of the circles of hell as well.

Descending of Geryon's Back: This was a really cool concept. I am sure that was a thrilling ride.

Jason and the Demons: To be honest when I first read the title of the story I thought about the Jason that comes from Camp Crystal Lake. I was surprised that it was so easy to get the demons to help them.

Caiaphas: Based on the notes, I assumed that the metal coats that the tribe was wearing was equivalent the lead that was coated on the victims of Emperor Frederick II. That would not be a pleasant way to die.

Ulysses and Diomede: I feel sad for the Ulysses' family that he took another trip around the world.

The Giants: I am not sure if the giant Nimrod mention in this story is the same Nimrod from the Noah unit at the beginning of the semester. He wasn't a giant, but I wonder if there is any correlation. Virgil also makes a comment about how one language still does not rule the world. That seems to reflect The Tower of Babel story where God mixes up the language of the people so they cannot complete the tower.

Ugolino: This story saddened me deeply. I would not wish that upon anyone.

Satan: I thought the way that Satan was described was quite interesting. I also thought that the inclusion of Brutus in one of Satan's mouth was fitting to his sins.