Week 9 Storytelling: Honesty is the Best Policy

Kylie and Kendall

(Source: Pixabay)

There once were two best friends. They grew up together and knew each other really well. Their names were Kylie and Kendall. They met when they were both Freshmen in high school. There friendship lasted even though both of them pursed different career paths. Kylie worked as a waitress at Pizza Hut, while, Kendall went on to be a model. Kylie was outgoing and fun. She was the one who was adventurous and willing to take a risk regardless of the cost. However, Kylie was barely making ends meet to live her adventurous life. Kendall on the other hand was very thoughtful and intentional in everything that she did. She spent her money wisely and stuck to a strict budget. One day Kendall was going out of town and needed someone to watch over her condo while she was gone. Kylie offered to help and Kendall was very grateful. 

Kylie was going to stay over at Kendall's apartment to watch the condo, water her plants, and watch her dog. Kylie had only been to Kendall's condo a few times but had never really gotten a chance to see all of it. Kylie was very excited to get a chance to live a lavish life for a few days. However, the lavishness of Kendall's life really got to Kylie and things took a turn for the worse. 

Kylie was awed by all the amazing things that Kendall owned. For instance Kendall owned at least seventy pairs of designer shoes. Her huge walk-in closet was filled with Coach, Prada, and Michael Kors. She had handbags, scarves, hats, dresses, coats, and much more. When Kylie saw her jewelry box she could not believe her eyes. There were so many diamond rings, necklaces, and bracelets Kendall owned. During this state of shock Kylie got a mischievous idea.

She thought,"Why not take some of this for myself? I mean Kendall would not mind. I bet she would hardly notice if anything is gone. She has so much it is not like she’s losing a whole lot. Plus I deserve this! I work so hard and I deserve a break in my life." 

Kylie was dead set on taking some things for herself. Every now and then she would change her mind and tell herself this is was not right, but the more she admired Kendall's things the more she wanted them. Finally, Kylie got a bag and started collecting a few pairs of shoes, some dresses, a scarf or two, a few clutches and handbags, and several diamond earrings and rings. 

A few days later Kendall came back and was delighted to see her friend as well as her condo in one piece. She was so happy that her friend could watch her place that to repay Kylie she told her that she would take her shopping in the next few days. Kylie could barely look at Kendall because of how guilty she felt, but she still went through with it and took some of Kendall's nice things to her home in a large trash bag. Something that Kylie was not aware of was that Kendall had hidden cameras all over her condo. That night Kendall watched the tape and was in complete shock at what her friend was doing. Kendall decided instead of confronting Kylie, she would play a trick on her. 

The next day she took Kylie shopping. Once again, Kylie took advantage of the situation and shopped till she could not shop anymore. Kylie thought she was living the good life. However, when she got home that night she looked at all the nice things Kendall had bought for her and felt extremely guilty. She decided she was going to put all of the things that she stole from Kendall back the next day when Kendall would be at work. Although, that night Kendall had her own plan.

Kendall broke into Kylie's house and took all her things back. Then as the morning came Kylie was terrified because she thought some stranger had come in and stolen the stuff she was supposed to give back to Kendall. Kylie did not know what to do at this point. She immediately went over to Kendall’s place in tears and told Kendall everything. She begged for her forgiveness and said that she was so sorry and would repay Kendall for everything she stole.

Kendall then confessed that she had found out that Kylie had stolen her things. Kylie was shocked and felt ashamed. She told Kylie that she could keep everything that she had bought for her, but never again would she trust her with anything else. From that day forward their friendship was not the same, and Kylie learned that honesty is the best policy.

Bibliography: 

The Giant Crab and Other Tales From Old India by W. H. D. Rouse Reading Part A &B

Author’s note:

In the original story there was man who went on a journey and asked his friend to take his plough till he should return. The man’s friend immediately sold the plough and used the money for his own selfish reasons. When the man came back and asked where his plough went, his friend made up a fake story about how a rat ate it. The man was cleverer and knew his friend stole his plough, so he thought he would play the same trick on him. He took his friend's son out for walk and hid him in his other friend's house. Then he went back and told his friend that the boy got taken by a hawk. In the end the dishonest friend learned his lesson and gave the man his plough back and the man returned the boy. In my story I set the scene for a more realistic story. I had one friend go off on a trip and left the other friend in charge of looking over her condo. The dishonest friend in this story stole her things. The friend returned and saw video footage of her friend stealing her things and therefore decided to play a trick on her friend. In the end the friend learned her lesson and would never steal again.

Reading Notes: The Giant Crab and Other Tales From Old India Part B

From Part B I chose to read "A Bold Begger," This story was interesting because the King was not upset at the end and let the man go free. For my story idea I was thinking of having a beggar play a similar trick on someone but in the end the people would realize how selfish they are being with their money. I liked the wittiness of the beggar, and want to add something of the same sort to my story.

The other tale that I read was called "The King's Lesson." This was a good tale because it gave me some ideas for mine. For example, in this perfect little place they lived in the King did not get conceited after hearing everyone praise him. However, in my story I was thinking of doing something different. I would have two kings who are so-called perfect. However, when they disguise themselves and run into each other, that is when the real selves come out. Each king would be nasty and brutal to one another and would not allow the other to pass. When others would find the kings being so brutal to one another they would see that they were wrong about their king. This is when the kings would learn their lesson and see that it is important to be civil in all cases not just ones where they want to be seen.

The King's Lesson

(Source: Gutenberg)

Bibliography: The Giant Crab and Other Tales From Old India by W. H. D. Rouse Reading Part B. 

Reading Notes:The Giant Crabs and Other Tales From Old India Part A

I chose to focus on children literature because it is a lot of fun to read. I especially enjoyed reading these interesting tales. However, I am not sure if all of these tales really are for children. One of the stories I read was called the "The Hypocritical Cat." This story was interesting because this so called righteous cat deceived the rats into worshiping him, and then he slowly started to eat them. In the end the chief rat caught on and therefore with the help of his fellow rats they ate the cat. An idea I got from this story was writing a story about karma. The fact that deceiving people can never get you anywhere good. I could write about a king who deceived his people but then they ended up rebelling.

Another tale that I read was called "The Wise Parrot and the Foolish Parrot." This story gave me an idea to do a story over two siblings. One would be wise and one would be foolish. The mother would favorite the foolish one until one day when the wise one gets the foolish one out of trouble. The tables would turn and the mother would realize that she had it all wrong. I thought of this because the wise parrot did not talk much until time came for him to speak up.

Th Wise Parrot and the Foolish Parrot

(Source: Gutenberg)

The last tale I focused on was called "The Dishonest Friend." I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. The moral of the story is honesty is the best policy. For this I was thinking of making it very modern. I would one friend who is going away for the weekend and needs someone to watch her dog. The friend who is watching the dog would be careless and would let the dog run off. Then that same friend would need someone to hold on to his mother's diamond ring while he goes on a trip. Then the friend with the lost dog would play a trick and say he lost the diamond ring. In the end the mischievous friend would realize that honesty is the best police.

Bibliography: The Giant Cram and Other Tales from Old India by W.H.D. Rouse Reading Part A