Tiny Stories

Patrick Pato was not a gato, Robert Cat could not quack,
not content with what they had, they died confused and sad.

Harriet Hare couldn't run, Timothy Turtle couldn't swim,
both disowned by their own kin, 
they became all the other had.
When 'til death' was said,  both gladdened to be wed.

Zedekiah Zorro died of boredom, 
Sally Salamander dug his grave.
It was only when she was done that she saw,
the dirty rascal move his paw.

 Vladamir Bat ate Robert Cat.
Federico Ferret saw through Vladamirs bull guano.
He was a skilled garlic cook.
Robert cat was saved, but Patrick Pato took his place.

Abby Armadillo would not laugh 
while Francise Frog sang for the class.
Zedekiah Zorro did not care, 
he laughed harder than Abby dare

Initially I wanted my tiny stories to carry some rhyme. I felt that the rhythm would serve as an interconnection between all five proses. I began thinking of funny names for my characters, starting with Patrick Pato, little by little I had filled five note cards with my goofy names. Once the names were written I went back and filled each note card with a story. After each note card had a story I mused over them and edited them until they where each within the thirty word limit.

 I was happy with the way the names and the rhythm came together to make a connection between all five stories. When I was done I felt the stories were goofy and fun, and still managed to teach a small lesson.

-Patrick Pato and Robert cat teach us that being something we aren’t only brings sadness.

-Harriet Hare and Timothy Turtle teach us that just because we are different doesn’t mean we can’t find love.

These are just a couple of examples from my ‘tiny stories’. The hardest part of this assignment for me was the thirty-word limit. For a couple of my stories they were in the forties and they were really complete and fun stories, but I had to cut them back to fit the assignment. In the future I would probably have spent more time fine-tuning my stories and word counting them before drawing the illustrations and tying myself down to that image.

I enjoyed drawing the stories because I realized that the story grew more when I was drawing the image then when I had actually written them. They ended up having more meaning and depth. There where things that could be told visually that made up for the lack of words. I was particularly happy with the result of Harriet the Harry and Timothy Turtles story. I just started drawing it and thought ‘how could I represent visually that Harriet cant run’. I drew the wheel chair first. I then asked ‘how can I visually represent that Timothy can’t swim’, and a turtle with floaters came to mind.

This assignment really showed me in depth the power of imagery combined with a short narrative. It reminded me of times in the past when I have had a story come to mind just by driving a scenic road and thinking, ‘this would be a great place to shoot a movie’ or seeing an old building and thinking ‘I wonder who built that’. In reality the world around is full of imagery and narratives, if we just watch slowly and keep our minds eye open.