As a way of saying thanks to the nice inhabitants of this little town who were gracious enough to take them in, the witches placed a special enchantment on the town that allows one very special night per year. Every year on October 20th in Druryville, the dead arise from their graves to go join their loved ones at the showing of the moon's first light. Grandparents, old friends, former rivals, all gathered together in harmony for a single night of joy and reunion.
Everyone went about their daily business during the daylight hours; children were at school, adults at work, nothing seemed out of the ordinary to any onlooker. But as the late afternoon came, everyone walked to the small creek that flowed near the edge of town. This little creek is where the dead arose from every October 20th, acting as a portal to connect them to the living. As evening drew closer, adults began setting up tables on which they placed foods fit for the finest of feasts. Large roasted pigs and turkeys and freshly caught fish and lobster adorned every table, along with fruits and desserts and lots of champagne.
All the while children played and set off fireworks anxiously waiting for night to come. This night was very cloudy so the moon's light did not show for a long while but finally after many hours of patiently waiting, the clouds broke and the moon's bright light touched ground on the little town of Druryville. Suddenly, old souls began to rise out of the water and rushed towards their loved ones. Even Parashurama, one of the most ancient souls that used to live on the outskirts of town in its early days showed up. It was a joyous occasion and everyone feasted and reminisced about old times. Those who had passed shared with their loved ones the wonders of Heaven and talked at length about the peace they had attained since passing. Many gathered around Parashurama to listen to the wise advice he had to offer on how to lead a proper life, and all were delighted to hear what he had to say.
Widows rejoined their fallen husbands and longed to be able to go back to Heaven with them. "It is not your time yet, my love" they would always say in response to their loving wives. And so the night went on and families were reunited once again, but like all good things, this night had to come to an end. And with that, another magical October 20th had passed in Druryville and the deceased once again returned to the creek to be transported back to Heaven.
Author's Note: I loosely based this story off of the part of the Mahabharata where the dead rise from the Ganges and go to meet with their loved ones in the forest. This sounded like a really awesome idea to me, just thinking about the possibility of being able to be reunited with deceased loved ones for one night and getting to converse for a while and to be reassured that they are okay and at peace. I was really inspired by that thought and since the version of the Mahabharata that I read this week didn't really go in to any detail at all about this part of the story, I decided I would extrapolate on it. I also thought this would be a really fun story to do right now since it's October and we are close to Halloween and the Day of the Dead. This story didn't really fit the typical profile of my other portfolio stories, which also include the theme of involving Parashurama, so to make it fit, I added in Parashurama as one of the dead that came back to visit. In this story he is described as one of the earliest inhabitants of Druryville and considered as a wise hermit. Also, the image I chose is kind of unusual and doesn't fit perfectly with my modern version of the story but I loved the way it looked and it includes the transcendence between Heaven and Earth over the Ganges, so in a way it was a great picture to use for the story. This image is actually the descent of the Ganges from Heaven down to Earth and the man in the middle is Shiva, who is there to soften her landing with his head.
Bibliography: The Indian Heroes, by C.A. Kincaid (1921)
This was an interesting story. I like how you gave it a modern spin to it. The ability to meet your loved ones that had already died seems like an interesting concept. I also like how the widows did not remarry and stayed faithful to their dead husbands. It and other meetings of loved ones were full of emotions. Good job Tucker on writing the story.
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ReplyDeleteThis story gave me the chills, but I really enjoyed reading it! I'm a huge fan of reading horror stories, and this short story reminded me of one that I recently read. The concept of the dead reuniting with the living seems like a scary thought, but actually I think it would be nice. I'd like to know how my grandfathers are doing and my childhood friend. I like the emotional touch when the husbands reunited with their widowed wives. I imagine that event to be very sad. Nice job on the story!
ReplyDeleteTucker, I really enjoyed reading your story. It was definitely an interesting story and i liked how you related it to modern times. I haven't read a story yet that had to do with the dead and i thought you put an interesting twist.
ReplyDeleteHey Tucker! Alright so I think that first of all, I love this story! I think the background information with the witches and the witch hunts and a town of salvation is a great way to get in the holiday spirit! I love what you’ve done with the story to not only bring it into a more modern setting but also really make it feel like this rising of the dead is a normal thing for this town. Almost like they’re all just gathering around to watch the fireworks on the fourth of July instead of waiting for their lost loved ones to rise from the creek.
ReplyDeleteThe entire time I read this I was totally expecting something horrible to go wrong, someone to offend the witches, anything. However it was a really nice story, I think it converys the original story quite nicely and I like that you’ve taken a part of a story that has barely any information about it and made it into something new!
Hi Tucker. Great story. I didn't realize it when I chose the story, but this was very fitting considering Halloween is just around the corner. I really like this story because, like you said, there was not much detail put into it in the actual story. I think you did a really good job on creating a unique version of the story. I like how set in in an old country town, this adds the atmosphere of a spooky, supernatural type story. They way you wrote the story even makes it seem sentimental more than spooky. With the kids playing nearby and all, it was like a celebration for the town. Great job.
ReplyDeleteHi I really liked your story! I honestly didn't expect it to go in this direction. I thought it would take more of a horror story route, so this was a pleasant surprise. I really thought your story was sweet, that truly would be a special day if your dead loved ones could come back for a day. I also liked that this was a story that was barely mentioned and you expanded on it and made it a great story. I didn't see any grammar problems. I also thought you had a great flow. Your font size was easy to read and the background of the story was fine. I also liked the picture in your story. I wanted more of your story though. That is a complement. I wanted to no more about this story. Overall, this was a great story and I look forward to reading more of your portfolio. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI chose your blog randomly and then I realized I had read The Loving Goose a week or two ago and really enjoyed it. I chose to read The Awakening of the Dead as my story to read because the title piqued my interest. Your style of writing is great and I did not see any grammar errors when I read through it. I really enjoy the way that we all choose stories to retell and give them our own twist. Otherwise, I would have completely forgotten about this story in the original epic and it was definitely way more interesting when you retold it. That is why I like this style of the class. Great job on retelling this and giving it your own twist. You have done a great job on your portfolio and your writing. Keep up the great work and I look forward to see what else you write for the end of this semester.
ReplyDeleteHey Tucker! I really enjoyed your story this week. I love your style of writing, I have read a few of your other stories. I liked the twist you put on this story and the other stories that you have done. I didn't notice any grammar problems. I really liked the picture you added with this story, it added a lot. Overall, great job!
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