Why the Moon is Black and White
“Why is the moon black and white, dad?”, asked the child to his father. “Well, son, it all started with a group of friends who loved football” explained the father.
“There were four men in Norman, Oklahoma who loved to watch the NFL. Jake, a Raider’s fan, was very clever, Aaron, a Raiders fan, was very curious, John, also a Raider’s fan, was very greedy , and Ivan, a Cowboy’s fan, was very selfless” said the dad. “The men decided that no one was to eat the coming day, Saturday, because they were to feast on Sunday, the day of the Super Bowl.” “Which teams were playing, dad?”, asked the boy. “The Super Bowl was to be between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Dallas Cowboys”, said the father. The father, leaning forward in his chair said, “On Saturday, the men decided that they needed to each go out and find food for the Super Bowl party. Jake, being very clever, decided to grab his wife’s leftover chips and queso for the party instead of paying for fresh food from the store. Aaron, being very curious, went from grocery store to grocery store looking for the cheapest prices on hot dogs, he eventually found the cheapest. John, being very greedy, decided to take food from the church. He looked through the church fridge and finally found some tacos. Ivan, who was very poor, couldn’t afford to buy any food, so he decided to sell his autographed Dallas Cowboy’s football jersey so he could buy expensive steaks for the party.”
“Sunday morning rolled around and the friends began to arrive one by one at Ivan’s house. Jake brought the leftover chips and queso, Aaron brought the cheap hotdogs, and John brought the tacos from the church. When they arrived at Ivan’s house, Ivan greeted the men and told them he had arranged a meeting to sell his jersey so he could go buy the expensive steaks. All of the sudden, a storm cloud appeared, followed by a huge boom of thunder! Down from the clouds, Jerry Jones, God of Pigskin, descended. He was determined to see if Ivan was genuine about selling his jersey. Jerry Jones spoke to Ivan and said, “I will give you forty dollars for your prized jersey.” Ivan knew his jersey was worth thousands, but he needed the money, so he agreed to the offer. This amazed the God of Pigskin. The God of Pigskin responded, “You are a loyal Cowboys fan and a selfless friend. Your other three friends, not so much. For this, I curse them to live on the moon until the Raiders win a Super Bowl”.
“Now the surface of the moon is black and white, the colors of the Las Vegas Raiders. It will stay that way for a while, son. Everyone knows they choke in the playoffs”, said the father.
Author’s Note: I rearranged the setting from the forest to a modernized Norman, Oklahoma. I also switched up the characters from monkey, hare, jackal and otter, to Jake, Aaron, John, and Ivan. I also exchanged Sakka for Jerry Jones: God of Pigskin. I rearranged the plot by making the story about a Super Bowl party instead of a holy day. Also, I exchanged the Hare offering his flesh as food for Ivan selling his prized jersey.
Bibliography: The Hare that Was not Afraid to Die, from Eastern Stories and Legends, by Marie L. Shedlock. Web source
Where Raiders fans live (Source: Wikipedia)
Wow, Levi, that was a really interesting retelling of the story!
ReplyDeleteI think it was really neat how you worked to transcribe the setting, characters and plot into more modern implementations.
I also liked the little detail of the story being actively told by a father to his son, much like a real parent would tell stories like this, it was a really nice touch!
This was super creative Levi! I don't know a whole lot about football but I still found this retelling very entertaining and funny! I really like the character of Ivan and his selflessness. I think we all wish we were that selfless at times! He had such a good heart behind his decision and he didn't even question the depth of what he was giving up for his friends! Great job!
ReplyDeleteHey Levi!
ReplyDeleteYou wrote a totally original story and I love that! Even though I'm not a huge sports fan, I did appreciate the jokes about the Raiders always choking in playoffs. I'm very curious about the original story you chose since you were able to spin it in an almost unrecognizable way. Your author's note cleared up the connection between the 2 stories and I think you did a great job writing a story that fits your tastes!