The Pied Piper
Once upon a time, there was a town that was filled with rats. There were rats in the sewer, rats in the streets, rats in the houses, there were rats everywhere. There was not a single space in the town that was not filled with rats. One day the city council decided that they have had enough of the rodents. They got together and decided that they would reach out to the only man who could fix the rat problem, the Pied Piper.
The city council sent a letter to the Pied Piper expressing their need for his help. They had to send the letter in an armored wagon to ensure that the letter would not be eaten by the rats. In the letter, the city council offered the Pied Piper $100 to complete the task. This was a lot of money to the village, but they knew that this would not be an easy/cheap task. The head of the City Counsel, Mr. Green, was not very happy with the promised amount of money since he was a notorious cheapskate.
After many months of waiting, the townspeople heard a nose coming from the woods. Soon after they heard the noise, they saw a man wearing a brightly colored outfit playing a pipe. He came skipping into town and began to play a song on his pipe. This song was very high-pitched and off-key. The townsfolk began to plug their ears because the song was so awful. Right as the people started to become annoyed with the song, rats began to appear everywhere. They were flocking to the Pied Piper. He continued playing, and the rats began to follow him. They followed him all the way to the edge of the river, but the Pied Piper stopped playing.
The Pied Piper stretched out his hands and demanded his full payment before he got rid of the rats. Mr. Green, the greedy man, declined his demands and offered only half of his original offering. The Pied Piper chuckled, picked up his pipe and played a different song. The rats ran back into the town. The Pied Piper winked at Mr. Green and skipped back off into the forest playing his pipe.
Author’s Note: This story is based off of the English Fairy Tale: The Pied Piper. I stayed pretty close to the original plot and setting. I changed up the story by not having the Pied Piper kill the rats. Also, I changed up the part where he takes the children with him because the city council wouldn’t pay.
Bibliography: More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs and illustrations by John D. Batten (1894), The Pied Piper
Hey Levi,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this story! I think though, that it is a little short and so is your authors note. I think adding details to your story, especially the first paragraph could be really helpful for readers. Instead of setting the scene with "the town filled with rats" you could name and describe the town so that readers feel more a part of the story. I think you could also include some dialogue between characters that would allow readers to feel more related to the story. Great job overall, I cannot wait to read more from you!
Hey, Levi
ReplyDeleteI love the simplicity of your writing in this piece. With it, it was able to really be similar to the original piece you were inspired by. I noticed a lot of parallels with your writing as well as the original. I think you hit the point of the story very well, but also included nice touches with your own style and thoughts. Your author's note really also helped me understand a little more about what exactly was changed and why or how you wanted to change it. I will probably be more explicit in my author's notes in the future as I realized with yours how much it can make a difference when you go into detail with it! Great job.