Storytelling Week 14: The Unlikely Hero

The Comic Book

The Comic Book
"Grandma, Look what I got!" As Billy said running towards his grandmother. She was now residing in a nursing home in the sunny state of Florida. She used to be more lively but age as brought more turmoil on her body. Things in her life used to be vastly different and it made her sad that her time on Earth was nearly over. She sat mainly in a wheelchair cause her body was too frail now to move much. She spent many years being active as she can be and now she knew that time has caught up with her. Billy brought to her a comic book. He was so excited because it was one of the first editions. It was called Hawkman and Hawkgirl. In this time period super heroes did exist. Superman was not just a fictious man but he was real. Most of the time the heroes parade around on TV but Hawkman and Hawkgirl have not been seen in a long time. Little did Billy know its cause his Grandma had something to do with that. As Grandma Joy sat there excited for her grandson she knew immediately what this was. She did not know how to respond to him or reveal this secret that she held deep inside. Immediately Joy went inside her head in deep thought to a different time.

Comic Book

60 Years Ago

Joy was a young 20 year old just trying to figure out the world. She was walking steadily down a street on New York City when a man bumps into her.

Man:  I, uh, joy? Its me. Do you remember me.
Joy: No.. I am sorry I have never met you before.

The moment felt a little awkward. This man who was close to her age felt like he knew her. He tried to convince her that they were somehow meant to be and that she had to take the leap to believe him. Joy calculated her risks too much. She spent the majority of her life abandoned  by her mother and she grew up in foster care. Somehow she always felt out of place. The man kept telling her there are reasons why if only she would just open her heart to him.

Hawkman and Hawkgirl

Later that day she was buying a pretzel on the New York City streets when a Taxi driver started going crazy and almost ran into her. She closed her eyes tightly thinking this would be her last breath and the same man picked her up and saved her. Although it was not just any man. He had wings in his back! He said again, " Joy, do you believe me now." Instantly a part of her changed. It was Roy. Her beloved. The man that for centuries it was said they would meet over and over again. They were meant to be. Her life finally made since. He flew her up to the top of a building. She overlooked the city that she now realized she was meant to protect. She jumped off with Roy and her wings began to unfold from her back. All it took is her remembering this part of herself. Her ancestors all had to do the same thing. As soon as they remember who they are then they receive their powers and their love. From that day forward she knew life would never be the same.

Hawkmand and Hawkgirl

Present Day

She looked at her grandson so full of hope and as she looked at the comic book that was created for her and her now fallen beloved. She smiled. For the secret she bared will never be spoken. Until maybe her next life.

Author's Note:
My story was inspired by multiple different things. I wanted my story to reflect a comic book about Hawkman and Hawkgirl that is part of DC Comics. The story about these two is they are from ancient Egypt. These two were created as protectors of a world. They are also deeply in love and every time they die or killed they are born into a new life. In this new life their mission is to remember who they are cause after they die they forget than after they remember one of them has to find the other and get them to do the same thing. I wanted to write a short story for this but I felt adding when they first met and when she remembered would be a good background story for my readers. Also because of that part of the story I was able to add some parts from the Indian comics I read. The story I got ideas from is called, "Karna: Brave, Generous, Ill-Fated Prince." Karna was also abandoned like my character by his mother and he had his own fate in the end like my character. They both have duties towards specific people. Also Karna had a set of skills and Hawkman and Hawkgirl did as well, they just could fly and he could not. Also with Karna's death and after life he is appreciated more so was my character. Joy spent much of her life protecting people but she did not get the recognition she wanted deep down until her grandson Billy showed her a comic book that was actually about her. I wanted my story to be simply yet still gather concepts from stories I read. This way my story can be somewhat of my own but still inspired by stories I enjoy and can somehow relate them together.

References:
Karna: Brave, Generous, Ill-Fated Prince

Reading Notes- Part B, Karna: Brave, Generous, Ill-Fated Prince

For my final selection for my story I decided to read a comic book story "Karna: Brave, Generous, Ill-Fated Prince." I would like my story to be focused on just one story and maybe some ideas come from the other two stories that I have already read. I like the idea of Karna because he was this child who was born as a gift, yet he was abandoned by his mother Kunti. Then he was found by another family who were poor and was brought up by them. He also was a great archer but it was taken from him because he did not possess the right "birth right." Through another slew of events and a battle he dies but in his death his mother finally opens her heart to him and basically the Pandava Family was forced to pay ritual praise to him. I would like to use a part of this in my story because he was a real and genuine character. Many people do not reach their full potential because they did not have someone there for them or the resources to be able to turn into the best they could be. When I read this story and the background I kept thinking about the many children even today that get abandoned. This story and what happened to Karna is not an ancient action. People still are selfish today, and not everyone gets to grow up in a loving parental home. I want to allow one of my characters to experience a little of what Karna did so my story can reflect more realism than idealism. I like how the theme of my stories is to touch on subjects many may be fearful to but I think the more real I am the better my writing can be.


Adoption

References:
Karna: Brave, Generous, Ill-Fated Prince

Reading Notes A part 2, Megasthenes-Ambassador, Traveller And Observer

During last week I read a comic about a princess born of fire. I was not able to put together a story last week due to time constraints. I decided for this week I will piggy back off the idea I had last week. I read a story today about a man named Megasthenes who was an ambassador, traveler, and observer. He went to India during the time of 4 BC and 5 BC, which I found out by researching some more on the background of the story. He traveled to India during a prominent time for Indian history. He documented what was happening in India. The story is what explains what he saw and what was happening. He wrote it all in a four volume book. I decided to use this as part of my last story this week because I could use this type of writing style to tell my story. I have wrote every story in a similar tone and way. I want this last story to be told in a different point of view and seen a little differently. I could still write a similar story about Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Instead of writing it in a narration I could tell the story in a new way. I could tell it in a way like someone is watching everything unfold and retelling the story of what they saw. The person can be a traveler in a different time who sees situations unfold and is telling his grandchild what he experienced. I have seen this type of storytelling done within movies. There is usually a character who is older and is retelling an experience later on in life. For example in, "Saving Private Ryan." This movie started with an older man visiting a military grave site with his family and then in another scene it is the same old man but younger and in the war. I want my story to be told in a powerful way like that.


Back to The Future



References:
Megasthenes- Ambassador, Traveler, and Observer