Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Storytelling for Week 2: Odysseus The Candyman

Odysseus The Candyman

            Once upon a time there was a candyman named Odysseus. He was from the land called Candyland. Odysseus was no ordinary man you see. He was completely made up of candy! He stood about 4 feet tall; which is what most candymen averaged in height. Odysseus body structure was made up of blue peppermint. Instead of being long and skinny like most peppermints, Odysseus was tall and flat shaped like a gingerbread man cookie. Red icing made up his eyes and facial features. The citizens of Candyland believed him to be the strongest, handsomest, and most trustworthy candyman/leader they all have seen. Accompanying Odysseus’ side was a two-foot solid gold sword made out of pure golden butterscotch. The gods blessed Odysseus, and he went out on a mission with 60 of his best candymen. Little did he know; he would not be coming back home soon.
            Odysseus and his candymen found themselves approaching the shore of Cyclopes Island. Upon reaching the island, the candymen anchored the ship and they began searching the island for butterscotch. Butterscotch in the purest form was the tastiest and most wealthy substance on the planet. Just one pound of it was worth around 1 million dollars! As the men were searching, they ran into a big cave. They decided to go and check it out to see if there would be any butterscotch. There was, but it was far too big and heavy to even budge. Suddenly they heard large footsteps approaching the cave. The candymen scattered frantically to find a hiding stop.
            The being entered the cave. It was a 22-foot tall, giant, one-eyed Cyclopes made out of candy. The monster asked who are these intruders that enter his home. Odysseus said that they were just stopping by checking for butterscotch, and not to harm them. The Cyclops didn’t listen however. He picked up 2 of Odysseus’ men and ate them whole. The men frightened by the sight, witness their comrades screams of agony while being devoured. The crew tried to escape but the giant butterscotch boulder was in the way. The Cyclopes went on with his day like nothing happened. The next day he stole two more of the candymen and ate them whole. He continued to do this for 2 more days until Odysseus decided to make a plan to stop the Cyclopes.
            He offered the Cyclopes wine to drink while he devoured the candymen. The monster accepted and ignorantly drank it all in one gulp. He requested for more, and Odysseus kept supplying him with wine until the Cyclopes became drunk and went to sleep. Odysseus came up with a plan to hurt the monster without killing him so that he would roll the butterscotch stone away and the candymen could escape. He found a big piece of wood and told his crew to sharpen it to a point. Once finished, Odysseus and a small group of men gathered around to hold the weapon. They pointed it to his eye and jabbed it inside. The Cyclops rose up screaming and cursing. He rolled the butterscotch away and felt the ground for the tiny candymen. Odysseus and his crew managed to get back to the ship and escape the island.
            The next stop on their trek for wealth was a beautiful island somewhere 2 or 3 days out from the Cyclops Island. The men decided to search this island more careful than the last, so half of the men went searching while the others stayed behind. The candymen searching came across what it appeared to be a castle for a queen. Inside the men saw the beautiful Circe. She offered to share her wealth with them. Circe had many types of food and liquid butterscotch, which was the best type to bring back home. She mixed a potion with the butterscotch and gave it to the men to drink. She then touched the men and they turned into gummy bears!
            Once it got dark outside and none of Odysseus’ men came back, he decided to go search himself. On the way the mighty god, Hermes, stopped and informed Odysseus of his men’s fate. Hermes gave him a piece of chocolate to eat to ward him from her evil spell. He also instructed that when Circe realizes that the potion didn’t work; rush Circe like you’re to attack her, and she will offer you anything you want.

            Odysseus arrived at the castle and went inside to see Circe. She offered him the same treatment as the men. When the potion did not work on Odysseus he ran up to her pointing his sword in her face. She said she would do anything for a man that told resist her spell. Odysseus asked her to free his men and also give them 1000 pounds of here purest butterscotch to take home. She agreed and the men rejoiced! Circe let them stay and relax for over one year, until they all decided to go back to their home. Odysseus and his candymen were rich!

(Anarchyland! by: Aragorn)
This what I envision Candyland to look like. 


Authors Note: I wrote this story based off of Homer's: Odyssey. I wanted to try and stick to the essence of the story but with some twists. I decided to turn the world into one made up of entirely of candy. The home country is called Candyland. I got this idea from the popular kids board game called Candy Land where you race around the world of of Candyland. With both of these stories in mind I created a world of candy but with the feel of the Odyssey.  



5 comments:

  1. Anthony, this is fabulous!!!!! I laughed out loud when Circe turned them into gummy bears, mwahahaha. That is hilarious!!! And what a perfect example of why I love teaching this class: every week of every semester, people come up with totally original storytelling ideas different from anything anyone has ever done before.
    GUMMY BEARS. HA! That is just so funny to me!!! I wish Homer were around to enjoy this wild version of his story!
    This story made my day: thank you!

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  2. P.S. I shared your story over at Google+ where I am part of a big teaching network. I am always trying to inspire other teachers to include creative writing assignments in their classes in addition to the regular kind of writing assignments, and I thought your story was a perfect example of the great and unexpected things that can happen with creative writing. :-)

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  3. Great story Anthony! I knew this story was going to a good one as soon as I read the words candy land. I read Homer's Odyssey when I was in high school and it has always been a favorite of mine. Your rendition of the story was very funny and I enjoyed reading about a world made of candy and peppermint men on the pursuit of butterscotch!

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  4. Butterscotch is worth one million dollars?! No wonder that stuff taste so delicious. And where can I get a hold of Odysseus' butterscotch sword? Haha Anthony your story is so creative! I think your use of the Candyland theme for your story really helped you make this story interesting and fun to read. Great job this week! I can't wait to read the rest of your work.

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  5. This is a great story Anthony, the idea of all the candy men fighting to claim the riches of butterscotch made me laugh! This tale of Odysseus the Candyman makes me very thankful that butterscotch is not a million dollars a pound in the real world! I think I would be a very sad or very broke man. Probably both!

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