Author's Note: The Crow that Thought It Knew. I chose to retell this story in third person because it allowed me to be more descriptive without having to use dialogue in the story. It helped me be more creative. My main goal for this story was to show that all people have certain gifts. It is not a matter of who has the best ones, but how you use them that defines you. I changed this story from the original in a few ways. First, the names I used aren't the original. Second, the hunting crow does not save Lyle. Lyle went into the water by himself and drowned in the original. Third, the scene where Lyle saves Tim never happened. That was all added by me to emphasize my goal listed above.
One crow Lyle and his wife Jen were out flying and a terrible thing happened. As they were flying, they saw many dead animals and people. As they flew up to each thing to check it out, they realized everyone was suffering from this black bumpy skin that was a disease. It had spread to the trees and all plants also. Lyle knew he was not a hunting crow so he became worried. He didn't want to scare his wife though, so he acted like he had a plan. He and his wife flew throughout their land looking for food when they saw a crow dive into the water and bring fish out. Lyle knew this crow could help so they approached him.
They flew to the hunting crow called Tim and asked if he might mind helping give them food since they are not hunting crows. Tim agreed and went to get them some fish. This made Lyle feel worthless. He couldn't even feed his own wife. He has to rely on a stranger to feed himself. So, one day Lyle decided he would try and go into the water to catch some fish.
Lyle, after Tim and Jen fell asleep, went sky high and came back down as fast he could towards the river. He plunged into the water and caught the fish! Something went terribly wrong though. He could not pul himself out of the water. He started thrashing his wings screaming for help. Tim and Jen wake up to the horrifying scene. Tim goes to save Lyle and succeeds!
Once back on land, Tim told Lyle never to do that again. Then Tim walked back to bed and saw an apple on the way there. Tim hadn't eaten fruit in a while and he wanted a change of taste. Tim leaned over to start eating the apple when out of nowhere Lyle swooped in and knocked the apple away from Tim. Tim did not like that and inquired of Lyle why he did that. Lyle told him all the fruit is bad and filled with the black disease in these parts. Tim, in shock, told Lyle that he owed him one. Lyle expected no such thing and was glad he could be of assistance. Lyle had finally seen where his true gifts can be used and that sometimes being a man just means swallowing your pride.
The three crows started their own colony when they found others. They salvaged what they could and continued to live in peace.
Hey Ben, I enjoyed your retelling of The Crow That Thought It Knew. I think that the picture you used and the formatting of the paragraphs made the story interesting and easy to read. My favorite part was the line, "sometimes being a man just means swallowing your pride." I think that is a very true statement. I look forward to reading more of your stories this semester!
ReplyDeleteHi ben! I really liked that you split your story up into manageable paragraphs. As a reader, I really appreciate when authors do that because it is so much easier to read that way! I loved that your story was in the third person, I thought it added a really interesting element to it! I also really enjoyed the ending to your story, the happy ending closed the story really well.
ReplyDeleteHi Ben! This was a really great rendition of the story "The Crow that Thought It Knew." I love how you put the author's note at the beginning. I haven't seen anyone do that and it was helpful because I had not read the story that you were retelling. Sometimes I am lost when reading stories, and then the author's note clears it up a bit so I really enjoyed it being at the start! Also, I noticed at least one spelling error or typo, so just make sure you are proofreading! I overall loved the story and the lesson it taught!
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