Week 6 Storytelling: Dinner Party

I understand that siblings don’t always get along, but my brothers are complete assholes! Seriously! 

Sun, Wind and I (I'm Moon!) were invited to dinner at our Aunt Lightning and Uncle Thunder’s house. The boys and I were totally up for it! Free food, right? So we went off to their house, leaving Mother home alone.

When we arrived at our aunt and uncle's, there were a bunch of others there. Orion was there, Mr. Big and Mrs. Little Dipper were there, and even Halley was there, in her flowing sparkly dress.

Well, I thought that my childish brothers would stay and hang out with me, their little sister, but those selfish greedy boys ditched me the second they laid eyes on Virgo and Libra. Of course they would ditch me for “the ladies.” Yuck!

Aunt Lightning was so nice. She let me sit next to her and some other girls at the head of the table, and then the great feast began. I had never seen so much food in my life!

As I watched my brothers shove food into their mouths like little pigs, obviously forgetting all of the table manners they had learned, I thought about my poor mother. Even though she was one of the most beautiful Stars in the sky, she was still home all by her lonesome. That was when I decided that I would bring back some food for her.

Every time a plate from Aunt Lightning’s beautiful china set was placed in front of me, I placed a small portion under one of my beautifully pink polished finger-nails so I could bring some back to Mom.

Why Aunt Lightning was using her good china I will never know. Seriously, those boys are a menace! But I digress.

Anyway, we got home and the three of us were completely stuffed from dinner. I had no idea those boys could ever be full! So our mother "all bright-eyed and smiling" asked us if we brought anything home for her.

My eldest brother, Sun, scoffed and said, “I didn’t bring anything home for you. I went out to enjoy myself with friends – not to fetch dinner for my mother!”

Then, my other brother Wind, the arrogant jerk he is, said, “I didn’t bring you anything either, Mom. You could hardly expect me to bring you back anything good when I merely went out for my own pleasure.”

I could tell Mom was getting upset. After all, she had stayed up till the late hours alone to make sure that we were safe.

That’s when I stepped in. I told her to grab a plate and when she brought it to me, I shook my hands so that all of the food I had collected showered down in front of her. She looked so happy after I did that! Unfortunately it did not last long.

My brothers, who had now started their stupid shenanigans, had no idea what they were in for!

Mom whipped her head around and glared at Sun. She took a deep breath and said, “Because you went out to amuse yourself with your friends, and feasted and enjoyed yourself, without any thought of your mother at home – you shall be cursed. Henceforth, your rays shall every be hot and scorching, and shall burn all that they touch. And men shall hate you, and cover their heads when you appear.”

My brother had the audacity to look shocked. I mean he had it coming. He knew better than to push Mom like that. But that is why Sun is so hot to this day. It makes it difficult to see him sometimes.

Then Mother slowly turned her head and looked at Wind. With a look on her face so terrifying it would make the bravest man run in fear, she said, “You who also forgot your mother in the midst of your selfish pleasures—hear your doom! You shall always blow in the hot dry weather, and shall parch and shrivel all living things. And men shall detest and avoid you from this very time.”

The look on Wind’s face was absolutely priceless! It took everything inside of me to hold back my laughter. But that is why Wind is so disagreeable, even in hot weather.

Suddenly Mom turned around and looked at me. I was afraid, for myself. I was the good kid; I had done nothing wrong. Why was she looking at me?

The look of anger fell from her face, and in its place was a warm, kind smile. Then she said to me, “Daughter, because you remembered your mother, and kept for her a share in your own enjoyment, from henceforth, you shall be ever cool, and calm, and bright. No noxious glare shall accompany your pure rays, and men shall always call you ‘blessed’.”

I could feel her love for me with every word she spoke. I always knew I was her favorite. And that is why I, Moon, have a light that is so soft, and cool, and beautiful, even to this day.

The bright side of the Moon (Source)

Author's Note. I chose to do my storytelling from the story How the Sun, Moon, and Wind Went Out to Dinner. In the story the Sun, Moon, and Wind go to a great feast at their aunt and uncles, leaving their mother (who is a distant Star) home alone. When the three of them return, neither the Sun nor the Wind brought anything back to the Star, but the Moon had saved some food for her mother. Due to their actions, the Star decides to curse the Sun and the Wind and gift the Moon, this giving them the characteristics that we know of them: the sun being extremely hot, the wind being horrible, and the moon being calm and beautiful. Keeping the wording from the mother's curse and blessing the same from the original story allowed my retelling to have some of the same feel as the original, thus keeping to the same basic frame of the story. It also allowed for a more dramatic contrast between the mother's way of speaking and her children's, thus demonstrating that the mother is older and more sophisticated. 

I chose to write the story from the Moon’s perspective because I thought that playing off of sibling competition would add a fun element to the story. We are able to see motherhood, and how mothers reward and punish their children, in the original story, but hearing it from the daughter’s perspective gives the story more life and a humor. I added more details, like the zodiac stars (Libra and Virgo), constellation names (Orion), the description of Moon's nails, and the overall dinner party. I believe that the added elements of humanity demonstrated through each character's specific personality made the story seem more life-like. 

Bibliography. Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1912).