Week 7 Story: Dandi And The Stuffing
Dandi lived in a dog shelter called the Low Riders. This shelter housed small dogs and many people came to adopt them. Dandi was three at the time and she had many friends, but all her friends were getting adopted leaving her all alone.
One day, a woman walked in looking for a brown/red dachshund, which is just what Dandi was. The woman saw Dandi and immediately knew that she had to have her. That day, Dandi was finally adopted and went to her new home.
Throughout the car ride Dandi thought about what her new home would look like and if there would any other people to play with her. Dandi was so excited after they arrived home. She walked in and saw a dog bed and brand-new toys. She immediately began to play with them but couldn’t decide which toy she wanted so she played with all of them. Dandi decided that her favorite type of toys were the stuffed ones
A few days went by, and Dandi was loving her new home. Her new family gave her biscuits every time she went to the bathroom on the puppy mats and even when she went outside. Not only were they giving her treats, but they were giving her so much attention. Dandi loved all of the belly rubs and kisses that her new family gave her. She felt so loved and was so happy to have been adopted by them.
Dandi soon caught a liking to the stuffed giraffe that was given to her. One night while she was playing with it, she bit the giraffe and it ripped, but she didn’t notice. Dandi continued to shake the giraffe all around and put her paws on it. She noticed that it seemed to be lighter than before, but she didn’t think anything of it. All of the sudden, Dandi couldn’t breathe and she began coughing. Eventually, Dandi realized she was choking and ended up coughing up a piece of stuffing. She stared at it and then looked at the giraffe and noticed the stuffing inside it. At that moment she tore all of the stuffing out of the giraffe. Her family comforted her and picked up all of the pieces of stuffing off the floor, so she wouldn’t choke again. They checked her mouth to make sure there wasn’t any leftover stuffing that got stuck. Dandi was very grateful that her family was there for her, but she was sad because she missed her favorite toy. However, every time Dandi thought about the giraffe, she was scared of not being able to breathe like that again.
And now this is why Dandi always tears the stuffing out of her toys when she gets a new one.
Author’s Note: The original story is called The Leopard And The Antelope from Notes on the Folklore of Fjort collected by R. E. Dennett. In the original story, the leopard bet that the antelope couldn’t find him if he hid, and then bet his life. The antelope found the leopard, and the leopard was mad. The leopard told the antelope to hide himself, which the antelope did and let him have his life. The antelope tricked the leopard and destroyed him and his family, thus reasoning why a leopard always kills an antelope when it first sees one. I made this story my own by telling the story of my Dandi, and the reason to why she tears the stuffing out of her toys. In my story, Dandi is the leopard and the stuffing is the antelope. My story doesn’t end in death like the original; that would have been very sad.
Hi Madison, I enjoyed reading your Week 7 story. I liked how you changed the story into a more modern context that we may be able to relate more to in our daily life. I think that the relationship between the stuffed animals and the dog is a really good twist on the leopard and the antelope in the original story. Overall, your story is a really good retelling of the original story.
ReplyDeleteHi Madison, this was such a cute story! And I loved seeing the picture of your dog. This retelling definitely sounds much happier than the original—the first part of the story was so cheery that I was scared something bad had to happen soon. I like that you added the "this is why Dandi always..." sentence at the end, because it made it sound more like a folktale.
ReplyDeleteHi Madison,
ReplyDeleteI love how you took the story of the Leopard and the Antelope and changed it to relate to your life in some way. I am glad your story didn't end in death considering Dandi is just vibing with a stuffed animal! Dandi seems like she is smarter now to avoid eating the stuffing from stuffed animals since it could cause her to choke haha. I like how you made this story more fun and lighthearted as well!