Week 7 Story - The Amazed Chemist
There was once a world-renown chemist who was studying the
most molecular aspects of the world in which we know. For several months the
chemist’s research and experiments continued to fail. Just as he was about to
give up, he decided to try just one more thing. Seclusion. The chemist decided
he needed to clear his mind. He needed to escape society.
For hours he traveled until he came upon a small, remote
town shrouded by tall mountains and vast forests. He decided that this was the
spot. He found a small cabin to stay in. It was only one room and had a quaint and
homey-feel with a warm fireplace in the corner. The chemist only had one
complaint: there were several gnats and fleas around the cabin. He just
contributed this to the cabin’s old age. As he was trying to fall asleep one
night, he heard a peculiar sound at the door. He crept ever so slowly towards
to door…
At once, hundreds of
tiny knights burst through the crack of the door. Some knights were riding
horses the size of a cricket while other followed along on foot wielding swords
and bows and arrows. There were also hunting dogs and falcons the size of a
small ant. The chemist was dumbfounded. He thought to himself, “how is it
possible that these people are so microscopically small?” He continued to watch
in amazement as the knights unleashed their dogs and prepared for battle. At
once the hunting dogs began to devour the fleas and the falcons destroyed the gnats.
The knights took care of anything else that remained. The battle raged for
hours, and the chemist—still standing in his original position—continued to
watch and study every aspect of the microscopic battle. After all of the gnats
and fleas had been conquered, they began to rest.
Then, all of the sudden, the chemist heard the sound of
trumpets marching forward. A long processional consisting of hundreds of
mounted and armed knights began entering the room. In the middle of the
processional was a extravagant carriage painted in beautiful crimson being
pulled by four powerful, cream-colored stallions. All of the battle-worn
knights quickly stood at attention. The processional slowly came to a stop and
out of the extravagant carriage came the king dressed in crimson and cream. The
king then ordered for a feast to be prepared to celebrate the successful battle.
The king and his men ate and talked for hours until it was time to go. At his
command, the knights began to gather all of their possessions and fell into
line in the processional. Just as they had entered, the processional marched
out of the cabin.
The chemist was still in awe. He couldn’t comprehend what he
had just seen. He shook his head as if to wake himself up, but he realized this
was no dream. The next day, the owner of the cabin asked the chemist how his
night was. The chemist then proceeded to tell the cabin’s owner exactly what he
saw. The owner seemed shocked that the chemist had never heard about this strange
phenomenon before. The owner said, “That’s not abnormal! That happens every night.
You just get used to it.” As the chemist walked away from the conversation and
headed back towards his cabin he realized, “this is where my research begins.”
The Quaint Cabin
Source - Max Pixel
Authors Note: Author’s Note: This story is based on the stories The King of the Ants and The Little Hunting Dog. Which are
stories from the Chinese Fairy Tale unit. Both of the stories mention above
characterize ant-sized knights fighting a battle. In both stories the
individual observing the battle is a scholar. I, instead, chose to provide more
detail and denote the individual as a chemist studying the molecular aspects of
the world. Additionally, in the original stories the scholar (the chemist) has
had much more contact with either the King, a knight, or a dog. Instead of focusing
on this, I wanted to just have the chemist observe the situation and the leave
a suspense for furthering his research at the end.
Bibliography:
- The King of the Ants, The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).
- The Little Hunting Dog, The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).
Hi Jarad, I really enjoyed reading your story, it reminds me vaguely of the book "The Alchemist" if you have ever read it? Your story was very interesting and I was able to visualize every word along the way as I read. I was able to create an actual scene in my mind which was very impressive! I am excited to see what other stories you create.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was funny how the chemist just watched while this whole tiny battle took place lol. It also made me laugh when the cabin owner nonchalantly said that it happens all the time. Just a small spelling error. You said "a extravagant carriage" in paragraph 4 sentence 3. The only thing I'm curious about now is what exactly this abnormal phenomenon is. I would kind of like to hear the cabin owner's take on it, but then again, that may take away from the nonchalantness of the story. Nice job overall though!
ReplyDeleteHi Jarad! I just commented on your introduction page and I accidentally spelled your name wrong. I’m sorry about that, hah. Anyway, I really enjoyed your story! I like the way it is written. It is funny to read how the chemist is watching the battle unfold before his eyes. It was a fun story to read and I look forward to reading more!
ReplyDeleteHey Jarad! What an interesting story! I thought you did an excellent job of retelling this story as well as adding your own twist. You did a really nice job of writing this story, which allowed the reader to be able to create a visual of what the scenery might look like. I look forward to reading more of your stories in the future. Overall, nicely done!
ReplyDelete