Brer Rabbit Rides Brer Fox
Source: The Wren's Nest
"Leave me alone!" Cody screamed as Tyler tried to jump on his back.
"Ahh, come on Cody. Give me a piggy back ride and walk us over to the gas station so we can buy a Big Gulp and some Skittles."
It was one of those hot summer days right before school started. It was too darn hot to do anything, so Cody and Tyler decided they walk over to the gas station. They had hung out all summer, and now that summer was coming to an end, they had run out of things to do and were starting to get on each other's nerves.
"No, you weigh too much. You'll break my legs!"
"Don't be such a baby." Tyler taunted as he jumped on Cody's back.
"Get off of me you fatso!" No matter how hard Cody wiggled and jumped, he could not get Tyler off his back. "What did you do? Super glue yourself to my back?"
"Towards the gas station, slave!" Tyler commanded as he pointed in the direction of the gas station. Cody knew if he played along, eventually Tyler would loosen his grip and he could buck him off his back.
"Fine, you better have money on you."
As they drew nearer to the gas station, Cody could tell that Tyler was less worried about Cody throwing him off his back, so he loosen his tight grip. Cody began to shake, and shimmy, and wiggle, and waggle until he was finally able to get Tyler off his back, but before he could grab a hold of Tyler and give him a wedgie for picking on him all day, Tyler managed to climb up a tree. Cody, not very good at climbing trees, could not reach him.
"I'm going to tell your mom if you don't come down from there!" Cody screamed.
"Go ahead, once you leave, I'll jump down from this tree and you'll never catch me! Ha!"
As Cody was deciding whether to leave to tell Tyler's mom what a bullying he's been, or stay and wait until Tyler comes down from the tree, their friend Phillip showed up.
"Hey guys, whatcha doing?" Phillip wondered why Tyler was up in the tree.
"Perfect. Phillip, you wait right here and don't let Tyler out of your sight." Cody ran off to fetch Tyler's mom.
Tyler had to think of a way to distract Phillip. "Hey Phillip. Look its the ice cream truck. An ice cream cone sure does sound good right now in this heat."
"Yeah, it does!" Phillip could not control his love for ice cream, so he ran off towards the ice cream truck.
"Well that was easy." Tyler thought as he jumped down from the tree to hide somewhere else.
"Ahh, come on Cody. Give me a piggy back ride and walk us over to the gas station so we can buy a Big Gulp and some Skittles."
It was one of those hot summer days right before school started. It was too darn hot to do anything, so Cody and Tyler decided they walk over to the gas station. They had hung out all summer, and now that summer was coming to an end, they had run out of things to do and were starting to get on each other's nerves.
"No, you weigh too much. You'll break my legs!"
"Don't be such a baby." Tyler taunted as he jumped on Cody's back.
"Get off of me you fatso!" No matter how hard Cody wiggled and jumped, he could not get Tyler off his back. "What did you do? Super glue yourself to my back?"
"Towards the gas station, slave!" Tyler commanded as he pointed in the direction of the gas station. Cody knew if he played along, eventually Tyler would loosen his grip and he could buck him off his back.
"Fine, you better have money on you."
As they drew nearer to the gas station, Cody could tell that Tyler was less worried about Cody throwing him off his back, so he loosen his tight grip. Cody began to shake, and shimmy, and wiggle, and waggle until he was finally able to get Tyler off his back, but before he could grab a hold of Tyler and give him a wedgie for picking on him all day, Tyler managed to climb up a tree. Cody, not very good at climbing trees, could not reach him.
"I'm going to tell your mom if you don't come down from there!" Cody screamed.
"Go ahead, once you leave, I'll jump down from this tree and you'll never catch me! Ha!"
As Cody was deciding whether to leave to tell Tyler's mom what a bullying he's been, or stay and wait until Tyler comes down from the tree, their friend Phillip showed up.
"Hey guys, whatcha doing?" Phillip wondered why Tyler was up in the tree.
"Perfect. Phillip, you wait right here and don't let Tyler out of your sight." Cody ran off to fetch Tyler's mom.
Tyler had to think of a way to distract Phillip. "Hey Phillip. Look its the ice cream truck. An ice cream cone sure does sound good right now in this heat."
"Yeah, it does!" Phillip could not control his love for ice cream, so he ran off towards the ice cream truck.
"Well that was easy." Tyler thought as he jumped down from the tree to hide somewhere else.
Author's Note: This story is from the second Brer Rabbit unit Mr. Fox is Again Victimized. I kept the story the same, but I changed the characters to young boys during the summer time. I made Tyler into the trickster bully, Brer Rabbit, and Cody into the easy tricked friend, Brer Fox. Also, I included another friend, Phillip, similar to the buzzard character who stays and watches Brer Rabbit, while Brer Fox goes to fetch an axe to cut down the tree Brer Rabbit is hiding in.
"Mr. Fox is Again Victimized" by Joel Chandler Harris (1881). Web Source: Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings
Nice retelling, Marissa. I liked the dialogue between Cody and Tyler¬! It was very humorous and reminded me of conversation that me and some of my friends would have. I also liked that you changed the characters from a fox and a rabbit to two young boys; it was very fitting for their adventure! Getting Skittles and a Big Gulp from 7 Eleven was also a nice touch, good job!
ReplyDeleteThis retelling was so good! Your sense of humor really comes through, and I was laughing the entire time. Cody and Tyler are ridiculous characters, with regards to how they deal with the situation at hand, which made your story all the more funny. And I like how the character at the end couldn’t control himself because of his ice cream (no one can resist ice cream lol) and forgot what he was supposed to be doing. Anyways, I really liked your story!
ReplyDelete“Give me a piggy back ride and walk us over to the gas station so we can buy a Big Gulp and some Skittles.”
ReplyDeleteUsing modern terms in a fairy tale-type re-telling can very humorous when done well, and this line was a good example of it being done well. Judging by your storybook and this story, you have a gift for dialogue, especially when it’s banter between two people. The personalities of the characters were solidified in so short a time because of how well you were able to mold their voices through their dialogue. This was a really engaging read throughout.
Hey Marissa! What a great story. I love how you changed the animals into the people and the same themes and morals still apply. It's so fun to be able to change the story and still hold the same idea and plot as the original. Plus it totally makes sense that some rowdy young boys would pick on each other and do this during the summer. I really like your writing it was fun and entertaining to read. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI loved the way you started this story. Any story that includes gas station pop and Skittles is a winner in my book. I liked how you changed the characters into kids and made the story more relatable. I didn’t read the original story, but it seems like you preserved it well while adding your own touches to it, so good job!
ReplyDelete