Week 5 Famous Last Words: Banging My Head Against The Wall

Do you ever have those days when you sit there and question why you're here? And why you're in school… And why you have so much homework..... And why you're not banging your head against the wall?

Welllllll... That was me.... All week…

The semester is definitely in full swing and I'm not even at the playground yet. I have almost quite literally been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I’m taking it minute by minute hoping I won’t like, trip or get the wrong coffee or something, and just blow my cover and have a full on meltdown.

I guess what I’m saying here is it has been an incredibly stressful past couple of weeks. The Campus Plague (aka the flu) put me out of commission for a few days and those few days have slowly crept up to make me almost a week behind in my classes.

Being so incredibly ADHD I have a routine and I stick to that routine. Not exactly by choice, but out of necessity and messing with that schedule is detrimental to my productivity…. And sanity…

Every time a deadline rolled up to my life I just wanted to sit on the floor and throw a temper tantrum about how life isn't fair and how I should drop out of college…. (And I may or may not have actually done that a couple times, but that’s not important, ha ha.)

I guess I say all that to say this: life is a roller coaster and I’m screaming my head off the whole time.

The past few weeks have made me question every aspect of my life, but times like this make me appreciate the little things, like getting a drunken call from my best friend, or going out to dinner, or eating a lethal amount of sadness chocolate. The little things become so much bigger when life around you seems to be crumpling to pieces.

Murphy’s law comes rolling through to prove itself once again, but this time I’m ready.

This week will be better simply because I can’t take any more bad.

And if anyone is questioning it… yes. I have a legitimate emergency chocolate bag, and it is now almost empty. SOS.

Almost Empty Sadness Chocolate Bag and I
Photo Taken by Myself 

And yes it is labeled... I live with a bottomless pit. I mean brother.

Week 5 Storytelling: That Darn Ravana

Chapter 1

“Heeeyyy Maricha!” Ravana called out, “Wanna do me a huuuggee favor?”

“What is it this time?” asked Maricha, rolling his eyes.

“You know about that dude Rama…?” Ravana began.

“Well, uh…. I want you to help me take his wife.”

“WHAT?” Maricha asked, certain he had heard his crazy nephew wrong.

“You want me to help you STEAL someone’s wife. Are you crazy? And of all people, Rama’s wife?! Don’t you know how powerful he is? He’d kill us all!” Said Maricha as he tried to convince his foolish Nephew

“He can’t hurt us. He’s only a human. I am THE demon god. I get what I want when I want it.”

“I will help you, but you need to know that it will end my life.” Maricha said with sadness.

“Whatever. You’re just being dramatic.” Ravana said as he walked out of the room. “Let’s go”!”

Maricha followed Ravana to his chariot in sadness, performing a little funeral on his way, accepting his fate.

Chapter 2

“What a beautiful day!” Sita said to Rama as they were walking in the meadow.

“It truly is such a wonderful day.” said Lakshama to the couple.

“Oh LOOK!” shrieked Sita with excitement. “It’s a deer! A golden deer!”

“Wow! That’s a really pretty creature.” said Rama as he inched toward it to get a better look.

“I don’t know….” Lakshama began, “A golden deer. That has to be a trap…”

“Oh quit being so negative!” Sita said, “It’s a wonderful, rare animal. The gods sent it to us, for us to keep!”

“No! Look at it. It’s like…… hazy. Last time I checked, animals weren’t supposed to be holographic.” Lakshama said, realizing the truth. “It’s a Rakshama. We shouldn’t get near it!”

“Catch it honey! I want it! It’s so beautiful!” Sita said over Lakshama’s warning. “It’s SOO Pretty. Let’s keep it as a pet!”

“It really is pretty; I’ll try to catch it. I’ll just be careful.” Rama said as he picked up his bow and arrow.

Off into the forest he went, after the beautiful golden deer.

Chapter 3

“I knew it would work!” Ravana said in excitement.

“My fate has come. I hope I die quickly.” Said Maricha as he ran further into the forest, enticing Rama

“Man, this deer is fast. He keeps weaving through the trees. It’s almost like it wants me to get lost!” Rama thought as he continued after the deer.

Maricha stopped, as Rama’s bow finally hit his side. He screamed in pain, but his voice was replaced by Rama’s.

“OWW! Help!” Maricha screamed as he took his final breaths.

“It’s Rama!” screamed Sita, “GO help him! He’s been hurt!”

“No, Rama cannot be hurt, it must be that stupid Rakshasha furthering his trick! Why can’t you see that!”

“HELP HIM!” Sita screamed, “How can you not help your own BROTHER. Go after him!”

“Fine, fine. You stay here. I’ll go make sure everything is okay like I’m sure it is.”

Chapter 4

“Ugh. Sita is so stupid. It’s obviously a trap but whatever.” mumbled Lakshama as he walked into the forest.

“Dude. What are you doing here?” asked Rama as he bumped into Lakshama. “You should be watching Sita. You know how she tends to get into trouble.”

“HELLLPP!!!! NO! DON’T TOUCH ME!” Sita screamed in utter terror as Ravana captured her and carried her to his chariot. 

Image of Sita, Lakshama and Ravana with the Golden Deer
Provided by Wikipedia

Author's Note: I took the story of the golden dear in a more modern twist. In Ramayana, Maricha and Ravana plot to take Sita from Rama. While technically they succeed it causes death to Maricha, who has taken the form of a golden deer, and complicated a war against the Raksashas and Rama. In my story, I inserted dialogue between characters to add more personality, as well as modernize the story. I also incorporated a theme and message at the end of inevitable death and karma.

Bibliography: Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way. 

Reading Diary A: Rama's Battle

• The opening quote on p. 110 “How could I have run with sheep so long?” is really quite insightful. Reality is so subject to perception

• p.115 “In a kingless land there is no rain.”

• So far I am a little confused. It might be because I am used to Narayan’s short stories, but I have no idea what is going on in this section.

• The colorful imagry on page 125-126 of the forest with the description of the grass and leaves paints such a vivid image. I love that about Buck’s writing

• p. 130 “Death is at last found to be part of all life, and never can we escape it, and Death does not change a promise made.”

• Rama gets his magical bow!

• Shurpanka is ugly??? I thought she was beautiful and deceiving

• It’s nice to see that Rama is still a bad-ass in this version of the battle against the Raksashas.

Image of Rama and Sita in the forest
Provided by Wikipedia