A Pet for Keeps
There once was a young named Michael. Growing up, his parents had given him everything he could have ever wanted, except for one thing. He had never been allowed to have a pet, no matter how much he begged for one. Dogs, cats, snakes, birds, and pretty much any creature was automatically ruled out anytime he tried to bring it up. Feeling particularly rebellious one day after he had just moved out of his family's home, he decided he was going to become a pet owner once and for all. But he didn't want just any pet; he wanted one that was unique and that had something out of the ordinary to offer him. With that in mind, he set out to find the perfect pet for him.
The parrot that Michael picked out to be his pet was brilliantly
colored. Source: Pixabay
Shortly into his journey, Michael stumbled upon a pet store that seemed promising called Critter's: Exotic Pets and More. Exotic was ordinary, he thought to himself. He went in and was immediately drawn to a brilliantly colored bird in the corner, one that squawked in such a way as if he were actually saying something and not just making useless noises. This is the pet for me, he thought and he went to the cashier to take his new friend home.
Once arriving back at his house, Michael began to play around with the parrot, seeing what he could get it to do. Eventually, the bird had had enough of the useless phrases that Michael wanted him to repeat. The parrot knew he had to do something so he made a promise to Michael. He explained that he was not an ordinary parrot, but one with great wisdom and greater capabilities because of it that simply could not go to waste. Having said this, the parrot insisted that Michael allow him to use his potential. He explained that he could keep all annoyances from pestering him because of his crazy story telling capabilities. There were some people that Michael found generally annoying yet saw often so this sounded like a wonderful trade. Without any hesitation, the two made a deal an Michael left the parrot alone, excited about the service the bird would soon be doing him.
Bibliography
Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi's The Tales of a Parrot
Author's Note
I decided to use this story to retell the story of Miemun and Khojisten in a more modern way. I made this decision because I thought it would be fun to think about why a prince, or even a boy with a lot of privileges, would want a parrot in the first place. I ended up changing it from a market to the pet store but also kept the parrot's capabilities in my version of the story from what he could do in the original.
Hi Hannah! I did my Week 5 story on Tales of a Parrot so it's great to see someone else's interpretation of the story. I don't mean to be that person, but in the first sentence the word "boy" is missing. Are you planning on continuing this story or is it just a retelling of that first story in Tales of a Parrot that is all background information? The end just stops a little suddenly and made me want more, but that might be because I read the story and know what happens next. It can totally stand on it's own and it was really good!
ReplyDeleteHi Hannah, great job retelling the intro to Tales of a Parrot. I read the story too so it’s nice to see how it could be retold. I really like that you made it more modern because it’s a lot easier to read and I like the name you chose for the pet store. I am excited to read more of your stories!
ReplyDeleteHi Hannah!
ReplyDeleteI liked your story a lot, and I loved the pet store name! I didn't read Tales of a Parrot, but now I'm going to have to go back and look at it. Your story did make me want to hear more of what Michael and his parrots life was life after they made their deal. I have one small note about formatting. I like the black background, but your links aren't readable. It's just a blank black space, so you can't read what the link actually says. I just wanted to point that out in case you hadn't noticed. Great job on your story!
Hi Hannah, I think you did a great job of retelling this story. I especially liked the name you gave the pet store because I feel like a lot of people would not have even bothered to give the pet store a name in the first place. I also like how you made this story more modern since some of the stories in the class are hard to read sometimes.
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