The "Fire!" Alarm
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Jon lived on the top floor of the a five story building. This is not uncommon for most people in the city to live on the top floor but Jon was scared of heights. At night Jon would sit awake scared that a fire would break out and he would be trapped on the top floor and die. Each night Jon would make himself a pot of coffee so that he was able to stay awake and think about how he was gonna die on the top floor of his building in a fire. Each night Jon would fall asleep eventually and dream about how he was going to die in a top story fire. This fear followed him around each day as he would walk through the city and look at all the tall buildings. He would think to himself that he "better not enter that building because he would die in a fire for sure in that building."
One night Jon fell asleep on his couch. It had been a long day of worrying and he was ready to fall asleep and worry some more. In the middle of the night he woke up and smelled something burning. "Oh my lord, it's a Fire!" he said as he ran out his apartment door and down the stairs to the fourth floor.
"FIRE!" he screamed as he ran past the fourth floor where people woke up and heard them.
"Fire!" they all yelled and began to run down the stairs.
"FIRE!" he yelled as he passed the third floor.
"Fire!" all the people on the third floor yelled as they followed him.
"FIRE!" Jon yelled as he passed the second floor.
"Fire!" everyone from the second floor yelled as they woke up and ran down the stairs to the first floor.
"FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" everyone yelled on the first floor, waking the building manager.
The building manager saw everyone running and yelled "STOP!" and everyone stopped. The building manager was extremely cranky because he was having the best dream about everyone in the building paying their rent on time, so he was short with everyone. "How do you know there is a fire? The fire alarms and sprinklers are not going off. Not to mention I don't smell any smoke."
The people from the second floor said, "We didn't see the fire or smell smoke but we saw the people third floor running and yelling fire."
The people from the third floor said, "Well we were only running because we heard the people from the fourth floor yelling fire and saw them running."
The people from the fourth floor said, "Well that is true but it is only because we saw Jon running and yelling fire."
Jon said, "That's because there is a fire in my apartment now we must go so I don't die."
The building manager looked at Jon and asked, "Did you see the fire Jon?"
"Well no, but I smelled it."
"You smelled smoke?"
"No. I smelled something burning, I didn't stop to look I just got out of there because I knew if I didn't I would die."
"Well there is no fire Jon so let's go to your apartment and see what you are talking about."
When everyone arrived at Jon's apartment they saw that there was no fire, though they all agreed they could smell something burning. All day Jon had remembered to worry about dying in the tall building. He remembered to sit awake at night and think about burning to death on the top floor of his building in a fire. He remembered to make a pot of coffee so he could stay awake longer and worry about dying in a fire. He even remembered to dream about dying in a fire on the fifth floor of his building. Jon remembered to do all this, but forgot to turn off his coffee pot. Jon had not smelled a fire at all, but rather Jon had drank almost all the coffee in his coffee pot and had smelled the last little bit evaporating from it. Jon felt foolish.
Author's Notes
This is a retelling from the "Foolish, Timid Rabbit" in the Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babitt. I updated the story to use people instead of animals. The lesson of the story is not to panic so I used the scenario of a Fire to express that because we have always been told "Don't yell fire if there is not fire" because people will panic and run and people can get hurt. So I thought this would fit right in perfect with the story of the rabbit.
Well, I didn't read the Indian story, but when I read this story it reminded me perfectly of the story of Chicken Little crying "The sky is falling!" and creating a panic. This was a very good way to tell this same fable in a more grown-up and real-life setting. It almost sounds more like a drama than a kitschy kid's tale, the way you tell it. Nice work.
ReplyDeleteI chose to read the other assigned readings for this week but your story was still great nonetheless. I think you did a great job of modernizing the tale and using the very relatable topic of protocol when a fire is detected was very clever in spinning the story in your own way. The dialogues and diction were very well written and you are very talented! Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read the Jataka Tales, but I really enjoyed this story. The seriousness of Jon's fear did not set in until he woke up in the middle of the night and his first thought was that there was a fire. I really enjoyed the little addition about the building manager's dream. It was a very funny and stereotypical way to describe his character. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHey good morning Joe. This was great story and I really enjoyed reading it. I think you did a fantastic job getting the same point across as the original story. The retelling of the story in a modern setting was another nice touch. I felt as though it was more relatable than the original. Keep up the great work, Joe.
ReplyDeleteJoe, I did not read the story you based this storytelling post off of, but I really enjoyed it. I think you did a great job of changing the point of view with a modern twist. I liked how you made it relatable for the rest of us by comparing it to fire protocols that all of us have ingrained into our brains. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteJoe, I liked reading this story because it was modern day and easy to follow. Based on your author's note I can see how you pulled this scenario from the story you read from the unit. It is funny how Jon used every waking and sleeping moment to worry about dying from a fire and yet he did not go so far as to take the proper precautions to prevent a fire. Even though there was not a fire, there could have been. Great work.
ReplyDeleteHey Joe! I have not read the Jataka Tales reading unit, but many storytelling assignments from this week seem to be focused on them so I might have to check it out for another week. Did you enjoy them?
ReplyDeleteI liked your story. You write in a way that really makes it clear what you want to say and that is something I can appreciate. I liked that you wrote about something everyone can relate to. Fire is a scary thing and it is a way that we are all taught not to "cry wolf" so I think you did a great job relaying that in your story. Great job this week!