Week 11 Story: Tricky Bluebird
A bluebird had bathed in the same lake every morning for the past four days. Each morning, he had noticed a coyote lurking in the background watching him bathe, but the coyote never made any advancements towards him. The morning he came out of the lake with blue feathers however, the coyote finally approached him and asked how he was able to do that, saying he wanted to be blue too.
Now, the bluebird saw this as his chance to get the coyote off his back for a while. The coyote was probably only withstanding from eating him because he was so amazed the bluebird had been able to turn such a beautiful blue. So easily amused, the bluebird thought. He laughed to himself. Haha! His own mind will keep himself distracted for the rest of his days.
So the bluebird told the coyote exactly what he did, and the coyote followed it religiously. As it happened with the bluebird, the coyote also turned blue, and as the bluebird predicted, the coyote was so preoccupied with his newly colored fur that he did not pay attention to anything else. While the bluebird watched the coyote from afar, he saw the coyote run himself into a tree stump. The force was so hard, that it threw the coyote back into the brown dirt. When the coyote stood back up to shake himself off, he found that the dirt had stuck to his fur, completely dying over the blue he had just received. Now distraught, he spent the rest of his days distracted by his sadness, covered with dirt-brown fur.
Author's Note:
In the original story, bluebirds were actually an ugly color to being with. There was a bluebird who bathed in a lake for four mornings on four days. Each time he bathed, he would sing a song. On the fifth day, he came out with blue feathers. A coyote that had been watching the bluebird as prey, saw this and became fascinated. He asked the bluebird how he was able to dye his feathers blue, and the bluebird told him how he did it. The coyote did the same, and sure enough, the fifth day he was blue. However, the coyote was so distracted by his new color that he didn't pay attention to anything else around him, and ran into a tree so hard that it threw him down into the dirt. That is why bluebirds are blue, and coyotes are the color of dirt.
I thought this story was very simple and interesting, and it honestly makes sense to me. The only thing that bothered me was how willingly the bluebird was to help the coyote become the same color, even though the coyote had been stalking it to eat. While the bluebird probably wasn't aware that the coyote was wanting to eat him for dinner, I thought it might be interesting to write from the point as if the bluebird knew, and that he knew the coyote's pride and self-awe in changing his own color would ultimately backfire.
Bibliography:
How the Bluebird and Coyote Got Their Colors by Katharine Berry Judson
Now, the bluebird saw this as his chance to get the coyote off his back for a while. The coyote was probably only withstanding from eating him because he was so amazed the bluebird had been able to turn such a beautiful blue. So easily amused, the bluebird thought. He laughed to himself. Haha! His own mind will keep himself distracted for the rest of his days.
So the bluebird told the coyote exactly what he did, and the coyote followed it religiously. As it happened with the bluebird, the coyote also turned blue, and as the bluebird predicted, the coyote was so preoccupied with his newly colored fur that he did not pay attention to anything else. While the bluebird watched the coyote from afar, he saw the coyote run himself into a tree stump. The force was so hard, that it threw the coyote back into the brown dirt. When the coyote stood back up to shake himself off, he found that the dirt had stuck to his fur, completely dying over the blue he had just received. Now distraught, he spent the rest of his days distracted by his sadness, covered with dirt-brown fur.
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| Coyote. Source: Flickr. |
Author's Note:
In the original story, bluebirds were actually an ugly color to being with. There was a bluebird who bathed in a lake for four mornings on four days. Each time he bathed, he would sing a song. On the fifth day, he came out with blue feathers. A coyote that had been watching the bluebird as prey, saw this and became fascinated. He asked the bluebird how he was able to dye his feathers blue, and the bluebird told him how he did it. The coyote did the same, and sure enough, the fifth day he was blue. However, the coyote was so distracted by his new color that he didn't pay attention to anything else around him, and ran into a tree so hard that it threw him down into the dirt. That is why bluebirds are blue, and coyotes are the color of dirt.
I thought this story was very simple and interesting, and it honestly makes sense to me. The only thing that bothered me was how willingly the bluebird was to help the coyote become the same color, even though the coyote had been stalking it to eat. While the bluebird probably wasn't aware that the coyote was wanting to eat him for dinner, I thought it might be interesting to write from the point as if the bluebird knew, and that he knew the coyote's pride and self-awe in changing his own color would ultimately backfire.
Bibliography:
How the Bluebird and Coyote Got Their Colors by Katharine Berry Judson
Hi Julia. I enjoyed your version of the story, and your author's note was a great add on to it that made me better understand it. I like that you made the blue bird into a bit of a trickster. I always love a good trickster story! Your description of how the Coyote lost his beautiful blue fur put a quite entertaining image in my head.
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Hi Julia! I really enjoyed your version of the story. It really made more sense the way you told it, that the bird knew it was prey but decided to play along. It's always fun in a story to trick something like a coyote, but it would surely be interesting if they had stayed blue forever! Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Julia! You do an excellent job at storytelling and setting the scene. I can really imagine the bluebird bathing in the lake and the coyote watching sneakily. I had never heard this story before, but I really liked the uniqueness of it. You almost feel bad for the coyote, right after he gets his blue fur it turns brown! At least the bluebird escaped being eaten!
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