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Hello everyone. Feel free to use this post to get in touch with me if you have any general comments or questions.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Week 6 Storytelling: Puss in Boots

Michael was the youngest of three sons. His parents were poor farmers in Oklahoma who barely managed to scrape by when they had good seasons. When they died, Michael and his brothers were forced to sell their farm to pay off their parents debt. The only thing he managed to keep was the old family barn cat. His brothers saw that there was nothing left for them in their hometown and decided to move on. Michael spent his days locked inside his trailer daydreaming and lamenting to his cat.
Image result for cat
Michael's cat, from Bahrat International
One early Sunday morning, Michael heard his cat said to him "If you don't want to have any more worries, just get me a pair of scissors, a plastic bag, and a pair of boots". Michael knew the cat was smart but he was second guessing whether or not he was dreaming or had has cat actually spoken to him. A few days later, Michael was feeling bored and sad after an unsuccessful morning of job applications, so he decided to indulge his cats request. He fashioned up some boots and dug the scissors out from the junk drawer then placed them in front of his cat with the bag, who proceeded to do absolutely nothing.

That night, the cat stole out of the trailer with his new belongings, determined to find his owner a new job. The next morning when Michael woke up he was even more dejected than usual when he thought his cat had abandoned him. He still drove to town, somehow even more determined than usual to succeed in his daily grind despite all of his recent setbacks weighing on him.

His cat had arrived in town the night before and broken into the hardware store where he knew Michael would be applying the next morning. He was prepared to do whatever it would take. His new boots kept his feet from slipping while he climbed to the top of the managers filing cabinets to wait and hide. When Michael arrived he waited patiently as the manager interviewed another man for the stockroom position. Michael gave his usual spiel about how he had fallen on hard times after his parents death and was now looking for a new job. However, the manager was not impressed and Michael knew it. He went home after another long day of failure.


The cat laid hidden in the office all day while he waited for the manager to leave. He knew that the manager would call back the first man who interviewed that morning and offer him the job. So, using the scissors, he cut the first mans application into a thousand pieces. He carefully put the pieces in the bag so that there would be no evidence. He now knew that the manager would have no choice but to hire Micheal to fill the position. The cat then collected his bag and crept back out of the store. The next morning, Michael received the phone call he had been waiting weeks for. He was hired to start work the next day. He shared a glance of happiness with his cat, not knowing the bad things that his cat had done to help him.

Author's Note: For my story this week, I was inspired by Andrew Lang's collection of European Fairy Tales, specifically by Puss in Boots. I decided to keep most of the themes and motivations from the original story line for my telling. The main things I updated and changed for my story was to bring it into modern times and I hope make it more relevant to the struggles of us who are graduating soon. 

I decided to cut out the romance element of the story line, and have the cat help our hero simply find a job. The cat still does an objectively bad thing to help his owner in this version, the man whose resume he cut up was more qualified than Michael. I felt that this was an important element from the original. The owner of the cat is either innocent or ignorant in either version depending on the readers interpretation. The cat is definitely malicious though, even if he comes from a place of wanting to help his owner. I also decided to remove the cat actually speaking to anyone to preserve some element of realism, Michael is convinced that his boredom is getting to the better of him. Thanks for reading. 

European Fairy Tales by Andrew Lang

9 comments:

  1. Hey Andrew,

    Not going to lie, this was a pretty strange story to read. I appreciate you taking some aspects of the original story out to make the story more realistic. I also agree with your idea of leaving the cat doing something bad to help his owner in the story because to me, that is the whole idea of Puss in Boots. He sacrifices his own dignity and moral compass for his owner's.

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  2. Hi Andrew! This was a super creative story to read. I immediately thought of Puss in Boots when the cat requested the pair of boots/put them on. You definitely took a creative twist on it, which was so fun to read. I laughed at the thought of a cat wearing boots and cutting up someone’s job application. It’s a funny mental picture. ☺

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  3. Hey Andrew, I found your story very interesting and clever about how the cat ended up getting the owner his job. I also liked the suspense that seemed to build up in the story. I was wondering why the cat would need those three specific things. Lastly, it was a neat element to not have the cat actually have the ability to speak. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Andrew, I am vaguely familiar with the original story that yours is based off of, but I like the way that you made it your own. The cat is manipulative and he kind of reminds me of Puss in Boots from the movie Shrek. He is sneaky and smart and nows how to use his talents to help his friends. I like how the cat is the only remaining thing that is important to Michael in the end, because my pets are very important to me as well.

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  5. Andrew,

    There are definitely some corrections to be made in the beginning part of your story with word choice. I felt myself really making a effort to decipher it more than focusing on enjoying the story. Like dejected, I would suggest using rejected.

    I like that you made this story more modern. I expected the story to have a bigger plot or something that really hooked me, but I felt like I was waiting for that as I kept reading. I would suggest for this story in your portfolio to use the editing style of a strong beginning and a strong end. I feel like I am picking up clues to learn more about the character as it goes on.

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  6. Aw, I really liked this adaptation of the Puss in Boots tale. You have an incredible voice for prose, and this seemingly simple story really came alive here. I felt Michael's dejection and the cleverness of his cat.
    I would like to see a little more shock about Michael being able to hear his cat speak! There's a moment of surprise but, heck, if my pet just up and started talking to me? I would FREAK out! I think that would round out the rest of this story really nicely.
    Also, the cat's request is pretty specific. Almost as if he already knew that Michael would get rejected... that may be the point here, but maybe include that somewhere? Maybe some inner dialogue of the cat? I think it also may be a cool idea to have the story show more of the inner workings of the cat's mind. You know, have him share his thoughts on how Michael is doing in his interview (especially if it's really bad! could provide for some humor). Just an idea :)

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  7. Hi Andrew,

    I have to admit that when I was reading your title, I was absolutely not expecting any of this. From Job applications and interviewing, I felt I was at the career services at the Union. Anyhow, I was just kidding but I really loved your story. I like your creativity, it made it very original and also unexpected. The cat was very smart unlike its owner, it managed very well to get him a job in less than 24hours. However, it might have been better if you added more drama or action to your story like making the cat go through some James Bond action in order to enter the office discretely. Or even in a more simpler way, Michael’s family could have left him a note saying that they had hidden a lot of money for them in case they died. Other than that, I really enjoyed reading your story, I look forward to your future stories.

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  8. I like the fact that you made the setting of the story in Oklahoma. I was wondering is this around the Dust Bowl era? I also had a few questions that came to mind when I was reading your story. How did Michael get a trailer? How did the cat know that Micheal was going to go to the hardware store the next day for an interview? Where did the cat dispose of the evidence? How did Micheal fell when he saw his cat return. Another thing I had on my mind is why is the story called Puss in Boots when you don't ever give the cat a name?

    I wonder what would happen if Micheal left town with his brothers instead of staying in town. I also wonder what it would be like if the cat wasn't able to talk to Micheal? I think you did a great job on your story. I can't wait to see what your other stories are like.

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  9. Andrew,

    I really like the fact that the guy's cat was determined to help him out. I do think it is interesting that you took out some of the dialogue between the cat and the human in order to make it more realistic, yet had the cat wear boots anyway. I wonder if this story would benefit from having the cat request different items, or at least not the boots, since you want to make it a bit more realistic? Cats are definitely stealthy enough as it is! I also wonder why the manager would not question where the other man's application went, and that he would just immediately hire Michael - seems like he wouldn't hire someone he didn't like, and that he would just hold more interviews? I also wonder, what's so unlikable about Michael anyway? Does he just complain about his circumstances too much? He seems like a perfectly nice guy, so I'm wondering why he's having such a hard time finding a job (especially since he has a car and a place to live!) Anyway, I thought your idea was creative, but perhaps you could add more detail or clarify some aspects.

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