Week 3 Story: Dasharatha's Sons
Author's note:
This is an alternate retelling of Dasharatha's Sons by Donald A. Mackenzie. In this story, King Dasharatha does not yet have an heir, so he performs Ashwamedha (horse sacrifice) so that the gods will grant him an heir. Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Indra, and Maruts came down and promised the king that he will have four sons.
Dasharatha's Sons, Donald A. Mackenzie
King Steph Curry is desperate for a ring. The year is 2010 and although he has only been in the league for one year, he is desperate for a ring. Curry resolved to perform the secret ritual: tanking. He will purposely lose games so that the lottery gods will grant them a high draft pick, thus boosting the potential of getting a star basketball player. When he told the rest of his teammates, their faces lit up with joy.
On the night of the full moon of the month of October, Curry and his team decided to tank. As was customary, Curry did everything to lose. Bad passes, no defense, horrible shots: Curry did everything. After playing terrible basketball for one year, the lottery gods blessed him with the 11th pick. This became a potential star teammate: Klay Thompson. Curry, however, wanted more. The next season, Curry and Klay continued to play horrible basketball, as was needed in performance of this ritual. Curry even went as far as to injure his own ankle just to increase their odds of getting a high lottery pick.
The night before the draft, Curry and Klay did whatever they could to get the blessings of the lottery gods. Twenty-one sacrificial basketballs were set up for the lottery gods while the Warrior's GM started chanting mantras. Their hard work payed off, and their prayers were answered by the lottery gods. In the next draft, Curry's team was blessed with the 7th pick. This became a crucial piece in Harrison Barnes. The lottery gods also blessed them with the 35th pick: star teammate Draymond Green.
All the pieces were in place. That night, San Antonio Spurs legend Tim Duncan as well as Lakers legend Kobe Bryant visited the Golden State Warriors. Before they departed, the legends promised that 3 championships will be born to Curry.
This is an alternate retelling of Dasharatha's Sons by Donald A. Mackenzie. In this story, King Dasharatha does not yet have an heir, so he performs Ashwamedha (horse sacrifice) so that the gods will grant him an heir. Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Indra, and Maruts came down and promised the king that he will have four sons.
Dasharatha's Sons, Donald A. Mackenzie
King Steph Curry is desperate for a ring. The year is 2010 and although he has only been in the league for one year, he is desperate for a ring. Curry resolved to perform the secret ritual: tanking. He will purposely lose games so that the lottery gods will grant them a high draft pick, thus boosting the potential of getting a star basketball player. When he told the rest of his teammates, their faces lit up with joy.
King Steph Curry, trying his best to lose basketball games
On the night of the full moon of the month of October, Curry and his team decided to tank. As was customary, Curry did everything to lose. Bad passes, no defense, horrible shots: Curry did everything. After playing terrible basketball for one year, the lottery gods blessed him with the 11th pick. This became a potential star teammate: Klay Thompson. Curry, however, wanted more. The next season, Curry and Klay continued to play horrible basketball, as was needed in performance of this ritual. Curry even went as far as to injure his own ankle just to increase their odds of getting a high lottery pick.
The night before the draft, Curry and Klay did whatever they could to get the blessings of the lottery gods. Twenty-one sacrificial basketballs were set up for the lottery gods while the Warrior's GM started chanting mantras. Their hard work payed off, and their prayers were answered by the lottery gods. In the next draft, Curry's team was blessed with the 7th pick. This became a crucial piece in Harrison Barnes. The lottery gods also blessed them with the 35th pick: star teammate Draymond Green.
All the pieces were in place. That night, San Antonio Spurs legend Tim Duncan as well as Lakers legend Kobe Bryant visited the Golden State Warriors. Before they departed, the legends promised that 3 championships will be born to Curry.
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Anthony, I very much appreciated the connection you made between the story from The Ramayana and this re-make that includes stars of the NBA. More so, that it's cleverly aligns with the plot of the former! There are so many aspects in this story that fits so well with the original, such as the lottery pick to see who was to take the heir to the throne of basketball legend. This is creativity at its peak.
ReplyDeleteAnthony,
ReplyDeleteThis is my attempt to give you feedback on your story.
I really liked your creativity in writing this story. The fact that you focused on such a specific element of the Ramayana and found a comparable situation in the real world is really imaginative! Specifically, noting that tanking is comparable to a ritual was a strong connection between the two stories that worked really well.
That said, I wonder if it would have been possible to better explain who all of the characters are? For example, I know that Steph Curry is a very good player in the NBA. Thus, him needing to tank was a little confusing. You potentially could have clarified his motivations better by stating something like "Knowing that his teammates lacked the strength to obtain the ring he desired..." Additionally, I have an idea as to who Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant are, but I would assume that not all readers have that same knowledge. What if you had simply stated that they are basketball gods? That could have put a nice bow on the whole story. In general, I think explaining who the vital characters are is very useful.
I liked your story! Great job!
Hi Anthony!
ReplyDeleteYour story really made me laugh. I love how you included details like the full moon and the twenty-one sacrifices from the original story about the Ashwamedha into a story about basketball. I do think that it would be cool if you could add a little more detail about each of the players and the team for those of us who don't know much about the NBA. You might think about just talking about the basketball aspect in your author's note to help you readers without actually having to change your story.