Z: Zhen and Ganea – A Fable

Ganea was a very pretty mare who liked a lot of attention. Especially attention the stallions gave her. Her long mane flowed and rippled, her hooves shone and her coat was flashy. Anywhere she trotted, the stallions around were looking. And she loved it.

Zhen, however, wasn’t quite as pretty as Ganea. Oh she was pretty, but sometimes, when hanging around the gorgeous Ganea, she didn’t feel like it. When all the stallions turned toward Ganea, leaving Zhen in the corner, she felt alone and ugly.

One day, Ganea noticed it. That day, she took Zhen to her stall. “Here you are, sweetheart!!” Ganea giggled, tossing Zhen special shampoo to make her coat flashy, special conditioner to make her mane ripple, and paint to put on her hooves. She applied makeup and then let Zhen look in the mirror.

Zhen could hardly believe it!! She looked gorgeous!! Just like Ganea! But, Zhen then noticed that she didn’t look anything like Zhen. She was a totally different mare.

She washed the stuff off and turned to Ganea. “I think I’ll just be myself.”

Several years later, a weary preacher came to Ganea and Zhen’s pasture. He wasn’t the handsomest stallion around, but he and Zhen fell in love and were married. It was the most beautiful marriage ever, the others said, because they had both waited for each other and never gave any other horse part of their heart.

Ganea, however, never had a steady date. She was always flirting and bouncing around from handsome date to handsomer date. She always got the handsome ones, the gossips said. One day, she found that she wasn’t as pretty as the younger mares coming up. The stallions started paying more and more attention to them instead. Soon, Ganea was all by her lonesome self and she wished that she hadn’t wasted her life on parties, short term stallions, and living for the moment.

Zhen died surrounded by her loving children who tenderly cared for her in her last days. Ganea died by herself, broken spiritually and physically. Zhen was loved and cherished because of who she was. Ganea was loved for her looks and charming personality—only used if the stallion was handsome—that always made even the biggest loser feel good. Zhen had a good life. Ganea wasn’t quite sure what she had, but it wasn’t like Zhen’s.

They lived two very different lives and had two very different outcomes. Who would you rather be, Zhen or Ganea?

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For my History, (The Mystery of History Vol. 1) I had to write a fable as we were learning about Aesop and his fables. Did you know that he was murdered? Yes, he refused to take some money from King Croesus to the people of Delphi but Aesop didn’t think they deserved it. The people of Delphi were so angry, they threw him over a cliff!!!!

Y is for Your Turn

Ok this is how it’s going to work. I will give you the beginning of a story and then in the comments below, continue the story!! Be sure to continue it from the comments if someone has already commented. 🙂 Got it? Ok, let’s do this!!

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Dear Sabrina,

I haven’t heard from you for a long time. Have you forgotten about me? I suppose I can’t really blame you though. I’ve been away so long. I’ve sent you letter after letter through Nazar. 

At least I did. 

Until he tried to kill me. I haven’t really been in touch with him since then. But still, my friend tells me that he has his assassins on my trail. 

What did I do? Nothing. I did nothing wrong. I did everything he told me to and yet, still he tries to kill me. Why? I don’t know. 

I guess you know by now that I did not send this through Nazar. I just wanted to make sure that you are receiving my letters and that Nazar hasn’t fed you some crazy story. 

Sabrina, listen closely. If you ever want to see me; if you still have any feelings for me at all; if you still love me; come see me. Please. Come to El Lobo and find Armando. Don’t worry. You will know him when you see him. He will inform me of your coming and I will come get you.

Please come, Sabrina.

Love, 

Your husband

The letter was folded and handed off. “Make sure it gets safely in her hands.” Diego warned.

“It will,” he was assured.

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So? How should the story continue? Write your piece, short or long, in the comments and let’s see where this takes us!! 😀

 

X: X

X…Wow. Definitely the hardest letter in the dictionary.

But Xojo starts with an X. Pronounced Zo-jo, it is a programming language. My Dad uses it for his work and on Sunday, left to go to the Xojo Developers Conference and give two lectures/presentations/talks. I’m not quite sure what they call them. (So proud of him!)

And there’s always that X factor. I wonder why it means something special? Hmmm. Check this out, btw. It talks about it. I wonder if I have ‘it’?

But then the X turns bad with X-rated movies. Why on earth would anyone even think of producing a movie like that?????? I guess it’s because people will watch it, huh? Christians, this is a call to prayer. Prayer for those who make them and prayers for those who watch them and the families it messes up.

X goes interesting again with the X-ray Fish. You can’t exactly see this in the picture but they are a small, almost transparent freshwater fish and it’s native to South America. Wow. Transparent fish!!!!

But here’s another interesting X. Xanadu is an idealized place of great or idyllic [extremely happy, peaceful, or picturesque] magnificence and beauty. Are they thinking about Heaven? That is the only place I can think of that will be completely Xanadu.

What is your favorite X word?

W: Weather

V: Very Cool Story

OK. Warning. Guns mentioned below. If you don’t like them. Stop reading. If you do like them, well then you’ll love this story and be sure to read. 🙂

U: Utnapishtim

I have to read The Epic of Gilgamesh for my history this year. Not that it’s a bad thing, I throughly enjoyed it!!! It was written c. 2000 B.C.

One thing that amazed me. Gilgamesh…what did he do? He search for eternal life. And when he found it, what happened?

A snake stole it.

A sly snake stole his eternal life and he was never able to get it back again.

Does that sound familiar?

Genesis 3!! 🙂

And then there was Utnapishtim, who somehow, popped up in the middle of the story. Totally interrupted it…and I’m still not sure why. I guess it had to be told somewhere, right?

But what is so stunning about Utnapishtim is that he survived a great flood!! Ok, so yeah, the story is a bit mixed up. For one, he brought all kinds of crafts masters with him. And then after that, he and his wife became gods.

But wow!! I just thought that was really, really cool. I am so glad that I had the chance to read this book!!

However, my favorite part is still the snake stealing Gilgamesh’s eternal life. 🙂

T: ‘The Death of Sennacherib’ by Lord Byron

For my History, we were learning about Hezekiah and Sennacherib and I was required to read this poem. You know Sennacherib, right? The guy who told all the Jews that no other god had stood up to him and neither would the Lord of Israel. Well, God had something to say about that. You can read about it in Isaiah 37:21-38. This is Lord Byron’s version of it:

The Death of Sennacherib

  The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,

And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;

And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,

When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

 

  Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,

That host with their banners at sunset were seen:

Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,

That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

   For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,

And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;

And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,

And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!

 

  And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,

But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;

And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,

And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

   And there lay the rider distorted and pale,

With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:

And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,

The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

   And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,

And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;

And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,

Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

Awesome poem or what????

S: Snoopy

 

I am a Snoopy fan. Always have been. From the first time I saw him (on my Grandpa’s desk) to all the free Amazon movies I’ve watched of him (not that many actually, but I’m not going to spend my money on a movie!! 😉 I’m saving for college!!) Honestly, what’s not to like about a little beagle with Woodstock as his friend doing just about anything?? It’s awesome!!

When I saw that Snoopy had things to say about writing…well, I couldn’t resist. I just had to have a post of Snoopy. Sorry to all of you who like Peppermint Paddy or Charlie Brown better than Snoopy…but oh well. You just need to get your priorities straight!!

Lucy and Peppermint Patty simply crack me up. I can’t help it. Maybe it’s the fact that I tend to get pushy sometimes like Peppermint? Or that my mouth can go like Lucy?

Snoopy’s comical letters to so many people also crack me up. I have two of my dad’s old comic books of Peanuts (ok, so they’re kind of falling apart and I might only have three-quarters of the page…) and Snoopy is always writing to someone. Either that, or trying to prove to Peppermint Patty’s Principal that the dog school she went to really did count as her schooling and she shouldn’t have to do any more…

Yup. That went about as good as you expected and Peppermint came over to pound Snoopy. 🙂

What is it about the Peanuts cartoons that I like?? Well, I don’t know. What is it that I like? I like Snoopy, because he’s so funny. I like Woodstock because he’s so loyal. (There’s a cartoon of cold fall coming and Snoopy is getting ready to tell him to go south when Woodstock comes up wearing a coat and huddling next to Snoopy.) I like Lucy, because she’s simply hilarious though sometimes I can see my quick responses come close to hers. I like Peppermint Patty who knows what she wants and how to get it. And is quite pushy to get it. Ok, ok, sometimes I’m like that too. Linus is…I love Linus. Especially in one of the Christmas ones (I don’t remember which), when talking about the angels and ‘do not be afraid’, drops his safety blanket.

And then there’s Charlie Brown. Poor Charlie Brown. He can’t seem to do anything right, can he? I can identify with him again and again. But we all seem to like him…why? Because our inside self sympathizes, I guess. Yet he and Snoopy…what a pair.

What a pair.

 

R: Raised in a Barn

Q: Quotes

Isn’t it interesting how quotes effect us? The way we are either encouraged and strengthened or discouraged and depressed by them? Or sometimes, they’re just hilarious and raise your spirits. I made the Pilgrim’s Progress Quotes because I had to read it for Literature this year. Pilgrim’s Progress and Call of the Wild were two of my favorite stories.

 

Twelfth Night was incomprehensible, Romeo and Juliet was all about disobedient children killing and dying (although the friar had some wise advice), Pride and Prejudice was too predictable (why did Jane put so much emphasis on Darcy??), Oliver Twist was ok but not a favorite (talk about a crazy plot line), and a Christmas Carol was a fun story with mixed up theology (when you die, you might float around as a ghost ).

 

The Gandalf quote is my favorite line for Gandalf in the book and the movies. I can’t help it. It’s one of those hilarious ones that raise my spirits because I’m cracking up too much, thankful that Gandalf was doing it to Bilbo and not me…Cause probably, if he were doing it to me, I would come up with the same look as Bible, the *uh, um, well,* look. 🙂

 

Dwalin, the dwarf, was pretty wise too. And his quote says a whole lot more than Gandalf’s does. Isn’t it true though? This is the kind of quote that encourages and strengthens. At least I don’t have to worry about leaving my pocket-handkerchiefs behind. I haven’t got any!! 🙂

 

Don’t count Finnick Odair out of my list of favorites quite yet. I love this quote from him, both in the book, and in the movie. And it’s true. Don’t get addicted to the TV and you don’t have to struggle to get off of it. Don’t get addicted to candy and you don’t have to get off of it. Don’t get addicted to alcohol and you don’t have to get off of it. Don’t get addicted to blogging and you don’t have to get off of it.

 

I simply had to put this one out there. Star Trek: Voyager is my favorite Star Trek. 🙂 But then again, I also like Star Trek: Enterprise a lot too. The only Star Trek that I don’t like is the Original. I know, I know!! How can I not like that one?? Easy. I fall asleep through it. So does my Dad.

But to those of you who have also watched Voyager, you all know how much Janeway likes her coffee, right? Well, isn’t that just the perfect discription of her coffee addiction??? 😀 Maybe she should listen to Finnick. 🙂 (Yeah, so that’s not really a quote, that’s more of a tease Janeway…but oh well.)

 

And what kind of quoter would I be without Yoda? I was looking for one that said Try not. Do. But instead I found this awesome picture with all kinds of Yoda quotes. So far my favorite? When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not. Let’s face it, from that quote alone we can tell that Yoda is a pretty wise guy. But he continues. Named must your fears be before banish it you can. Or Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will. I personally think that Shakespeare and Yoda talked together before Shakespeare wrote his plays. Shakespeare seems to have a lot of Yoda dialect. You know, like saying everything backward???

 

I love this picture first of all and then the quote on it just cinches the deal. Not only is it the cutest thing ever to see the littlest horse with the little boy meeting up perfectly with the biggest Clydesdale ever, the saying on it….Friendship isn’t always about seeing eye to eye, it’s about meeting in the middle. My friend and I have been friends since we were four. We’re as different as all get out, but maybe that’s why we’re such good friends. We compliment each other perfectly!!!

 

And then my last and favorite of all. 

 

What is your favorite quote? 

P.S. It doesn’t have to be from my post.