Tell Me a Story… – A Second Life Tradition
There is an unofficial tradition in Second Life… well, I think I just made it a tradition… 
There is a tradition in second life… every now and again there will be the opportunity to share a story and tell it to your friend or friends. Stories, even silly made up ones can be comforting in a time of sadness. This is one I conjured up on the fly for a friend who was not feeling his best. I probably stole it from someone one or somewhere in the depths of my brain… you can comment back if you have heard any of it.
I have made up quick stories to tell a few times in Second Life, well, more often these days than in real life. I was able to snag this one and it fits my story challenge so I’ll share the moment. Terry didn’t mind that I did.
(Pardon the spelling… who hasn’t asked or at least dreamed of a spell check for second life?)
[2008/05/28 23:10] You: tell me a story
[2008/05/28 23:10] You: smiles
[2008/05/28 23:10] Terrence Zhangsun: all my stories would be depressing right now
[2008/05/28 23:11] You: maybe I could tell you a story
[2008/05/28 23:11] Terrence Zhangsun: a happy one?
[2008/05/28 23:11] You: I can sure try
[2008/05/28 23:11] You: give me three things
[2008/05/28 23:11] Terrence Zhangsun: pardon me?
[2008/05/28 23:11] You: three nouns
[2008/05/28 23:12] Terrence Zhangsun: lion, prey, mistress
[2008/05/28 23:12] You: smiles
[2008/05/28 23:12] You: happy one?
[2008/05/28 23:12] You: interesting is so much better
[2008/05/28 23:12] You: hahahah
[2008/05/28 23:13] You: easier anyways
[2008/05/28 23:13] You: thinks
[2008/05/28 23:13] You: “will the mistress take her tea in the carriage?”
[2008/05/28 23:13] You: yes I do believe she will today…
[2008/05/28 23:14] You: where has the “mistress” been keeping herself today Suba
[2008/05/28 23:14] You: “Oh, watching the pride of lions… across the plane sir.”
[2008/05/28 23:15] You: “She does like watching them doesn’t she?”
[2008/05/28 23:15] You: “She has been out there all day. The women of the village have begun to call her kawanibar… ”
[2008/05/28 23:16] You: “Kawanibar?…”
[2008/05/28 23:16] You: “Oh yes sir… Kawanibar, is a legend of the village sir…”
[2008/05/28 23:16] You: “Would you like to hear the story sir…”
[2008/05/28 23:17] You: “Yes suba, that would be very good…”
[2008/05/28 23:17] You: Kawanibar was a woman… from this village … many many years ago…”
[2008/05/28 23:17] You: “Back when the planes had more water…”
[2008/05/28 23:17] You: “And the moon was lower in the sky…”
[2008/05/28 23:18] You: “Kawanibar was married to the village elder …”
[2008/05/28 23:18] You: “The Chief?”
[2008/05/28 23:18] You: “oh yes… sir… the Chief as you call him…”
[2008/05/28 23:18] You: “He was a proud man sir…”
[2008/05/28 23:18] You: proud
[2008/05/28 23:19] You: “Hmmm… tell me more of Kawanibar.”
[2008/05/28 23:19] You: “Yes, Sir…
[2008/05/28 23:19] You: “Well… Kawanibar, was a beautiful girl..”
[2008/05/28 23:20] You: “As she grew, she seemed to become more beautiful…”
[2008/05/28 23:20] You: “She was quite reserved, but the elder… he always feared…”
[2008/05/28 23:20] You: “Feared?”
[2008/05/28 23:20] You: “Yes sir…
[2008/05/28 23:20] You: “what could he fear…?”
[2008/05/28 23:21] You: “he feared that he did not have the love of Kawanibar”
[2008/05/28 23:21] You: “but did he?”
[2008/05/28 23:21] You: “Oh yes he did…”
[2008/05/28 23:21] You: “But everyday, kawanibar would go to the planes…”
[2008/05/28 23:21] You: “Everyday she would go watch the lions…”
[2008/05/28 23:22] You: “Sleeping below the big tree, sunning themselves, cleaning, and hunting prey…”
[2008/05/28 23:22] You: “They said her eyes shined when she saw them…”
[2008/05/28 23:22] You: “And slowly they say, she became one of their own…”
[2008/05/28 23:22] You: “So he was jealous of the lions?!?”
[2008/05/28 23:22] You: “Why yes… sir…
[2008/05/28 23:23] You: “that is ridiculous….
[2008/05/28 23:23] You: “I’m sorry sir… shall we call the mistress for tea…?”
[2008/05/28 23:23] You: “hmmm… no no… umm… please continue with the story…”
[2008/05/28 23:23] You: “Yes sir…”
[2008/05/28 23:24] You: “well… one day there was a huge wind storm on the planes…”
[2008/05/28 23:25] You: “the elder came in from hunting… and the village was in disarray… the villagers tying down the huts…”
[2008/05/28 23:25] You: “it was a rare thing these wind storms…
[2008/05/28 23:25] You: “but when they came … people were hurt, or died, or were lost…”
[2008/05/28 23:26] You: “the elder looked for Kawanibar, and the villagers had forgotten. But on that day… she went out to watch the lions…”
[2008/05/28 23:26] You: “the elder ran to the place where the villagers told him the lions were…
[2008/05/28 23:26] You: “and what he saw was horrific…
[2008/05/28 23:27] You: “as the elder looked upon the plane, he saw kawanibar among the lions
[2008/05/28 23:27] You: “resting her head on one of the lions as she slept…”
[2008/05/28 23:28] You: “the lions eyes met his… and he ran towards the lion… yelling at the top of his lungs…
[2008/05/28 23:28] You: Am I boring you?
[2008/05/28 23:28] Terrence Zhangsun: no, i’m listening intently
[2008/05/28 23:29] You: is it enjoyable?
[2008/05/28 23:29] Terrence Zhangsun: i am enjoying it immensely
[2008/05/28 23:29] You: blushes… let me get a drink and I will continue
[2008/05/28 23:29] Terrence Zhangsun: ok
[2008/05/28 23:30] You: ok
[2008/05/28 23:31] You: He was so enraged… so angry… his heart pulled up from his chest…
[2008/05/28 23:32] You: the villager say that his whole body turned a color so red… redder than the center of the ripest blood fruit in the latest of the spring
[2008/05/28 23:32] You: the lion got up
[2008/05/28 23:32] You: and in getting up Kawanibar awoke
[2008/05/28 23:33] You: as she slowly raised her eyes
[2008/05/28 23:33] You: she saw and heard the elder approach…
[2008/05/28 23:33] You: she was horrified…
[2008/05/28 23:34] You: “What are you doing here my master?”
[2008/05/28 23:34] You: “I am here to take you back to the village Kawanibar”
[2008/05/28 23:34] You: the lion stood in front of her
[2008/05/28 23:34] You: now starting to growl
[2008/05/28 23:35] You: “but I will be back to the village in a little while my master…”
[2008/05/28 23:35] You: “there is nothing to worry here…”
[2008/05/28 23:35] You: “This just infuriated him more…
[2008/05/28 23:35] You: “Yes Suba I can imagine…”
[2008/05/28 23:36] You: “The wind startedd to swirl…”
[2008/05/28 23:36] You: “The storm had approached … the lions got closer… and still the one stood in front of Kawanibar as she spoke…”
[2008/05/28 23:36] You: “Come here now Kawanibar…”
[2008/05/28 23:37] You: “I cannot my master… please do not come any closr…”
[2008/05/28 23:37] You: “And the lion roared..”
[2008/05/28 23:37] You: “Kawanibar… touched the lions mane…”
[2008/05/28 23:37] You: “it seem to calm slightly..”
[2008/05/28 23:37] You: “At seeing this the elder threw his spear….”
[2008/05/28 23:38] You: “you see … to be an elder you needed to be an expert at hunting with spear sir..”
[2008/05/28 23:38] You: “Yes yes suba… of course I knew that… please… what happedn..”
[2008/05/28 23:39] You: “the wind churned…
[2008/05/28 23:39] You: “the villagers say that the dust turnedd to red…
[2008/05/28 23:39] You: “the same red… of the reddest blood fruit…”
[2008/05/28 23:39] You: “and Kawanibar… disappeared…”
[2008/05/28 23:40] You: “it was at that time that the lion attacked the elder…
[2008/05/28 23:40] You: “and the elder was no more..:’
[2008/05/28 23:41] You: “Kawanibar disappeared you say…”
[2008/05/28 23:41] You: ?
[2008/05/28 23:41] You: “Well not exactly
[2008/05/28 23:41] You: “After the wind storms past…
[2008/05/28 23:41] You: “the villagers said they lasted longer than they ever had
[2008/05/28 23:42] You: “there was a loud roar after the evening of the third day
[2008/05/28 23:42] You: when the villagers looked out side their hut
[2008/05/28 23:42] You: the saw… Kawanibar…
[2008/05/28 23:42] You: “she was there?
[2008/05/28 23:42] You: “well …
[2008/05/28 23:42] You: “Well well… Suba… was she there or not?
[2008/05/28 23:43] You: “Yes… there in the center of the village.. .stood a beautiful female lion…
[2008/05/28 23:43] You: “with hair as red as the ripest blood fruit
[2008/05/28 23:43] You: “I see…
[2008/05/28 23:43] You: “so they call her kawanibar because she has red hair…?
[2008/05/28 23:43] You: “I suppose so, sir…
[2008/05/28 23:44] You: “shall we go get her?
[2008/05/28 23:44] You: “Let me put the fire from the tea and I will show you the way…”
[2008/05/28 23:44] You: “That is ok… point me the way… Suba
[2008/05/28 23:44] You: “Yes sir…
[2008/05/28 23:45] You: And as the master found him self before the tree… he saw Kawanibar.. sleeping on the back of a lion..
[2008/05/28 23:45] You: the end
[2008/05/28 23:45] You: smiles wide
[2008/05/28 23:45] You: hehehhe
[2008/05/28 23:45] You: (waits for sores)
[2008/05/28 23:45] You: snores
[2008/05/28 23:45] Terrence Zhangsun: claps ecstatically
[2008/05/28 23:46] You: kind of leaves the endeding open
[2008/05/28 23:46] You: ending
[2008/05/28 23:46] Terrence Zhangsun: a little
[2008/05/28 23:46] You: hehehe… he has a choice
[2008/05/28 23:46] You: I should have mentioned he had a gun
[2008/05/28 23:46] You: hahahahha
[2008/05/28 23:46] You: different than a spear
[2008/05/28 23:46] You: but it leaves it open
[2008/05/28 23:46] Terrence Zhangsun: now who’s silly?
Of course I am never silly, but that is another story. -DV
(Thanks Thad Maertens for the great picture of me reading… hugs)
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That is a gorgeous story..full of meaning I think. Rich imagery and a smooth flow. Reminiscent of Dinesen. Just lovely.
Wow… thank you. In all honesty, I had to look up Dinesen (looks as if there has been a number women who have written under a male pen name). I did see the movie “Out of Africa”… Smiles… You are very kind.
I seem to remember a young elfin boy who had a wonderful way with spinning a tale. I wonder if he would let me publish the story he once shared if I could find it? Or if we could find him, that wearer of green and brown, if he would weave another story of a time where the happenings of the day were more about the heart and less about hate. You think you know where to find him?
As you probably already know from your story telling: a difficulty of typing a tale (and I suspect speaking one as well), is the problem of permanence. Once you type a line, you can’t very well go back and correct something without losing the flow of the story, or distracting the “listener”; unless of course, the correction becomes part of the story itself.
As you can tell by the “talk” at the end of the post, I was still spinning the details of the end of the story in my mind. My thought in that moment was, that for the honest reader, there could only be about two real fitting outcomes to the story.
Thanks so much -DV