Week 7 Storytelling: The Creation of Enemies

Long ago there were two little boys, named Tommy and Chuckie, who were the best of friends. Tommy and Chuckie were next-door neighbors and so they would play outside together everyday. Their parents had a magic ball that created a protective bubble around their houses so that the boys could play together and never be harmed. One day the ball was stolen, and all of the parents were sent into a panic about their boy’s safety.  Tommy and Chuckie overheard their parents panic and knew they would not be able to play together if they did not get the ball back. So the two set out on a journey to recover the ball.

“We must get the ball back,” said Tommy.

“But the ball is locked up in the mean man’s backyard,” replied Chuckie.

“Bring your doggie, Chuckie. Maybe he can dig a hole under the fence and get the ball for us!” said Tommy enthusiastically.

Chuckie suddenly became excited. So the two little boys snuck inside of Chuckie’s house, put his doggie on a leash, and ran out the door. Then Tommy began to walk down the cul-de-sac to the house where the mean man lived and Chuckie followed, dog in tow.

They then came to a busy street, in which Tommy was not allowed to cross. So Chuckie and his doggie used the crosswalk and made it to the other side. 

There at the corner of the street was the mean man’s house. Chuckie looked through a hole in the wooden fence and could see the ball in the middle of the yard. So he looked at his beloved doggie, which then licked Chuckie on the face, and told him to dig a really big hole under the fence. So the dog did as his little owner asked of him and dug a rather large hole under the fence and crawled under.

“Good job doggie!!” said Chuckie, “now get the ball and bring it to me, then I will give you a biiiiig treat when we get home.”

With its tail wagging and mouth slobbering, the dog went over and nudged the ball to th hole it had made in the fence. Chuckie pulled the ball out then gave his doggie a gigantic hug. He put the dirt back in the hole, grabbed his leashed doggie and the ball, and headed back to over where Tommy was waiting.

Tommy became so excited when he saw the ball and gave Chuckie a big hug. The two little boys and the dog started running – to the best of their abilities – back to their house. When they reached their houses Chuckie pushed Tommy in the grass and ran inside of his own house exclaiming to both his and Tommy’s parents that he had gotten the ball back all by himself! When the parents asked about Tommy, Chuckie told them that Tommy had been too afraid and decided that he would just wait in his front lawn until Chuckie returned. Both Tommy and Chuckie’s parents then praised Chuckie for being brave enough to go and get the ball back so that all of them would remain safe under its protection.

When Tommy finally got up off the grass he went inside Chuckie’s house and saw all of the parents praising Chuckie for his good deed and they were even giving him ice cream. Tommy went up to his mom and dad and they began scolding him for not being as brave as Chuckie and punished him by not allowing him to watch television or eat ice cream for a week.  

And that is how Tommy and Chuckie became enemies.

Pixar Ball (Pixar Wiki)

Authors Note. My retelling was based of the Chinese Fairy Tale, Why Dog and Cat are Enemies. In the story, the dog and the cat begin as best friends when something is stolen from their master they go on a journey to retrieve it, except the cat takes the item and reaches their masters house before the dog and is praised for being so brave to retrieve the stolen good while the dog is beaten and punished. And that is why they are now enemies. In my retelling I decided to keep the creation of enemies because everyone knows what is it like to have someone take credit for your good work, and teamwork in this case. 

Bibliography: The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).