Another day and another opportunity for Sindbad and Zoey to
set sail on a voyage to the unknown. Sindbad decided to gather a set of
sailors from neighboring states as well as take Zoey his best friend on board. Zoey was Sindbad's companion since day one. She helps in protecting the boat from invaders as well as retrieving items for Sindbad. Traditionally, taking people from different states was frowned upon but Sindbad explained to the Caliph that his motive for such a decision was to
motivate more people to go on merchant voyages as there were many opportunities
to find valuable treasure.
They set sail on a boat and drifted with the direction of
the wind hoping that they would stumble upon an island. For hours, they sailed on to the ocean until the saw the shadow of an island at the end of the
horizon. As they approached the island, the tall palm trees were the only thing
visible. The island seemed to be filled with valleys of diamonds but there
were eggs planted that were double the amount of diamonds there. The eggs
belonged to the roc, which is a big aggressive bird. Sindbad directly warned the
people on the ship to not approach the eggs when collecting diamonds upon
arrival. Till this point, Sindbad had full control of the ship but the
diamonds were too much of a temptation for other sailors. Sindbad and Zoey had a lot of
experiences on their voyages and had seen much more valuable things than that
valley of diamond. So they were not tempted to take any hasty decisions. The sailors on the ship but were mostly first time goers
on a voyage and have not seen beyond the horizon of Baghdad. Sindbad would get
sailors in such condition because he would want to train them himself.
As they hit the shores of the islands, the sailors broke the
word of Sindbad and ran to the valleys eager to gather as many diamonds as
possible. As the sailors eagerly reached the valleys, they ran to the diamonds
while stumbling near the eggs. Before the sailors gathered any diamonds, the rocs viciously
flew into the valley and outnumbering the sailors they gathered around them and
beat them to death. Sindbad could only sit back and watch as Zeoy was alert and warned them by barking but
they were too naïve to listen to his expertise. Sindbad, being the lone survivor
with Zoey on the ship, just waited and planned the safest way to gather all the
eggs. To scare off the birds he thought to take Zoey and go down to the valley.
Birds are intimidated by other animals and as long as they avoided the eggs, they
would be able to gather the diamonds.
 |
| Sindbad and Zoey |
As they left the ship into the valley, Sindbad and Zoey had
to be extremely cautious as there were a lot of eggs scattered everywhere. They
succeeded in gathering a bagful of diamonds and directly returned to the ship
after that. They then continued to sail until they reached Serendib. They
were welcomed by the King of India and awarded for their achievements. Zoey was given an honorary collar for her efforts, as well as unlimited steak treats and thick bones. They were able to sell all the diamonds to the king which made Sindbad extremely rich as he returned to back to Baghdad. The
news of the deaths of the sailors saddened everyone and Sindbad felt guilty as he was
responsible for the ship. As a gesture, Sindbad donated a large portion of the
trip’s profit to the families of the victims and was loved and appreciated for his good deed. Sindbad learned his lesson but was looking forward to setting
sail on his next voyage into the ocean.
Author's Note: This is a rewrite of Sindbad's fifth journey voyage. The story explains how Sindbad set sail to India and gathered sailors
from different countries. As they reached an island, the valleys were full of
diamonds but were surrounded with roc eggs. The sailors on the ship decided to
take the eggs and cook the meat from them which pissed off the parents. They
then dropped rocks on the sailors and killed them. Sindbad then met the Old Man
of the Sea who gripped onto him for days. He then got him drunk to loosen up his
grip and killed him. After he left and met
with other merchants who were able to gather coconuts. They then sold them and
made enough money to make Sindbad rich. As he returned he gave back to the improvished
porter as usual and waited until his next voyage. I chose to use a picture of
Sindbad and Zoey his best friend Labrador that helped him distract the birds to
gather the diamonds. Instead of making himself rich, this story focuses on the good
deeds Sindbad is known for.
Bibliography: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).
Image Information: I cropped Zoey from an existing picture of her and then used snapchat to insert her on the original photo of Sindbad.
Bibliography: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).
Image Information: I cropped Zoey from an existing picture of her and then used snapchat to insert her on the original photo of Sindbad.
Interesting that Sindbad was made into a more heroic character in your version! Also I just noticed that you photoshopped Zoey into the picture, didn't even realize it the first time through haha. Including Zoey made the story take a different turn, which is interesting, and I'm curious to know if any other stories will include her as a sort of running trope.
ReplyDeleteThis story has a very good plot line with well thought out ideas. I've never read the original story but by the way you described it, Sindbad seems to be a much better person in your version of the story. I really liked it a lot! I like how you added Zoey into the story and even added her into the picture you used. Haha.
ReplyDeleteI think you have a really good start to this story. Focusing on the good deeds of Sindbad is a good angle, and you can definitely do a lot with that! Adding some dialogue between Sindbad and Zoey would not only help lengthen the story, but would add some depth and more interest to the plot. This could also help give more insight into Sindbad’s character and what is going on inside his head, especially since you want to focus on his good deeds rather than his wealth. Opening with some dialogue between Sindbad and Zoey also might help add a “wow!” factor to your story and make it a little more attention grabbing. Some other things you might consider are starting in the middle of the story, kind of like a cliff hanger but at the beginning. Overall, I think you did a really good job and I think you have a lot of options for revisions!
ReplyDeleteI think that you did a great job writing the story! I found myself to be hooked from the first word. I agree with Lauren, however, that there is a significant need for more dialogue between Zoey and Sindbad. I think this would help add more detail to the story as well as add a unique conversation to set the story apart. I think otherwise you did great writing your story! It was well thought out and amazingly detailed. I really enjoyed reading your story and I can't wait to read more of them this semester! Good luck for the rest of the semester!
ReplyDeleteWow. I love the way you started your story. I got a little lost and distracted though after the first sentence, because I felt like there were a lot of details that didn't fit together all that well. I would suggest being more clear and concise with your sentences. Another suggestion would be to add in dialogue. Adding dialogue will help to develop the two human characters even more than they already are with the present descriptions. I really like the photo you used. I especially like the dog that is in the photo. Did you photoshop your own dog into it? Very clever. Lastly, I think you did a really nice job with this story. I can tell that you are a good writer. Another thing, I love dogs, so this story is already one of my favorites from the class. Anything to do with dogs and I automatically love it. Great job!
ReplyDelete