Week 5 Storytelling: Margie and Frank

The old weeping willow, image

There once was a pair of cats, Margie and Frank, who had fallen in love just when they were young kittens. They loved spending time together curled up by the window soaking up the sun. They would take walks together in the meadow down by the stream. Sometimes they would gently wade in the water just up to the tips of their paws and enjoy the refreshing feeling of the warm water on their fur. They would rub up against the trees and get a nice massage from the bark. Sometimes they would stop and visit with their friends in the meadow like the mouse couple who lived in the sunflower fields or the brother and sister sparrows that made the old willow tree their home.

One sunny day, the cat couple decided to take a walk down by the stream. Frank had gone over to the willow to rub up against the trunk and scratch his back. The water was warm and Margie decided she wanted to dip her paws in to clean them of the dirt. Just as she was dipping her front paw in, she thought she saw the evil dogs from across the stream, which startled her, and she lost her balance. Margie tumbled whiskers first into the stream and was immediately taken down shore by the running waters. She did not know how to swim, and as she meowed and meowed for Frank to come help, she struggled to stay above water and drowned.

           

Frank was so upset and began to meow low he was so distraught. He could not bear the thought of living without his true love. The evil dogs were still across the stream and Frank decided he would sacrifice himself so he could be with his wife in kitty heaven.

The dogs were now full and began to walk back towards their home. The sparrows stopped them and asked what had become of Margie and Frank.

“Haven’t you heard?” asked the dogs.

Margie fell into the stream and drowned

Frank sacrificed himself to the dogs

“Oh no, that is terrible!” cried the sparrows. And they began shedding their feathers in distress. The willow tree nearby saw the feathers falling and asked the sparrows why they were shedding their feathers.

“Haven’t you heard, old willow tree?”

Margie fell into the stream and drowned

Frank sacrificed himself to the dogs

The sparrows shed their feathers

At this news the old willow tree began to droop his branches even lower to the ground. The mouse couple from the sunflower fields saw the drooping weeping willow and asked why his branches were so low.

“Haven’t you heard?”

Margie fell into the stream and drowned

Frank sacrificed himself to the dogs

The sparrows shed their feathers

The willow tree drooped its branches

The mice were so sad to hear the news they immediately started crying and ran home to their sunflower patch. The sunflowers turned their petals to ask why they were crying so hysterically.

“Haven’t you heard, my sunflowers?”

Margie fell into the stream and drowned

Frank sacrificed himself to the dogs

The sparrows shed their feathers

The willow tree drooped its branches

The mice cried all the way home

At this news the sunflowers were so upset and began to lose all their petals, leaving them with just a black round center on a stem.

And now my story has come to an end. 

Author's Note: This is a retelling of the story Susku and Mushu from the Persian Tales unit. In the original story, there is a husband and wife mice and one of the mice comes to drown in a pot of stew. The rest of the story continues with other animals and farmers killing themselves at hearing the news. It is an accumulation story, which I really enjoyed the style, and decided to write a story in similar fashion. My story does not include more deaths than just the first because I tried to keep my fairy tale a little less gruesome than the original.

Bibliography: Susku and Mushu. Persian Tales, translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer, illustrated by Hilda Roberts (1919).