Better Call Sylvester

In this unit of Stories titled fables, the main focus was on folklore. We went to the Field museum to learn about native Americans, , and also the zoo, twice. For the AP we had to write a fable. So I elected to write a fable about a Pennsylvanian shark and a Serbian mouse who live in New Mexico, who get into an altercation after the mouse forgets to think before he speaks. We also made clay models of a character from our story, but because my characters were rather simple I did all three of them.

The story:

One day in New Mexico in 1898, a shark named Ronald Daniel Briggs was coming home from his new job.  Ron was halfway through his jaunt back home when he saw Mike Drneso the mouse. Ron and Mike knew of each other, but they weren’t really friends. As it would turn out, the two shared a long portion of their walk home together, but they never spoke a word. One day, Friday, Mike decided to start a conversation with Ron.

“Hey, Ronald.”

“…”

“You’ve ah.. got uh.. big fin.”

“…”

So enraged was Ronald that he wanted to swallow Mike entirely and without mercy, as commenting on the fin of a shark was widely regarded as bad form in the United States, but as Mike was a Serbian immigrant he wasn't familiarized with this taboo. Nevertheless, Ron knew better than to eat Mike, as his family needed someone to provide for them. So instead, Ron went to a mutual friend of theirs that weekend named Sylvester J. Brougham.

Sylvester was a snake, and he lived in the nearby town of Roswell, New Mexico. When Ron brought up his woes about Mike having offended him, Sylvester thought ‘it couldn’t have been that bad.’ So when Sylvester went to Mike to talk about the situation, he was disappointed to learn that it was ‘that bad’. 

“You’re not supposed to comment on a shark’s fin! Everyone knows that!” 

“Oh yeah, you’re right. I forgot.”

“You should apologize to him.”

“I should, you’re right.”

So Mike waited until Monday when they’d see each other again. And on Monday, Ronald was nowhere to be found. After getting in touch with some of his coworkers, Mike found out that Ronald moved back to Pennsylvania. Apparently, Ronald felt as if he wouldn't be able to hold back from eating mike if they ever saw each other again, so he moved back home for the safety of Mike. Mike was humbled upon hearing this. Mike wished he had thought harder before speaking to Ron, but now it was too late. However; Mike still could atone for his behavior. He planned to send a letter with one of his father’s old Serbian Ćevapi recipes that he had brought with him to America, along with an apology letter. After hearing of his plan, Sylvester agreed to give Mike Ron’s new address, so Mike could send the letter. 

Mike never did get a response letter, but he knew he did the right thing in the end. 

Think before you speak.

Story over, here’s the clay models I did before baking.

This projects greatest challenge for me was probably writing the fable, and something I enjoyed was making the clay snake. If I had to do this AP again I would follow a reference when making the shark (far back). I think the fable’s moral about thinking before you speak is an important one because without it you WILL eventually say something that you dont mean, and other people could think less of you. The use of a shark and a mouse also displays the fact that Ronald could have wiped mike off the face of the continent, but he decided against it.