Payton Hall Blog

This past January I had the best vacation to Mexico. I took a cruise with my family to Cozumel and had the best experiences that I will never forget. My favorite thing that I did was swim with stingrays. I thought I would be more nervous than I was, but once I was in the water with them for a few minutes I got more comfortable. At first, I would try to avoid them and stay as close to the boat as possible. But, eventually, I even decided to kiss a stingray and feed them. It was an experience I will always remember. Kissing the Stingray, photo by my dad Note: I used the vacation prompt from the suggested and chose to write about my recent vacation. Just a short story about one of my favorite experiences.

It is crazy to think about everything that happened this semester. I never thought I would not be talking to my own roommate. Grace had been talking about me behind my back and I found out last week. I haven't talked to her since, even though she has tried. I could not believe she thinks that I am stealing her friends from her when we are all best friends. Girls telling Secrets,  Photo by  Ben White  on  Unsplash Author's Note: I wrote these microfictions talking about an encounter between two roommates. One is a two-sentence and the other a dribble. I enjoy writing short microfictions that leave the reader to decide what they think.

My very first pet was better than I had ever imagined. Growing up me and my sisters begged and begged my mom for a dog but were never successful. Eventually, when I was 12, my mom finally caved. Next, came Max. Max was not like any ordinary dog. He is a Labrador Retriever mix and I think he is the cutest dog I have ever seen. Max is so cuddly, he will always be there when you need a hug. He is my best companion and always sits right next to me in the living room. Max has bee there as I cry over a boy and been there when I lost my grandpa. I cannot imagine my life without Max. My dog Max, photo by Me Note: I wrote this story about my dog, Max. It was just supposed to be short and cute and just talk a little about how he has impacted me growing up.

Characters - Sankchinni - a Brahman Plot - the ghost Sankchinni lives near an embankment where a Brahman lives - Sankchinni attacks the Brahman's wife and chokes her until she is almost dead - Sankchinni puts on the clothes of the woman and returns to the house pretending to be her - the mother becomes suspicious of the new change in her daughter in law - an exorcist is sent to the house to remove the ghost - they determine it is a ghost by burning turmeric - the exorcist removes the ghost from the woman's body and retrieves her from the tree The Ghost by the River by Warwick Goble Bibliography: A Ghostly Wife by Rev. Lal Behari Day

Characters - Sani - Lakshmi - Sribatsa - Chintamani Plot - Sani and Lakshmi argue that they are both in a higher rank than the other - Sribatsa, a human, is determined as the one to decide this feud - Sani is outraged at being placed on a silver stool and fled - Sribatsa and Chintamani leave their house and travel by ferry - the mattress and ferryman are blown away and all of their valuables are gone Sribatsa and Chintamani Leave the House by Warwick Goble Bibliography: The Evil Eye of Sani by Lal Behari Day

I sit and wonder why this is happening and what will come of everything. Not only did I lose the second half of my junior year, but I now will be spending my twenty-first birthday in quarantine. Which is not exactly what I had in mind when I imagined that day for twenty-one years of my life. I am hoping that it will still be fun and I know my family will do everything they can to make me have a good day but it is hard not to be sad. At this point, I have to assume everything happens for a reason and realize there is a bigger picture. Birthday Cake,  Photo by  Deva Williamson  on  Unsplash Note: I wrote this about my upcoming birthday that I will be spending in quarantine and shared some of the thoughts I am having.

I looked into the mirror and couldn't believe the day was finally here. I had waited for this day for so long. As I sat down at my vanity, I was excited beyond words to get ready for tonight. I put my laptop on my bed and played my birthday playlist. I did my makeup and put on the outfit I had picked out. Now time for my twenty-first birthday party. Makeup Vanity,  Photo by  Jamie Street  on  Unsplash Author's Note: I wrote a two-sentence story and a dribble. Both are related to my upcoming birthday but it is interesting because you would not know what the special day was from just the two sentences but the dribble has a little more detail but still vague.

They talked about getting a divorce. I sat at the top of the stairs and listened to them talking downstairs. I heard my dad mention a divorce. A White Staircase,  Photo by  Micah Carlson  on  Unsplash Author's Note: I thought the six-word story and two-sentence microfiction options would be fun because they are both so short and leaves a lot to the reader's imagination. These are very short so they could mean a lot of things but the concept is a girl overhearing her parents talk about getting a divorce.

- Characters - Haridatta - cloth merchants - Plot - tortoise story: refer to earlier notes - farmer Haridatta is not very successful - he falls asleep and hears a snake nearby - the farmer goes to worship the snake hoping to be more successful - he provided milk to the serpent and was given gold denar - the farmer attempted to kill the snake but failed - the snake kills his son - the farmer vowed to never return - ten merchants are approached by robbers - the robbers took everything from them - the merchants then attack the robbers to get back their belongings Gold Giving Serpent by John D Batten Bibliography: The Gold-Giving Serpent by Joseph Jacobs

Characters: - lion - crane - Svabhavakripana - Bonga Plot: - lion begins choking on a bone and the crane approaches - the crane offers to help but only if he doesn't enter the lion's mouth - the crane later asks how the lion will return the favor - the lion says he already did by not eating the crane - a brahman has a pot of rice from begging people - he plans what to do with the extra rice - he plans to become rich after many activities of buying and selling - in the end, he kicks the pot and loses all the rice as it spills out - there is a girl who is the sister to 7 brothers - the wives plot against her - her water pot will not remain filled - the water around her kept rising - she drowns after the water reaches too high - the girl is reincarnated as a bamboo stock - the bamboo is made into a fiddle A Broken Pot by John D Batten Bibliography: The Broken Pot by Joseph Jacobs

My heart began to race as I heard the sound of his truck pull up. It was a familiar sound, I had heard it many times before, but this time it felt different. I walked toward the window and peeked out quickly. The sight of him still gives me butterflies. I was so nervous to see him again. But I feel like I will still love him just as much now as I did then. A Dark Window,  Photo by  Josh Nuttall  on  Unsplash Authors Note: I thought it would be so fun to write the same encounter but two different lengths. They both have so much mystery but the Dribble gives just a hint more of detail. Both are obviously about a girl seeing a guy again, but the reader has no back story so it is up to them to come up with ideas for the pair.

Characters: King Brahmadatta Plot: - the monkeys enjoy their tree and pluck the fruit to eat it - they are warned not to drop any fruit into the river or men will come to find the fruit - fruit is dropped into the river and carried down - the King I was taken by the delicious fruit and sends a boat of men to find the tree - the King orders his men to kill the monkeys in the tree and eat them - the chief monkey allows all of his follower to escape by crawling over his back - the chief is injured but in doing so King B is amazed and follows after the chief by ruling with love - dogs ruin the trappings of the royal chariot - the king wants all of the dogs killed - the chief dog goes to the king to convince him only to kill the guilty dogs - the chief proves it is the royal dogs that ruined the trappings - the king spares the other dogs - geese tell an old tortoise about a golden cave they have - they offer to help the tortoise get there since he has no wings - they te