I mentioned re-reading Silas Marner. But did I tell you I'd gone back and looked at some of the classic literature that Hollywood and Broadway have made into movies that are--well, most who have actually read those original books will tell you too--ridiculously different?
I used to shy away from Tarzan because he was given the no-brain-muscle-man-you-Jane-grunt-me-he-man image. Did you know he was also a gentleman who taught himself to read and write...including, for that matter, the FRENCH language? Many crowd-pleasing movies leave that part out.
And in Pinocchio, you never hear about the snail with the nightcap or exploding caterpillar or almost-drowned bulldog...so I ended up imagining the following:
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One day when Koree was out swimming at the pond, all of a sudden, he felt fat hands grab his flanks and lift him out of the water onto a flat boat. A gruff voice spoke.
"Now I know what to do with you!" It was the evil tax collector who wanted to take him away from his friend Kuri and use him to make money. He began to tie a string around Koree's neck. "This way, you can't eat up all the big fish in my pond, just bring them to me to sell at the market." But just then, the man's feet slipped, and down he went.
Koree saw his chance and flew away, string and all. But try as he would, he couldn't get it off; it was knotted. He'd have Kuri do it. Koree didn't want to go back to the pond where the tax collector was even if Kuri was probably in the woods nearby, so he circled in the sky. But what was that in the water?
Koree had seen many fish, eels, and turtles, but this was like none of those. He stared hard. Yes, it was a wooden puppet with an old man clinging to it! From way up where Koree was, he could see ripples made from a whale shark going out into the ocean. They had escaped from having been swallowed by it and were now trying to get to land.
But it was apparent the old man couldn't swim. The puppet, who couldn't sink, was struggling to support both of them. But its glassy eyes showed they had been swimming for some time and were beginning to mist over. The doll's weakened appendages would stop moving soon, and all would be over for the two.
"C'mon, you're almost there, "Koree thought, but then he saw a wave hit a boulder on shore, sending a rebounding wave straight at the duo. The force of the splash hit the puppet in the face and got him turned around completely, so he began swimming towards the sea...in the direction of the whale shark!
"Oh no!" Koree gulped. That puppet can't see anymore! He flew down with the dangling string, calling out, "Grab this! Hang onto the string!"
"Huh?" The puppet had no idea where the voice was coming from, or what it meant. But he was almost expired anyway. He grabbed at what he could feel, and he held on tightly while he felt water rushing under him, held on until he felt solid sand and rock underneath him, with his elderly companion breathing at his side. Then he knew they were safe at last and let go of the string, closed his eyes, and rested.
Koree smiled and flew away, circled the sky again until he found the woods where Kuri was--the tax collector was gone--so, checking to make sure it was safe, he came down. He had Kuri untie the string from his neck, and the two went home. At supper that night, Kuri's father said the village fishermen said they'd seen a curious sight of a bird towing an alligator to a beach where it seemed to melt away.
"Do you know anything about that, Koree?" the father asked the bird. Koree first looked at Kuri, who began to say, "That string I took from your neck..." but Father's delicious catch seemed to interest the cormorant much more than any more talk that night.
END
