"There is no way he is a sophomore," I thought.
The man set the bookcase across from the living room and extended his hand out.
"Hi, I'm John. Most people call me Little John. You must be Robin," he seemed to growl
Im sorry! Little? Is that some kind of joke? Some people have the worst sense of humor. I have to admit I was a little intimated. The man that stood before me seemed like he ate screws and nails for breakfast. He was the new Hulk.
"Are you allergic to cats?" Little John asked.
I stood dumfounded. Why did he need to know if I was allergic to cats or not? Was he going to eat the cat?
"Ugh, no. Why?" I stuttered.
"Well, I brought my cat, Mittens, from my house. I hope that's okay. She's really good, very quite and sweet." He said while placing the rest of his things in his bedroom.
I'm pretty sure at this point my mouth was on the floor. I know they say never judge a book by their cover, but come on.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, Little John and I became very close during our time at Cambridge. Despite our differences in background, Little John was from a rather poor part of Yorkshire and I came from a middle class family, we bonded over our passion on the socioeconomic discrepancies our country faces today.
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| Little John and Robin Hood |
Throughout our time, we reaped the benefits of going to a University full of oil tycoons and trust fund babies. We held benefit nights and dinner; charging a huge amount of money to enter. After the money was gathered, we donated it to local causes or went out ourselves to help others throughout England. When we were not busy planning events and shaking hands with the big wigs, we liked to go to the countryside of England. We would hunt and fish for a long weekend, and then finally have to return to reality.
Authors Note: I guess technically this is not a retelling of a specific story. It was inspired by the relationship between Robin Hood and Little John I read in the Robin Hood Ballads Unit. I made the story more modern by having the two meet in a dorm room instead of out in the woods on a bridge. I think it is important to play up the size of Little John, especially on first encounter. The story Robin Hood and Little John, describes Little John by saying, "his limbs they were large" and "his stature was seven foot high". I took the height as an over exaggerating, and made something a little more realistic. I had a lot of fun bring this story forward into modern times!
Bibliography: The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child (1882-1898)
Colleen. I really enjoyed reading your story. I liked that you made it an adaption of Robin and Little John's friendship rather than a specific story. I thought this was extremely creative. I also like how you turned this relationship into a present story about college. It is easy to relate to and thought it was cool how Robin immediately judged him (as most new roommates always do). I thought you portrayed Robin well in how he narrated the story. Great job!
ReplyDeleteYo Colleen,
ReplyDeleteWhat's up dog? One more comment for me. Lucky you. I have always been a big fan of Robin Hood and his merry men. I liked the way that you chose to alter the story from the original. I thought that your author's note did a great job of giving the reader context and understand where you were coming from. I particularly enjoyed the line "I know they say never judge a book by its cover, but come on." I laughed a lot. Out loud. Great job overall. You are a talented writer.