Portfolio Guide

Hector the Little Pig
The terrible tragedy of one mistake by poor Hector the pig.


Dave and Nina
How did Dave and Nina really meet from Sita Sings the Blues?


The Diary of an Incredibly Unlucky Wife
Hector gets Draupadi into a predicament. Is the cute little Hector unlucky after all?


The Ultimate Gamble
It's all fun and games until you lose everything.


Little Hector and the Monkeys
The wise Hector warns the monkeys of future danger. (Part 1 of 2)


Little Hector and the Monkeys 2
The final adventure of Hector the pig! (Part 2 of 2)

Week 12 Storytelling: Little Hector and the Monkeys 2

We last left off when the Great Advisor, Hector the little pig, told the colony of monkeys to never let any apples fall from the apple tree. One day, when the monkeys were out playing a game, a single apple fell from the tree and floated down the river to a village where a woman picked it up.

“I should not eat this, but this apple looks so delicious,” the woman whispered to herself. After a while of contemplating, she lifted the apple to her mouth and took a small bite. The apple poured tastes of delight into her mouth. “This is the best apple I have ever tasted in all the land!” she yelled.

She hurried home to tell her family of the wonderful tasting blessing she received on her way home, but as she went to take a step forward, she became very disoriented and fell to the ground. She suddenly gasped for breath, trying to get enough to remain conscious. An old fisherman saw her fall to the ground and rushed over to her. The woman before she sucked her last breath said, “The apple… it is… dangerous.”

The man shook her trying to get her to breathe again, but she did not. The fisherman was so disturbed by this sight he immediately went to the king to tell of the incident he just witnessed.

The king was outraged by this and demanded that all the best detectives find out where this poisonous apple came from. They patrolled the city and came to the conclusion that it came from the jungle by the river. The king ordered a team to go search in the jungle for this dangerous fruit. The team reached the giant apple tree and saw that it was filled with hundreds of huts. They walked a little closer and realized that monkeys were everywhere in the tree! “It is a militant colony of monkeys!” they exclaimed.

The group quickly rushed back to the king to describe the wonder of what they saw. The king was mortified! He told the group that the monkeys and the tree must be destroyed because a life was ended due to this tree and the monkeys were going to bear the consequence.

 So the group gathered all of their best weapons to battle the monkeys and returned into the jungle, but before the group could make it into the tree Hector the little pig stood in the middle of a small opening. The group was confused why a small pig was just standing there. Small pigs were considered a delicacy in the kingdom and the group decided to try and capture the pig to bring back for the king. The group knew that the king would be happy when the monkeys and tree were dead but to also bring back a small pig would just be icing on the cake!

So the group sneaked closer and closer to try and catch the pig. All of a sudden Hector just broke and ran into the dense jungle.

“He is so fast for a pig!”

“We must get him!”

“For the king!” they shouted into the night.

The group chased and stumbled through the trees for hours trying to catch Hector but they could never catch him until one of the group members said, “Does anyone know where we are?”

“Oh no…”

Hector had finally lost the group. He had sent them deep into the jungle where the ferocious lion lived. He and Hector were good buddies growing up, so Hector knew that he would take care of the jungle intruders.

Hector trotted back to the tree to meet his monkey followers.

“Are they gone?” one of the monkeys asked.

“All is well… for now at least,” replied Hector.

Cute Miniature Pig!

Author’s Note: This two-part story was by far my favorite to make! I fell in love with the Jataka Tales, so it was pretty easy to include that in my Portfolio. I find the past lives of Buddha to be inspiring and fascinating. This story was a mix of two Jataka Tales. The first one is the Monkey Bridge by Inayat in Twenty Jataka Tales. In this story there was a giant monkey king that told the group to never let the fruit fall from a great fruit tree into the river. Eventually, a fruit fell into the river and a fisherman found it. A search team went and found the fruit tree and planned to kill the monkeys to get the delicious fruit. The monkey king saved his group of monkeys by letting them climb on his back to another tree via his back and a long reed. One of the monkeys broke his back while climbing to safety. I mainly used this story in the first story of the two-part series, but I made Hector, who was supposed to represent the heroic monkey that saved his followers, lure the group out the jungle. This part came from the second Jataka Tale, which was The Woodpecker, Turtle, and Deer by Babbitt. This dynamic trio saved each other’s lives by distracting a hunter from trying to harm them. The deer lured the hunter into the forest long enough that the deer could circle back around and set the turtle free. 

The Woodpecker, Turtle, and Deer, More Jataka Tales by Babbitt

Monkey Bridge, Twenty Jataka Tales, Inayat, 1939

Week 11 Storytelling: Little Hector and the Monkeys

Hector was a little pig who had an interesting life of great adventure and crazy shenanigans. His life was probably more exciting than most, I would say. Hector had lived with many people throughout his life. Instead of finding another person to look after him after his last owner, Arjuna, died, Hector decided to mix it up and go off into the jungle alone. Hector survived a long exile with Arjuna before, so Hector knew how to survive in the jungle.

When Hector was strolling in the jungle one day, he found a habitat of monkeys. At first Hector was terrified the monkeys were going to try and harm him, but the monkeys did the opposite. In fact, the monkeys took Hector to be their leader as the Great Advisor. The monkey colony took care of Hector by always making sure he was well fed and safe. The monkeys' home was a giant apple tree. This was no normal apple tree. The apples were the biggest apples in all the world and the tastiest apples you ever ate. This tree was so large that the trunk was a mile in diameter. The monkeys made little huts for their families in the large branches. This was perfect for the group of monkeys to store food and live close together for protection. Obviously little Hector could not climb the tree like the monkeys could, so the monkeys would lift Hector up to where all the monkey huts were scattered. The monkeys also made Hector his own little hut and had miniature bridges built perfect for Hector’s size, so he could get to places within the tree.

Since Hector had seen many things in his many miniature pig years, he was very wise, and all the monkeys sought Hector for words of wisdom. One day, he said to the monkeys, “Do not let a single fruit fall into the river, for down the river lies danger.”

The monkeys were not sure what Hector meant by his words, but they loved Hector and knew he was wiser than any creature they met. Listening to Hector, the monkeys made sure that no fruit fell into the river.

 There was a great game amongst the monkeys called the Banana Battle. The monkeys would go into the jungle and see who could find the most bananas. The monkey with the most bananas would be the winner. The prize for the most bananas was to get to have dinner with Hector. This was a grand prize because Hector was always so busy with sharing his wisdom. He would eat alone to give himself some quiet time.

On the day of the Banana Battle, everyone was scavenging for some bananas away from the tree in the jungle. No one seemed to notice that a single apple fell into the river…

Down the river was a woman. She was walking home when she noticed a beautiful apple washed up on the shore. She looked around to see if anyone was around. She quickly walked over to it and picked it up. This was no ordinary apple. This was the most gorgeous-looking apple she had ever seen. She was very hungry from such a long walk. She did not know if she should eat it or not for she did not know where it came from. But this apple looked so tempting and so delicious. She could not resist… (Jumanji music playing in the background)

Woman with apple in hand

Author’s Note: I really enjoyed writing this story. My inspiration was the Monkey-Bridge in Twenty Jataka Tales by Inayat. The Twenty Jataka Tales is a collection of past lives of Buddha. I veered off of Monkey-Bridge significantly. In the original story, there was a giant monkey king that told the group to never let the fruit fall from a great fruit tree into the river. Eventually, a fruit fell into the river and a fisherman found it. A search team went and found the fruit tree and planned to kill the monkeys to get the delicious fruit. The monkey king saved his group of monkeys by letting them climb on his back to another tree via his back and a long reed. One of the monkeys broke his back while climbing to safety. I only told the first half of the story in hopes of coming out with a second half of the story next. I changed the original story to include my friend Hector the miniature pig. I also claimed the fruit to be an apple. In the original story all that was said was a fruit tree, but I wanted to make it less vague in hopes that it would be easier for the reader to picture the story unfolding in their head.

The Monkey-Bridge, Twenty Jataka Tales by Inayat, 1939

Week 9 Storytelling: The Ultimate Gamble

Hector, a miniature pig with the cutest little snout and the rosiest little cheeks, lay on his padded pillow as he watched his owner, Arjuna, and a strange man he did not know play a game. There were a lot of onlookers giving him inquisitive faces. They kept looking at the two men playing the game and then back at Hector. Hector was not really sure what to think about all of this. Arjuna brought him to some king’s palace. Arjuna did not tell him what was going on or why he even took Hector with him. Arjuna normally makes Hector stay at home whenever he goes to visit people, let alone a big fancy king.

All of a sudden, the king that was playing against Arjuna stood up from the game with a big grin on his face. Arjuna looked devastated. He sat on his knees and covered his face with his hands. The king came up to Hector and said, “Hello, Hector. I am your new master now. My name is King Virata. You will be a nice asset to my collection.” As King Virata was exclaiming this, he pointed to a hallway beyond the room they were in that had mounts of various animals on the walls. Hector realized that he was in very serious danger. He squealed and tried to run, but just as Hector got on all four legs one of King Virata’s servants snatched him.

Hector sat helpless in the servant’s hands. He looked up to lock eyes with Arjuna. He looked so crushed. The defeated Arjuna got up from his knees and said, “I cannot take this! We must play again. I cannot watch as I see my prize pig die a terrible death because of my own selfish ways. Let me have a rematch to regain my honor and my pig.”

But King Virata had a better idea. He told Arjuna that if he would go into exile for twelve years that he could take his pig and leave. Arjuna realized the mercy that was given to him and quickly got Hector from the scary servant and ran out the door. He had tears in his eyes as he rushed past all the guards at the gate. Arjuna did not stop running until he made it to the forest with Hector still in tow.

Hector was very worried about Arjuna. Hector had never seen Arjuna be this much in distress before. When Arjuna finally stopped frantically running, he collapsed by a tree and looked at Hector. Arjuna said, “Hector, I am so sorry for trying to gamble you away like that. I did not realize what I had done until it was almost too late. I looked into your eyes and thought I had lost you forever. Once King Virata told me that I could have you back if I would go into exile, I could not help but take you and just run as far away as I possibly could. I am so sorry, Hector. I will never ever do that to you again.”

Author’s Note: I wrote this story with my little friend Hector the pig in mind. I hope to include Hector in all of my stories. I realize that a miniature pig is incredibly random and could be annoying for some, but I wanted to do something different and unique! And plus, who does not like miniature pigs! They are adorable! My inspiration for my story was the Mahabharata but I strayed off the storyline more so than my usual stories. I really wanted Hector to be the main character in this story, so I decided to switch him with Draupadi’s character. I also switched Arjuna with Yudhishthira and Virata with Duryodhana. Yudhishthira gambled everything in his life including his wife Draupadi.  Yudhishthira makes a deal with King Virata to go into exile. When they were in exile, they hid in disguise in the court of King Virata. I wanted to go along the lines of the Mahabharata but really make it my own in a way that someone who has not read the Mahabharata would not have to know any information about the plot to enjoy my story of Hector the miniature pig. In the Mahabharata, even though Draupadi was extremely loyal, she did really get angry with her husband for gambling her away, but in the movie by Peter Brook I feel like that was not expressed successfully. So, I decided to have Hector never get upset at Arjuna.   

    

In King Virata's court where Kichaka is humiliating Draupadi  

The Mahabharata

The Mahabharata by Peter Brook

Laura Gibbs, Indian Epics Reading Guides, May 2015

Week 7 Storytelling: The Diary of an Incredibly Unlucky Wife

Dear Diary,

Today was a strange day. I cannot seem to comprehend all the emotions that are going on inside. I went to live with a man that I accepted to be my husband. He is a unique man, and I know very little of him. He looks very much like a brahmin, so I am not actually sure how he won my swayamara. I am still a little confused by this. From what I have seen though, he is kind and strong with a little quirky personality. He told me his name was Arjuna. I think we will get along just fine. He has four brothers. All of them are quite nice. I hope that this odd set of circumstances work out. 

 Arjuna took me to his small little hut in the middle of nowhere. It is vastly different than what I was accustomed to in the grand palace that I grew up in my whole life. I do not mind though. It is very simple but quiet and peaceful. When we arrived, his mother was sitting in a chair in the corner. She seemed a little distracted at the time. I was just awkwardly standing underneath the doorframe when this little pig came barreling past me to greet the five brothers from their long journey home. My husband laughed and caught the little pig as he was mid air from jumping up and down at his feet.

“My husband” that just feels so weird to say or write...

I chuckled as the little pig pushed his nose in my husband’s ears and on his nose.  Arjuna said, “This little toot is named Hector. We saw him wandering through the forest one day, and we rescued him. It was a wonder he was still alive when we got to him.”

 I finally spoke up and said, “Wow. He looks just like my father’s pet pig. He wandered off after my brother was exiled, and we never saw him again. My father never really got over it.”

Arjuna sat Hector down on the floor. Hector was so excited with the sudden presence of all the people he started running around the hut every which way. He was bumping and crashing into everything he could possibly break, spill, or tip over. My Arjuna’s mother was so overwhelmed by Hector that she told the boys to share whatever they had brought and quickly scooted Hector out the door. I was very confused by her statement. My heart sunk into my chest as I realized what this meant.

Maybe she thought that they had brought food? Was she really talking about me?

I was in shock.

It took everything in my power to not tell her she is a crazy person. I wanted to run away to my real home. I went from a huge castle with servants doing everything I wish to a tiny little hut with five men just drooling over me and a crazy mother-in-law.

Everyone just stood there in a daze. Arjuna seemed very disappointed in this news. I cannot imagine what he was thinking or feeling. The other brothers you could tell were so excited but were trying to play it off cool. 

 All I know is that I am now stuck with not only one new husband that I barely know but I am now a proud owner of five new husbands. FIVE!

Sincerely,

An Incredibly Unlucky Wife

Arjuna and his brothers with Draupadi

Author's Note: I wanted to really dig into Draupadi's character after watching Epified Mahabharata. I wanted to depict maybe what Draupadi was thinking during all of this craziness going on in the Mahabharata. I tried to explain as best I could the major background information that was needed to understand what was going on in the story without having to know anything from Mahabharata. Of course, I had to add little pet pig Hector into the story. Only this time, I decided I wanted to connect him with one of my previous stories. My other story he was in was when Rama was exiled, and his father, the king, was in much despair after being forced to do it. I did put a twist on the story of the Mahabharata. The brother's mother obviously did not become overwhelmed by a little miniature pig. Instead, she became overwhelmed when the boys were hollering at her while they were being attacked, but the mother did accidentally say to the boys to share Draupadi as all of their wives. Draupadi's brother, Shikhandi was very upset by Arjuna winning Draupadi. I stated in the story that he was exiled. I wanted this to have a correlation with the Ramayana as well when Rama is exiled and his father is in deep despair.  I have never done a diary style storytelling, so it was a little out of my comfort zone. But, I thought it would be a good style to add to my portfolio.

 Epified Mahabharata, Karmic Revolution, January 2016