Week 12 Story: Blue Cow Disease
Mr. Murphy Johnson had the biggest farm in the county. Every year, his crops outnumbered his neighbors, and they were better quality too. He made lots of money from this and used it to build a beautiful home on his land. His wife died when his son Thomas was born, so he raised the boy all on his own. Tom was as cute as could be, but there was always something a little off about him. He was dumb as dirt. When Tom grew into a young man, his father gave him seven cows to take care of. Tom did a nice job of caring for the cows and the land. He would surely make a good farmer. Mr. Murphy passed away shortly after this, but Tom continued on with caring for the farm.
The neighbors knew about Tom's impairment and thought it would be easy to take advantage of him. Surely it wouldn't really hurt anyone because Tom's father had left him so much money and land. One morning, Mr. Glen, the neighbor from the south side of the farm, was looking at the cows. He asked Tom for a glass of water from the house, and while he was gone, Mr. Glen rubbed some blue paint onto the cows. When he came back, Mr. Glen showed him the blue spots and explained that the cows must be very sick. Tom was confused and upset, but Mr. Glen made a "generous" offer to take them off his hands. Thomas agreed and helped lead the cows to Mr. Glen's farm.
Glen's daughter Missy was about Tom's age and saw what her father had done. He laughed it off when she confronted him about it. But it wasn't just one time that Glen took advantage of Tom and he wasn't the only one. Everyone wanted a piece of the wealth or the land that Mr. Murphy had left behind. Missy saw what they were doing and decided to step in to help Tom. She started visiting him, and although he was shy at first, they quickly became friends. He learned to trust her judgement and she helped him navigate the phony "deals" that others made him.
Mr. Glen found out about this and threatened to throw Missy out of their home if she didn't stop helping Tom. She told Tom what had happened and he begged her to marry him. He loved her for her good heart and she loved him for his sweet and gentle ways. They became an unstoppable team, cranking out even more crops than Mr. Murphy had. Missy's father was furious, but he ended up with seven beautiful grand babies. They had Thomas's good features, Missy's intelligence, and kind souls from both parents.
Author's Note: The original story is about seven dumb brothers who are scammed out of everything they have, little by little. Their neighbors look for every opportunity to take away some of their money or land until they have nothing left. They even lose their home.
I stuck to the general idea of the original story, but condensed the seven brothers into one. I used the number seven a couple times in the story as a sort of tribute to the original. I hated that the brothers lost literally everything they had, so I thought it would be sweet for Missy to step in and help. I also thought it would be ironic if the person helping the stupid man was the daughter of the person trying to take advantage of him.
Image Information: Cows, Source: Pixabay
Bibliography: "The Story of the McAndrew Family" from More Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, link to the reading online.
The neighbors knew about Tom's impairment and thought it would be easy to take advantage of him. Surely it wouldn't really hurt anyone because Tom's father had left him so much money and land. One morning, Mr. Glen, the neighbor from the south side of the farm, was looking at the cows. He asked Tom for a glass of water from the house, and while he was gone, Mr. Glen rubbed some blue paint onto the cows. When he came back, Mr. Glen showed him the blue spots and explained that the cows must be very sick. Tom was confused and upset, but Mr. Glen made a "generous" offer to take them off his hands. Thomas agreed and helped lead the cows to Mr. Glen's farm.
Glen's daughter Missy was about Tom's age and saw what her father had done. He laughed it off when she confronted him about it. But it wasn't just one time that Glen took advantage of Tom and he wasn't the only one. Everyone wanted a piece of the wealth or the land that Mr. Murphy had left behind. Missy saw what they were doing and decided to step in to help Tom. She started visiting him, and although he was shy at first, they quickly became friends. He learned to trust her judgement and she helped him navigate the phony "deals" that others made him.
Mr. Glen found out about this and threatened to throw Missy out of their home if she didn't stop helping Tom. She told Tom what had happened and he begged her to marry him. He loved her for her good heart and she loved him for his sweet and gentle ways. They became an unstoppable team, cranking out even more crops than Mr. Murphy had. Missy's father was furious, but he ended up with seven beautiful grand babies. They had Thomas's good features, Missy's intelligence, and kind souls from both parents.
Author's Note: The original story is about seven dumb brothers who are scammed out of everything they have, little by little. Their neighbors look for every opportunity to take away some of their money or land until they have nothing left. They even lose their home.
I stuck to the general idea of the original story, but condensed the seven brothers into one. I used the number seven a couple times in the story as a sort of tribute to the original. I hated that the brothers lost literally everything they had, so I thought it would be sweet for Missy to step in and help. I also thought it would be ironic if the person helping the stupid man was the daughter of the person trying to take advantage of him.
Image Information: Cows, Source: Pixabay
Bibliography: "The Story of the McAndrew Family" from More Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, link to the reading online.
Hello again Casey. I like how you used the number 7 throughout the story, I figured it had a meaning to it. The story was nicely paced and had a wonderful ending. Tom must have been really dumb to fall for the blue spots haha. I did not read the original so the author's note helped a lot with trying to see how this was linked to an original story. Only thing I wished you would have included is maybe some detail of how the characters looked to help visualize them.
ReplyDeleteHi Casey!
ReplyDeleteI really liked this story, and I love that you gave it a happier ending than the original. I hadn't read the story that yours is inspired from, but I've read several. I hate it when the innocent are taken advantage of, and I liked that you incorporated a good-hearted person to put a stop to it. Condensing the seven brothers into one was also smart, and I think it provides for a more concise story. The way you incorporated the number seven throughout, as a sort of tribute, was clever.
Hi Casey!
ReplyDeleteI really like the approach you took with this story! Some of the plot twists were created on your own, and then some elements of the story were kept the same. Love it! I didn't read the original story, but your author's note was really helpful in showing what all you did differently. One minor thing I caught was that the word "everything" was misspelled in your author's note. No big deal though! Nice job with the story!
Hello Casey!
ReplyDeleteYour story “Blue Cow Disease” was so interesting. I liked how you inserted a good character that stands up for what they believe is right. I just hate stories where everyone is bad, it seems so relatable. The only critique I may have is that farmers are hardly ever rich (even in the far past). Take this from me, a girl who grew up on a farm.
Hi Casey!
ReplyDeleteI like how you took the original story of 7 brothers and instead of using 7 brothers you only used 1, but still kept the theme of 7 throughout your story. That was very creative, good job! I also enjoyed that fact that your story had a prosperous and happy ending. Thanks for sharing!