Storytelling Week 13: Goodnight Princess

Trijatha was getting ready for bed when her father walked in.

"You all ready?"

"Yup!" she said with a smile!

"Brush your teeth? Wash your face? Comb your hair?"

"Yup, yup, and yup!"

"Did you give your old man a hug and kiss goodnight?"

"Not yet!" Trijatha said. She then ran up to him and gave him a big hug. Her father picked her up and tucked her into bed.

"Goodnight princess," Trijatha's father said as he turned off the lights and closed the door.

Trijatha laid her head on her pillow, closed her eyes, and fell asleep within minutes.

Elk Bath by John McColgan from WikiCommons

Trijatha was standing in the middle of a field she looked around to see the whole world burning around her. She looked around to see bodies piled up, some without their heads or limbs. Among the bodies she notices her uncle, Ravana, his eyes were open with no life left in them. Trijatha turned to see a beautiful woman and a man that was almost godlike embrace each other after what looks like a long separation. The man then turns to a Trijatha's father and hands him the crown. Trijatha's father places the crown on his head and turns toward Trijatha, now king of Lanka. Trijatha catches her father's eye and he smiles. "Come princess," he says, "let's find your new room."

Trijatha wakes with a start. She closes her eyes but all she can see are the bodies of thousands of men that surrounded her in her dream. "It was only a dream", she reminds her self. The darkness of the room seemed to only hide monsters that could be lurking. Trijatha gathered all of her courage and dashed across the room and opened the door. She had to find her father, he would know how to reassure her. Dads always know what to say after a nightmare. The door to her father's office was cracked open and Trijatha peeked inside. Her father was arguing with her uncle Ravana. Right before Trijatha walked into the room to ask for her dad, she noticed something in her father's eyes. There was hatred for Ravana in them. Trijatha knew in that moment that her dad was capable of anything to get rid of her uncle and fear took ahold of her. She ran back to her room and hid under the covers. Trijatha understood that this was not just another nightmare, this was the future. At some point, her father was going to betray her uncle and there would be a battle that would kill thousands of people, all so her father could be king of Lanka.

Author's note: I based this story off of the novel "The Missing Queen". This is a more modern version of the classic Indian story "Ramayana". In this version, Trijatha tells the journalist about a dream she had before the war about what was to happen. I wanted to tell the story as if she had the dream as a child. I thought it would be tragic for a young girl to realize that her father is not the man she thought he was and to know that one day he would betray those that you love.

Bibliography: The Missing Queen by Samhita Arni (2014)

Reading Diary Week 13: The Missing Queen Part B

The Missing Queen by Samhita Arni (2014)


One story within this novel I found really intriguing was Lankadevi's story of the battle at Lanka. It was interesting to read about the effects after the war from a child's point of view. Especially from the side of the war that did not win. I would really like to develop more on the part where she first sees Sita. Young Lankadevi is so mad and all reason goes out the window as soon as she sees Sita. I would like to go more into what the young girl is thinking as she marches toward Sita over all of the dead bodies and then her realization that Sita has suffered too. 

Emerald and Diamond Tiara by Ernesto Moreira (2005) from Wiki commons

Another story I loved was Trijatha's dream. She dreamed before the war even started about what her father would do and the war that was to come to Lanka. I would like to start the story with her father telling her goodnight and calling her his little princess before tucking her to bed. Then Trijatha will go to sleep and have a very detailed dream about a war to come and her father's betrayal. Trijatha would then wake up confused but see her father with her uncle the very next day with deceit in his eyes and at that very moment Trijatha would realize that her dream would come true. 

Although it is not part of the original Ramayana story, it would also be interesting to talk about our journalists days inside the prison. One of my favorite movies is The Count of Monte Cristo and I could almost picture the journalist inside of a place like Chateau d'if. I can only imagine the torment one would face when left in a cell for months with no contact with the outside world. 

Reading Diary Week 13: Missing Queen Part A

The Missing Queen by Samhita Arni (2014)

I have really enjoyed this story so far! I love that it is a more modern take on the story of Sita. It is an easy read and I cannot wait to see what happens next!

Sita from Vedicgoddess

So far, the story has not gotten so far into the kidnapping of Sita. It is more conspiracy of where she went and who she was before she was taken. I like the idea of Sita as a cute southern belle country girl. I think it could be fun to write a story about her country life before she met Rama. It could be doing daily things to help her saint of a father that took her in and her experiences. Another good story is to describe Sita's first time going into the big city after living a country life. It could have been a real culture shock for her.

Another person I was interested in was Rama's secretary. Could you imagine being secretary to a king? Now think if this king was Rama. I can only imagine how crazy Rama's life is, but can you imagine being the one that is control of how busy he is. Who will Rama see today? How long will he see them? It almost reminds me of my trip to Mount Vernon over Spring Break. George Washington had several rooms in his house and when people showed up the butler would put them into different rooms based off of the guests importance. I can definitely imagine Rama's secretary doing something similar.