Microfiction: Two Small Stories in Lanka

A Surprising Event in Lanka

Monkey and demon sit down for a chat.
Demon then points where the damsel is at.

The Lanka News

Damsel found: kidnapper reported by brother.

Rock Fortress in Lanka - Palace Ruins on Top

(image source)

Author's Note:
The two sentence story is inspired by Hanuman's meeting with Vibhishana in Lanka. In the original, Hanuman discovers Rama's name painted on a wall and there he meets Vibhishana who is able to tell Hanuman where Sita, who he came to find, is. The first sentence just kinda popped into my head and so I came up with a second sentence that fit. It sounds like it could be in iambic pentameter but I'm not completely sure if it is. I did match the number of syllables in the two sentences though and made them kinda rhyme.
The 6 word story is also inspired by the same event mentioned above. For this one I had started off thinking about how Sita was found easily because someone on the inside wanted to help. While playing around with the wording it somehow morphed into what sounds to me like a news article headline which seemed interesting.

Bibliography: Divine Archer by F. J. Gould

Week 5 Story: Vibhishana's Reason

Vibhishana is sitting outside his house, deep in thought. He had just painted the wall of his house with the name "Rama" after hearing of his brother's misdeed. Ravana had kidnapped another's wife, the wife of Rama no less. Vibhishana could no longer see any hope for the dream he and his siblings had shared so long ago. Not with Ravana on the throne. As Vibhishana waits by his painted wall, he takes out a journal and begins to write.

Why do I want to help Rama? I used to think evil was born of chaos and disorder, but now? Now I believe evil is born from the corruption of what was once good. My brother is the reason I think this way. Ravana was once a man who wanted to bring order to this island full of rakshasas and even succeeded for a time. However, power corrupts and that corruption got to my brother.

This all began here when this land was full of chaos and disorder. There was no law nor king and any being who lived here could do whatever they wished. If you were strong and powerful you had nothing to worry about or fear; however, the weak would fear for their lives every day. This is the kind of world my siblings and I grew up in after our father was killed. Our father was a brahmin who taught us everything he could in the time we had with him. He taught us enough that we knew this sort of world we lived in was very wrong. So we decided to do something about it.

We went around and gathered allies in order to create a kingdom on this island, on Lanka. And my siblings and I were a very good team for this task. Each of us had our own strengths and weaknesses, of course, but those weaknesses were covered by others' strengths. Some of my siblings were gifted in illusion, some in strength, and some in mind. As a group we could strategize and dance circles around any other. Out of all my siblings, I was the most scholarly. I enjoyed traveling and learning as much as I could about everything, especially other lands and kingdoms.

We used what I learned from studying other kingdoms and laws to create our own kingdom here, in Lanka, with my brother Ravana as the chosen ruler. We had all decided that he should be the king because he was capable of ruling fairly and protecting Lanka from any enemy. The rest of us were his generals and advisors. His fair rulings did not last and his willingness to listen dwindled away. Not so long after gaining the throne of Lanka, Ravana started to change. He became more rash and had very little mercy for any who would not listen to his decrees. Soon enough I was the only one trying to advise him against his cruel actions. I tried to tell him to show mercy, tried to remind him why we built the city to begin with. He would not listen. And now he has stolen another's faithful wife without a sliver of remorse.

That is why I am here now. That is why I have decided to paint Rama's name on the side of my house. That is why I wait in the hope Rama will send a spy who I can help. That is why I declare myself a friend of Rama. I will help from inside Lanka. Though I fear this to be a lost cause, I will attempt to convince Ravana to return Sita to her husband. I will not give up until Ravana either kills me or throws me out of the kingdom... 


Author's Note:
The inspiration for this story is Vibhishana from The Divine Archer. Vibhishana is a rakshasa who sides with Rama after Ravana, Vibhishana's brother, kidnaps Sita, Rama's wife. In this version of the Ramayana, Hanuman finds the name "Rama" painted on a wall when he arrives in Lanka looking for any sign of Sita. There he meets Vibhishana who tells him where Sita is. Vibhishana also mentions he does not want to be in Lanka but wants to be a friend of Rama instead.
This started with me wondering why he didn't just leave if he didn't want to be there and I started thinking of a backstory. What I came up with sounded like something Vibhishana may say to someone or write in a journal so I went ahead and tried a journal entry like style for this story. And so I ended up with Vibhishana writing a journal entry of his thoughts as he waits for an ally of Rama to show up.

Image Information:
Journal and Quill from the public domain (image source)

Bibliography:
The Divine Archer by F. J. Gould

Reading Notes: The Divine Archer Part B

Story: The Divine Archer by F. J. Gould

Plot

• Rama helps Sugriva get his kingdom back from tyrant brother Bali
• Hanuman finds Sita in Ravan's city with Vibhishan's help
• Female demon tells of a dream where she sees the city on fire and Ravan dead with Vibhishan on the throne
• The battle 
• Sita's test by fire
• Return to Ayodhya where Rama becomes king but then exiles Sita due to listen to the people
• Rama meets his sons and watches Sita swollowed by the earth

Character Note

• Vibhishan does not wish to be in Lanka with his brother. He dreams of leaving to go to Ayodhya and being a comrade to Rama

Vibhishana meets Rama (image source)

Reading Notes: The Divine Archer Part A

Story: The Divine Archer by F. J. Gould

Plot

• 4 princes born and city celebrates
• Grow learning archery, manners, scriptures
• Rama and Lakshman given task to help brahmins
• Rama meets Sita and breaks Siva's bow to marry her
• Devotee of Siva comes and tests Rama with Vishnu's bow
• All 4 princes get married
• Dasharatha decides to pass on the throne but Kaikeyi asks for the 2 boons
• Rama, Sita and Lakshman leave, receive weapons from Agastya on the way and end up building a hut to live in over the winter
• Dasharatha dies and Bharata returns home with other brother
• Rakshasi wants Rama but he refuses so she goes to Ravan who steals Sita from Rama
• Rama finds Jatayu and then two monkeys, Sugriva and Hanuman, find him
• They decide to help each other out

Style Note

• Parts of the story are as if the writer is talking to the reader

Rama breaks Shiva's bow (image source)