Storytelling for Week 2: Benji and Claud

Benjamin had reached his last straw. The seniors had done enough pranks on him to leave a serious dent in his self perception and confidence. If that wasn't enough, his girlfriend Ricki decided, "she needed to find out who she was on her own" and broke up with him. This seemed ironic when Benji saw her making out with another guy in the hall the next week. 

It was at this time that Benji decided to get a pet. He thought about getting a lizard but decided against it since their food could be a source of insomnia. He saw a video of a baby pig and thought it was cute but they turned out to be too expensive. When he went to the pet store and browsed through the stacked cages of artificial environments he noticed a rather odd looking animal. He sat there looking at its sad eyes and wondered if he felt dejected and lonely like him. It turned out to be a fennec fox and because he was not selling the store gave him to Benji for nearly nothing. Benji named him Claud because he thought it would be a funny name to yell. 

He was a great listener.
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Benji grew close to Claud during high school and people knew that if they saw Benji Claud was most likely to be following behind diligently like a faithful friend. They had fun together and Claud actually made Benji a happier person. As a senior Benji and Claud were voted most likely to get married, which was actually supposed to be a prank but Benji thought it was actually pretty funny. It also made Benji sad because he knew he would have to leave Claud at home when he went to college a few hours away because they didn't allow pets, especially foxes, in the dorms or surrounding apartment complexes. 

Their last night together they did all of their favorite things. They went to the river to swim and cool off before eating dinner at Red Robin as that was Claud's favorite bird to eat. Then they went and made fun of the fishes in the aquarium and played peek-a-boo with the dolphins. Then they went home to relax on the couch and watch Meerkat Manor on animal planet. Benji was about to crash when Claud sat up and looked him straight in the eye balls and said, "Please don't be alarmed, Benji I think you are a great friend and because you have treated me so well I need to tell you something". Benji sat there motionless with his jaw touching the floor. Claud said rather calmly, "I am a unique fox not because I can talk but because I have the power to grant wishes for humans". After Benji regained his composure he explained to Claud, "Since I am going to college it would be nice if I could be part of the popular crowd and to have more friends". Claud agreed he could help him with that and it came true once Benji got to college. 

Him and his friends sat front row at the football games.
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Benji and Claud started to become more distant as Benji grew up and experienced school in a different way then he had ever imagined. When Benji would come home to visit family and Claud he seemed to only do because he knew if he treated Claud well he could get him to grant him a wish. At first Benji asked for things like a girlfriend and a photographic memory. Eventually he started asking for things like the trendiest clothes, the most unique house right on campus, a vehicle that could also be used to go camping with, and to get set up with a job right out of college that paid big and required little effort. 

Claud began to see what was going on but as a pet he was not allowed to intervene, he was only allowed to support his owner to the best of his abilities. Once Benji became an adult he continued this process of exploiting Claud for his wishes and seeking out whatever new pleasure he could dream up. It wasn't until Benji began to suffer from anxiety and extreme sadness again that he realized how he had been living. He realized he had been wasting his life on things and selfish desires that were without true meaning and purpose. He felt sick to his stomach as he thought about all the wasted time. It was at the age of 45 that Benji finally realized what he valued the most in his life. The people he had the deepest relationships with and his fox Claud were what really made him happy. He told Claud what he had been thinking about and Claud smiled as tears rolled down his cheeks. It was the happiest day in Claud's life and he got to spend it with his best friend again. 

Benjamin at age 70.
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Author's Note: 

The story that inspired this story was called "The Fairy Frog". In the original story a man's parents are about to die and their dying wish is to have their son go to the market after they die and buy the first thing someone asks him to buy. They told him that if he does he will find good fortune from that purchase and that no price should stop him. He does as he is told and he ends up getting a frog. The frog is unique because it eats so much and gets so big it becomes a giant frog. The frog eats so much that the man and his wife have barely any food to eat themselves and are struggling to survive but they stay diligent. Due tot their loving nature the frog reveals to them that he is actually a fairy and because of them treating him so well they can both be granted one wish. In my story I wanted to make it a little bit more realistic and relatable for college students. I believe there is this illusion of success in our world and it has a lot to do with our world's capitalistic mindset. People believe they can feel happy and find purpose in being the most unique person or being the best at something. I think it is easy for people to be mislead and I hope this story makes people think about what success is to them and about relationships. I didn't know that you could have a pet fox, especially one as cute as that, so I made him the animal in the story and gave him human characteristics. 

Bibliography:

The Fairy Frog, Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends, Gertrude Landa, 1919.