Week 10 Storytelling: Anatole

Anatole awoke from his afternoon nap in the hammock in such a peaceful way he thought this is a moment in life he surely won't forget. That is saying a lot considering he is as old as time. The amount of naps he has taken in his lifetime might take years to count if one could remember them all. However, this nap felt special. His hammock was positioned perfectly under a tree on the beach so that the branches kept him in the shade but also let enough sun through to keep him the perfect temperature. It was after lunch so he felt perfectly content and relaxed. When he was asleep it was almost as if he was just conscious enough to still enjoy the warmth of the sun and the slight breeze hitting his face. When he woke up he just laid there completely still. Not wanting to move a muscle for fear this unmatched comfortability might disappear. He noticed the sun was starting to get lower in the sky and approach the bay. He lived in a shack practically on the beach and he could hear the chimes singing in the breeze. He could also hear the waves crashing against the side of his canoe he had built so long ago. Finally after he had spent some time soaking it all in he knew he had to get up and start getting ready. 

Image Source

 

Anatole had truly unique profession. When the earth began God trusted him with the job of painting the sunset each night. Anatole became a masterful artist as he practiced on his immense canvas each day. Each evening as the sun is about to set he paddles out in his canoe and paints the magnificent tapestry of colors that can be seen from all over the earth. No sunset is the same as the last and that is because Anatole paints what his heart feels each day. There are days when he is sad and doesn't paint at all. Sometimes if it is cloudy or rainy there is not canvas to paint on. However, most days he makes a masterpiece in hopes that everyone might get to enjoy it.

Image Source

When the sun finally goes down God and Anatole get to sit down with each other and talk. God shows him the people the were touched by his sunset. He gets to see the moments people enjoyed during the sunset almost like a clip in people's lives. Anatole is humbled by people's reactions and smiles from ear to ear. Some moments are too beautiful to describe with words and he will cry tears of joy. He believes he must be the luckiest man in the entire history of the world.

Author's Note.
In the original story Pearl-Feather is a sort of evil magician that killed Nokomis' father. The old woman, Nokomis, begs of Hiawatha to avenge her father and try to go murder Pearl-Feather. Pearl-Feather apparently lives on an island surrounded by massive snakes and the water around is black. It is a dangerous place to try and go to say the least. However, Hiawatha accepts the challenge and sets out in his canoe to try and take down the mighty Pearl-Feather. Hiawatha encounters the snakes first, which are enormous. He ends up killing them and eventually killing Pearl-Feather. The story ends with the hero sailing home.
The part that my story is reason based off of is in the beginning when the old woman Nokomis is describing the sunset. I wanted to create a story that showed the origin of sunsets. In this case it is an old artist that is responsible for painting them. I have grown up drawing and painting as a hobby and learning a lot of what I know from my Dad. I am not any good but I love looking at my Dad's water color paintings of the sunset and mountains so that is a little bit where the inspiration came from.

Bibliography.
Hiawatha and the Pearl-Feather, The Song of Hiawatha, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1855.