Alex's Epics of India Blog

Portfolio location:  https://sites.google.com/view/crayonandonand/the-giant-student?authuser=0 Once upon a time, there was a giant student at OU who happened to be really smart, too. She would walk up and down the South Oval with long, lumbering strides, quietly minding her own business, careful not to step on any normal-sized passerby. Every day, the giant student attended class and sat in the back, taking copious, detailed notes and listening attentive to each of her professors. For a long time she lived this serene existence, being large and smart and unobtrusive despite the size of her body and intellect. One day, a small, hairy student tried to sit in the back of the room, where the giant student always sat. Tiny, as he was called, plopped into the chair in the back despite the warnings of his classmates--he would be squashed! The giant student would never notice him! But the giant student ducked through the doorway into class, saw Tiny in her chair, and calmly sat in ...

PORTFOLIO LOCATION --  https://sites.google.com/view/crayonandonand/the-bowling-showdown Onc e upon a time, there were five brothers, all alike in stature and skill —skill at bowling. These five brothers were renown for their strikes, but no bowler was as accurate as Arjuna, who could thread the ball into the one-three pocket and guarantee a strike whenever he stepped up to the lane. Arjuna was so good that, after a while, his fame spread so that everyone in the land thought he was unbeatable. One day, when the five brothers were displaying their skill on the lanes against their cousins —all 100 of them —a mystery challenger approached, claiming that his skill throwing and spinning a bowling ball exceeded that of Arjuna. This man's name was Karna, and upon his challenge, Arjuna agreed to go frame for frame against this mystery man. The two bowlers battled furiously, each of their bowling balls hooking into strike after strike. While Arjuna threw to hit the normal strike...

"Can I ask you something,  Yudhistira?" "Of course, Sadaheva. You are my youngest brother, and therefore you need my guidance." "Well, that's not necessarily true." "Yes it is." "Why?" "I said so." "But who put you in charge?" "Whoever wrote the Mahabharata ." "Fine. Anyways, can I ask you a question and get a serious answer?" "Of course, little brother. Why would I not be serious?" "Because you'd give me a you're-young-and-do-not-know-the-ways-of-the-world answer." "That is a serious answer. I am older than you and thus wiser." "How much older than me are you, anyway?" "I have no idea. I'm not sure anyone does." "Wise, older brother. Absolutely sage." "Are you going to ask me the question?" "Yeah, fine. What was going through you mind when you saw all o...

NOTE: Portfolio location --  https://sites.google.com/view/crayonandonand/story-two The casino smelled like Kevin's Gramma before she died of lung cancer — like the slap of new pinochle cards as they're shuffled; like the puff of the last cigarette in a pack of Marlboros; like a woman who bet on God instead of chemotherapy and lost. Kevin sat at the blackjack table, blood already thrilling through his veins. The dealer sent two cards across the table and they slid to a stop right in front of him. A Jack of spades, a four of hearts. "Hit me." A ten of diamonds. "You bust. House wins." Kevin played again. This time, a six of clubs and a seven of hearts. "Hit me." "You bust. House wins." He played again: "Hit me." "You bust. House wins." And again: "Hit me." "You bust. House wins." And again: "Hit me." "You bust. House wins." He played until he ...

"So that's it, then?" "Yeah." "Let me get this clear, so that I can curse you properly before I die. You're dumping me after I was just proven pure by the gods, banishing me and our unborn twin children to the forest, and by all counts, leaving us to die. That's what you're doing." "It is the only logical course of action, Sita." "Alright, Spock. Logical how?" "You are the only one who has ever made be behave illogically, Sita. Chasing Maricha as the golden deer; leading an army agains Ravana when you could have returned safely with Hanuman; these are just two examples of how you make me behave against my perfect nature." "I don't make you behave any way. You're a big boy, Rama. And Hanuman should have waited up. He had too much fun razing the city, and he forgot to come back for me." "It was all for my glorification, Sita." "Tell that to the thousands of dead...

NOTE: Portfolio location --  https://sites.google.com/view/crayonandonand/story-one Once upon a time, in the distant Kingdom of Almost-Humans, two young brothers lived happily together as princes, chasing each other around the castle grounds and racing each other home when their almost-human butler called them to dinner, careful not to trip on their tails. As the brothers grew older, they never concerned themselves with the line of succession--which one of them would become King of the Almost-Humans--until one fateful day when everything changed. "Hey, brother," the first and older almost-human prince said, "where are the carrots for today's feast? Father is planning to introduce me as his rightful heir to the throne of the Kingdom." The younger brother, who well knew how valuable carrots were to the succession announcement and ceremonies, had dug them all up the previous night, tied them into a tight bundle, and punted them into the forest. He shrugged....

Hidden in an unbreathably narrow alley off Coroner Street and tucked snugly between Unholy Spirits & Liquor and Ink'd Tattoo Pub, Derwin's Curio Shop seemed almost normal. The faded wood paneling and crooked metal lettering on the front of Derwin's retreated behind the bright, blaring neon signs of the boozery and tattoo-bar. Shadows and cigarette smoke and the echoing, uneven slap of feet on cobblestone hung in the air above Derwin's, no matter the time of day. The nondescript, dull exterior belied the exotic interior of Derwin's Curio Shop. Inside the cramped, single-room shop were peacock feathers, astrolabes, dusty hardcovers, a stack of impressionist paintings, East-Asian postcards, long shards of wood recovered from Mediterranean pirate ships, porcelain busts, unopened Cracker Jack boxes, signed baseball cards, Revolutionary War-era muskets, hand-carved statuettes depicting Hindu deities, ancient Chinese manuscripts, and communist propaganda made during...