Week 9 story

 Drona

One day, a young boy was skipping rocks with his father. His dad was showing him the best rock skipping technique but the boy was too small and weak to properly throw the rock. The father told him that one day, he would be strong enough to skip rocks even further than him. The little boy was filled with hope and courage and remembered that moment for the rest of his life. They walked back home and went to sleep.

The next morning, the boy had to go to school and his father had to go to work. In the middle of the school day a caravan of armed men approached the schoolyard while the boys were at recess. The school was raided by a local militia looking for child warriors. The militia used their weapons and numbers to shoot up the staff and killed all of the teachers and workers so that only the young kids were left. The little boy and his friends were forced to join the army against their will and fight against the government. These radical soldiers brainwashed the children into believing the twisted doctrine of the militia and vowing their life to overthrow the government. 

When his father got home from work, there were two military officials on his porch. 

He asked them, "what's wrong?" 

and the men responded, "Your boy has been taken by the local militia."

The father was filled with rage and fury. He made the decision to embark on a journey to rescue his son. He packed all of his essential belongings and left the same day he found out the bad news. As he was leaving, he shouted in the streets to gather any other parents that wanted to join and fight the militia with him. Some people called him crazy but others were eager to join and fight back for their children. Surprisingly, the father rounded up approximately 200 other parents that wanted to fight back for their children. This seems like a large number, but this militia was so large and powerful that even 200 people would not be enough to fight them. 

The father and the 200 others set off on their journey through the forest to find their children. 

After months of trudging through the forest, they ran into a child that escaped. The poor boy was covered in blood and had a look of fear in his eyes. At first, the boy thought he was going to be captured again, but then he recognized one of his parents in the group and immediately burst into tears of joy. The child went on and explained to them where the rest of the children were and gave extreme detail on the layout of the facility and where the weak points were. The parents used this information, gathered their supplies, called the army, and charged the base. After a long battle and a handful of casualties, the young boy and his father were reunited. 

Fortunately, the boy was saved. However, the boy was so traumatized, he did not recognize his father. He screamed and cried and tried to run away. Eventually, he calmed down and went back home with his father. It would take a lot of time and therapy but the boy would eventually recognize his father again. They would live happily ever after in their small community. 

(Child Army)

Bibliography:  Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

Author's Note: 

I really enjoyed writing this story. This story is very different from the original but I wanted it to be that way. I was inspired by the first line in the original that says, "young men should be trained to bear arms." This specific quote made me think of a child army. As soon as that seed was implanted in my head, I could not get it out. I knew I had to write about a child army. I also liked the aspect of the original story that the boy had no mother. I kept the father son bond in tact throughout my story because you do not hear of that often. In most cases in real life, it is usually the mother that is always around and not the father. I liked that about this story a lot and wanted to make sure that stayed the same. I chose to have the boy kidnapped, but I wanted to make sure the father would be able to save him. I wanted the father to not have to go alone to save him so I gave him a small army to go with and rescue their children. I did not want this story to end in a sad way like a lot of mine have in the past. I teased a sad ending but made sure that it would stay happy. Overall, I enjoyed writing it and hope you liked reading it.