Week 11 Story: How the Possum's Tail Became Bare

 Not as long ago as you would typically think, the possum was by far the coolest animal on the planet. The possum was the superior house-pet and was considered to be a luxury to own. While these animals were not the smartest by any means, they had these luxurious and beautiful tails covered with hair in intricate patterns and colors. Only the wealthiest people could afford these incredibly expensive animals. 

One winter morning, a little girl asked her mother for a possum for Christmas. Her mother kindly told her that she did not think they could afford these animals because they were not a wealthy family. The little girl did not understand what life was like as an adult, so she got really angry and sad. All she wanted was a possum because all of her friends had one. The little girl went back to school and told her friends that she could not get a possum like them because her family could not afford it. Instead of being good friends and trying to raise money or let her play with their possum, the friends decided to make fun of her and call her "poor" and other mean names. This made the little girl very upset and angry. 

The little girl vowed to destroy her friends and she began planning on how she would do this. After long consideration, she decided she was going to take out her anger on each of their pets. The little girl got some scissors and snuck into her friends houses and one by one she cut the hair off of the tails of all the possums. Her friends woke up the next morning to find a hideous creature with a worm-like tail and they were disgusted. They had no idea what happened and they were terrified of this new animal.

The little girl vowed to cut off the hair from every possum on the planet. That is how the Possum's tail became bare. 

(possum)

Bibliography: Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney (1900).

Author's Note: 

I  saw the story about the possum and really enjoyed the creative idea that they told a story about the weird tail the possum has. I used similar parts of the original like how the possum used to have this luxurious beautiful tail that was full of fur. I liked this idea because it made me think of how Disney would exaggerate details in their movies and I wanted to do the same with my story. When I read that, I pictured this incredible animal when in reality, the current possum is super ugly. The part of the story I changed was how the possum lost its beautiful tail. The original story was good, but I wanted to change it and make it more "relatable" for the lack of a better term. I wanted to possum to lose its beautiful tail because of the actions of others. I made the possum a house pet that is coveted by many and I wanted the jealous girl to ruin it. I made her friends bully her and had her take her anger out on the possum. In the end, I stated that she made it her life goal to cut the hair off of every possum in the world and that is why we do not see a possum with a good looking tail.