Billy Raven's Death
Rambo McClintock had spent weeks preparing for this moment. Billy Raven had taken his wife long ago and Rambo had willed himself to overcome many obstacles to get to this point. Billy Raven's home town was old but had grown to a good size and was protected by the gang called "Raven's Chosen." The Chosen were those who had sworn themselves to serve Billy Raven in the hopes of gaining favor and riches.
Rambo was not alone though. Equal in his gunfighting skills was his own brother Laksho. Along with the two brothers there are a large group of lawmen and rangers who had been sent out to help in the search for Rambo's wife Sinthia.
“Brother! Now’s the time!” Laksho said. “Raven is isolated and backed into a corner.”
“That’s when a gunfighter fights best, Laksho. He doesn’t have to watch his back,” Rambo replied.
Rambo drew his lever action .44 Magnum and drew down on the gang leader. Rambo emptied the gun as fast as the mechanism would allow him to operate it. In the midst of the largest gun battle ever seen in the West, Rambo, Laksho, and Billy fell into their own little world. The dozen or so other smaller firefights going on around them slowly disappeared in their minds. The endless ringing of gunfire faded into simple whispers. Rambo was sure that most of his shots were dead on but Billy Raven looked untouched.
“Hah! Shoot faster!” laughed Billy, who was in fact seemingly untouched.
Rambo wasn't sure how but Billy was somehow able to dodge very shot.
Rambo wasn't sure how but Billy was somehow able to dodge very shot.
“Ask and ye shall receive! You've called down the thunder, and now you got it!” was Rambo’s response.
Billy drew his twin six-shooters and began to fire back. Rambo followed suit but only drew one revolver, knowing that he could better aim his single gun compared to handling two different guns at the same time.
Laksho had seen Rambo’s first shots miss from the rifle so he joined in drawing his single Colt Peacemaker revolver, bearing down on Billy Raven from another angle.
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| The Great Gunfight source |
Billy Raven was able to get twelve shots away in rapid succession but all of his shots were missing. The two brothers, ready to end this fight, focused so greatly that it was as if time slowed down. The world around them, already dimmed and quieted moments before, now appeared to stop. Dust nearly seemed motionless around them. Flies and fleeing birds flapped their wings so slow that it seemed as if they were simply floating in the air and frozen in time.
The two brothers, both firing their guns, could see all of their bullets meet their target. Billy Raven, who was firing his own gun, seemed to receive a bullet for every bullet he sent the other way. Down he went. As they saw their enemy fall, time slowly returned to normal speed, the world reappeared around them, and the sound of gunshots returned to a full ear-piercing strength.
“It’s finally over, Rambo,” Laksho said.
“Yeah, Bro” is all Rambo said in return.
In seeing Billy Raven fall, the Raven's Chosen quickly began to flee the town. While the brothers and lawmen regrouped, Sinthia walked out of the train station. The brothers ran to embrace her while the lawmen cheered. The battle was over and the day was won.
Author's Note
I wanted to rewrite the story of Ravana's Death into a Western style story. If I recall I read someone else's story from a week or two ago. It was in a Western style and I just had to try it for myself. I made the battle into a western style gun battle but the focus is really on Rambo, Laksho, and Billy.
Most of the changes simply happened by changing plot devices and details into this Western style. The changes aren’t subtle but they were simple and easy to make. There’s not much background to this story apart from the original story in the Ramayana.
I really tried to find an image from any number of Western films which I really enjoy but I couldn’t find one that was suitable for reuse. The image I did use however does work for this story.
I chose to rewrite this story of Ravana’s Death because I really like reading about the battles and combat. Changing any kind of combat into a westernized version is fun. In my mind the gunfight happened like it could be a modern film with time slowing down and things happening in “bullet time.” Overall, I really like and enjoy Western styles films and stories so this was quick, easy, and fun for me.
Title: Indian Myth and Legend
Author: Donald A. Mackenzie
Illustrator: Warwick Goble
Year: 1913
Author: Donald A. Mackenzie
Illustrator: Warwick Goble
Year: 1913
I think your retelling of the story is so unique. I like how you turned it into a western style story. I also liked how the name changes were subtle. I was still able to distinguish exactly who was who from the original story in your retelling. I think your story flowed very well and it was very action packed. Overall, I enjoyed your story.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you retold the story. I have not read a story yet in this class that had a western/outdoor style. I was able to identify the characters from the original story and match them to the characters in this story. There is also a lot of action incorporated in your story. Good Job!
ReplyDeleteHey tyler!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your story! It was really entertaining. It kept me on the edge of my seat. It was intense. I really did not know who was going to defeat who. I did not notice any grammar or punctuation errors. The story flowed very well. The breaks made sense and made the story very concise. I look forward to reading more of your posts.
I really enjoyed this change in style from the traditional Indian epic to this westernized version. I think that most of your readers will have some back ground in western culture or Hollywood gunfights and be able to create an image based on your description. In the nitty gritty of things I noticed a couple typos which are easy to miss. In the last dialogue you said "bro" and I felt that such an abbreviation would not have existed in that time, instead perhaps compadre would have suited the context better. The overall spacing of the story was much better than my own and allowed the work to flow in a worthy manner. The character names were interesting to be honest I am not sure if you attempted to reference the Rambo movies or not, but if you did I would suggest that you choose another western gunfighter because the mixing of two different eras might confuse the reader.
ReplyDeleteHi Tyler!
ReplyDeleteThis was great! I did not think a traditional story like the Ramayana could be re imagined as a Western tale but you did it! But if you didn't know the background story on which this was based it would work on it's own as well. It was a little hard for me to imagine this story in terms of imagery since I'm so used to thinking of it in the original sense. Did you choose the name Rambo in reference to the movies? I found that part to be kinda neat. How did you come up for the other names? Is it in reference to other characters that you know?
As far as the image goes it does work well with the story so no worries on that one.
Keep up the good work and I look forward to reading the rest as the semester progresses. Good luck!
Tyler, this is a great story that vividly describes the battle between Rama and Ravana in a new and different way. As far as formatting goes, I think the way you bolded the font of “Author’s Note” looks really nice and adds some separation to this piece. It might also be a good idea to put the title of your story in bold at the top- just a thought! The way you came up with names for the story is so creative! They have some similarity to the original character names, but also match the western style of your writing. Another fun part of your story was the very specific descriptions of the various guns. I don’t know anything about guns, but it is apparent that you really know what you’re talking about! Great work, and I look forward to seeing how the rest of your portfolio project comes together!
ReplyDelete