This town wasn’t big enough for everyone but mayor Johnny Kansas at least thought it was. He wanted everyone to come see his famous city. Mathuson, he said, was the crown jewel of the frontier. To prove it he invited all the famous bronc riders, cow pushers, ropers, and gunslingers to help spread the word. Mr. Kansas, who was not all sunshine and rainbows, had his own past. It wasn’t clean. It wasn’t even cloudy. It was dirtier than mud. He had left a trail of blood during his younger years while gaining power and political clout. He was mayor now and that made him think that he was bulletproof.
Among the many talented men and women that had decided to take part in the various planned competitions were two brothers named Kristopher and Baldrik. They were there to make a name for themselves. Along side them both were their horses. These were good men with strong minds and clean hearts. They had experienced quite a rough upbringing but had typically lived in peace. They knew of the real Johnny Kansas and his real desires. Having just arrived in town, they decided to take a look around town.
After a couple hours looking around town, they happened upon one of the many stables strewn about the city. This was no ordinary stable though; stabled there was a world famous bronco named Tundra. No rider had ever conquered this bronc and all the talent in town wasn’t enough to beat it. Kristopher knew what was up though. He’d wrangled, wrestled, and tossed about with the best of them. He was going to make a name for himself, right now.
Baldrik watched Kristopher walk right over to Tundra.
“What are you doing?” asked Baldrik. “Nobody has ever ridden that horse.”
“Time for a change then, eh?” Kristopher responded.
A crowd already present took notice and the talk and chatter picked up. Kristopher walked right up to Tundra and began to look him over. A few voices rang out from the crowd.
“Yeah right!”
“This guy is plumb crazy.”
“He’s going to get himself killed.”
Kristopher silenced them all when he jumped on and broke that horse in a matter of minutes. The crowd erupted in cheers and chants. This drew the attention of Mayor Kansas. He arrived and saw Kristopher riding Tundra like he was a long broken and well-mannered workhorse. He couldn’t believe it. He was furious!
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| Kristopher conquering Tundra source |
Later that day he invited Kristopher and his brother to attend a competition. It was a roping competition. Various teams were selected to see how fast they could chase down and rope a young calf. Mayor Kansas, however, meant for this to be a trap. The three other teams that Kristopher and Baldrick had to compete against began to chase them down in an attempt to rope them and kill them. The brothers were too swift! Every rope missed. Kansas’ men grew frustrated and drew their weapons. Each flipped out their twin Colt revolvers, moving with nearly identical speed and motions.This was an unfair fight though. The two brothers had put two bullets into each of the assassins before they could even get off shots of their own. Mayor Kansas couldn’t believe his eyes. His veins bulged and he spit as he yelled out.
“Whoever kills these two vermin get a thousand dollars!”
Kristopher whistled to his trusty horse and up they went into the grandstands. Baldrick fought off other hired men and outlaws.
Kristopher drew down on Johnny Kansas and said, “Your bloody trail ends here.”
Kansas drew his rifle but was far too slow for Kristopher. He was dead in a split second. This event was Kristopher's first step in becoming a legend in the Western frontier. His renown spread like wildfire and he gained the admiration of many downtrodden people for defeating Johnny Kansas.
Author’s Note
This is a retelling of a story from Krishna, Defender of
Dharma. In this story, Krishna goes to the city of Mathura where Kansa is
holding a competition. The brothers enter into the competition and defeat a
number of men before killing Kansa and fulfilling a prophesy. I decided to
retell this story in a Western style again because I’ve had a lot of fun with
this style and it comes naturally to me. The plot is pretty much the same form
the original story apart from name changes to fit into the Western theme. The
plot follows the original story from the two brothers going to the town for a
competition, the outlaws being hired by mayor Kansas to kill the brothers, and
then the brothers killing the mayor. The background for this story pretty much
only came from the need to change it into a Western. The image I chose was
difficult to find but it works. Of the few that would have been acceptable,
this one was really the only image that actually looks like it could have been
from the era. My overall goal was to experiment with retelling these stories in
a Western setting. So far, my Western stories work well as “Americanized”
versions of the stories.
Author: Shweta Tanjea
Artist: Rajesh Nagulakonda
Artist: Rajesh Nagulakonda
Title: Krishna: Defender of Dharma
Year: 2013
Year: 2013
Tyler, I loved the western theme you created in this story. I think it’s such a good idea to make these stories your own. You did a great job setting up all of the hype for Tundra! I also think the dialogue added a lot to the plot. I hope you continue to enjoy the reading assignments and find creative ways to share the stories you’ve read!
ReplyDeleteThis was a lot of fun to read! I enjoyed the western style because it was much different than most of the retellings that I have read so far. Your writing style keeps the reader moving along and ready to see what happens next! I would only suggest double-checking your formatting with fonts. That is just a minor thing. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteI could see this being an epic short western film. After reading your introduction, I could tell it was you cause of the style. My favorite story tellings are when people take these stories a bring them into another time. I wonder why those two men were so skilled. This would be interesting to expand our their background and good deeds across the land.
ReplyDeleteYour story was a great read. I think its the first western story i have read so far in the class. I liked the way you described the horses. The way you write makes it super easy to read and follow along. I thought it was a classic retelling. You had the trusted horse, the perfect villain (Johnny Kansas).The dialogue between Kristopher and Johnny Kansas was perfect for a western movie. I Loved the way you ended the dialogue between the two,Your bloody trail ends here." A really cool addition would be to add the music player at the top and find the old west tone for the stand off. Is the name Kristopher a reference to Krishna? I thought the layout of your site was pretty well done and made it super easy to read.This was awesome and I will definitely want to keep on reading.
ReplyDelete