Week 2 Storytelling: Homer's Odyssey

Alyssa has an independent, wandering soul. When she was little she would wander about the park, in the grocery store, and throughout the neighborhood. When she became older her wandering led her farther and farther away from home and she became more dependent upon herself to do everything herself. Once she was old enough and had finally realized how far she had wandered from home, she was half the world away. Alyssa was tired of being away from home and tired of constantly being on the move and decided that she would go home. This is where her journey home begins.

Alyssa decided to tell the people that she had wandered with that she was officially going to go home. They all told her that she shouldn't leave and forced her to stay. After a couple of days of not being able to start her journey, she decided that she was just going to make their lives a living hell by staying there. After a couple of more days, Alyssa's friends finally kicked her out and pushed her on her way out of annoyance. She was officially on her way.

Alyssa was proud of herself that she was able to escape the grasp of the people that kept her from her journey, however, she was not aware of all the struggle and effort it was going to take to finally reach home. She would have to drop her pride and actually use the help of others in order to get home. We must also remember that she continues to have a wandering soul, which will prolong her journey.

One day when traveling, Alyssa ran into a man named Casey. Casey, like herself, has the same sense of adventure and fear of staying still. After talking to him and listening to him speak of his next adventures she falls into his plans and prolongs her journey. Alyssa gets caught back in the safety of running away and having someone to share it with. Months go by and she finds herself even farther than she was before. When Alyssa realized how long she has wasted from traveling and not returning home, she built up enough courage and left Casey, her beloved wandering partner. And again, she is out of her comfort zone and continues her journey home. 

At this point in life Alyssa really does need help in returning home. As she is trying to plan out her journey in a coffee shop, the owner of the shop asks about her life, where she has been, and where she is headed. Terry, the coffee shop owner, listens to her story and since the place was pretty small so does everyone else. He tells her of his travels and his journey home as well and warns her that it will take lots of courage and determination to officially arrive home. She will need a fixed and steady determination to ignore all temptations and achieve what she wants in life. Women sitting at the table nearby speak of different transportation systems for Alyssa to use and tips for her upcoming journey. One of the women named Amy told her that she should surprise her family instead of letting them know of her return, that way they are overcome with happiness. Alyssa talked to everyone in the coffee shop and then gained enough courage and information to continue start on her way. 

With warning from her new found friends in the coffee shop she looked straight ahead at her goal: home. This helped for when she would find other wandering souls and they would invite her to join them. Alyssa would say no thank you, as much as she wanted to say yes, and continue on her way. The ultimate challenge, however, was yet to come. One day when traveling rather close to home, she ran into an old friend. This old friend, Skyler, is not any old friend though. Skyler is the one that as a child would egg her on when wanting to wander farther and farther. She would always dare Alyssa to walk one block farther or persuade her to find out what was on the other side of anything. When speaking to Skyler and telling her of her plans to return home, Skyler stopped and tried to convince her that going home was useless and a waste of time. Alyssa thought back to her friends in the coffee shop and knew that Skyler was the ultimate challenge. This was the top of the mountain for her; all of these obstacles have led her and prepared her to finally say no to Skyler and change her life officially. Alyssa stormed past Skyler and went on to return home. 

Wanderer (picture from Pixabay)

Author's Note: For this story I used Homer's Odyssey as a reference. First of all I chose names that helped me reference back to the characters in The Odyssey. I start the story with Alyssa being stopped by other wandering friends and coming up with a plan to escape them, just like how Ulysses had to come up with a plan to escape Polyphemus, the cyclopes. Next on Alyssa's journey is running into Casey who distracts her from her journey home. This is in reference to Circe and Ulysses keeping camp there with her for over a year. After leaving Casey, Alyssa talks to many people who give her tips and information about life. This is in reference to Ulysses speaking to all of the ghosts in hell. Alyssa's Terry is Ulysses's Terisesias in the fact that they are both like guidance counselors for them. Other wandering souls along the trip for Alyssa are like the Sirens for Ulysses. Lastly, Skyler is Alyssa's ultimate challenge in deciding to officially return home. For Ulysses, Scylla (the monster) is his ultimate last challenge he has to conquer in order to return home to Ithaca. 

Bibliography: Homer's Odyssey. Translated by Tony Kline. Translated version published 2004.