Reimagined: Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Private Daniels’ right arm ached under the weight of his rifle. Whoever manufactures these guns, he thought, should use lighter materials, or else load them with fewer bullets.
On top of that, the sun was in his eyes. Forester, on the other end of the bridge, got to face West, but Daniels had to stare directly into the rising sun as it filtered through the tree trunks. He squinted ahead, and just for a moment, allowed himself to close his eyes. The relief was immediate.
Eyes still shut, Daniels yawned, and imagined his tent back at the encampment. He wished dearly to blink and find himself transported back there. Sure, his cot was scratchy and hard, and there were no pillows to speak of, but these days he could fall asleep anywhere. Never again, he decided, would he allow himself to be picked for sentinel duty.
He wondered what would be left for breakfast when they returned. Knowing those pigs back at camp, the bacon would be gone, and if this went on any longer the eggs would be eaten, too, and he'd be stuck with cold grits and biscuits again. Daniels scowled.
A cardinal landed on the ground and approached his freshly shined boot. I've been here so long, he thought with a grimace, it thinks I'm part of the scenery.
Then, behind him, there was a scrabbling sound, a brief cry, and a yank. Daniels exhaled, and let his rifle fall to his side. The muscles in his arm relaxed, and the bird took to the air. At last, breakfast.
I think this reimagining is great as it still explores the theme of naturalism but in such a different way from the original story. It's really interesting to think that while the character in Owl Creek was going through such a wild, imaginative story in his mind to escape a morbid reality, the other characters in the story were thinking about simple things like sleeping and breakfast. I think your writing style is also really nice to read, and captures the feelings of the story really well.
ReplyDeleteGreat reimagining! I liked the writing style and the character being so desensitized to something like a hanging that he’s just focused on his own little discomforts and doesn’t really acknowledge what’s happening at all. I also liked the idea that Daniels got annoyed when he was approached by a cardinal and was relieved when it was scared away. That detail really gets to the naturalism in the original story.
ReplyDeleteI'm really impressed by how much the writing style evokes the same feelings as the original "Occurrence at Own Creek Bridge". Additionally, the choice of this story for reimagining is super creative because the original story really only focuses on one character. I like how both the original main character and Daniels daydream of going back home (or to their tent) and how they both feel some sort of relief from taking themselves out of their current situation, weather it be by a hyper-realistic imaginative sequence, or simply closing one's eyes.
ReplyDeleteCompared to the long, elaborate and drawn out scenes we see in the original version of "Occurrence at Owl Creek", your reimagined ending keeps it brief which is ultimately more realistic. The writing style fits very well with what I had in mind with Private Daniels' character. Although it's a death of another character being described, it's morbidly interesting to see how insignificant this moment is to everyone else.
ReplyDeleteYour reimagining of the story from the perspective of Private Daniels was really impressive! You managed to maintain the same writing style of the original story while also keeping it much more brief and easy to read. I also liked that Farquhar's execution was barely focused on, emphasizing that Daniels' job in the army is so boring that he doesn't even care about another man's death as long as it means he can temporarily stop working.
ReplyDeleteI really like the writing style you used with this story - specifically, its brevity. The most notable thing to me about about "Owl Creek Bridge" is the daylong chase scene that, in reality, only takes several seconds, so it was fun to read a take on that story that perceives time at it's natural rate. I particularly liked your description of the hanging itself - reading the initial story shows us just how much is contained in Farquhar's 'brief cry.'
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