The mythological origin of NASA?
A fable about spreading misinformation?
Let’s write some myths/fables for the modern world!
During the last stream, a subscriber requested that we write some myths/fables for the modern world.
Chat came up with a bunch of cool ideas, then we voted and wrote two of them. The first one was: “A fable about modern-day misinformation, how lies can become truth if they’re repeated enough.”
Here’s what we wrote:
The Snake and the Fox
Once upon a time, there was a snake and a fox who were very good friends. They lived together in the forest with all the other animals — the owls, the deer, the bears — and the two of them shared their meals of mice together.
One day, Snake slithered down from his tree and looked in his special hiding spot, to pick out a mouse to share with Fox. But when he burrowed in the dirt, he couldn’t find the mouse he’d put there yesterday. It was getting too late to find a new one, but he didn’t want to visit his friend empty handed!
“Oh hello, Snake,” came the voice of Fox, followed by a soft thud on the forest floor. Snake looked over, and there was his mouse!
“Oh,” Snake said to Fox, feeling surprised. “Did you move my mouse?”
“No,” Fox said. “This is my mouse that I brought for us to share.”
Snake was very upset. He’d thought that Fox was his friend! But here he was, lying to him. He was so angry that he completely lost his appetite.
“I’m sorry,” Snake said. “But I can’t eat right now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
And with that, Snake slithered back up the tree, leaving Fox confused on the forest floor.
But Snake was just getting started. He wasn’t going to let Fox get away with this! So he woke up Owl perched at the top of the tree.
“Wake up, Owl!” Snake said. Owl hooted and slowly opened her eyes. “I have something important to tell you.”
“Whoot is it?” Owl asked, ruffling her feathers.
“It’s Fox,” Snake said. “He’s a liar. You shouldn’t believe anything he says.”
“I kneww it!” Owl hooted. “Yoo can never trust a fox. Thank yoo, Snake. I’ll tell the oothers.”
And with that, Owl flew away to tell everyone. Snake felt very proud and leaned back on his tree breach… when he touched against something soft.
It was the mouse he’d caught yesterday. That’s right! He hadn’t buried it in his usual spot, he’d brought it up in the tree for safekeeping. He’d just forgotten.
Snake thought about calling Owl back, to tell her the truth, but it was too late. He would just have to try tomorrow.
The next day, Snake slithered down from his tree to meet Fox at their usual time. Sure enough, Fox showed up, looking very flustered.
“Snake,” Fox said, panting. “You have to help me. All the forest animals are calling me a liar. What’s going on?”
Snake was about to tell Fox what he’d accidentally done, but then Deer stepped out of a bush right in front of them.
“There’s the forest liar!” he growled at Fox. “Isn’t that right, Snake?”
Snake didn’t know what to do. If he stood up for Fox, then he’d become a liar too.
“That’s right,” Snake said. “Fox is a liar… and a thief too! He stole my mouse yesterday.”
“I knew it!” Deer snarled. “You can never trust a fox. Thank you, Snake. I’ll tell the others.”
Fox looked at Snake with a hurt face, but then dashed off into the woods. Deer charged after him with his hooves and antlers and followed him into the bushes.
Snake slithered back up the tree, where he ate the mouse from yesterday.
It’s a good thing that this is happening to Fox, he said to himself. Foxes are liars, and thieves, after all.
The next day, Snake was awoken by the branch he was sleeping on violently shaking. He opened his eyes and saw Fox there, panting even more than yesterday, climbing the tree.
“Snake!” Fox pleaded. “You have to help me. Everyone is after me. Tell them I didn’t lie! I didn’t steal! Please!”
Snake considered it for a moment, but then Bear stomped up to the base of the tree and grabbed onto it with her claws.
“There’s the forest thief!” she growled up at Fox. “Hang on, Snake! I’ll save you.”
Fox looked at Snake with big, hopeful eyes. But Snake didn’t want to help a liar and a thief.
“That’s right,” Snake yelled down to Bear. “Fox is a liar, and a thief too, and he’s dangerous too! Just look at him trying to attack me.”
“I knew it!” Bear roared, shaking the tree even more furiously. “You can never trust a fox. Thank you, Snake. I’ll handle this.”
The tree shook so hard that Fox lost his grip and fell to the forest floor. He shot off into the bushes with Bear chasing right behind him.
Snake slithered back up the tree, finally feeling safe agam.
It’s a good thing that this is happening to Fox, he said to himself. Foxes are dangerous, after all.
The next day, Snake was awoken by cheers from the bottom of his tree. He slithered down and saw all the forest animals there: Owl, Deer, Bear, and everyone else.
Fox was there too. At least, his skin was. Covered in blood and lying motionless on the ground.
“Thank you, Snake!” said Owl.
“We would’ve never known without your help,” said Deer.
“Now our forest is safer,” said Bear.
Snake knew exactly what to say.
“It’s a good thing this happened to Fox,” he said. “Foxes are liars, thieves, and dangerous, after all.”
Next we wrote this: The mythological origin of NASA, the stars came to *us* and gave us the tools to visit them because they’re lonely.
Here’s what we wrote:
Stars up in the sky are always looking down at Earth, always jealous of how many people walk on her surface.
“That lucky planet!” the stars think to themselves. All by themselves. Because stars are quite alone up there in the sky, surrounded by nothing but blackness. “I wish I had some friends too.”
Sometimes, when a star got lonely enough, it would crash to Earth as a shooting star, disappearing from the night sky forever. Since the stars never heard back from the ones who’d fallen, they didn’t know what happened to them. For all they knew, they’d just burned up and fizzled away.
But when a star got lonely enough, the idea of fizzling away didn’t matter anymore. And that’s what happened to Delfini.
She couldn’t take it anymore. She pushed herself out of the night sky. She fell to Earth and streaked along the atmosphere like a burning ember.
And she fell right on her butt in the middle of a farmer’s field.
“Ouch!” she cried. Then, she realized she was talking. And feeling. And sitting on the dirt, just like she’d always wanted!
The only thing that set her apart from a regular person was her shining skin, the remnants of her star-body. But after being found by a confused farmer, and being given some clothes to cover up her glowing skin, she fit right in.
Delfini loved every minute of being on Earth! Talking with people. Eating with people. Dancing with people. They all loved her and she loved them back.
All she’d ever done as a star was maybe twinkle a bit. This was so much more interesting.
But the one part of living on Earth that tugged at Delphini’s heart was when night came, and all of her star brethren were visible in the sky. There they were, not having any idea what they were missing out on, and most of them being too scared to ever try for fear of burning away.
If only there was a way for her to tell them.
Delfini did her best to hide her star identity. She wanted to fit in and experience a human life. So when she started an organization to build a machine to bring her back up into the night sky, she sneakily called it NASA — “Not-A-Star Agency.” She was very clever.
Thanks to the humans’ natural ingenuity, and a little bit of Delphini’s star magic, together they built a starship to sail through the sky into the night.
But when Delphini told them that she was going to be the one to test it out, the people cried.
“Don’t leave us, Delphini!” they said. “You’re so much fun. We’re going to miss you!”
She told them that she was sorry, but if they wanted, they were welcome to follow her in starships that they built themselves. NASA would stay around on Earth for as long as people wanted it to.
On the day Delphini rode her starship back into the sky, a crowd of thousands watched her go with tears in their eyes. Fueled with her star magic, the ship glowed and sparkled as it blasted higher and higher up, eventually so small it disappeared from sight. Eventually turning into another star in the night.
Even though Delphini was gone, the people did not forget her. They promised to follow after her one day into the night sky. And to keep her memory alive, they called Delphini, and anyone else who was popular and fun just like her, a “star” as well.
If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you join us on Twitch.
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Hope to see you next time, friend!
