Compose a piece of writing in the short story (fiction) genre that draws the reader in and maintains his/her/their interest while concentrating on your use of the elements and techniques of short story and your growth as a writer.
Format
Your story should be approximately 4-10 pages in length (double-spaced text in a size 11 or 12-point font). It should include a heading at the top left of page 1, a creative title, and numbered pages.
Required Elements
Your short story must contain evidence of the incorporation of the following literary elements:
PLOT Most short stories follow a traditional structure of initial
incident, rise of action, climax, denouement and resolution. ]
CONFLICT Person vs. person/society/nature/self/fate. Conflict should be
evident. You MUST have some kind of conflict! More than one conflict is okay, but no conflict is not okay. Readers should be able to identify the protagonist and antagonist of the piece.
SETTING Time, place, culture, weather, etc. should be clearly identified
and adequately detailed as it pertains to the story. There should be a clear “sense of place.”
CHARACTERS The extent to which your characters are defined or developed in
your story depends on what purpose they serve in your story. Use enough description and voice so that readers can distinguish between characters and understand them. Balance character development with action.
THEME Your story should ultimately be a reflection on some issue or
idea that you’ve given some thought to prior to and while writing. Do not confuse theme with “moral” or “purpose.” You do not have to have a moral to your story.
POINT OF VIEW The story must be told from a clear and justifiable point of view
(1st, 2nd, 3rd limited or 3rd omniscient). Shifts in point of view should be limited if used at all.
STYLE What is the tone of your writing?
The opening sentences/paragraph should draw the reader in, and the closer should satisfy.
Dialogue, if used, should add to the creation and development of character and further serve the story’s plot without substituting for action or narrative.
Writing conventions should be controlled and accurate.
Write me a short story about a young orphan boy in the old city of Hyderabad, India who lives at the mosque. He would go to the quietest street in the loudest bazaar in the city of old Hyderabad to stand in the crowds and listen to Ali bhai, the old man who told his tales. Ali bhai was the best storyteller in all of Hyderabad and his stories captivated everyone. Ali bhai never told the same story twice but he swore that all of them were true. He once told the story of a bharatnatyam dancer who became known as the queen of gold by dancing for the maharaja. The dancer enchanted him so he would give her piles of gold. At night she would cover herself from head to toe in a burqa and secretly go into the trading and merchant center of the city to conduct her business. It was illegal for women to have their own businesses so she had to find someone she could use to create a business under. That was when she met Ali bhai’s great great grandfather who decided to help her but he didn’t know that the dancer would turn out to be evil. She poisoned the maharaja’s mistress so that only she remained. He was so bewitched by her that he married the dancer despite her not being of noble blood. She quickly gained infamy and the maharaja would build enchanting and beautiful marvels of architecture and give lavish gifts to his new wife. One day she vanished, so the maharaja did everything he could to find her but couldn’t so he grew insane and took his own life. Ali bhai ends his story by saying that the dancer was actually a jinn and the day she disappeared she entrusted her gold business to alli bhai’s great great grandfather who inherited her gold businesses. and that when she was at the height of her prime she sold so much gold that it still circulates the markets to this day and those who buy her gold will be blessed with overwhelming wealth.
In reality Ali bhai is a lying spindler who wants people to buy his gold but the little boy is captivated by Ali bhai’s tales so he vows to grow up and be able to buy the gold. Boy gets fooled by the old man. The little boy grows up and becomes a successful businessman and comes back to old Hyderabad to see that the city is not as bustling as it used to be and confronts the old man of being a spindler, fraud, and just wants people to buy his gold. The Old man vanishes like the jinn in his story leaving behind a gold bangle. The little boy who is now grown up, takes the bangle and returns the old town to its former glory and he is labeled as the king of gold.
