Let's Talk Mythology and Folklore

6 Word Story: "Where's my tether?" said the astronaut. Drifting Away... 25 Word Story: When he left the city, he wasn't the same man anymore. Actually...nobody still alive was the same anymore. Atomic radiation can change a person.  After the Apocalypse Author's Note: Wow, six-word stories are hard. I looked up some examples and was blown away by the creativity that people displayed in their six-word versions. However, I actually think that reading some examples made it harder to come up with a novel idea. Also, given the themes of my last microfiction, I really wanted to avoid anything depressing sounding. Which, unfortunately, is what many microfictions center around. If I had to give some inspiration for this story, I guess I'd credit the movie Gravity just for the whole drifting away in space idea. The 25-word story was a little more fun and easy to write given the latitude I had. I wanted to try and build the story backward, sugge...

And boom! You're the Buddha! Or a Buddha? Were there more before? Siddhartha has a son and wife when he leaves. While he is destined to become the Buddha from birth, it still seems strange (in relevance to other religions) that he does not begin his true search for truth until he is a full-grown adult. The fact that he marries and has a kid is also a deviation from most other messianic figures from other religions. Siddhartha tells the horse Kanthaka that he is a magnificent animal and that his reward is one day coming. But the Kanthaka just dies? I find it interesting that Chandaka was not really punished in any way for failing to keep the prince in the palace. "...mortifications in this world are followed by gratifications in the next, and thus the reward of piety is impiety." I think that this is a very powerful line. What is the point of piety in this life if your goal is to be impious in the next? "If, to be sanctified, it is enough simply to be a...

That your mother literally dies of joy... It is interesting that the kind of peace and happiness that the Buddha was known for bringing later in life sort of seems to happen to his parents before he is even born. Healing miracles performed by Queen Maya. Similar in some aspects to the miracles of Jesus in Christianity, though several hundred years before, Easiest. Birth. Ever. Sometimes with these "Birth of Savior" stories, there is a reason that a savior is born at a specific time. Is there a specific reason that the Buddha was born when he was? Did the gods have some specific plan? Since the gods pay tribute to Buddha like he is a god himself (or something greater), did they decide when the Buddha would be born? Or did he "decide"? The language kind of suggests that the Buddha determined his own parents so why not also his time of birth? Was he born because of his parents? They are said to be very generous or with great virtue. Did the Buddha decide to...