The Tale of King Rhampsinitus' Son-in-Law
Author's Note:
This story is based off of The Tale of King Rhampsinitus from Egyptian Myth and Legend Part B (link here). The original story is told in third person as a narrated story. I wanted to experiment with telling the story in a different way, so I decided to tell it as a dialogue. My story takes place three months after The Tale of King Rhampsinitus. In the story the brother, Peter, has escaped his ex wife and moved away. He is trying to find a new job, but is having difficulty being hired because in The Tale of King Rhampsinitus he murders his brother after they rob King Rhampsinitus and get caught. This story is told during an interview between and interviewer and Peter.
(Interview: picture by Elegant Themes)
Interviewer: Hi, welcome Peter!
Peter: Hi it is so nice to meet you, thank your for this opportunity!
Interviewer: Well Peter lets just jump into it okay. Tell me a little about yourself and why you are applying for our company?
Peter: Well I am originally from Egypt and I have been working for a construction company over there for the past few years. I made the move a few months ago after my wife and I got a divorce. I worked with her father and while he loved me, she would have probably killed me if I stuck around. That is besides the point thought. I have a mother back in Egypt and I had a brother and father who recently passed away. I feel as if this job can be my second chance.
Interviewer: I am so sorry for your loss, that must have been really hard on you. But since you brought it up, when we ran a background check on you....on file you have been convicted for murder once and have been convicted for robbery numerous times. I don't know how seriously your other job took it, but it is very difficult for us to hire someone with that kind of record. What exactly happened?
Peter: Oh it was not that serious. My father told my brother and I to rob my future boss's cellar as his dying wish. My brother and I robbed him several times, but in all honesty he should have caught us a lot sooner, he wasn't great at defense. Anyways, it was kinda a joke to us until my boss set out some traps in his cellar. They were huge and my brother stepped in one. It literally cut his foot to the bone and he was stuck bleeding out. To keep our identity a secret he asked me to chop his head off. He was kinda dramatic about the whole thing......but ...I cut his head off. Thats why I apparently committed murder.
Interviewer:...........did your boss never know?
Peter: Oh no he definitely knew, but he didn't want to press charges. It is actually a funny story. He hung my brothers body up in the city to see who would mourn him. Well that part isn't funny, my mom was devastated. So devastated that she told me to go fetch his body in secret. So I did. I got the guards trashed on some of the wine from the cellar and took the body home. My boss was pissed and he sent my ex wife, his daughter, to get me to confess. She was so pretty and I wanted to impress her so I told her everything. When she tried to grab me I slipped away. My boss was so impressed with my cunning abilities that he forgave me and asked me to marry his daughter.
Interviewer: How long had y'all been together before the split?
Peter: Oh me and my ex wife.......dang.....maybe 3 months. She really hated me for what I did. So much so that she ran away for about two months of that time. She said we could either get a divorce and I move, or she would kill me.
Interviewer: Okay...oh my gosh....so how did you grow from that experience?
Peter: Um grow? I don't know.....I got great at sneaking around
Interviewer: Well Peter, due to your history we cannot hire you, but I know a couple of guys who deal with robbery and murder if you want to talk to them?
Peter: That would be great! Who are they?
Interview: They are the police department.
Peter: Thank you, but I could never be a police officer.
Ex Wife: Oh not a police officer...... after that confession I was thinking you would be a great inmate.
Bibliography:
Egyptian Myth and Legend Part B by Donald Mackenzie. Website: Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook
Hi Camille! This is such an amusing and comedically genius way to tell the story. I love it! I like how you have the interviewer desperately trying to latch on to anything he could to ask normal interview questions about, but by the end he is really struggling. You did a great job of building up the story, and writing it with just dialogue was a great plan because descriptions/details would have distracted from the good humor and storytelling here. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHi Camille,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the good laugh! This story was nothing what I expected when you said it would be interview style. I think it is hilarious how Peter acted as if his crimes were a joke and nothing "serious". I have seen dialogue used in stories but have yet to read an interview, conversation style. I have to say, this style was a great choice and the way you created it made me want to attempt a story similar in the next few weeks. Great job! I cannot wait to read more of your stories :)
Hello Camille! The ending of your story is so humorous and a great twist to the job interview! I enjoyed the dialogue/script style that you wrote your retelling in as well, it made the story enjoyable to read. The only suggestion I have is a few grammatical errors such as the sentence that the interviewer says, "Well Peter lets just jump into it okay." where it seems like there should be a question mark and an apostrophe on "lets". Otherwise, you did a great job retelling the story and I enjoyed reading your take on it!
ReplyDeleteHi Camille!
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I love the format you wrote this in. It was really easy to follow and I had a good time reading it since it was so light-hearted and funny. I could only imagine if this was a real interview and what would happen. I love how the interviewer still attempted to ask interview-ish questions despite all of his answers. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your stories!