Storytelling for Week 3: The Voice of Vali

Finally, after 28 months I have destroyed Mayavi. That demon! For a year I had to stay hidden in that dreadful tunnel waiting for my time to strike. Today was that day. I was finally able to return to my land Kiskinda, and go home to my throne.

But what do you know; my devious brother was at it again. After 28 months! 28 months of me working to get rid of Mayavi, and my brother traps me in that cavern. He caved in the whole entrance, but he obviously forgot how strong I am. How could he? He just wants what I have: my throne, my people, and my strength.

I walked up to that puny rock pile, tapped it with my toe and it turned to dust and watched it crumble to the ground.

“Oh, Sugreeva, how could you betray me?” I yelled at the top of my lungs, and the whole land shook as I stepped from the cavern entrance. He had to know I was coming to ruin him. He’s no brother of mine. I took off at a sprint toward Kiskinda and of course he was there being protected by his bodyguards. They were my bodyguards! Oh how loyalty works… There is no such thing as loyalty! I saw him sitting there on my golden throne, my precious throne, oh how I missed it. I stormed right up to Sugreeva, grabbed ahold of his shirt, and shoved him against the wall.

“How could you?! I trusted you to protect my kingdom until I returned,” I roared at him!

“You are my brother! My brother! I leave for 28 months a mere 28 months and you take my land, people, and title! We are done; you, you are done!”

“But… I did what you said,” Sugreeva whimpered to me. Oh how dumb is he to think I would believe him?! Nothing, nothing he says will change my mind, I know what he did!

“Ha! You imbecile! I saw how you covered my only exit… You thought that would stop me? You were wrong!,” I snapped back at my younger brother.

“Vali, you must listen to me,” Sugreeva waved his arms at me. “I did what you asked and protected the lands until you returned. When it hit 28 months and we had not heard anything I wanted to look for you, and I tried. You were nowhere to be found! I was forced to close off the cavern so Mayavi would not come out if he succeeded instead of you.” Sugreeva wailed at me.

“Brother, what faith you have in me. I applaud your courageous acts. What is it you have been doing since I was gone?” I questioned my dear brother. “Sitting here plotting my demise, I assume.”

“Every minute of every day I thought of you dear brother. I only did what I believed was best,” protested Sugreeva.

“Oh poor Sugreeva. What a hard life you’ve had since I’ve been gone,” I retorted. “Was it you who stayed hidden for years? And when you weren’t hidden did you fight for your life? Oh sweet brother, my sweet fool of a brother…”

“I would run now…” I warned Sugreeva, “I would run far and fast, because when I catch you I will end you!”

“But…” Sugreeva whimpered, as he slowly backed up looking for an escape.

“RUN!”

Have you ever seen a mouse run from a cat? That moment when the mouse realizes it won’t escape. You see the fear enter its eyes, that incredible moment of pure terror. Well, I love that moment. I love watching their eyes search for an escape. Sugreeva was the mouse, and I was the cat. He ran and I chased him…

Authors Note: For this story I chose to take a quick scene from the Ramayana, and make it longer and more detailed. In the story it does not give details about how Vali feels when he leaves the cavern, so I added what I thought he would be feeling. I also added some dialogue so we could see what a conversation between the two brothers would have been like when Vali came back. My main goal was to show Vali's perspective, since Hanuman who was on Sugreeva’s side told the whole story in the book.

Bibliography:

Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana.

Image Information:

Vali and Sugreeva fight, Source: Wikipedia

Vali's Death, Source: Wikipedia