Story Planning: Henry the Hyena

Henry the Hyena 

source: Wikimedia Commons

The original story content told a series of different short stories compiled into one conjoined novel, with different messages being presented within the stories. My plan is to focus on animal centered stories, with a central character being the focus of the learning process; similar to the stories told by Disney with the Winnie the Pooh character. My main character for a series of short stories will be an animal that is typically an outsider and the “evil” character in a majority of stories using it; my choice for a main character is the hyena. The hyena’s name will be Henry and he will be an average size for his species, with an unusual spot pattern that lead to Henry being bullied as a young pup by the other members of the pack. The opening story will be introducing his background and the upbringing he has experienced while growing up in the Southern Nigeria bush of Africa. The hyena will naturally begin the story as a carnivore chasing after other creatures of the savannah, looking for his next meal at all times. This will continue until he meets Andy the Antelope and the two form a bond, showing to Henry the power of friendship and how it may overcome any task when it is strong enough. This opening story is relatively cheesy, but it lays the groundwork for Henry to build and evolve through a series of different encounters with animals he once chased down for food, that he now calls friends. The final story could be one of Henry facing down against the other hyenas that once mocked him for his different spot pattern, that have now shunned him completely for his decision to stop eating meat. Will Henry face off against his old family members, or will he attempt to convince them of the friendships they are missing out on by eating the other animals of their society?  

Bibliography: Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria, collected by Elphinstone Dayrell