Week 9 Story: Why Emily and Johnathan are Enemies

It was a rainy, gloomy afternoon on the campus of the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Johnson stepped out of his office to stretch his legs after a long day of laboring over his data. The northern wind, with infamously strong gusts in central Oklahoma, was biting at his face; however, he was numb to the pain. All he could think about was how his job was on the line. The once world renowned biological researcher had not been published in far too long. He was running out of ideas. His data was leading him nowhere. It seemed he was running out of the vitality and creative energy that he once so famously channeled.

            Two graduate students worked for Dr. Johnson. They had been with him from his earlier days, and remembered the genius research that used to be produced by his lab. They longed for those days. And they had some ideas on how to recapture that old magic. The two students, Emily and Johnathan, had been discussing an exciting research experiment that would guarantee to get them all published. Admittedly, Emily was the brains behind the entire idea. She brainstormed the original idea and guided Johnathan throughout the process. Together, they spent long nights conducting research. They tediously gathered the data and found amazing trends, just as they both suspected. 

            They knew that this was just the kind of project that Dr. Johnson needed at this point in his career. Once the data gathering was completed, they agreed to present their findings to Dr. Johnson, as they both knew he would be thrilled with their work. Emily had a meeting the next day, so Johnathan agreed to take their findings to Dr. Johnson. Just as they expected, he was delighted. The paper would soon be published, listing Dr. Johnson and Johnathan as the main contributors. While Emily was at her meeting, Johnathan failed to mention that she was behind the project’s original conception. As a result, a great resentment grew between Emily and Johnathan. Emily decided to leave the university and never communicated with Johnathan again. 

Biology Researchers 

Author’s Note: 

            I based my story on the tale of Why the Dogs and Cats are Enemies. In this story, there was once a man and a woman who owned a ring. The ring was very valuable and provided them great fortune. They were unaware of this, and sold the ring. Eventually, they grew poor and could barely feed their dog and cat. The dog had a plan. The cat would go catch a mouse, the mouse would chew a whole in the box that stores the ring, and the two would bring the ring back to the man and woman. They put the plan in place and everything worked. On the way back with the ring, the cat made it home much sooner than the dog. The man and woman rewarded the cat with food. They scolded the dog for not helping to return the ring. The cat did not say anything to help the dog. This is said to be why dogs and cats do not get along. In my story, I changed the ring owners to a university researcher. The dog and cat were replaced by Emily and Johnathan, respectively. The plot unfolded similarly. One took all the credit, and a resentment grew between the two characters trying to please their supervisor. 

Bibliography: Why Dog and Cat are Enemies