Week 13 Story: Curious and Curiouser
Author's Note: For this weeks story, I have decided to do my own version of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" (link above). In his version of this story, a young girl named Alice falls down a rabbits hole and finds herself in a world of fantasy called Wonderland. While she is there, she meets many creatures who can talk and she finds herself in some pretty sticky situations, even having to face the Queen of Hearts. At the end of the story, she wakes up in her sisters lap and claims that her entire adventure was just a dream. Disney did a very similar version of this story, but obviously made it more kid friendly. For my version, a teenage girl named Isla finds a magical land after walking into a hollow tree. There she meets different characters and has to find a way back to her world. I am going to try to keep my story similar to the original, but I will change the characters and some other little aspects of the story itself.
Once upon a time, there was a 16 year old girl named Isla. She loved to be outside and explore the world around her. She had always dreamed of visiting a world of her own imagination, and often pretended that the forest by her house was the world she created. One day, while she was in the forest, Isla noticed that there was a tree with a gaping hole in the trunk. As she looked closer, she realized that she could fit in the tree and decided to go in. Once inside, glitter began surrounding her and she started spinning. After a few seconds, she stepped out of the tree and noticed that the world she was in now was the world she had created in her head.
"Surely I must be dreaming", said Isla.
"Oh no, my dear, this is very much real", said a voice coming from behind her.
Isla turned around to find a woman in white looking at her. The woman was tall and pretty and was wearing a white dress and a light blue tiara.
"Where am I?" asked Isla to the woman.
"Why, you're in the world you imagined. And my name is Henley" said Henley.
Isla was confused, but she was more focused on getting home. After speaking with Henley, she learned that the only way to get back home was to drink a special potion. Of course, the potion was hard to find, and it would take some adventuring to get to it. Isla and Henley headed towards the castle in which Henley lived, and along the way they met some other creatures of Isla's imagination and they all offered Isla help in getting home.
A few hours had passed, and after dodging quick sand, a fire forest, and a very strange but also familiar rabbit, Isla found herself in Henley's castle. They went straight to the room of magic and began to look up the ingredients for the potion. Unfortunately, Henley's books said nothing about a potion to get Isla home, as no one thought she would ever wind up there. This was her own imagination, after all. After some discussion, Isla decided that she would just imagine a way home, since this was her own world. She tried and tried, but nothing worked.
"I'm never going to get home", said Isla sadly.
"You are home, my dear", Henley said lovingly. "All you have to do is wake up."
Isla stood there for a minute, feeling very confused. She had sworn that she was awake, and that she was very much stuck in her own world. After all, Henley had told her that this was real.
"But you told me that this was real", Isla stammered.
"Of course it is. Just because it is all in your head does not mean it's not real", Henley stated.
Isla took this to mean that she was in fact dreaming, and that the world she had created in her head was real. It was real to her. A few seconds later, she found herself being woken up by rain falling on her. She had slipped and hit her head on a fallen tree branch. It really was all just a dream. Isla looked around for a moment and headed home.
Hey Ashlyn! I really like how you changed up Alice in Wonderland and created an entire new world for Isla. It's nice that you changed the names like Henley and made it more unique and not the exact same format as the original Alice story. I also think it has kind of a Wizard of Oz touch, with the homesick girl and gentle fairy/queen figure. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteHello, Ashlyn!
ReplyDeleteI thought your re-telling of Alice in Wonderland was fantastic! It was a little distracting to have the 'raw' link at the top. Instead, you could add a link to the text "Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland." The part where Isla spins in the tree is such a creative way to get her to the other world. Henley's character was mystifying; I was wondering, what other peculiar creatures did Isla run across on her adventure? The part where she realizes that she is in her own dream is fascinating. Sometimes, I have dreams where I realize that I'm sleeping but usually wake up as soon as I realize it. Anyways, great job, this was fun to read!
Best,
Madi R.
Hey Ashlyn, this is a great story you have here! I like how you were able to so concisely retell the large work that is Alice in Wonderland. One thing you might consider is moving the Author’s note to the end of your story. By placing the note at the end of the story you can discuss the changes you made in more detail without worry of revealing anything. Otherwise, good story!
ReplyDeleteHi Ashlyn,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your version of a story similar to Alice in Wonderland story. It was interesting how you changed many details about the story while also keeping the basic idea the same. I do have to sympathize with Isla, though, because Henley did technically say (in my opinion) that she wasn't dreaming when she actually was.