Alice knocked on the door and there was no answer. She knocked again, still no answer. "I wonder what is going on in there," Alice said to herself. She could hear people in the kitchen and knew that there was something going on, but no one would answer the door. After waiting for another five minutes or so, Alice finally decided to take matters into her own hands. She promptly turned the doorknob and walked right into the house. She followed the noise of cooking and laughing back into the kitchen and saw a cook, a woman, and a baby. The cook was furiously whipping up something on the stove. The cook mumbled, "I am missing it! I am missing what I need!" Alice thought, "Well now that smells delightful... I just must figure out what she is making... and what she is missing!" The woman was feeding the baby a bottle, and the baby was cooing in the mother's arms. Alice said, "Hello!" and the woman and the cook did not even look at Alice. She was wildly confused.
Alice walked a little further into the kitchen and stood right in front of the mother. The woman simply turned her head and would not look at Alice. Alice waved her arms, wondering if the woman could see her. Then, the woman said to the cook, "I wonder if this girl will ever figure it out!" The cook laughed and replied, "At this rate, it sure does not seem like it." Alice was even more confused! Did they hear her thoughts earlier? Was she supposed to know something about what the cook was missing? Why were these people ignoring her? She was beginning to become frustrated.
Alice walked up to the cook and said, "Cook, what am I supposed to figure out?" The cook laughed and continued cooking, not even pretending to answer Alice's question. Alice decided she simply must figure out what she was supposed to figure out.
Alice walked back outside of the house to look for clues. She searched all around the house and found nothing. She was about to walk back inside when she saw a Cheshire cat. "Hello, kitty," Alice greeted the cat. The cat's mouth curled into a huge smile and he replied, "Haven't figured it out now, have you?" Alice nearly screamed in excitement. Maybe this cat was her answer! She replied, "Oh, Cheshire cat! Will you help me?" The cat simply replied, "Two sisters are we. One is dark and one is fair. In twin towers dwelling, we are quite the pair. One from land and one from sea, tell us truly, who are we?" Alice sat down in the grass. The riddle made her head hurt, but she knew this would give her the answer to what the cook was missing and what Alice needed to figure out.
She had it! As soon as the answer popped into Alice's mind, she sprinted into the kitchen, ran up to the cook, pushed her aside, and sprinkled a hefty amount of salt and pepper into the concoction on the stovetop. The woman and the cook squealed with excitement. "Oh, we knew you would get it! We just knew it. Come, stay awhile, and join us for a delicious bowl of soup for dinner. Without your wisdom, we would never be able to eat the soup!" Alice smiled and silently thanked the Cheshire cat for salt, pepper, and new friends.
Author's Note: I honestly don't really know why I took this direction with the story. In the original story, Alice eventually walked into the house and the same characters were inside. They all immediately began talking and fighting, and the cook was using too much pepper. Alice took the baby and left the house. I thought the original story was funny, but I wanted to take it a different direction. I decided to have Alice be ignored until she figured out the ingredients that the cook and woman were missing. I wanted to incorporate the Cheshire cat because he is sneaky and was in the original story, and giving a riddle as an answer is totally something he would do. I was going to do a little bit of a different ending, but then I decided it would be sweet if they appreciated Alice for finding the missing ingredient and offered her to join them for dinner. The original chapter doesn't include why she was at the house in the first place, so I decided to leave that out as well.
Bibliography: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)
https://riddles.tips/riddle-45
Alice walked a little further into the kitchen and stood right in front of the mother. The woman simply turned her head and would not look at Alice. Alice waved her arms, wondering if the woman could see her. Then, the woman said to the cook, "I wonder if this girl will ever figure it out!" The cook laughed and replied, "At this rate, it sure does not seem like it." Alice was even more confused! Did they hear her thoughts earlier? Was she supposed to know something about what the cook was missing? Why were these people ignoring her? She was beginning to become frustrated.
Alice walked up to the cook and said, "Cook, what am I supposed to figure out?" The cook laughed and continued cooking, not even pretending to answer Alice's question. Alice decided she simply must figure out what she was supposed to figure out.
Alice walked back outside of the house to look for clues. She searched all around the house and found nothing. She was about to walk back inside when she saw a Cheshire cat. "Hello, kitty," Alice greeted the cat. The cat's mouth curled into a huge smile and he replied, "Haven't figured it out now, have you?" Alice nearly screamed in excitement. Maybe this cat was her answer! She replied, "Oh, Cheshire cat! Will you help me?" The cat simply replied, "Two sisters are we. One is dark and one is fair. In twin towers dwelling, we are quite the pair. One from land and one from sea, tell us truly, who are we?" Alice sat down in the grass. The riddle made her head hurt, but she knew this would give her the answer to what the cook was missing and what Alice needed to figure out.
She had it! As soon as the answer popped into Alice's mind, she sprinted into the kitchen, ran up to the cook, pushed her aside, and sprinkled a hefty amount of salt and pepper into the concoction on the stovetop. The woman and the cook squealed with excitement. "Oh, we knew you would get it! We just knew it. Come, stay awhile, and join us for a delicious bowl of soup for dinner. Without your wisdom, we would never be able to eat the soup!" Alice smiled and silently thanked the Cheshire cat for salt, pepper, and new friends.
Alice with the woman, cook, and baby.
Author's Note: I honestly don't really know why I took this direction with the story. In the original story, Alice eventually walked into the house and the same characters were inside. They all immediately began talking and fighting, and the cook was using too much pepper. Alice took the baby and left the house. I thought the original story was funny, but I wanted to take it a different direction. I decided to have Alice be ignored until she figured out the ingredients that the cook and woman were missing. I wanted to incorporate the Cheshire cat because he is sneaky and was in the original story, and giving a riddle as an answer is totally something he would do. I was going to do a little bit of a different ending, but then I decided it would be sweet if they appreciated Alice for finding the missing ingredient and offered her to join them for dinner. The original chapter doesn't include why she was at the house in the first place, so I decided to leave that out as well.
Bibliography: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)
https://riddles.tips/riddle-45
Piper,
ReplyDeleteYou did a wonderful job taking this story in a different direction. It was such a cool idea to have Alice find a clue for what she needed in the kitchen. I have always loved Cheshire cat the most! I also love the riddle you added. What a nice touch. I thought it was nice that she was appreciated in the end. It was a heart-warming story and you did well in telling it. I thought you added nice detail to the story. I could see all of the places she was at clearly.
Hi Piper! I really enjoyed getting to read your story. A trend that I've noticed in this class is people taking a more somber, serious story and transforming it into a funny one. I love that you've turned that trope on its head and done the exact opposite. I really liked the riddle that the cat presented. Without the context of the cook looking for missing ingredients, I never would've gotten it! Great job!
ReplyDelete