Jane and Tyler were settling down in bed. They were exhausted after a day of baking cookies and picnicking in the park. They were excited about their bedtime story. They both could hardly wait for Grandma Alice to finish last night's story. Finally, Grandma Alice came in to tell them her tale.
"Now let's see. Where was I?" asked Grandma Alice.
"You had just eaten the cookie," Tyler said.
"Yeah, then what happened, Grandma?" asked Jane.
"Well, like I said, I had just shoved the whole cookie in my mouth. As soon as I had swallowed, I started to stretch."
"Like my Stretch Armstrong?" asked Tyler.
"No, I started getting taller. I got so tall that I couldn't see my feet anymore. I kept growing and growing, until I was so tall that I hit my head on the hallway ceiling. Then, I grabbed the key table off the and ran back to the little door. However I was so tall there was no way I was going to fit through that little door now! I sat down and began to cry..."
"Poor Grandma," said Jane.
"It's okay, dear, but thank you," replied Grandma Alice.
"I cried so much that my tears made a big puddle all around me. They even started to flow down the hallway. I took some deep breaths and decided that crying wasn't going to help anything. As I was drying my eyes, I heard footsteps coming down the hall. Looking up, I saw the white rabbit walking towards me. He had a small pair of white gloves in one hand, and a fan in the other. I heard him muttering to himself, something that sounded like 'The Duchess.' He was repeating it over and over. At the time I was feeling very helpless, so I decided to ask him for help. When he got close enough to me I asked him for help. I guess he didn't see me, so when I spoke I startled him. He jumped, dropped the gloves and fan, and ran off down the hallway. It was so hot that I started fanning myself with the fan. Suddenly I noticed that it was making me smaller. Finally I was so small that I started to get to the door once again. However, my tears had made it impossible to get to without swimming. I slipped into the tears and I eventually made it to the other shore by catching a ride on mouse."
"Once I crawled out of the tears and dried myself off, many strange things happened, including meeting a Cheshire Cat and a coming upon a quaint little house. I could hear screaming and banging, so assumed a fight was going on inside. Entering the house, I saw the Duchess and her cook fighting. The cook was chopping onions which were making everyone cry, except for the Cook and a cat. When I introduced myself, the Duchess told me to mind my own business. The Duchess was holding a baby, which was screaming at the top of his lungs. Suddenly the Cook, fed up, started throwing everything she got her hands on. To my shock, she hit the Duchess and the baby. The Duchess didn't seem to notice that she got hit. To my surprise, the Duchess threw that baby at me. She ordered me to watch him while she got ready to play croquet with the Queen. Desiring to escape the screaming, I took the baby outside."
"As we were walking towards the woods, the baby began turning into a turtle! When he had fully turned, I let him go. I couldn't see myself carrying around a turtle. Continuing on, I tried to decide which way I should go. That is when I saw the cat that had been in the Duchess' house, sitting in a tree. He looked scary! He had long claws and a mouth full of long, sharp teeth. Upon looked closer, I noticed he was grinning. I thought to myself that I had never seen a cat grin."
"Hello, Alice," the Cheshire Cat said.
"How did you know my name?" I replied.
"Oh, you're the talk of the town! Everyone knows you," he informed me.
"Well, which way do you think I should go next?" I inquired.
"Personally, I would go to the east to see the crazy Hatter, or to the west to visit the March Hare," he told me.
"I would really like to avoid crazy people, please?" I asked him.
"Everyone in Wonderland is crazy! After all we're crazy, there's no way you can get away from it here," he added and then he disappeared.
Considering all that I had been through, I didn't even blink twice at his disappearing act. I thought what he said about being crazy and agreed. While thinking that I agreed with him, the Cheshire Cat reappeared.
"What happened to the Duchess' baby?" he asked.
"He turned into a turtle, and I let him go," I replied.
"Figures," he said and disappeared again.
Thinking he would reappear I continued starting at the limb. When he didn't I sauntered. Then poof there he was in another tree.
"Was that a turtle or a girl named Myrtle?" he asked.
"A turtle," I said slowly. "By the way, could you quit flitting all over the place! It's very annoying." Obligingly, he disappeared slowly, beginning with his tail. He vanished inch by inch until all that was left was his grin. Then, pop, he was gone."
Grandma Alice paused.
"Did you go on to see the Hatter?" asked Tyler excitedly.
"No, she went and saw the bunny, right?" asked Jane.
They both looked at their grandmother expectantly. Grandma Alice smiled and said, "Ahh... We'll find that out tomorrow night. Good night"
As Grandma Alice left the room, both children wondered which direction she had chosen.
The Next Night.
♥ ♠ ♦ ♣ ♥ ♠ ♦ ♣ ♥ ♠ ♦ ♣ ♥ ♠ ♦ ♣ ♥ ♠ ♦ ♣ ♥ ♠ ♦ ♣ ♥ ♠ ♦ ♣ ♥ ♠ ♦ ♣ ♥ ♠ ♦ ♣ ♥ ♠ ♦ ♣ ♥ ♠ ♦ ♣ ♥ ♠ ♦ ♣ ♥ ♠ ♦ ♣ ♥ ♠ ♦ ♣ ♥ ♠ ♦ ♣
Author's
Note:
While considering my story, I decided I had to use some of "The Pool of Tears" since the reader, as well as the grandchildren, was left hanging last time. Also I thought that it would be better if I explained how Alice escaped from the hallway. However, the Cheshire cat is one of my favorite characters, aside from the Hatter, and I wanted to include him in my storybook. Stretch Armstrong is an action figure from the nineties. When I was young, my little brother, Aaron, owned a Stretch. He loved his and carried it around with him all the time. The fact that Tyler had a Stretch Armstrong in my story gave him and Jane a mental picture when Grandma Alice said that she stretched. In my opinion, a little girl would want her grandma to be happy. That is why I included Jane telling Grandma Alice she was sorry for her tears. In the original the baby turns into a pig, but I changed it to a turtle. When the Cheshire Cat comes back and asks Alice has said, instead of using fig I had to change it to something that rhymed with turtle. In high school during basketball season, we played a school from Myrtle, MS. One of the chants our side used was Myrtle Turtles, so it immediately popped into my head when I decided to turn the baby into a turtle. I stopped the story of "The Cheshire Cat" early, so that I could leave the children wanting more, as well as my audience. At the end I though it would be interesting to see which way the Tyler and Jane though she was going. Since they have different personalities, I had them pick different directions.
While considering my story, I decided I had to use some of "The Pool of Tears" since the reader, as well as the grandchildren, was left hanging last time. Also I thought that it would be better if I explained how Alice escaped from the hallway. However, the Cheshire cat is one of my favorite characters, aside from the Hatter, and I wanted to include him in my storybook. Stretch Armstrong is an action figure from the nineties. When I was young, my little brother, Aaron, owned a Stretch. He loved his and carried it around with him all the time. The fact that Tyler had a Stretch Armstrong in my story gave him and Jane a mental picture when Grandma Alice said that she stretched. In my opinion, a little girl would want her grandma to be happy. That is why I included Jane telling Grandma Alice she was sorry for her tears. In the original the baby turns into a pig, but I changed it to a turtle. When the Cheshire Cat comes back and asks Alice has said, instead of using fig I had to change it to something that rhymed with turtle. In high school during basketball season, we played a school from Myrtle, MS. One of the chants our side used was Myrtle Turtles, so it immediately popped into my head when I decided to turn the baby into a turtle. I stopped the story of "The Cheshire Cat" early, so that I could leave the children wanting more, as well as my audience. At the end I though it would be interesting to see which way the Tyler and Jane though she was going. Since they have different personalities, I had them pick different directions.
(Image
Informaion: The
Cheshire Cat - Daily
Mail Online)
Story Source: Alice's
Adventures In Wonderland - Chapter 2
Story Source: Alice's Adventures In Wonderland - Chapter 6
Story: The Pool of Tears and Pig and Pepper
Author: Lewis Carroll
Book: Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
Year Published: 1865
Story Source: Alice's Adventures In Wonderland - Chapter 6
Story: The Pool of Tears and Pig and Pepper
Author: Lewis Carroll
Book: Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
Year Published: 1865