By Felicia Dorothy Roy
"That would be all for today's class. For the assignment, I'd like you all to write a story. It can be any genre and theme. I will give you two weeks to finish and tell it in the most creative way possible," said Ms Rosie.
Highly doubt how Lily's going to finish it as she has piles of homework to complete. "I have high expectations of you all!" Ms Rosie said, as she walked out of the classroom.
Baffled at the thought, Lily's mind was in chaos. “She has her expectations up? She wants it done in two weeks? What am I supposed to do? I'm not a creative person! Can I really do this?"
She turns to Amanda and asks, "Are you really going to write? I mean... I get that she's trying to bring out the creativity in us, but… what do you think?"
"Well, I’m considering writing a fantasy romance, where I get cursed and fall asleep for 100 years and my Prince Charming comes to save me… well, she did give us two weeks so I think I'd have enough time," replied Amanda.
Lily thought to herself: "Isn't that plagiarism? She's just copying Sleeping Beauty! Oh well."
Lily promised herself to get her other work done by the weekend. A few days later, Lily is excited and ready to start the story-writing process! She came up with every idea possible, but none of them fit her taste.
"I mean, I could write a tragic story about a cup but… then it'd be autobiographical. Or about a lawyer who gets involved in a case where people mysteriously go missing and he later finds out that vampires really do exist. Noooo, that would be too creepy and I don't think I have enough imagination to write that well. How about a fantasy adventure in which a baker's daughter finds out she's the queen's long-lost daughter that everyone's been searching for in the last two decades, and how she finds her way back to her real family? Wow, that's kinda great, I think I'll start writing."
She starts off well and gets terrific ideas. She wrote parts of the story during school whenever she had free time and continued after school but, as days passed, she tried to squeeze ideas out of her tired mind and couldn’t get any, which soon led to a burnout.
Lying on her bedroom floor, she wondered: "Where did this all go wrong? I-I mean…. it started out really well but what happened..? I just can't write anymore!" screamed Lily as she broke down in tears.
Tired, she left her work scattered on the floor and went to bed. Awakened by a sweet aroma, she found herself in a place she didn’t quite recognise. She then saw a lady in a violet suit who smelled like daisies. Out of curiosity, Lily asked: "Where am I? Who are you? What is this place?"
"Calm down, my love! Welcome to Fairytale Land, I am Daphne, a fairy godmother! I help children mostly with--"
Lily cut her off midway: "Ohh... well, do you grant wishes? O-or help people find their Prince Charming? Or provide an endless supply of food? Or let me be able to talk to animals??"
Daphne laughed. "Oh dear, those are what you see happen in movies, not real life!"
"Awww man…. REALLY??? Anyway, why am I here?” asked Lily.
"Well…... I was going to tell you before I got cut off," shrugged the fairy godmother.
She begins to explain to Daphne that she's a fairy godmother who gives story ideas to children who need them. Apparently, Fairy Land reported that Lily was struggling with her story. "That's why I'm here to help!" she announced, and added a little curtsey to her announcement.
She added: "Well, let's start from here! What do you want your story to be about? I don't know…..
“It's hard, I don't have any ideas and every time I think about it, I get so stressed I don't know what to do!” said Lily, nearly breaking into tears again.
"Let me show you…. well, there are stories like Hansel and Gretel, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and many more…. but let me show you an original," appealed Daphne, as she snapped her fingers in the air and everything turned black.
“Where am I?” whispered Lily and unexpectedly she found herself in a place filled with clowns and performers, animals and crowds -- a large crowd -- and BOOM! She is in a circus. Joyful people and excited performers, an atmosphere she's never been in. She hears this voice in her, asking how she feels, and she replies: "O-overwhelmed, I've never felt like this before, but it's a great feeling."
“This is just the beginning, let's make it more exciting," replied Daphne. The circus then gets more intense as they start performing with fire rings and tigers.
"Oh no… don't tell me the tiger is going to jump through it," thought Lily to herself in cold sweat. Unfortunately, the tiger did jump through the ring and as it did, it disappeared into bubbles, leaving the crowd in astonishment as their jaws opened bigger than ever.
Left in awe, Lily stood up pointing to the fire ring, asking: " WHAT THE HECK DID I JUST WATCH? How did that happen?"
The host, a young man dressed up in a suit and looking charming as ever, replies, winking: "That's a secret only a showman can know.”
"Ohhh okay,'' replies Lily as she sat down in embarrassment. "Daphne! Daphne! Come back!” she yells in her mind, calling for Daphne to rescue her, as she's too embarrassed and wants to leave that story.
Daphne snaps her finger and they're in a different setting, a cottage where a family of four lives in and hears a rooster crow, birds chirping and the peacefulness of nature as a waterfall cascades calmly.
Lily then asks: "I like this place, it's so serene. Well, what happens in this story?"
Daphne replies: "Now, that would be a spoiler, wouldn't it? Patience, love.”
The family in the story then wakes up and starts preparing to go somewhere, wearing vintage dresses and hats, jackets and vests. There was an air of excitement as they got ready to attend the event of the day - breakfast with go to breakfast, invited by the Town Mayor!
Earlier in the week, the head of the household Mr Evan had received a letter inviting him and his family over for a discussion about modifications for the town.
As the family arrived, they knocked on the door, saying: "The Evans are here!" A butler opens the door, replying: "Ah yes, we’ve been expecting you all. Please enter.”
Mr and Mrs Evans, their daughters Ambrose and Aiena, all walked in, feeling nervous and excited as it's their first time. They see a long banquet table, laden with fruits, pastries, cakes and other tea-time treats. They all sit around and start enjoying the delicious food. Then, Mr Evans started to explain how the schools and hospitals needed refurbishing as they had seen better years. Mayor Jackson agreed and decided to start the work in the coming week.
On Monday, they start and Mr Evans helps out at the school. Making plans on how the building should look, picking colour themes, breaking down walls and rebuilding them. As they're breaking down walls on the second floor, they find a hidden room and so they break in and find something very unexpected for a small town, something valuable, something that's very addicting, something useful but can be misleading. MONEY! And lots of it!! Enough in fact to build 10 hospitals and the first thought that came into the workers’ mind was to keep it a secret and not tell anyone but with Mr Evans being there, he advised them that being in possession of a large sum of money was very dangerous and he proceeded to call the Mayor to report about the incident.
The mayor then calls for an emergency meeting.
"Lily, what do you think happens after this?" curiously asks Daphne.
"Uhhhhh… The Mayor probably builds 10 hospitals…?" Lily hesitantly answers.
"Nice try Lily, but no. The Mayor generously donated half the money to families in need and saved the balance for the town's future purposes," Daphne says.
She then asks Lily what she thinks about the story as she's been observant throughout the whole story and Lily says: "I kinda wished he donated more to the families 'cause although the sum wasn't mentioned, we do know it can build 10 hospitals, and that is a lot and I feel like we should have gotten to know more about Mr Evans family… because they had a really interesting setting and I'm guessing they have a farm because of the rooster crowing."
Daphne starts to applaud because Lily has learned to express her thoughts. She then advises that a story can be anyhow a writer wants it to be as long as he or she is satisfied with it. Daphne files that information in Lily’s subconscious memory and gives her a charm to do anything calmly. Daphne then brings Lily back to her bedroom and lays her down as she magically goes away.
Back in Lily’s bedroom, Daphne lays Lily down as the girl magically goes back to sleep. Later, Lily wakes up to the sound of birds chirping, feeling the best version of herself, singing her way through the morning while preparing her favourite breakfast of sausages with eggs and a cup of black tea. After enjoying a comfortable meal, she settles down on her study table, ready to write the best story ever told.
Felicia Dorothy Roy is 14 years old.