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A loving tribute to Roald Dahl |
| [Introduction]
As a kid in elementary school, Roald Dahl was one of my favorite authors. He's written so many wonderful and memorable children's stories, that it's hard to count them all. At least in my mind, it was. lol I've been in a somewhat lighter and more whimsical mood as of late, and decided to try writing something different from my usual fare. If nothing else, just to prove to myself that I can. I also decided why not have my friends join in on the fun as well? Set in an alternate Earth, humanoid animals dominate most of the world, with only a handful of countries where humans are in charge. We follow Alice, a young orphan taken from her parents at birth, and sold to a fox couple as a slave. Alice's owners, the Morton's, are a cruel and neglectful pair, forcing Alice to do the household chores and making her sleep in the basement of their farmhouse. But Alice is no ordinary girl. For one, she is remarkably intelligent for her age, and sometimes sets up small pranks to teach the Morton's a lesson. Secondly, she seems to be subconsciously developing a sort of inner power. Often times she is able to make things happen simply by thinking about them. In the back of the Morton's farm, there lies a shriveled and decrepit old apple tree, which hasn't bore fruit in many years. That is where our story begins, as we find Alice resting beneath it, having just finished the yardwork of the day... |
| Alice sat beneath the derrlict apple tree, having only just finished the yard work but a few minutes ago. It was just past noon, and she'd already raked the fallen leaves across the property, mowed the grass, and pulled the weeds growing from the garden. Dirt stained her tattered clothes, and stray leaves and twigs clung to her otherwise shining red hair. At only seven years old, she was doing the kind of work normally reserved for grown-ups. Not that she really had a choice in the matter. Her owners, a miserable old couple of foxes, Mr. and Mrs. Morton, pretty much worked her to the point of exhaustion on a daily basis. She learned the hard way early on that if she refused to do exactly as ordered, she faced harsh punishments like being locked in a broom closet that smelled of a most horrific stench for hours on end. Or worse, physical punishments like having her bottom paddled with a large wooden plank with holes drilled into it. But despite her meek and disheveled appearance, Alice was no ordinary little girl. She was incredibly intelligent for one so young, having taught herself to read and count before she had turned five. Other than that, she knew she had some sort of strange gift. She couldn't explain it, but sometimes, whenever she imagined a specific event happening, it would actually happen! It did seem to have limits, however. She couldn't just make things appear out of thin air, for instance. It also seemed to become more powerful with use, like exercising a muscle. Granted, it didn't work all the time, and she didn't necessarily have complete control over it. But when it worked, at the very least, it would be to Alice's amusement or benefit. As she sat beneath the tree, panting from the work she had completed so far, she saw Mrs. Morton approaching with a sour look on her face. She always seemed to have that look, Alice thought. "Alice! What are you doing, you miserable welp!? I told you to weed the garden!" "I did, mistress. I yanked every last weed from your rosebush. As well as raked the leaves and cut the grass." "Then you can get started chapping wood for the fireplace! I expect a whole winter's worth of wood to be cut by dinner time, understand?" Alice could only sigh in defeat. "Yes, mistress. Right away." "And don't you dare let me or my husband catch you slacking off! Or it's the plank for you!" With that, Mrs. Morton turned and stormed off back towards the farmhouse. What an old crab, Alice thought. She wished that Mrs. Morton would trip on her way back to the house. Maybe the impact would knock some of the crabiness out of her. Just then, as she was about fifteen yards away from Alice, that's exactly what Mrs. Morton did! She tripped over the hem of her skirt and fell face-first to the ground. Alice had to stifle a giggle as Mrs. Morton recovered, dusted herself off, and went back inside the house. Alice got up and fetched the woodaxe, preparing to split the firewood as ordered. If only I could control this ability of mine fully, she thought as she did so. Then I could really teach those miserable old foxes a lesson, and maybe even be gone from this wretched farm forever. Little did Alice realize, her dreams of escape would soon come true. And sooner than she thinks... |
| She was preparing to split a block of wood with a heavy axe, when the weight, and a patch of mud, caused her to lose her balance. She would have been injured, if someone hadn't grabbed her, and the axe. She looked, and saw that it was an adult male fox. However, unlike the Mortons, there was a kindness in his eyes. "Is this the Mortons' home?" they asked. Alice nodded. "Good to know," the fox said. "Now, how old are you, what is your connection to the Mortons and why are you splitting wood?" "I'm seven years old, the Mortons are my masters, and I was told to split wood by them, enough for the whole winter before suppertime," said Alice. "Just you?" the fox asked. Alice nodded. "That's too much for one person, much less a child," the fox said, looking her over. "You got a name?" "Alice." "Well Alice, I'm William Redears, and your one master owes me a small fortune due to gambling debts, and I've taken the liberty of reclaiming what I'm owed, legally of course," said William. "The land and house don't look to be worth much, but I can rent it out, and perhaps the right crop will be worth more as an addition, and then, there's you." "Me?" Alice asked. "I have a daughter about your age - the apple of my eye," said William. "Problem is, two years ago, she and my wife were in a boating accident. She was hurt bad - she lost the ability to walk. As for my wife, she took a blow to the head, and never woke up." "So, what am I supposed to do?" Alice asked. "My daughter could use a companion, and perhaps a friend, as she grows up," said William. "I'm certain that you'll enjoy being at my place anyways - we actually have a decent orchard with many kinds of fruit trees." He looked at the old tree. "A shame about that old apple tree - heard it was planted by someone powerful many years ago. But, for now, time to claim what I'm owed." William offered Alice his hand. "You're not going to just take me?" Alice asked. "You're not going to pick me up and carry me away?" "Call it practicality," said William. "You taking my hand and following after me willingly is better for your mental health, less resentment that way compared to me just picking you up and carrying you, unless you want me to. Besides, I want you to watch as the Mortons are left with nothing but the clothes on their back. The Sherriff is just waiting for me to give him the signal, and soon, well, the Mortons will be evicted. They really shouldn't have been gambling in my establishment." |
| Alice was thrilled to be away from the Mortons, especially their three sons: Harry, the eldest and the most gluttonous, raymond, the rail-thin middle child, and Trevor, the runt of the litter. "What's your daughter like?" She asked William. "You're going to love her," he responded. "She has been telling stories of one who'd play with her in an enormous apple. Just wait and see." |
| Alice took Mr. Redears' hand and allowed him to walk with her to the front of the property. There, the local Sheriff, a large and intimidating bear, was waiting. "Everything's set, Sheriff." William said. The bear nodded, and approached the door with an eviction notice in his hand. The next thing Alice knew, she was watching as the whole Morton family piled into their car, carrying whatever they could along with them, and drove off into the distance. There had been some tension as Mr. Morton threatened to get violent, but the Sheriff didn't even need to reach for his gun. He simply growled and bared his teeth a bit, and that was all that was needed to make Mr. Morton's resolve collapse like a house of cards. He was never the brave sort. They all gave one final glare at Alice before they drove off, no doubt suspecting she had something to do with this somehow. Exactly where they went afterwards and what became of them, Alice didn't know, because she never saw any of them again after that day. And as far as she was concerned, that was a blessing. William took Alice to his rather regal manor home several miles away from the farm. She had never seen anything so grand, and marveled at its size and majesty. "This is your new home, now." William said, smiling at the sight of her reaction. He introduced her to his daughter, Abby. Despite being bound to a wheelchair, she was quite cheerful, and welcomed Alice as a new friend with open arms. For the next week, they spent every waking moment together, playing various games and getting to know each other. One day, William brought them along to the old Morton farm as he prepared to renovate and rent it out. While he was busy, Alice and Abby were playing about in the back field. "So you used to work at this place all on your own?" Abby asked. "Yes. It was awful! If I didn't finish everything before sundown, or didn't do it the way they wanted, they punished me most cruelly." "You're lucky my father found you. He doesn't believe in enslaving humans. He keeps some around the house as servants, but at least he pays them and treats them with kindness." "Yes, he's the kindest one I've met by far. He told me about your mother. I'm sorry about the accident." "Don't be. You had nothing to do with it. I'm just glad my father found you , it's so lonely in that big house, and he's always so busy. I haven't had anyone to play with in ages." As Alice pushed Abby's wheelchair about the grounds, they came upon the old apple tree. "This was my favorite spot to rest, when I got the chance. Though I wish it provided some shade in summer, it hasn't bloomed for..." She cut herself off as she saw what looked to be a small apple growing near the top of the tree. "No...it can't be! This tree has been dead since before I was born!" Abby looked up and saw it too. "I'm feeling rather hungry, suddenly. Think you can climb up there and grab it for us to share?" |
| "If it was lower, and on a thicker branch, I would try to get it," said Alice. "But, as it is, it looks risky." "Oh, okay," said Abby. "Looks a little small to share anyways, now that I'm looking at it. Wouldn't be fair if just one of us had a bite." "Maybe if we leave it, it will get a lot bigger," said Alice. "Like, as big as that house." Abby chuckled. "Oh, think of the ciders and pies one could make with such an apple," the fox said. "Let's see if father can take us to the Marketplace. There's plenty of good food to enjoy there." |
| Alice and Abby made their walk to the marketplace where the Mortons were hiding after the eviction from their farm. "I would give anything to eat again" Harry said. "Dad, are we ever going to live somewhere?" Raymond asked Mr. Morton. "What are we going to do to get money?" Trevor asked Mrs. Morton. "Of all the stupid things to happen to us," Mr. Morton said, clutching his overalls. "Our farm will be put up for auction." "Right now, we need a miracle," Mrs. Morton said. |
| After getting themselves a nice lunch, Alice and Abby returned to the farm for a picnic beneath the old tree. As they ate, they suddenly heard a creaking sound that got progressively louder. "Do you hear that?" Abby asked. They looked up and gasped. The small apple from before had now grown to around the size of a basketball, and was getting increasingly larger! Alice pushed Abby's chair out of the way as the tree continued to creak and groan, before finally snapping completely in half as the apple became too large for its ancient trunk to bear any longer. Yet the apple kept getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger until it finally reached the size of the old farmhouse. Maybe even slightly larger. Both girls could only gape in disbelief at what they had just witnessed. "How could this be?" Abby finally broke the silence. "Alice couldn't answer. Did I do this somehow? She wondered to herself. Had her ability to make things happen by thinking about them done this? "You know what?" Abby said, "This is just like my dream! I dreamt about a gigantic apple that we would fly off in and have adventures!" Not wanting to mock her friend's fantasy, Aliced kept the thought of Abby's dreaming being ridiculous to herself. Just then, they thought they could make out muffled voices coming from inside the apple. Alice pressed he rear against the surface of it, and indeed, she could hear voices inside! "I'm gonna go out and look around. See if anything else has changed." "But what if someone sees you? We'll all be dead meat for sure!" "Oh, relax, dear. I'm sure it's perfectly safe." "Easy for you to say! You can just fly away if there's trouble!" Alice knocked on the apple. "Hello? Who's in there?" The voices suddenly became silent. "I know you're in there. I promise we won't hurt you. Just come out and show yourselves." After a long hesitation, a hole opened up in the side of the apple, and out climbed a series of humanoid insects as large as a grown man. There was a butterfly, an ant, a black widow, an inchworm, and a beetle. Alice and Abby could only stare in amazement at these creatures, having never seen anything like them before. "Well?" the ant said, "Are you going to say something or just stare at us?" |
| "I don't think we've met anyone like you before," Abby said. "Of course, you haven't," the beetle said. "Let me tell you something: the human world, it's a mess. This apple takes us on all kinds of adventures. Adventures with mermaids, adventures in enchanted castles, adventures in the Arabian Nights, adventures with Native Americans, adventures within Notre Dame Cathedral, adventures in Greek mythology, you name it." Alice dropped her mouth in delight. She was amazed by what adventures awaited her and Abby. "How do we get to those adventures?" She asked. "This apple can become the ship of adventure!" The inch worm announced. Before Alice and Abby's very eyes, the apple became to morph itself into the shape of a pirate ship made out of an apple! "It's so beautiful!" Alice cried. |
| As the duo and the bugs boarded the ship, Abby noticed the lack of sails in their proper place. "You can't have a ship without sails! Then we'll be stranded!" The ant chuckled, "Not a problem. Ms. Widow, if you would?" The black widow spider climbed the mast as quick as a flash, weaving sails from her own silk faster than their eyes could comprehend. Before they knew it, the sails were set, and the ship was ready for takeoff. The ship slowly rose into the air before drifting away on a wind current across the sky. Abby and Alice marveled at the view as they gazed over the port side at the clouds and the setting sun, not to mention the ground below. Meanwhile, William exited the farmhouse to gather his daughter and her friend to go home, only to find the remains of the shattered apple tree, and the two girls nowhere in sight. "Abby? Alice? Hello? Where are you?" Back on the ship, the Beetle asked, "So, what kind of adventure shall we go on?" The girls hesitated. "Before we decide that, can we just ask, where did you all come from? We've never seen insects like you before. No offense." |
| As the ship rose into the air, William could see it from the ground. "You were always were quite the explorer, Abby," he said. At that moment, the Mortons saw what looked like an enormous apple shaped like a pirate ship flying over them. "Duck!" Mr. Morton cried. The whole family ducked, but their truck was knocked over by the ship during its takeoff. "My belly's hungry!" Harry said, rubbing his large stomach. |
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