1.14.2012

#WeekendWritercize 1: New Endings

Welcome to the first edition of #WeekendWritercize!  
Good luck to all the contestants!
writercize:  Enough with "they lived happily ever after" fairy tale endings. Pick a familiar fairy tale, throw out the happily ever after, and tell us what really happened!

To enter the competition, leave your entry as a comment below. Be sure to include your Twitter handle and link to your blog or website. Tweet and Facebook fellow entries using the hashtag #WeekendWritercize.

Please avoid violence and profanity since this blog is used by students as an educational tool.

Competition closes at 11:59 p.m. Sunday night (Pacific time) - no entries accepted after that. Winner announced Monday.

This week's winner will receive a Writercize Weekend Winner badge to proudly display on their website and a $5.00 Target gift card. Must be reachable to win!

13 comments:

  1. The wedding is over and the guests have all gone home. The shoe fit and Cinderella found her handsome and charming prince. Could anyone ever be happier than she at this moment and the happily ever after was just waiting to begin.

    The honeymoon was nice enough. The Caribbean is beautiful anytime of year, but especially in the winter. They left their reception in 60 degree weather, which was acceptable and comfortable, but now it was in the 80's and they enjoyed the sun and beach. What's not to like in paradise?

    At the end of the ten day trip they arrived at their wing of the castle. This was to be their own private quarters. Private meaning no one other than about 20 servants lived in this wing. That would take some getting used to for her as she was a commoner and had basically been the servant prior to becoming a princess.

    Our handsome and charming prince learned very soon that his beautiful princess was very comfortable being waited upon and having her every wish turned into reality merely by asking. He expected some period of adjustment, but it was running into months now and she was getting more and more demanding and less and less happy as time passed. Nothing was good enough for her now and no one did anything as she expected.

    Although he still loved her, it was becoming less pleasing to enter her sleeping suite to visit his bride. There too, she was demanding and not satisfied.

    The Prince had to be reminded by his ever interfering mother, the Queen, often that divorce was NOT an option. Royals marry for life. No exceptions.

    Princess Cinderella was no longer the raving beauty she had been. It wasn't just the massive weight gain from asking for whatever treat she could imagine and then devouring the same, but also the change in her behaviors which made the Prince less than enamored by his wife. The Queen visited her daughter-in-law several times each day and they had developed a serious dislike for each other. This was not the happily ever after either had envisioned.

    The papers of the kingdom carried a story nearing the 2nd anniversary of the Prince and Princess explaining the horrible tragic accident that had occurred during a festival on the castle grounds.

    The Prince had fallen down a sharply jagged hill of shale while strolling along the cliffs. Apparently he had been impaled by a particularly sharp spear of shale extruding from the hill. All measures were taken to save him, but it was to no avail. He passed after several hours of intense medical attention.

    The Princess was heartbroken and had taken to her rooms. She would not be seen in public for the rest of her days. Her mourning had consumed her and she had, in fact, lost her touch with reality. She spoke often to her husband and saw him by her side always.

    Perhaps in a way, they did have their happily ever after.

    The End

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Hehehe... consequences are inevitable!

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  2. hey! i recently wrote a what really happened fairy tale...
    here you go! (you dont have to enter me, but i just wanted to share it =)

    http://taratylertalks.blogspot.com/2011/09/change.html

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  3. I'm going to leave my story as a link first. I missed the part about 'no violence' and kinda offed a character in my story. If it doesn't meet with your approval, I totally understand. I still had a lot of fun writing it! :)

    http://www.caramichaels.com/defiantlyliterate/2012/01/15/weekendwritercize-1-screw-the-happy-endings/

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  4. Once upon a time, there was a man who made shoes. Although he didn't sell a lot of shoes, he usually did well enough to keep his family fed. After a while, however, the economy became very bad and people stopped buying his shoes

    Soon, the shoemaker was so poor that he had nothing left but just enough leather to make a single pair of shoes. He cut out the leather, but it was getting late, so he went to bed, hoping that when he would make the shoes in the morning, someone would buy them.

    In the morning, the shoemaker awoke to find a brand-new pair of shoes on his workbench, and they had been made from the leather that he had cut the night before. He had no idea how it had happened, but before he could think about it for very long, a man walked into his shop, was very pleased with the quality of the shoes and even paid more than what the shoemaker normally would have asked.

    With the money from the sale, the shoemaker was able to get a little something for his family to eat and just enough leather to make two pairs of shoes. After dinner, he cut the leather and, as he had done the night before, grew sleepy and went to bed.

    The next morning, as with the previous morning, he found that the leather he had cut had been made into perfectly crafted shoes. Again, people came in and bought the shoes and he earned enough money to buy even more leather.

    This process continued for quite some time. The shoemaker would painstakingly cut all the leather as needed for the shoes, and then the shoes would, magically, be fully assembled by morning. It went well enough that the shoemaker was no longer poor, but had done very well with his business.

    Then, curious as to how the shoes were so mysteriously made, the shoemaker installed a security camera in his shop and watched what happened after he had cut out the leather at night.

    When it was midnight, two small, homeless men, wearing what could only loosely be called clothing, entered the shop, sat down at the workbench and sewed, stitched and hammered all of the pieces into perfect shoes as the shoemaker watched them on his monitor. As soon as they were done, they didn't bother to tarry, but immediately ran out of the shop.

    When the shoemaker and his wife saw the shoes, the next morning, knowing that the homeless little men had worked so hard to produce them, they decided that they would reward their workers by buying them clothing. They also helped them rent an apartment with some of the money the sale of the shoes had brought in.

    Over time, the shoemaker and his wife became very wealthy and their little helpers made a good living, as well, but things were about to change. The rest of the country went through another bad economic period and the hard work the shoemaker and his helpers had put in was no longer a thing that people valued.

    Instead, the rest of the people, calling themselves "the ninety-nine percent" and calling the shoemaker and others like him "the one percent," began shouting and carrying signs that said, "Occupy Shoemaker Street."

    Ultimately, the shop had to shut down, the helpers became homeless again, and the shoemaker and his wife lost all that they had struggled so hard to save. Thus, all lived miserably ever after.

    @LupusAnthropos
    http://fulmoj.wordpress.com/

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  5. Let me be the first to say that I enjoyed this. Well done!

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  6. Hi Alana! I'm in!

    Here's my story, which I also posted on my blog. http://thewritesoil.blogspot.com/2012/01/writercize-challenge-new-fairy-tale.html

    Hansel and Gretel – The Real Ending

    Gretel did indeed trick the old witch at her own game. She slammed the witch in the oven when she was showing Gretel how to stoke the fire that would soon cook Hansel. When, the witch’s screams stopped, Gretel let Hansel out of his cage. They searched the hag’s gingerbread home and found a small stash of rubies and emeralds, a fortune that would buy them all the food they’d ever need in this land of famine.

    Then the two sat down to decide what to do. They could go back to their father, the woodcutter’s home, but even if their nasty step-mother were still alive, they would have to live with the fact that their father had abandoned them to die in the forest. No. They decided it would be better to make their own way in the world.

    They lived in the old hag’s cottage until they were grown and then, selling some of their jewels, they set out together to find suitable marriages.

    Hansel married a fine woman who cooked him the richest of foods. He was plump and happy the rest of his life. Gretel married the town’s confectioner (for the famine was no longer in the land) and helped him in the shop. The one thing though, that she refused to let him sell was gingerbread. Of that, she could not abide.

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  7. Mine is quite lengthy and I am not sure if it exceeds the violence restriction, although it is mostly implied. I would put the rating at a 13 plus rating....here is the link. If it isn't eligible, I still had fun creating this story, which twists a combination of fairy tales.

    http://www.lisamccourthollar.com/2012/01/belle-and-enchanted-castle.html

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  8. And the to the Sea Return


    The sun was setting over the horizon, streaks of gold, rust, and pink glowing in the sky. The entire kingdom was assembled to witness the nuptials of Prince Eric to the lovely maiden, Veronica.

    Theirs was a fairytale-like whirlwind courtship. When young Veronica sang before the court, Prince Eric’s head had lifted, and his eyes filled with love.

    He’d asked one of the servants to have Veronica stay after the performance to speak with him personally. At the prince’s request, she’d sung for him privately, and once he was sure hers was the angelic voice he’d heard in his time of need, he’d declared his intention to court her. It was at that moment Ariel realized she’d bee duped by the evil sea witch and cried bitter tears, inconsolable for days.

    Ariel was relegated to the background—treated well and assured she would always have a place within the kingdom walls, but there were no more nature walks, hand holding, or gentle boat rides on the lake. She missed Prince Eric’s quirky personality the most; he had unusual and unique concepts that he only dared to share with her because she was mute. Little did he know, she loved each and every inspiration he had to bring freedom to his people and rule fairly instead of with a cruel iron fist like his father.

    Ariel watched, hidden high up in a balcony that was under repair, as the beloved Prince who had taken her in, cared for her, and spent time with her, stood on the dais with the dark maiden.

    Veronica wore a beautiful silken gown of white with frothy layers of expensive lace and satin ribbon. Her glossy black hair was held away from her face by a band of fresh wildflowers, the rest hanging down her back in a silken fall.

    When the priest asked if anyone objected to the marriage, Ariel’s eyes filled with tears. She could not raise an objection when the evil sea witch was in control of her sweet, sweet voice. Even the act of sobbing was denied her, mouth open in silent screams of despair as she clung to the railing and watched her true love kiss the lying bride, sealing the deal.

    No! Oh, please, no! Her silent pleas went unanswered.

    Prince Eric’s face was lit with happiness, and for a moment, her tears halted as she admired his regal carriage. It wasn’t his fault, after all. He, too, was a victim of the evil Ursula.

    He took his bride’s hand, turning to face their subjects.

    “And now we celebrate Prince Eric and Princess Veronica! Please join us for a royal feast in the ballroom.”

    As Prince Eric led his new bride down the steps of the dais, in yet another cruel act, she glanced up at Ariel and winked. Being run through with a sword couldn’t have been more painful.
    (cont)

    Gosh, I'm embarrassed my little tale didn't fit in one post! Part Two below.

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  9. Part Two of: And to the Sea Return

    The coming years were difficult ones. Little by little, the light seeped out of Prince Eric’s eyes. His wife was barren; there would be no heirs. She was also a selfish shrew, and despite his love of her voice, he hated the words it formed as it vibrated from her delicate throat.

    Ariel watched silently—the only way she was able—as her beloved grew despondent, and all his lofty aspirations for the kingdom died on the vine.

    She could never return to her family in the sea; she was bound to her contract with Ursula to remain a human mute for the rest of her days.

    Due to increased unrest within the kingdom, which was fueled by Ursula’s evil, a war broke out when certain factions went rogue. Prince Eric’s body was carried back from battle, and the people grieved his loss. Before the royal burial even commenced, Veronica disappeared mysteriously, leaving the people reeling from the additional blow.

    Ariel stood at the edge of the water the day her beloved Eric was buried. The waves rolled in roughly, the surf rushing up the sand to pool and foam around her feet. Closing her eyes, she walked forward slowly, going deeper, deeper.

    The strength of the waves nearly knocked her slight form over, but she managed to curl her toes, digging them into the sand, holding her own.

    Her tears mixed with the salt of the sea as she lamented over her lost love. Worse than seeing his body come back wrapped in silk and carried on the shoulders of his men was having had to watch as the life had been gradually extinguished from his sparkling dark eyes. His exuberance, sense of humor, and desire for a better future all doused, the flame of hope snuffed out, never to burn again.

    As the water reached the hollow at the base of her throat, she expended a monumental effort and whispered, “Eric . . . ” as she pledged herself back to the sea.

    The End

    @SarahAisling
    http://www.facebook.com/SarahAislingAuthor

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  10. Thanks to all the entries! Contest now closed. Who will win tomorrow?!? This judging thing is HARD!

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