Alice and Her Monster

Here is a very short piece I wrote from a writing prompt for one of my classes.

Write a 26 sentence story using the letters of the alphabet. The story should have a main character and make sense as a cohesive whole. Each sentence should begin with the next letter of the alphabet. Here is what I wrote in response to the prompt…

Alice, a girl who once was a lovely, kindred spirit, now had a heart of stone. Before the cruelness of the reality of mortality enthralled her every being, she had a best friend; this best friend was one not like many best friends, this one in particular was that of mystic and magic. Could this being be something inhuman—something from another world, perchance? Do not ever doubt this possibility, for it easily could be true. Everyday, Alice would travel into the woods behind her small home in the countryside. For a very long time she would walk—she would walk until it became far too close to dusk that she feared being trapped in the dark alone. Going on such dangerous adventures surely created tension in her mind, however, she was quite determined to find something strange and unusual in the depths of it all. Her mother had once told her a tale of the creatures of the forest, and how very misunderstood they were; or most of them, that is. In her childlike bravery, she was determined to succeed, and she did. Just before the night crept in, she stumbled upon a large hole in the side of the hill, which led deeper and deeper, not visible to her where it led. Knowing the dangers that were soon to approach, Alice decided she must run back home quickly, however, she had traveled so far that she became lost. Losing hope quickly, she took a chance and headed in the direction opposite of the sun, which she soon came to realize was certainly the wrong way. Moving through the greenery as quickly as possible, getting caught on branches and thorns as she tore through, she was now sure she must be heading in the correct direction…little did she know, she was being followed. Next to her, she heard a twig snap, and looking in that direction while still running, she did not see the tree she plowed straight into, knocking her unconscious. On the dirt she lay as a creature was stalking towards her; this monster was also not aware of something, it was being watched by another creature, this one was a good monster. Pouncing right where Alice lay unconscious, the good creature lept out to stop it from hurting the poor girl. Quickly, once it had finished dealing with the monster, the creature of kindness lifted Alice into its arms and carried her home, and placed her in her twin-sized bed. Right as the creature was turning to leave, Alice woke up in a panic. Sure that she was still in the forest, or dead for that matter, she leapt up and screamed at seeing the creature before her. Truly, it likely scared the creature more than the girl, and it shrieked in return—though it looked around for a moment trying to figure out what scared her, it quickly realized that it was the reason for this outburst. Upon this realization, the creature stuck out its hand—magnificently grew a flower from the palm of its hand, and gave it to Alice. Very quickly the two of them became friends; though an odd pair, they worked well together. When the day came that the creature passed on, it broke the poor girl, changing her forever; for some odd reason, she had believed that they would be able to live on forever. Xeranthemums were the flowers that the creature had grown for her when they had met, therefore, she buried its body and covered it with just that. Yes, once the creature—her best friend, and one and only kindred spirit alike—died, Alice’s heart of joy shriveled up and rotted, leaving her far more sorrowful than one could imagine. Zero reasons remained for Alice to be a happy girl once the tragedy of losing her best friend trampled her very being, leaving her with the fate of growing into an adult at a young age, far before she was meant to.