[Writing] Lessons in Playing [Alice, general one shot]
Title: Lessons in Playing
Series: Original, general
Characters: Alice, the little girl
Rating: G
Word Count: 1130
Idea came to me a few days ago, finally had a chance to write it down tonight. The idea originally began as Alice interacting with bitty!Ginia. This little girl? Up for debate as to who or what she is.
Alice dreams of a playground in a park. She's not sure why she's dreaming this particular thing - she's never been to a playground or a park before and the location is cobbled together from pictures in book and brief clips from television and movies - but she dreams it anyway. There's a jungle gym towering up and waiting to be made into a castle or fortress or cave or anything a child might imagine, a swing set, and a big wood and metal play structure tying it all together.
A single little girl plays in the playground. She races up wood ramps, crosses jingly metal bridges, climbs up a tower by a chain mesh, then zips down the slide, repeating it all over once she was back on the ground, laughing, smiling, playing without a care in the world. Alice watches, fascinated, curious, jealous. She's never seen such play before, so free and filled with careless abandon, and she can't stop watching.
The girl notices and quickly runs over, blue eyes bright and carefree, a big smile on her face.
"Hello! Do you want to play?"
Alice shuffles uncomfortably on her feet, glances away at the play structures, then down at the bite-sized girl.
"Don't know. I've never played before."
The girl fearlessly grabs Alice's hand and tugs her along with the surprising strength children often have.
"Come on! I'll show you!"
***
Playing, as Alice learns, it a very serious thing with three simple rules.
Rule number one: There must always be laughter.
Rule number two: You must always enjoy yourself.
Rule number three: Failure to observe rules one and two will result in being eaten by a grue.
***
"The troll got you again!" the little girl laughs almost too gleefully from the magic watch tower. Alice frowns and glares at her invisible opponent, who seems to be quite good at "getting" her, though being invisible offers those sort of advantages.
It's been quite a difficult journey. First she had to scale the Mountains of Despair while avoiding doom bats that would sweep her down to the bottom of the mountain. Once she reached the top, she had to cross the old bridge across the Chasm of Nothingness. However, first she had to answer the bridge-keeper's question ("You can carry me in your pocket and barely feel me at all, but take me out and I'll fill an entire room."). It took her four tries to find the appropriate answer, each wrong turn earning her a tossing off the bridge and into eternal nothingness, but once she answered correctly, she was free to cross the rickety bridge, each step careful as the wood was very old and rotting, and her grip strong as the winds were very powerful and could blow her right off the bridge.
On the other side of the bridge was the Tower of Wisdom where destiny await.
But first, the troll. A fearsome beast with four arms and three eyes and could regenerate and lived in caves. Alice wasn't sure what the troll was doing so far from any caves, but it was there according to the girl.
Alice pouts and gives a small stomp of her foot. "Your troll is cheating."
"Is not. You have to find a way to defeat it." Because in this world, nothing dies.
"I've already slashed at it a hundred times!"
"It doesn't work so you have to find another way!"
Alice frowns and sits down, legs dangling over the edge of the fierce cliff. She stares out into the mountains and thinks.
"What's a troll even doing out here? You said they live in caves."
"This one left its cave to protect the Tower of Wisdom."
"Why is it protecting the Tower of Wisdom?"
"Because it wants to."
"What if I give it something else to protect?"
The girl considers.
"Like what?"
Alice thinks a little longer before snapping her fingers.
"Another troll!"
The girl is not convinced.
"They can go off and raise a family of troll babies?"
The girl thinks a little longer, then nods and smiles.
"The troll leaves with its troll friend! You are free to climb the Tower of Wisdom!"
"Awesom--"
"Then you have to defeat the dragon at the top!"
"Seriously?!"
***
Sometimes dragons aren't big fearsome creatures, but big creatures with some fear and loneliness inside. Alice befriends the dragon and promises to come back for him once she sees what's inside the Tower of Wisdom. The little girl beams brightly as Alice scales the tower and enters the sacred of chamber.
"Congratulations! You have reached the inner chamber of the Tower of Wisdom! Brave adventurer, kneel down and receive your reward!"
Alice kneels down and the girl touches a hand to one shoulder, then the other, then back to the first shoulder.
"Rise, for you are now a knight of wisdom. Now go forth and share your wisdom with all you meet!"
Alice blinks a bit, but stands obediently, needing a few seconds to gather her thoughts together.
"Wait, that's it?"
The girl nods and smiles brightly.
"Yep! Now we can do it all over again! Wasn't that fun?"
Alice is about to argue otherwise, but she stops short. No... no, that was pretty fun.
"I guess so. It was exciting, I'll give it that."
She thinks a little more, her own grin crossing her face.
"Now I have a dragon."
***
They continue to play. Sometimes the mountains are covered with ice and snow and frost wraiths haunt their every step. One time the bridge keeper is really a cursed witch and they have to travel across the land to find the ingredients needed to break the spell (the dragon proves very helpful in flying them across the land). Sometimes they reach the Tower of Wisdom. Often times they don't and have to try again and again and again. They play all day and afternoon and when the sun begins to set, the sky exploding in reds and oranges, the little girl gives Alice a tight hug.
"Can we play again tomorrow?"
Alice smiles softly and gives the little girl a pat on the head, gently brushing out brunette locks of hair.
"I'd like that. I'd like that a lot."
"Promise?"
"...Promise."
The little girl smiles and runs off, stopping to wave back, before disappearing. Alice waves back, smiling softly as she climbs back to the play structure. She walks up the wood ramps, crosses the metal bridge, and sits at the top of the tower, watching the world around her slowly turn to darkness as the sun disappears over the horizon and she wakes up.
***
The little girl grins and holds out a stick, pointing at the jungle gym with her other hand.
"Come on! Take your torch! The Lost Temple awaits!"
Series: Original, general
Characters: Alice, the little girl
Rating: G
Word Count: 1130
Idea came to me a few days ago, finally had a chance to write it down tonight. The idea originally began as Alice interacting with bitty!Ginia. This little girl? Up for debate as to who or what she is.
Alice dreams of a playground in a park. She's not sure why she's dreaming this particular thing - she's never been to a playground or a park before and the location is cobbled together from pictures in book and brief clips from television and movies - but she dreams it anyway. There's a jungle gym towering up and waiting to be made into a castle or fortress or cave or anything a child might imagine, a swing set, and a big wood and metal play structure tying it all together.
A single little girl plays in the playground. She races up wood ramps, crosses jingly metal bridges, climbs up a tower by a chain mesh, then zips down the slide, repeating it all over once she was back on the ground, laughing, smiling, playing without a care in the world. Alice watches, fascinated, curious, jealous. She's never seen such play before, so free and filled with careless abandon, and she can't stop watching.
The girl notices and quickly runs over, blue eyes bright and carefree, a big smile on her face.
"Hello! Do you want to play?"
Alice shuffles uncomfortably on her feet, glances away at the play structures, then down at the bite-sized girl.
"Don't know. I've never played before."
The girl fearlessly grabs Alice's hand and tugs her along with the surprising strength children often have.
"Come on! I'll show you!"
***
Playing, as Alice learns, it a very serious thing with three simple rules.
Rule number one: There must always be laughter.
Rule number two: You must always enjoy yourself.
Rule number three: Failure to observe rules one and two will result in being eaten by a grue.
***
"The troll got you again!" the little girl laughs almost too gleefully from the magic watch tower. Alice frowns and glares at her invisible opponent, who seems to be quite good at "getting" her, though being invisible offers those sort of advantages.
It's been quite a difficult journey. First she had to scale the Mountains of Despair while avoiding doom bats that would sweep her down to the bottom of the mountain. Once she reached the top, she had to cross the old bridge across the Chasm of Nothingness. However, first she had to answer the bridge-keeper's question ("You can carry me in your pocket and barely feel me at all, but take me out and I'll fill an entire room."). It took her four tries to find the appropriate answer, each wrong turn earning her a tossing off the bridge and into eternal nothingness, but once she answered correctly, she was free to cross the rickety bridge, each step careful as the wood was very old and rotting, and her grip strong as the winds were very powerful and could blow her right off the bridge.
On the other side of the bridge was the Tower of Wisdom where destiny await.
But first, the troll. A fearsome beast with four arms and three eyes and could regenerate and lived in caves. Alice wasn't sure what the troll was doing so far from any caves, but it was there according to the girl.
Alice pouts and gives a small stomp of her foot. "Your troll is cheating."
"Is not. You have to find a way to defeat it." Because in this world, nothing dies.
"I've already slashed at it a hundred times!"
"It doesn't work so you have to find another way!"
Alice frowns and sits down, legs dangling over the edge of the fierce cliff. She stares out into the mountains and thinks.
"What's a troll even doing out here? You said they live in caves."
"This one left its cave to protect the Tower of Wisdom."
"Why is it protecting the Tower of Wisdom?"
"Because it wants to."
"What if I give it something else to protect?"
The girl considers.
"Like what?"
Alice thinks a little longer before snapping her fingers.
"Another troll!"
The girl is not convinced.
"They can go off and raise a family of troll babies?"
The girl thinks a little longer, then nods and smiles.
"The troll leaves with its troll friend! You are free to climb the Tower of Wisdom!"
"Awesom--"
"Then you have to defeat the dragon at the top!"
"Seriously?!"
***
Sometimes dragons aren't big fearsome creatures, but big creatures with some fear and loneliness inside. Alice befriends the dragon and promises to come back for him once she sees what's inside the Tower of Wisdom. The little girl beams brightly as Alice scales the tower and enters the sacred of chamber.
"Congratulations! You have reached the inner chamber of the Tower of Wisdom! Brave adventurer, kneel down and receive your reward!"
Alice kneels down and the girl touches a hand to one shoulder, then the other, then back to the first shoulder.
"Rise, for you are now a knight of wisdom. Now go forth and share your wisdom with all you meet!"
Alice blinks a bit, but stands obediently, needing a few seconds to gather her thoughts together.
"Wait, that's it?"
The girl nods and smiles brightly.
"Yep! Now we can do it all over again! Wasn't that fun?"
Alice is about to argue otherwise, but she stops short. No... no, that was pretty fun.
"I guess so. It was exciting, I'll give it that."
She thinks a little more, her own grin crossing her face.
"Now I have a dragon."
***
They continue to play. Sometimes the mountains are covered with ice and snow and frost wraiths haunt their every step. One time the bridge keeper is really a cursed witch and they have to travel across the land to find the ingredients needed to break the spell (the dragon proves very helpful in flying them across the land). Sometimes they reach the Tower of Wisdom. Often times they don't and have to try again and again and again. They play all day and afternoon and when the sun begins to set, the sky exploding in reds and oranges, the little girl gives Alice a tight hug.
"Can we play again tomorrow?"
Alice smiles softly and gives the little girl a pat on the head, gently brushing out brunette locks of hair.
"I'd like that. I'd like that a lot."
"Promise?"
"...Promise."
The little girl smiles and runs off, stopping to wave back, before disappearing. Alice waves back, smiling softly as she climbs back to the play structure. She walks up the wood ramps, crosses the metal bridge, and sits at the top of the tower, watching the world around her slowly turn to darkness as the sun disappears over the horizon and she wakes up.
***
The little girl grins and holds out a stick, pointing at the jungle gym with her other hand.
"Come on! Take your torch! The Lost Temple awaits!"