Created during By The Way 2020 Adults classes – started on Monday, April the 20th

LE CONTEXTE, LES PERSONNAGES ET LES FAITS PRINCIPAUX EN FRANCAIS POUR AIDER LES DEBUTANTS :

Last update : Tuesday, May 26th at 8am

Once upon a time in a land far, far away, there lived a group of amazing people.Each one of these people had a special power.

Some of these powers included: reading minds, transforming objects, becoming invisible, freezing time and many, many more. These fantastic people could all be found in a single village, some would describe as heaven. This village was perfectly situated between the mountains and the sea. The village was entirely self-sufficient with its own crops and gardens scattered among the houses. Close to their village there was a magic waterfall where lived a very old and wise man.

This man had the special gift of being able to travel to different places in an instant. His name was Brian. Brian had a son, Peter, who could read people’s minds as his great-great-grandmother did long, long ago.

Peter was in his thirties, slim and very attractive in spite of himself. He had long disheveled hair and a long beard. He was always dreaming. All the single women in the village were secretly in love with him. But Peter didn’t seem to care about them. And you will very quickly understand why :

One day, Peter was walking between the waterfall and the forest. He met a beautiful woman. She was tall and she wore a long, flowing dress. She wore a crown over long blonde hair. She looked into his eyes and hypnotized him. Ever since that day, Peter was in love with the beautiful witch.

The beautiful witch lived in a castle. Her name was Victoria. She had a young handsome servant, Edward, who protected the forest.

Edward was secretly in love with Victoria. However, he feared that she would never love him because he was only  a poor servant.

Victoria  had an enchanted frog called Bob. Bob ‘s eyes were bright blue, big and bulging. His green skin was like velvet. He  spoke with a human voice.

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Edward wanted to watch over the beautiful witch. Victoria was an independant woman and knew her powers were very strong.

Victoria’s father, the count of Oxford, discovered that Victoria had cast a spell on Peter. So he locked Victoria in one of the towers of the castle.

Meanwhile, back in the village, Peter decided to find Victoria. He returned to the waterfall where he saw Victoria for the first time. He was thinking about his love, when he heard a sound. He turned around and amongst the leaves he saw a stranger. Peter said « Who are you? » The stranger answered « I’m Edward. What are you doing here? » Peter explained he was looking for someone called Victoria. « Do you know where I can find her? » he asked.

Edward replied quietly « No, I‘ve never heard of her. »

Peter, who could read minds, could see that he was lying. So they said their goodbyes, and Peter left. But Peter hid and followed Edward when he moved off. Edward led Peter to the castle.

When Peter arrived there, he asked some people if they knew where Victoria was. One of the servants replied she was locked in a tower. Peter knew there were plenty of them and the servant could not decide where Victoria was but he heard she lived in one of the towers, where she could admire a beautiful sunset. Therefore, Peter wanted to go straight to the towers, however, he noticed that he had to cross the labyrinth first. He was afraid of being lost but fortunately he met a ten-year-old girl, who suggested helping him. Thanks to his magical powers, Peter knew she was sincere and that she would not lead him nowhere.

The way to the towers was long and narrow. There was no light in the labirynth and sometimes Peter could hear some screaming voices. Two hours later, they met the end of the labirynth and the little girl told Peter to continue his quest on his own. However he noticed an object in her hand. It was a handkerchief with a gold and beautifully engraved capital letter V. Peter immediately thought of Victoria and so that he believed it was a sign. He asked the little girl where she found that handkerchief. She said it fell off one of the two highest towers located in the southern courtyard. Peter thanked her for that useful piece of information and decided to continue his journey alone.

It took him a few minutes to arrive in that place. Peter was impressed with beauty of this area. It was all green and blossoming. Between the two towers was a magical pond with crocodiles and villains. To reach one of the towers, Peter needed to face the danger and cross the pond. He was really scared, shivers went down his spine. He was long thinking of a possible solution and suddenly he saw a boat. It seemed tiny and creaky, but Peter managed to repair it with some tools he had previously found in the garden.

Once he was on the boat, he suddenly got terrified as he saw a huge monster in front of him. It looked like a big octopus with one black eye and vast arms stretching to the courtyard. Peter took his paddle to fight against the terrible creature, he got hurt but he was brave and determined. As soon as he hit the monster in his face, the blank ink from the octopus’s eye covered the pound. The monster was seriously injured and could no longer fight. Peter was proud of himself, of such a great victory over a magical creature. He sailed across the dark pond thinking that nothing could stop him.

When he reached the edge of the pond, there were two swans that arrived and told him to choose between them. One of them would then show him the right way to the tower. He tried to read the animals’ minds but he was not able to do so.

Peter noticed that one of the swans was black and the other one white. Both of them were very beautiful and graceful. He asked them a question:

‘’What can Victoria see from her tower?”

The white swan responded: ‘’Our village’’

However, the other one said that every evening Victoria would sit by the window and watch a remarkable sunset. Everytime she would look at the people passing by, thinking that she would love to go out. She was even jealous of other women because they were free and could see their husbands. On the contrary, Victoria was all alone in her tower, sad and lonely, constantly reminding herself of a young man she truly loved.

Now, Peter was reassured and able to make the right choice. He decided to follow the black swan. It led him to the tower but once he arrived, the doors were shut. The animal warned him that he needed to be careful. Victoria was, indeed, a witch. Peter ignored that remark as he only wanted to finally meet Victoria.

He felt he was nearing the end of his adventure and knew that this part of the journey was probably the most challenging. He was deeply in love with the woman and afraid of being rejected. On the way to the top of the tower, Peter managed to open one of the doors. He saw that there were a lot of stairs, they looked like a way to heaven. The man felt a bit dizzy and perplexed. Suddenly, he lost control of his body and fell down. When he was conscious again, he did not remember why he was away from his house.

What was he doing in such a strange tower?

Suddenly, Peter heard a voice. He looked around but didn’t see anyone until he looked down. He saw a frog on the stairs. 

« Welcome, Peter! My name is Bob. I’m Victoria’s pet. I could bring you to her. »

« Who is Victoria? » Peter asked.

« She is a beautiful woman. You met her before in the forest. Even if you don’t remember her, she loves you. »

Peter thought he was dreaming. He had a headache. His legs were numb. « What is happening to me? » He thought. 

He told the frog, « Go to Victoria and ask her ‘Are you sure you love him?’ Because if she doesn’t, I will go away.

The frog said, « Calm down, Peter. You can come with me! »

« I can’t move! I can’t go with you » groaned Peter. 

« Don’t worry Peter! Wait for me, I’ll be very quick! » said Bob as he rushed towards Victoria’s laboratory.

When he arrived there, there were many bottles and flasks everywhere in the room.

« Which one could help Peter? » wondered the frog.

At this moment, Edward, magically appeared holding something in his hand. It looked like a black bottle of ink…

This squid ink had the power to make people forget forever.

The frog was suspicious. He knew that Edward was in love with Victoria and didn’t want to help him.

Edward gave the bottle to the frog. The frog took it, jumped down the stairs and dropped the bottle on the way. It shattered into a million pieces.

Edward was shocked. He picked up the pieces and tried to wipe up the ink forgetting that the ink would make him forget forever.

Edward touched the ink. He forgot Victoria .

Then Bob went to the laboratory and found a little blue bottle. This bottle contained the antidote which would restore Peter’s memory.

When Bob rejoined Peter, he made Peter drink the antidote. All of his memories came rushing back to him – he immediately passed out. When Peter woke up, the frog was staring at him. Peter then asked Bob : “where can I find Victoria?”

Peter climbed to the top of the tower, where he found a door. He tried the door handle and he found that the door was locked. He looked around and luckily the key was hanging on the wall next to the door.

Peter went to take the key to try to open the tower door. When  Peter touched the key, he felt  his hand burning. Peter who was very courageous overcame the pain and picked up the key. He very carefully placed the key in the lock and began to  open the door.  As he opened the door he saw a corridor which lead to a glass spiral staircase. He followed the staircase which went down into the depths of the tower. There, Peter found 3 doors : one made of diamonds, one made of flowers, and another one made of blackened wood. The entrance to the doors was lit by a torch of fire. Suddenly, a voice came out of the darkness and said :

 » Choose wisely. No mistakes accepted. You have only one chance. If you don’t choose the right door you will never return. « 

Peter couldn’t decide. 

Peter’s first choice was the diamond door. But when he got close, the diamonds started reflecting the rising sun and blinded him. He stopped before opening it.

Then, he looked at the other two doors.

On one hand, the door made of flowers was full of big yellow sunflowers, roses, lilac and lilies. They were very colorful. They smelled very good to attract Peter. But maybe it was a trap. 

On the other hand, the door made of blackened wood was dark and damaged. It had a big iron lock. There was a big key in the lock. The key could open the door easily. The door was very old and the lock was rusted. 

In the meantime, Peter’s father was worried because he had had no news from his son for 2 days and it was the first time it had happened. Thanks to his gifts, Brian moved to several places : he looked for him everywhere in the village, he looked for him in the forest, he went to the sea and finally arrived at the waterfall. Behind a rock, he found a black woolen hat with Peter’s initials embroidered inside : Peter had been there but he wasn’t anymore!

His father called out his name  »  Peter, Peter, where are you? »  There wasn’t any answer. He began to feel afraid. He thought he might never see his son again.

Suddenly Edward appeared beside the waterfall. He looked frightened, his torn clothes were covered in blood ,his hair was in dreadlocks and his eyes were very dark. He looked like a madman.

Immediately, Brian thought he had killed Peter. Brian grabbed Edward around the neck and cried:  » Where is my son ?!!!! »

Edward didn’t speak because he couldn’t remember anything. He had lost his memory. He explained that after returning from the castle he had been attacked by a pack of wolves and he fell into some blackberries. Brian ordered ‘Take me to the castle’. When they got to the castle, a frog was waiting for them and asked them what they were looking for. Brian demanded to know where Peter was.

« The last time I saw Peter, he was on his way to see Victoria in the highest tower » replied Bob the frog. When Brian arrived at the tower, he saw Victoria and Peter trying to escape from the castle, by climbing out the window. Brian called out « let me help you! I can teleport you both to safety. Where would you like to go? »

Victoria and Peter were anxious because they didn’t know where they could hide. Victoria thought that it was safer to leave the country but Peter shouted back : « It doesn’t matter where, we just want to be together forever. » Brian decided to teleport them all back to the village.

When Brian arrived at the village he was alone. Victoria and Peter had disappeared.

*************** After this sentence, several possible endings will be suggested and discussed by each class ****************

********************* NEW CHAPTER – END1*********************

Explanation : here we can explain why Edward was attacked by wolves. Charles wanted to take his ring. His gift can be to talk to wolves….

Booty, the village bootmaker, was happy. He had just brought to the castle, with his 12-years-old son Charles, the pair of boots that the count of Oxford had ordered from him last month. 
The count was so pleased, he had ordered him another pair of boots, lined, for next winter and had even given Charles a coin.
Yes, the day was really beautiful.
Near the waterfall, the bootmaker decided to take a nap at the foot of a tall, majestic tree.

Charles was running along the river when he saw a frog sleeping on a huge water lily.
He took a small stick and threw it at the frog.
« Argh you’re hurting me! »
Charles looked around,he could not see anyone
He took another stick and threw it at the frog again.
« Argh I tell you that you are hurting me ».

He went to see if it was not his father who was playing a trick on him. No, he was sleeping like a baby.

-« Who are you looking for ? It’s me who is talking to you, Here, on the water lily. »

– « Oh, sorry, I thought that you were a frog ».

– « My name’s Bob. I’m a frog now, but many years ago I was a handsome young man. Listen to me, I’m going to tell you my story. After you will go beneath the waterfall, you’ll recover a magic ring hanging on Edward’s neck, then you’ll come back. You will pronounce the magic formula 3 times and after, I’ll become the handsome young man I once was. If you succeed, I’ll marry Victoria and you will become knight of my kingdom.
And I’ll give you the power to transform lead in gold. »

Hearing his words, Charles was really excited. He was curious and wanted to see the transformation of lead to gold. He thought :  » Who is Edward? How can I find him? And how can I take his ring? « 

********************* NEW CHAPTER – END2*********************

As they were being teleported back to the village, Victoria underwent an incredible transformation : her voice became deeper, she developed a stylish beard and her feet grew by several sizes.

Peter was startled. He said :  » What a charming prince, you are!!! »

********************* NEW CHAPTER – END3*********************

// Brian realized that Victoria did not love Peter. He wanted to save his son. Peter was depressed and his heart was broken. Suddenly, there was a big storm. A lightning bolt struck the village and all the superpowers disappeared. Now Peter saw the situation clearly. He was not under Victoria’s spell anymore. Victoria was angry because she realized that her strategy did not work. She said, « I have lost the battle, but I will win the war. I will find a rich, powerful young man. »  For now, she decided to stay in her tower and open an antique shop and superpower museum. She gave tours of the tower to pay for the tower’s maintenance. Everyone else went back to the village to lead a normal life without magic powers. They lived happily ever after.