Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Week 1 Storytelling: From Cotton Rags to Cotton Riches


There once was a beautiful, intelligent young woman named Elizabeth. She had radiant, long, blonde, curly hair that draped from her head and an impressively white smile that could be seen for miles. However, she was born into a very poverty stricken family. Day in and day out, Elizabeth was required to wash the dishes, mop the floors, dust, clean the house from top to bottom, and keep the animals on her family farm alive and well to harvest. If there was a chore to be done, Elizabeth was required to perform it. Both of her parents spent each and every day working in their cotton fields, picking just enough cotton for the family to scratch by. School was Elizabeth's favorite time of the day because it was the only time she was able to escape from the chores and duties of her home life.
Before and after school each day, Elizabeth would sweep each room of the house, hoping and wishing that one day she would be allowed to escape and see the world, perhaps fall in love. She longed for a life of wealth and riches, but she knew she was reaching for something next to impossible.

Meanwhile, Adam Hanes, son of extremely wealthy business tycoon John Wesley Hanes, was a handsome young man who lived just minutes from Elizabeth's family farm. Adam and Elizabeth were classmates but had barely spoken to one another, for Elizabeth was shy and far too humble to speak to anyone during class. The moment Adam saw Elizabeth on the first day of class, he knew she was something spectacular. He was one of the only classmates who could saw her for her true beauty, unlike many of the students who judged her based upon her un-wealthy lifestyle. Every day when Elizabeth would come to school, Adam would sit outside the bus station where he knew she would be and wait for her. However, Adam was too scared to say anything to her, so he would pretend as if he was talking on the phone to another friend. 

Fed up with his own timid character, Adam decided the only way he would be able to tell Elizabeth how he felt would be to come up with a plan that would help both Elizabeth and her family. Adam knew his father's power and stature in the business world, so he consulted his help. The father and son paired worked on their plan for days before they finally put it into action. They knew they had to play their cards right or the entire thing would blow up in their face. 

On the morning of the "day of the plan", Mr. Hanes and three of his assistants drove Adam over to Elizabeth's farm. Together, the five of them knocked and knocked until finally little, shy Elizabeth came sprinting down the stairs. 

"Hello, Elizabeth. My name is John Hanes and I'm Adam's dad. Adam tells me you have a little bit of a problem on your hands." Mr. Hanes said.

"Uhm, hello sir. I'm not...exactly sure what you mean." Elizabeth responded as her face turned the color of a tomato and she shyly drug her foot across the floor.

"Well, have no fear, my dear. My company, Hanes, has decided to purchase your entire cotton field at any amount of your choosing, and we would love to make your parents managers of the cotton t-shirt design sector" Mr. Hanes exclaimed. "Adam has raved on about your beauty, charm, and situation, and we knew there was no better way than to offer you a wonderful position in the Hanes cotton family."

At the sound of this incredible news, Elizabeth started screaming and jumping for joy. Her parents, who had just walked into the house from the fields came running up to the door, thinking something terrible had gone wrong. Mr. Hanes quickly explained his proposition and Elizabeth's parents burst into happy tears at the news. Elizabeth tapped Adam's arm and lightly kissed his cheek, thanking him for making her impossible dreams a reality. Adam was ecstatic; he couldn't believe he had just received a kiss from the girl of his dreams. He quickly smiled back at her and recited:

"With your beautiful and gorgeous curly locks, please Elizabeth, I'd love for you to be mine. You no longer have to perform the chores or mend to the animals, but you can come and join the Hanes and sit on our cotton throne." 

Elizabeth threw her arms around Adam and kissed him again, this time aiming for his lips. She had never experienced this amount of joy and happiness in her life. She couldn't believe how lucky she was! 

"Of course, Adam! I've always liked you, but I never had the courage to talk to you. You're the most handsome boy I've ever met and I'd love to be yours" Elizabeth exclaimed in the most excited voice she could muster up. 

With his heart about to explode out of his chest, Adam stuttered, "Well, uh...then it's settled. I think now I'm supposed to take you on a proper first date. How about a trip to the ice cream shop? Pick any topping you'd like, strawberries, cream, sugar, the whole nine yards! Anything for an incredibly 'sweet' girl like you"

Both Adam and Elizabeth laughed and giggled the entire way to the ice cream shop, and the two of them continued dating for years to come. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This is a recreation of the original nursery rhyme: 

CURLY locks! curly locks! wilt thou be mine? Thou shalt not wash dishes, nor yet feed the swine, But sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam, And feed upon strawberries, sugar, and cream!

Because the rhyme was so short, there was plenty of room to put my own twist on the story. I went with a more modern theme and created my own characters, Adam and Elizabeth. Although the premise of the rhyme suggests the woman in the story was perhaps a maid and the man perhaps a king, I decide to give the role of the "maid" and the "king" a little less of a literal role, and more of a metaphorical role. I decided on the title "From Cotton Rags to Cotton Riches" as a play on the cotton t-shirt company Hanes, as well as the cotton fields that the main character lived on.

Source: The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang (1897).
(Image: Curly Locks, Curly Locks, Wilt thou be mine?)

3 comments:

  1. Ah, such a good turn of fortune for Elizabeth! I enjoyed reading this recreation of the original nursery rhyme, and noticing the clever ways in which you used aspects of the rhyme to become events in the story (e.g., using "strawberries, sugar, and cream" as the toppings for Elizabeth's ice cream). Additionally, I thought your use of "Mr. Hanes" as the catalyst for Elizabeth's cotton rags-to-riches tale was nicely done.

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  2. I enjoyed reading this version of the story. I thought it was a nice touch that both Adam and Elizabeth had feelings for each other, but never had to courage to actually speak to one another. Then, when they speak for the first time Adam (with the help of his Dad) change their family's life forever. I also liked the set up to the story. It also provided a lot of details of the life Elizabeth unfortunately lives. Good job!

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  3. The Hanes Cotton Company was hilarious! It was very creative to relate the two. I liked the flow of the mood in this story as well. It started out somewhat sad and hopeless but had a happy ending. I honestly wasn't sure if Elizabeth and her family were going to be happy about the business proposition or offended. I'm glad that everything worked out well though! There were a couple of grammar fixes I spotted. In the second paragraph, I think it should be "who could see" instead of "who could saw". In the seventh paragraph, there should be a comma after "sector". There should be either a comma or exclamation point after "yours" in paragraph eleven. There should be either a period or an exclamation point after "you" in paragraph twelve. Overall, the story showed creativity and was structured well. The picture also matched the innocent vibe of the tale. Good job!

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