HIGH STAKES: The Cat in the Hat by: Edgar Alien Poo


The day was grey and my hands were cold. The warm soup couldn’t heat me up, it was turning cold. I remember hearing wet missiles destroying the pavement. And then I remember hearing a pound. A deep thud on wood. It sounded as though the wooden door was reenacting the sound it had made when it fell to be made into lumber. I heard the pound three times. Three aggressive knocks. Each thud louder than the latter.
I tried to ignore the first two knocks, I didn’t want to move; I was a potato. But that third knock got to me. It had taken me 4 hours to get my blanket into the right position and it was all for nothing. I stood up, planted my toes and then walked down the hallway. I caught a glimpse of myself in the blue reflecting window. My face was red hot and furious, I was a tomato.
I continued my furious fret until a few feet from the door and then I stood there, listening to the rain. I was frozen like a deer, listening and waiting for the next sound so I could run off. But I couldn’t feel a presence at the other side of the door. I convinced myself to open it. With every step I took the carpet seemed to pull me back in reluctance.
Creak! The nervous wind slammed the door open and the porch was empty. I stuck my head out into the icy winded chamber and saw nothing in my yard. The wind slapped me like an insulted woman, I had to retreat. I moved my body from the sub-polar weather to the artificial warmth inside. I felt a presence on my side of the door.
MEOW!
That’s when I met Mr. Phelline Meowsworth, the fanciest cat I’ve ever come to know. He was only six feet tall, but his hat made him seem taller. His fur was marvelous, it was as warm as soup should be. I ran myself through his blanket until my cold hands were warm.  He purred and twirled his whiskers and then said, “Hello child, we are going to have some fun today.” Then he handed me a pill.  A blue pill. A blue small pill.
I twirled it in my hands and then I twirled it with my tongue. It tasted like a bad holiday. But I knew it was good for me, Mr. Phelline Meowsworth wouldn’t hurt me. I finally gathered enough courage to ask what the pill was for, but I don’t remember his reply. I also don’t remember what happened next.


 REFLECTION:


This was one of my favorite stories to write. It was so weird and experimental that it consumed me entirely. I couldn't think of anything else when I began writing. My original idea was to rewrite The Cat in the Hat in a creepy way. I felt that if I drew a sharp contrast between the two very different writing styles I would get an interesting reader's reaction. I hope I was right.

I would like to improve a few things next semester. But if this assignment showed me anything is that I want to imporve my ability to fluctuate my writing voice. I want to be able to tell funny stories and scary stories, I dont want my writing abilities to be restricted to one genre. I think this would be a great improvement for me next semester because I could explore the many types of writing styles that exist.

This assignment was conceived with a few failures. This particular piece of prose was one of the many drafts of possibilites I had for this assignment. I was so indecessive because I didn't have a plan for my writing. Success comes from preparation. A lot of time would have been saved if I had compared outlines instead of drafts of my prose.

Below this text is an image. It is an image of a snippet from my writer's journal. To come up with what to write for this piece I randomly selected a phrase from one of my freewrites. After I did so I wrote a story based off what that phrase reminded me of. The phrase "lightning and thunder, each one compliments the other" reminded me of the beginning of the Cat in The Hat. Also below that image is another of the first page of the Cat in the Hat Book that my phrase reminded me of. This connection in my mind between the two gave me the idea to make the prose "Cat in the Hat by: Edgar Allen Poe".

Also here is the link to a video read of the Cat in the Hat book: 

HERE IS THE PHRASE:

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