Once upon a magical time, there was a cute baby girl. Her parents, the king and queen, decided to call her Rapunzel, and they were very happy indeed to have a baby as they had wanted one for years.
What is it you are trying to tell me? Oh yes, you were asking, “Isn’t this the story of Rapunzel?” Not exactly, but close enough. This story is called How Rapunzel Defeated the Evil Witch. It is based on Rapunzel, but woven into another universe.
Well, here goes nothing.
In the middle of the peaceful night when Rapunzel was born, the king and queen placed her into a cot so she could sleep. Unfortunately, the wicked witch who lived in the desert just beyond the village came to run errands the next day and heard about the new baby. As soon as one of the villagers told her about the baby, the witch understood that she was destiny’s child who would grow up to have long magical hair that would contain the elixir of youth. This elixir could make the witch go back to being eighteen and also make her immortal. So, she decided to kidnap the newborn baby.
The witch also had a strange power: she could send people into different fairy tales with a magical potion, which was how she ended up with no mother or father, because she accidentally sent both of them to a horrid, faraway land. She was very sad after that and was mean to everyone. The witch decided that by stealing the baby, she would be able to make a family and be forever young.
Sadly, she succeeded in stealing Rapunzel from the royal palace.
From then on, Rapunzel lived with the wicked witch, locked up in a high tower deep in the jungle with only one window and no door. The princess was almost happy because together with the witch she learnt to do lots of chores. The witch was loving but firm and never allowed Rapunzel to go outside the tower. As Rapunzel grew older, her hair became long and silky, just as the witch had predicted. The witch then used Rapunzel’s hair as a rope to climb down from the tower window. It hurt terribly to have an old lady climb down her hair, but Rapunzel never complained.
One happy day, after the wicked witch had gone away, a voice called, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel let your hair down!” When Rapunzel looked out of the window she saw a handsome majestic prince. She was so astonished that she nearly fell down.
“Who are you and how did you know what to say to let my hair down!”
The prince chuckled and then explained that he had been watching the witch for days. He wanted to see what would happen if he called.
Rapunzel then let her hair down graciously, happy that she had seen someone other than the old witch. They were both awkward at the start but then Rapunzel brought up the talk that she had lived in that tower for all her life. That is when the prince told her that Rapunzel was actually the princess whom the witch had kidnapped when she was only two days old.
Rapunzel was shocked and did not know whether or not to believe the prince. Just as Rapunzel was about to ask the prince for more information, the witch shouted from below, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel , let down your hair” in an unusually angry voice as if she had heard the pair’s conversation.
The princess suddenly took the prince’s hand and shoved him in a wardrobe that was full of the witch’s potions. Finally, she let her hair down for the old witch who came inside and roared, “WHO WERE YOU TALKING TO!?” Rapunzel had never before heard the witch shout in such a manner. Timidly, Rapunzel said, “No one!”
Not believing her, the witch started upsetting the whole room, turning the tables upside down, lifting the mat and then finally opening the wardrobe to discover the scared prince.
“YOU LIAR.” she boomed, “WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN AND WHY, OH WHY DID YOU LET YOU PRECIOUS HAIR DOWN!” she shouted even louder.
Soon, the witch settled down. Then, taking rope she tied the prince’s hands and feet together onto a chair. After that, she took a pair of sharp scissors and turned towards Rapunzel. Forcing her into another chair, the witch snipped off Rapunzel’s long magical hair. Rapunzel’s view of how kind the witch was had now changed. She suddenly hated her because the witch had cut off her hair. Rapunzel did not like the bob cut that the witch gave her.
The witch then took out a little bottle with a mysterious green potion.
“Drink this,” the witch said in a raspy voice to Rapunzel, “or prepare to face your death.”
The Princess quickly understood that it was the story transportation potion and was curious about which fairy tale she would be transported to. She quickly took the bottle and gulped it down. Her head swayed from side to side and then she fell down.
When Rapunzel regained consciousness, she was lying next to an ugly girl, probably around 18 years. The girl kicked her hard.
“Oww! what was that for!” she asked.
“Get up Cinderella,” said the ugly girl.
“Oh No!” Rapunzel thought to herself, “I must be in the story of Cinderella! This is one of the sisters.”
Speaking almost to the ugly girl, she said, “Am I Cinderella?”
The girl sneered, “What do you mean, of course you are Cinderella, did you forget to switch your brain on? Get to work!” Rapunzel quickly sprang up and followed the sister to where she led.
“I want you to fix my dress right now, for the ball.”
Taking up a needle and thread, she started fixing the dress, thinking of ways to get back home. She desperately wanted to reunite with her newly found parents but being stuck in Cinderella’s universe, it seemed extremely hard.
After the sisters left for the royal ball, Rapunzel became overwhelmed with her situation and started crying softly.
“Hello dear,” came a cheerful voice behind her. She was zapped to see a cute little fairy with dainty wings fluttering about.
“Oh! don’t be sad,” began the fairy, “I have a solution for you to get out of this horrid place.”
“So, how are you going to help me?” asked Rapunzel.
“I have 2 riddles for you which you must try to answer correctly, after which you will have to find the thickest spoon in a room. You have to wave it three times to get back home and then you have to wave it once more to destroy the witch,” answered the dainty fairy.
The first riddle is: go to the place that has the same name of something that is used mostly in sports. “A ball!” cried Rapunzel.
The fairy then gave her another riddle, “I am a different kind of room where everyone eats things inside, what am I called?”
“A food court,” shouted the princess!
“Now, you must go to the food court where the royal ball is happening and find the thickest spoon there. Let me give you some transportation”, the fairy replied. With a simple flick of her wand, there came a cracking noise. Rapunzel suddenly looked outside and saw a gigantic cart that looked exactly like a pumpkin.
“Is that for me to ride in, fairy godmother?” asked a very curious Rapunzel.
“Yes, definitely my dear”, answered the fairy. “Get in, come on”.
Rapunzel and the fairy rode all the way to the ball. Since Rapunzel already had good clothes, she did not need to change.
Rapunzel went to the ball, first dancing with a lovely man who she had just made friends with. Then pushing her way into the food court she tried to get the thickest spoon first before anyone else. Suddenly she realised that someone else had already grabbed the thickest spoon. She quickly made her way over to that person and realised that it was the lovely man that she had made friends with just before.
“Hi, could I please have that spoon you are using? I will get you another spoon. I just really need that spoon”, Rapunzel said, holding her breath waiting to see what the man would say.
“Definitely my princess,” said the man. Rapunzel asked how he knew that she was a princess and then he said that he was the prince in the tower in the story of Rapunzel. She was so surprised that he was there. Then they both held the spoon together and waved it three times. Rapunzel felt herself getting dizzy, and the next moment they both arrived at the tower of the witch.
The witch, not expecting them to return, fumed at both of them. Suddenly Rapunzel swished the spoon once again.
“SIZZLE!!” came a noise. Rapunzel realised that it was the witch and she was burning into ashes!
They both celebrated and then they both jumped out of the window hoping to land safely because of her voluminous dress. They were correct- they both landed safely on the soft grass before making their way to the palace, happy to be going home at last.
Writer: Akshata Nair
Grade : 4 (Year 2026)
Place : Melbourne, Australia
