Jack N' Jill

Blogging this year has brought many (great) surprises, and this prompt was a thriller! I struggled thinking of creative writing prompts at the beginning of the year, so I used a wonderful resource, Unjournaling by Cheryl Miller Thurston and Dawn DiPrince. This book has so many inventive prompts that really challenge the students and make them THINK about their writing. This prompt showed me that my students are creative beings and can really stretch the limits.

Here is the prompt:
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.

There is too much left out of this story. Who were Jack and Jill? How did they go up that hill? Did they walk? Ride a horse? Drive in a car? Why did they need a pail of water? Why didn’t they just turn on the faucet? What made Jack fall down? How far did he fall? How serious was his “crown” injury? What made Jill tumble? Was she hurt?
Rewrite the story, filling in details to tell us what really happened. (Unjournaling, DiPrince, Thurston 34)

*You can write in any genre: science fiction, fantasy, humor, mystery, etc.

It dawned on me that some students may not understand the word "crown," as I have many English language learners in my class. But I decided that I would not explain. Turns out, students used the word in many different meanings: a king or queen's headpiece, their head, and one I didn't think of, a crown on a tooth.

The one thing I didn't expect was a full discussion between students on the meaning of the word. Here is their conversation:
Student 1: What’s a crown?

Student 2: A crown can be a crown as in like on a king’s head or a cover for teeth.

Student 1: I thought it was the head…

Student 3: Me too. . .

Student 3: or a tiara but for boys. Ya know, like for a king or something.

Student 4: I think you are all correct.

Student 1: Yeah, I think we are all right! :)

I never commented or spoke to them. It was a great learning opportunity for them and they came to the best possible conclusion, everyone is right. Gush...I love teaching.

Now, my favorite story that came from this prompt.

The Well
Bright lights of lightning flashed the gloomy sky, and thunder boomed the gigantic town of Krakalot, as the majestic king, Jack, bent down to his wife’s bed. Jack’s handsome and magnificent face was now shrouded in misery and despair. His wife, Queen Zexel was frail and feeble, for the illness called Owchfulness had captured and weakened her. This disease was one that was feared by everyone. It would first destroy the insides of its victim with a virus, and then slowly, slowly crush the target’s heart. King Jack did everything to save her, but misfortune was upon them and Queen Zexel’s life seemed hopeless. Jack had called every doctor he could find to come to heal his wife’s life. Each and every one of them had unsuccessfully cured the infection, and was forlornly rejected by the miserable king. Everything seemed to be doomed to failure, until Dr. Broccoli arrived at the royalties’ grand castle.

After the doctor finished examining Queen Zexel, King Jack pleaded, “Dr. Broccoli, can you restore my wife’s health?”
“I’m so sorry your majesty, but healing the Owchfulness is beyond my power. It is way too tricky and dangerous for me. However, a brave warrior might be able to do it, king,” Dr. Broccoli responded.
“What do you mean, Dr. Broccoli?” interrogated King Jack.
“Well, in the Hill of Doom, there is a well called the Well of Tylenol. It is rumored that if one drinks a bucketful of water in that well, their health will be revived.”
“Why, that’s easy!” cried King Jack. “I shall go!”
“That’s not so, your majesty. The evil candy witch, Witch Jill, is guarding the well. She has evil powers beyond our imagination, king,” sadly answered the doctor. “Everyone who has gone has failed.”
“It’s okay, doctor. I, myself, am a warlock. I shall be able to do just fine. You have been a great help,” thanked Jack.
“N-n-n-no, husband,” croaked Queen Zexel weakly.
“It is fine, my wife. I shall cure you once and for all!”

So the next day, King Jack set out with his staff and wand to defeat the wicked witch, Jill, and gather water from the Well of Tylenol. According to the map King Jack used, he would have to go through only a few forests to get to the Hill of Doom. Even though trudging through thick forests was difficult work, King Jack was always fully nourished because he had brought a whole bag of food and water for the journey. After trekking past the forests he saw a humongous well. “That must be the Well of Tylenol,” thought Jack. Therefore, he marched up the hill, but suddenly a bolt of red light zoomed past him. Startled, he looked up the hill and saw the witch, Jill. Her face looked hideous and a huge wart was placed on her nose. She sneered and guffawed when Jack approached her.
“Whahahahah!” cackled Jill. “How sweet! Another visitor! Get ready to fight, my guest! Whahahahah!”

Jack quickly took out his staff and started shooting alternative zigzags of red, white, and blue. Meanwhile, Jill shot rock-hard gummy bears and gummy worms. After an exhausting exchange of strikes, the two sorceresses had many battle scars. Furthermore, sweat was dripping down their faces due to perspiration. Suddenly, Jack shot a yellow beam of lightning at Jill and she was thrown backward.

“Ugh!” she groaned. “I never had someone as strong as you! Fine, then! I’ll have to use my ultimate attack! Then, she began to mutter, “Gummy, yummy, tummy, mummy, funny! Gummy, yummy, tummy, mummy, funny! Gummy, yummy, tummy, mummy, funny! Whalah!”
Suddenly a pair of black lasers shot out of her wand and landed right in front of Jack.
“Ha! You missed!” teased Jack.
“Oh really?” snorted Jill. “Look in front of you!”
And certainly there was a frightening sight…

A colossal sized gummy bear and gummy worm appeared and were preparing to lunge at Jack. Jack was shocked at the sight of the monster gummies, but he managed to keep control. The gummy worm struck its tail at Jack, but the warlock skillfully dodged it and shot a rainbow colored beam at the worm. Then he shot two more lasers, a gold one and a silver one, which made the worm dizzy, fall down with a “thud”, and vanish with a “POOF!” Then, King Jack dashed over to the well, lowered the bucket, and pulled out the magical water in the Well of Tylenol. Jack had accomplished his task! However, the lumbering gummy bear had trotted all the way to the well and punched Jack causing him to roll down the knoll. On the way, he knocked over Jill and both of them continued to tumble down the hill. When they landed at the base of the slope, the bucket that Jack had carried with him was now empty and was good for nothing!

“Argh! Why, why, why? No, no, NO! All the water is gone!” whined the evil witch.
Jack was wide-eyed with nervousness when he came to realize that without the water, he couldn’t heal his wife. He rushed back to the well, sidestepping the gummy bear, but found out that there was no water left. As Jack sobbed, Jill flew away on her broomstick, still grumbling about the water. If there was no water, there wouldn’t be any reason to guard the well. Tears welled up in Jack’s eyes and slowly dripped down the contour of his cheeks. A puddle of water formed on the ground as Jack cried his heart out. As glum as he was, Jack knew he had to try something to heal Queen Zexel. Therefore, he took the leaves of the plant which the magical water had been spilled on. Melancholy, he dragged his feet across the forests to get to his castle in Krakalot. As he entered his wife’s bedroom, he sighed a deep sigh.

“W-w-wife, I have something for you,” stuttered Jack.
“Is it the magic water?” questioned Queen Zexel.
“Um, no, but this might help,” whispered King Jack as he fed a leaf to his wife.
His wife instantly fell asleep. That night, King Jack lay down on his bed all night, worrying about Queen Zexel. Finally, he closed his eyes and slept.

The next morning, Jack visited Queen Zexel. Queen Zexel was sitting up and grinned warmly when he came in.
“Wife, are you all right?” uneasily asked King Jack.
“Yes! The leaf you gave me certainly restored my health!” jauntily exclaimed the queen.
“Hooray!” cheered Jack.

After 1,000 years past, medicines were made. One medicine was called Tylenol, which healed many kinds of illnesses. Many people called this amazing and magical. But, this remedy all came from the leaves of the plants that King Jack spilled on. Even now, in the Hill of Doom there are plenty of plants that can be made into Tylenol.
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Swoon!

I asked my students where he got his ideas. He told me that his father had just asked for some Tylenol before he started writing. Inspiration is everywhere!