The Jabberwock

By: Sahra Ismail, ’26

There once was a boy named Thomas. He had dark, jet black hair and cold, dark eyes. His father had passed away when he was just a kid so it was just him and his mom.They didn’t have much,so Thomas had to make money for the family, even though he was still in school. He lived in a poorer area where it was practically hard to live, but he survived with the one thing he had always wished would come true ever since he was a kid, and that was to be the ruler of the kingdom, to be the next king.

¨W…Wh.. What?¨ choked Thomas´s mother.

¨I said I want to be the next king,¨ said Thomas.

¨But, that’s impossible. We’re not even close to the throne at all. And isn’t this enough? It’s just me and you.¨ Thomas’s mother chuckled.

¨That’s not fair. The king goes anywhere and controls everything. I want to be powerful like him.¨

¨Oh Thomas, we just can’t believe that will happen. We’re surrounded by garbage and have a tiny home to live in. But you survived this long. What changed your mind about this place?¨ Thomas faced curled up like he had just seen something disgusting.

¨But… But…” He was quickly shot down by his mother’s terrifying gaze. He knew that he wouldn´t have a chance at the throne, but that didn’t stop him from trying. So he worked hard on his work, studying every chance he could to get, knowing that his work would pay off. Just as Thomas was heading back to his house with his friends Joshua, Wilson, and Cecile, he suddenly stopped.

¨Hey guys look at this.¨ called Thomas. There was a crowd of people blocking the market entrance.

¨Let’s check it out.There might be something important happening there.” said Cecile. Cecile had always liked to know what was happening so she could make a rational decision about it. That’s why the boys called her Miss Know It All. However, they listened to her and walked into the crowd. They couldn’t get a good view, so Thomas pushed himself deeper into the crowd until he finally reached the front.There was a woman standing there like she had just come from the castle. She was wearing expensive jewelry and a dress most people haven’t seen before and she had guards standing behind her.

¨Hello everyone, I am Mrs. Diane. I have come to this…. umm area to tell you that the king is looking for a successor. He has no children so he is making a contest. Whoever is the first to reach the castle and execute him will be the next king. If you are willing to do this challenge you may come to castle gates on the 5th of March. I must go now, I hope you all make the right decision. Goodbye.¨

¨Wow, did you  guys hear that? If we execute that old king one of us might be king or queen,¨ said Thomas with excitement in his eyes.

¨Yeah, It’ll be easy. We just need to sneak past the guards and then execute him. He’ll probably be thinking that no one from the poorer region would ever kill him. But we’ll show that old hag. And I don’t even care if he’s still king. I’ll defeat him and bring you guys to the castle.¨ cried Joshua. He had always hated the rich. He never liked being looked down on. So when he heard there would be a chance to kill the richest of them all and become rich, he couldn’t miss the opportunity.He had wanted to be powerful just like Thomas. That’s why they got along so well.

Wilson was the strongest one out of the four. He had protected his friends whenever they had gotten into fights. He had said ¨When I’m king I’ll make the poorer region the rich region and take away the money from the rich to give to the poorer region unlike the rich so we are at the same level and not looked down on.¨

Wilson had been very proud to be born in the poorer region and always strived to help the people in need, even when they were a bit scared of how he looked.

All the boys were talking about what they would do when they were king, but Cecile hadn’t wanted to kill the king. Cecile didn’t like the king either but she wouldn´t go as far as to kill someone just to be richer and more powerful.

¨ I don’t know guys.Taking over someone is ok but killing them, isn’t that scary? It would make me feel like a monster if I had killed someone.¨

The boys were quiet.They hadn’t thought about their morals at all.

¨Well, it would be better if that old man left the throne. I mean it wouldn’t matter.He’s already old, so we’ll be doing him a favor by putting him out of his misery. I mean you don’t  have to come, but if you were our real friend you would come with us. Right, guys?¨said Thomas. The boys nodded in agreement.

¨Fine I’ll go but I ain’t gonna kill anyone. Ok?¨ said Cecile. The boys agreed.

  Soon it was the 5th of March and the group had all come with supplies to help them. Cecile came with a med kit. Joshua came with a cutlery knife and cheap shield. Wilson had come with a med kit and his own switchblade. When Thomas had finally arrived, the group was shocked. He had come with multiple knives, a shield, and a med kit.

¨Hey Tom where you get all that stuff?¨ asked Joshua

¨I stole it from the store, but I’ll pay it off when I’m king,¨ replied Thomas.

¨Hello everyone, good to see you all again. I hope you are ready ‘cause the competition starts as soon as you hear the castle bells. And again make the right decision. Goodbye.¨ Just then, Mrs. Diane disappeared and the castle bells rang.

Ring 

        Ring

                Ring

The competition had finally started.

As soon as the bell rang everyone rushed off except for five people. Thomas, Joshua, Wilson, Cecile, and an old man. The group had looked at him in awe. He had wrinkly skin that from a distance almost looked like scales. He was hunched over and only had an old wooden cane to support him. He was dressed in a white robe and was wearing sneakers. The boys had laughed at him, thinking why he would come. Cecile hadn’t. Instead she walked over to the old man and was helping him walk.

¨Oh come on Cecile, what’s the point in helping him. He’s too weak to even move a step by himself. It would just be a waste. I mean he might be as old as the king,¨ chimed Thomas.

¨So, what? I still have morals unlike you three,¨ snapped Cecile.

¨Come on Thomas. Cecile can catch up with us on her own. Let’s just at least go inside the castle,¨called Wilson. So the three walked off in the castle with Cecile and the old man trailing behind them.The five finally entered the castle when they noticed something. A sign had read

    If you wish to pass, a sacrifice must come at last.

Everyone was muttering who should be sacrificed, so they could move up a floor to the castle. However no one had wanted to be the sacrifice either.That’s when a girl finally stood up.

¨Hey everyone, if you don’t really want to do this you can leave and the rest of us can move on ahead.¨

She was a petite little girl with fiery red hair, similar to her attitude, and bright green eyes. About 30 people left and rushed out of the castle, leaving about 90 others.

¨Ok now that the weaklings have left everyone grab a piece of paper.There will be 89 white ones, and 1 red one, whoever picks the red one will be the sacrifice. Once you´re done, put them in the helmet over here.¨ The girl had pointed at a knight’s helmet. After a few minutes of cutting everyone had picked out a piece of paper without looking.

¨Nooooooooo!!!!!!¨A boy that looked around the age of 10 had picked the red piece of paper. Tears filled his eyes immediately as the boy was brought to the girl with red hair and green eyes. She made her knife touch his neck.

¨Any last words little boy¨ The girl said, with a twisted smile on her face.

¨Please don’t hurt me.Please. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to my family!¨ cried the boy.

¨Oh how sad, maybe you should’ve thought about that before you came here. I gave you a chance to leave but you didn’t take it, so it isn’t my fault. I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t bat an eye if it was anyone else in this room.¨ At that moment the girl with the red hair sliced the little boy’s neck open with her knife.The boy immediately dropped dead, and just like that everyone advanced to the next floor.

¨Who is that? ¨asked Thomas.

A boy replied ¨Oh that´s Sylvia Maxwell. Rumor has it the king had executed her father when she was little and her heart became bitter. Those two next to her are her friends Kendra and Jack, but they are mostly like her bodyguards. It’s practically impossible to talk to her without getting through them.

¨Wow, that’s amazing. We need her on our side, right guys. She could be our ticket to killing the king faster. However, we gotta get past her friends first,¨ whispered Joshua.

That’s when the old man whispered “Hey you three,  if you want to have Sylvia as your friend you’ve got to get rid of the 2 bodyguards first. I’ll help you if you want, however in return I must be a part of your group.¨ The boys looked at the old man in shock. They thought he was just some old man who could barely walk and was dependent on others, however they quickly realized he was more twisted. So the boys simply agreed and that night when everyone finally reached the second floor they attacked. When everyone was sleeping, including Cecile, they snuck over to the group’s sleeping area. They grabbed their knives and then they heard a shriek that was so bloodcurdling everyone woke up.

¨Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!¨ the two screamed. Just then, everyone rushed over to Sylvia´s tent. The boys had enough time to sneak into the shadows and join the crowd. Everyone gasped as two people were dead in the tent near Sylvia

That’s when Wilson said ¨Oh my god! Sylvia murdered those two. Everyone get her and tie her up to that chair.” With no time for everyone to think, they grabbed Sylvia by her arms and legs and tied her up to the chair. Everyone grabbed their knives and was about to murder her, when Sylvia said ¨Wait it’s not me those two were my best friends why would I murder them?¨

¨Well you clearly didn’t have a problem murdering that little boy.¨

¨Yeah and you didn’t treat them like friends, but more like bodyguards.¨The boy from earlier said. Just then everyone started to criticize Sylvia until tears came from her eyes.

¨Please I really didn’t do it.I’ll leave right now.”

¨Oh but didn’t you give all of us a chance to leave.It isn’t our fault,¨ said Wilson.

¨No,I didn’t. Wait, you did it. You murdered my friends!¨yelled Sylvia. However it was too late, because everyone had already stabbed her until her eyes were completely soulless.

¨Oh and Sylvia, you were right I did murder your friends.¨ whispered Wilson, but what he didn’t know was that the boy from earlier who was talking about Sylvia had heard what he said.

¨Y…Yo..You murdered Sylvia´s friends not her.  a monster! Did you guys know this!¨The boy had pointed at the three including the old man. Wilson had known his friend would take his side, but something completely different happened.

¨Of course not. Wilson had always been a bit crazy but we didn’t know he would kill two innocent people and then put the blame onto someone else. Right Joshua?¨called Thomas. It didn’t take long for Joshua to realize what was happening.

¨Wow Wilson, you really are a murder. I mean it’s not like you were our real friend. We just hung out with you just so we could have someone protect us for free!¨cried Joshua. Wilson’s eyes that were once filled with delightfulness, turned into terror then complete anger. Wilson then rushed over to Thomas and put his hands around his throat, choking him. However, distracted by the pure rage of Thomas using him, he didn’t notice that Joshua had pulled out a knife that Sylvia  used to have.

¨You, I’ll make you regret using me for everything, by killing you first.¨Thomas was struggling getting out of Wilson’s grasp. He was gasping for air, looking around for anyone to help. That’s when everyone stood there shocked. He felt Wilson’s grasp loosen enough for him to get out, and when he did he heard a thud. Wison was bleeding out onto the castle floor, and behind him with the knife was Joshua. His face was of sheer terror.

¨I murdered him.¨Joshua covered his face with his hand, leaving only his  mouth to be seen. Although most people would have expected him to be crying after murdering someone Joshua didn’t.¨Hahahaha… I murdered him. Did you see that Tom? I did that. Hahaha, thanks Will for giving some practice to murder the king.¨ 

People around then looked at Joshua as if he had gone mad, and they were correct. He had. He was smiling at the site of his own dead friend. It was already morning by then and most people couldn’t sleep so they went over to the sign.

            To not pass this moat you won’t go to the next floor

The moat was a few feet deep. Many people had on a cocky smile.They thought that it was just going to be a little jump. A girl with dark brown hair and hazel eyes  said she would go first. She took a step back and then ran.She was in mid \air when an alligator with razor sharp teeth got hold of her leg.¨AHHHHHH!!!! Somebody help me¨ the girl cried, but due to the shocking sight of the girl’s leg getting gobbled up by the crocodile, no one went in fear of getting eaten themselves. So the girl with blood streaming down her leg was dragged down by the alligator and wasn’t seen again.

¨Ok everyone don’t panic.The alligator can’t get us if we all jump!¨screamed Thomas over the frightened crowd.¨So everyone at the count of 3, we all jump ok?!¨People were standing near the edge of the moat, waiting for Thomas’s command.

1

2

3! 

Everyone jumped over the moat. Although the plan was going well, Thomas didn’t expect that more alligators that were bigger and scarier had risen up to the top of the surface, gobbling everyone up like a bag of chips. When Thomas finally reached across the moat, there were only four people alive. Thomas and Cecile had made it to the other side, while the old man was still on the other side, and Joshua was in the water.¨Guys, help me up the king is only one floor away from us.¨said Joshua.

¨I’m sorry Joshua, but we just can’t do that right Cecile.¨ Cecile looked at Thomas, surprised that he would do that to Joshua. He had betrayed 2 of his closest friends, which made her wonder how long it would be until he betrayed her. However Cecile didn’t say a word due to being lost in her thoughts, and just like that Joshua sank into the water.

 ¨Come on sir. Jump please.¨ shouted both of the kids. The old man took a step back, grabbed his cane and stood up straight. He grabbed his cane tightly and jumped using his cane to push him far up high in the air to jump over all the alligators.  But when he thought he was in the clear, a hand rose from underwater-Joshua’s hand.

¨If I die at least I’m not losing the throne to an old man!¨ cried Joshua.¨I hated all of you since I met you guys, especially you Cecile.¨

¨Wh..Whh..What do you mean? What have I ever done to make you hate me?¨asked Cecile, with a look of confusion on her face.

¨Oh don’t play dumb with all that moral talk. I know you always looked down on me, but now I get to see your true colors.You’re the real mon…¨ but before Joshua could finish his sentence, an alligator that had heard Joshua screaming came from underwater and bit  his leg off. Knowing that all the other alligators had been occupied with their meals, the old man had enough time to swim  to the edge of where Thomas and Cecile had dumbfounded looks on their faces.That’s how the three all wet and shocked had walked into the throne room where the king was.

He was sleeping,so the final three crept up behind him. Thomas noticed something about the king; he wasn´t old and didn’t have that much gray hair compared to Thomas’s imagination. He was much younger than the king that Thomas had imagined. However, that didn’t stop him from killing him.

¨Die, king, Die. Any last words?¨ said Thomas.

¨Hahahaha. Of course, you are now the king of the dungeo…¨ but Thomas didn’t let him finish. So the king sat there completely lifeless.

¨Congratulations, Thomas you are the king.¨said the old man.

¨Wow! Gee thanks old man! If it wasn’t for you telling me to…¨ but the old man caught him off before he could finish.

¨Yes Thomas, congrats on being the next king of the dungeon.¨ Thomas looked dumbfounded.

¨What does that even mean?¨asked Cecile with a confused look on her face.

¨Well since you kids are so horrible at listening, that man Thomas that just executed was the king of the dungeon. The king of the dungeon is crowned when they try to execute someone of royal blood, for example a king. When it’s time for their execution they get to choose how they are executed.This young man chose to be executed by a person who would want to kill the king, saving us the trouble of finding a new king of the dungeon. Even though Thomas didn’t execute the real king he knew  in his heart that he wanted to kill him.¨said the old man.

¨So you worked for the king all this time?¨ said Thomas.

¨Well not technically, since it would be pretty hard to work for yourself,¨said the old man.

¨S..S..So you’re the king of this place?¨ said Cecile.

¨Yes I am, and I have decided to make you, Cecile, the new queen of this kingdom.¨
¨But she didn’t even kill anyone and she just leeched off of me!¨ shouted Thomas with anger filling his voice with every word.

¨She might not have killed anyone but she wouldn’t leave someone so weak and helpless to die.That’s what made her such a suitable queen for this kingdom.¨sad the king with a smile on his face.

¨You jerk! How dare you deceive me?! You planned this didn’t you.I’m going to kill you.¨ shouted Thomas, as he pulled his knife out. Just as he was about to stab Cecile, the king stood in front of her, grabbed a knife he had in his pocket, and stabbed Thomas in the same area that  Thomas stabbed him in the heart.

¨Nooo!!! Please don’t die. I don’t even know how to rule this kingdom.¨ cried Cecile with tears filling in her eyes.

¨You just have to promise me one thing. Rule this kingdom with the same kindness you had given to me.¨said the king and just like that, three corpses lay dead in the throne room.

The next day Cecile got dressed in her coronation gown. She had invited everyone from the poorer and richer regions to come.

¨Hello everyone, you all may be wondering who I am. I am Cecile from the poorer region and I am your new queen. I know that not many of you know me now, but I would like to tell you all about a story…

“There once was a boy named Thomas. He had dark jet black hair and cold dark eyes. His father had passed away when he was just a kid so it was just him and his mom. They didn’t have much,  so Thomas had to make money for the family even though he was still in school. He lived in an poorer area where it was practically hard to live but he survived with the one thing he had always wished would come true ever since he was a kid, and that was to be the ruler of the kingdom, to be the next king.”