Swan Lake at the Pickwick Papers (A Little Women special)

by Jane Dandelionfire

Let's pretend that the members of the Pickwick club (the Little Women and meanwhile Laurie) would prepare as surprise for the March sisters' cousin Flo a very special edition: Their unique retellings of Swan Lake, Flo's favorite ballet. Can you help her guessing who did write the very unique versions? (Which of them would you like to have staged/as a story?)

1. Chapter 1

Flo's birthday special - Swan Lake at the Pickwick Papers

Dear Flo, we're celebrating your birthday in this very special issue. Not all of us could watch the ballet or even check out the link with the original story. Though, we hope you'll love our Swan Lake retellings! Can you guess the authors? Your cousins and Laurie

A Wizard's heart

Once upon a time, a beautiful princess had to escape and hide from her evil stepmother. In the woods, she was lost, until at a lake, a wizard realized her distress. Before the minions could capture the beautiful princess, the wizard turned the princess Odette in a white swan, and the stepmother in an awful owl. The princess was protected and invited at the bottom oft he lake,to live with the wizard in his jewel-crowned kingsom. Though, the wizard fell in love with her and wanted Odette to be the stepmother for his own daughter Odile (who had lost her mother, who was killed by an hunter,when the mother had taken a swan-shape, and so the wizard hated men – the lake was made out of his tears). Odette refused and longed again for the mortal word, and even when she was allowed to dance with the maidens, enchanted by the wizard as a company fort he princess, in moonlight and fly disguised as a swan, she couldn't love the wizard. The wizard gave her a delicate crown for her blonde curls and a crystal brush to paint with water colors, yet, the princess rejected his proposals. The wizard told her that mortals wouldn't be able to love entirely, and if a mortal could keep his pledge of love, then Odette would be freed and be allowed to leave. It happened that Odette met once upon a night the charming, hunting Prince Siegfried and they fell in love.

The wizard bet that the prince would be too weak and fail in a test, and so he lead his own daughter Odile at the palace who actually wanted to keep Odette in her company and wanted to marry the prince herself. Odile had taken Odette's look and so the prince delcared his love to Odile.

Odette was in despair, but the prince rushed to the lake back and declared that he had been fooled and he still would be ready to die. When Odette ran away at the lake, the prince jumped behind her, ready to drown. The wizard realized that he had been wrong and that even a mortal man could love entirely. So, he sent a swan boat, which kept both lovers alive and on the lake, the two lovers declared that they would love each other until the end of their lives.

What became of Odile and the wizard? Odile stayed a friend and married Siegfried's friend Benno, and even the redeemed wizard would never haunt again Swan Lake.

(N.W).

My dear readers, I have so many Swan Lake stories collected in my mind with the most intriguing twists and ballet staging concepts…so what could be a better stage than Little Women?

I hope you are ready for guessing.