I'm back! Already! I was planning to wait a week but I was so excited to upload this chapter that I just couldn't wait. And to thewanderlustmarauder, thank you so much for reviewing! It means a lot!
I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Let me know in the comments :)
Disclaimer: Tangled does not belong to me.
Recently, Rapunzel was always bored. She did not know what to do with her day; the long, tiring day when her mother was out, and would not be back before nightfall. She had done her two puzzles so many times, that she could do them with her eyes closed. She could not sew the embroidered curtains that she was making all day. The first time she had asked her mother for something new to do, her mother had looked stern and suggested that she go and brush her hair.
Rapunzel had not complained of her boredom anymore after that.
But she still did not know what to do.
On Rapunzel's ninth Birthday, she got up earlier than usual, just like she had for every birthday that she had ever had. She went downstairs to the kitchen and found her mother, who had just made breakfast. Only after they had eaten and she had washed up, could she open her present.
It was a set of three books. Her mother told her that one was about cooking, one about geology, and the other was about botany. She did not know what geology or botany were, but she was excited to learn about cooking. She opened them up, and saw a lot of scribbles. Her mother explained that those were words, and tomorrow she would start learning to read.
Rapunzel had not seen books very often. Her mother rarely looked at them, and when she did, it was never for very long. Rapunzel was excited to find out that she was now old enough to begin to learn to read books for herself.
The next day, after Rapunzel had done all of the housework, she and her mother sat down at the table, with the three books spread out in front of them. Her mother opened up a page in the book about cooking. She explained that there were lots of different types of little scribbles, called letters, and each one made a different sound. With a pencil, she wrote in the back of the book all of the letters that there were. Then she gave them to Rapunzel to memorise.
She said that Rapunzel must have them done by the end of the day. Then she left the tower, going down to her business in the Outside.
Rapunzel sat down and memorised all of the little letters that her mother had said she must learn. After ten minutes had passed, she knew them, and went upstairs to play with her Little Doll.
She amused herself with games for the rest of the day. But whatever she did, she went through the little letters in her head. She soon knew them so well that she could say them backwards. She was very proud of this, and chanted all of the letters out loud to her doll.
When her mother came back that evening, Rapunzel was very excited to show her what she had learned. She could hardly wait until they had eaten their dinner, and she had hurried through the washing up. Then she had sat her mother down in her special chair in front of the fire, and sang her special song. She sang it as fast as she could, and her mother only just had time to brush her hair and Grow Young. "Rapunzel!" she said angrily, when Rapunzel had finished.
"Are you ready to listen to my letters now, mother?" asked Rapunzel excitedly.
Her mother sighed, then adjusted her seat, and waited for Rapunzel to begin. Rapunzel stood still in front of the blazing flames, and thought about her day. She thought about the letters that she had learned, and had practiced all day. But try as she might, she could not think of what the letters were. She gulped, and her mother looked expectantly at her. Then she stood up. "You can't remember, Rapunzel. You will never remember anything. Oh darling, how can you learn to read if you can't even remember the alphabet? A, b, c, easy darling." She laughed and left her chair.
Rapunzel remembered it now. "Oh, it's a, b, c, d, e..."
But her mother had left the room.
The next day, after her mother had left the for the Outside, Rapunzel was determined to keep teaching herself to read. She got out the book about cooking, and sat on her mother's chair, looking at the first page. She looked at the first letter. It was a c. She remembered the sound that it made, and said it softly under her breath. Then she looked at the next letter, and figured out what it sounded like. In this way, she was able to work out the entire first sentence, "Cooking can be fun, if done properly." But that was enough for one day. She lay back in the chair, feeling very proud of herself.
Over the next two weeks, Rapunzel had progressed so far as to be able to read the entire first recipe to herself. She felt that it was time to tell her mother that she had learned to read.
So that evening, after dinner was done and tidied, and Rapunzel had sung her Special Song, she showed her mother the first recipe of the book, and how she had learned to read it. "I taught myself," she finished proudly.
"Oh, dear, I am so glad. Now maybe the dinner will taste nice!" said her mother, laughing at Rapunzel's face. "Oh, darling, I'm just teasing. But it is a pity there isn't a book on cleaning properly!" She laughed and left the room.
Rapunzel put her books away on the shelf, and slowly climbed the stairs. For some reason she didn't feel quite satisfied. It was as if she had expected a Star, and been handed the Moon. Somehow, it wasn't quite the same.
But at least, now she could read.
