The Drink
by Jasmine Wong 4D
“Mom, my birthday wish is to see my dad. You said I haven’t seen him since I was a little baby. Do you think he is dead or killed or kidnapped?” sobbed Alice, wiping her tears with a tissue.
“Don’t be sad. Here, you can have this picture. He gave it to me before he left, and told me to give this to you when you're ready. He said that there is only one kid in the whole world that could unlock the hidden mystery of this picture. Then, I never saw him again,” said Mom, handing a picture to her.
“Mystery? What mystery? There is nothing special. It is just a normal picture.” Alice’s eyes opened wide with interest. Her mother just nodded her head, but didn’t answer.
She walked into her room covered in sky blue paint with a pinkish comfortable couch and a cosy purple bed. Alice looked at the picture from different angles, front, back and even under, but she just couldn't notice anything out of order. The picture took place on a busy street covered with millions of people. There were lots of strangers in the picture. Some of them were spending time with their amiable families, and Alice looked at them with jealousy.
Suddenly, she noticed a man in the picture waving to her. Alice was shocked! Her eyes nearly popped out!
“ Hi. A…are you my father?” Alice said nervously.
The man looked like her father as her mom told her that her dad had little grass green eyes, chalk black hair, cherry red lips and a special scar shaped like a moon on his neck.
“Maybe this is my dad,” thought Alice, waving back.
“Here, have this drink! It will bring you to the past. Here is a note about the drink.” said Dad, giving her a cup of twirling rainbow-coloured drink through the picture, and the rainbow kept moving.
“Wow! It came to real life!” gasped Alice with her eyes widened.
“Thank you! How does it work?” asked Alice, shaking the bottle but the colours didn’t get mixed up. Her dad didn’t answer. He just hopped on his furry white horse and left the picture with some soldiers next to him.
“Um… that’s weird,” said Alice inquisitively.
Trembling with excitement, she opened the note carefully, but it was written in code, and the address was wrong.
“It should be Surrey street house 397, not Noaery house 5478.” said Alice, with a serious face on which was a habit she did when she was thinking.
“Um… I remember I saw this before. My teacher Mr. Magillic said that these are ancient words from 200 years ago,” she thought, holding the note up to the computer to decode.
In a minute, the computer had decoded it as “Walk along the street, under the wooden bridge. I am here in a room full of books and pencils. And where you might be, in five days in a row. Who am I?”
“My classroom! Walk along the street and under the bridge, then you will be at my school, my classroom is full of books and pencils, and I will be there five days in a row.” shouted Alice, her heart pounded.
Dashing to her classroom faster than a bolt of lightning, she found an old note on her desk that looked like it had been there for thousands of years.
“Dear Alice,
This drink is a way to find me. In order to find me, drink the juice with the red lid on. Whatever you get, it will be yours.
Good luck!
Love,
Your dad Arthur Abel.” the note read.
“This wasn’t on my desk yesterday, nor was it?” said Alice, looking at the note carefully, trying not to miss any important details.
Exploding with excitement, Alice ran home as fast as she could as if she was entering the Olympics.
“I have to find my dad,” she thought determinedly. GULP! Alice took out the drink which her dad gave her and drank it in one gulp, and suddenly she felt dizzy and sleepy.
It took her to an unknown place. The street was so old style as if it was more than a thousand years ago, crowded with horse cars and old fashioned donning people. “It looks like the past,” Alice thought.
Suddenly, she saw a man, who looked like the man in the picture! Ablaze under sunshine, he was wearing a suit, and looked tall and smart. Following the man step by step, Alice came to a giant palace with a colossal garden filled with red roses. Inside the palace, there was a huge painting in the middle of the hall. Gazing at the painting, Alice was shocked. It was her dad wearing a white suit, standing next to Alice’s mum who was wearing a gorgeous white wedding dress, and carrying an adorable little baby girl.
“Are you Alice Ale?” asked the man, looking at her face. Alice nodded her head nervously.
“You look like your mum.” said the man.
“You are...” said Alice hesitantly.
“I’m your dad, Author Abel. This is you, Princess Alice Ale.” said the man, pointing to the baby girl in the painting.
“I am a princess?” cried Alice.
“I miss you and your mum so much.” said her dad.
“Why don’t you live with us?” asked Alice with tears.
“I belong to the past. I went to the future one day accidently, and met your mom then we fell in love,” explained her dad.
“Past?” cried Alice with her jaw dropped open.
“Yes, here is 1823. I came from 200 years ago.” replied her dad seriously.
“WHAT! Year 1823?” asked Alice, looking around unbelievably.
“I had been waiting for you for a long time. Alice. It’s your birthday present. Happy birthday!” said her dad, passing her a shiny golden box.
“You remember my birthday? What’s inside?” asked Alice surprisingly with a big smile.
“It's a mystery - the time travel secret. Sorry that I could not stay in the future and grow up with you, but I just want you and your mum to know I love you both so much,” said her dad with teary eyes.
“Dad.. I..” said Alice.
Opening the golden box, suddenly Alice was tugged inside the box. “Help! Where am I going?" yelled Alice. Everywhere was twirling, and it became so dark as if she was falling in a dark hole in space.
Suddenly, Alice heard her mum calling. “Alice! Alice!”
Alice opened her eyes sluggishly. “Are you okay? You fainted and slept the whole day!” said her mom worriedly.
“Was that a dream?” Alice asked herself, holding her dizzy head.
Under her violet pillow, she found a golden box that her dad gave her. Inside the golden box, there was — the magical drink.