"Les Carnavals. The Carnivals. A chain of islands each more wild than the next. Said to be similar to an acid trip, Les Carnavals is where your wildest fantasies and darkest of nightmares come true. One story embodies this perfectly. The story of how Ella burned Alice."

  "Oooh," Jack interrupted.  I rolled my eyes and continue. 

"In Cannabis Land, everyone was happy. Opium covered most of the jungle. Kush appeared at the snap of one's fingers. Here, red eyes and loopy smiles was the latest trend. The place was a stoners fantasy. And The Caterpillar was king.

"Cannabis Land?" she questioned.

"Yes, Cannabis Land ." Jack put her hands up in surrender.

"Absolem ran all of the tobacco fields, all imports of foreign drugs, and most importantly Alice. After a few to many visits to 'Wonderland',  Alice fell into Absolem's debt. If Alice got young girls and boys to fall down the rabbit hole, Absolem made sure she could, too. Things worked out well for Alice. She could visit her sanctuary whenever she wanted, and now had friends who could as well. But then one day,  Ella appeared on her front step.

"Ella was from The Kingdom. A place where people could go to become princes and princesses, Kings and Queens. Sown up to look like porcelain dolls, The Kingdom was the home of the plastics. Ella, against her stepmother's wishes, hated the lifestyle and wanted something new. So, she headed to Cannabis Land where Alice welcomed her with open arms.

"Ella and Alice became the best of friends as they shared the same favorite place. Alice began to ignore her duties to spend more time with Ella, and Absolem wasn't having it. The Caterpillar decided Alice was no longer of any worth to him, but how was he to rid of her? It took him days to find the answer, but it was in front of him all along: Ella."

Jacked oohed once more. I could feel her cynicism in the air, but continued on with my storytelling, "So, one night, Absolem invited Ella to dinner. He tried to persuade her with food and drink, but that wasn't enough. Ella's loyalty was not easily swayed. He them offer her his finest of powders, but that wasn't enough either. Nothing seemed to work, but Absolem was not one to give up. So, he pulled out one last trick. Absolem promised to give Alice an entire field of whatever she wanted; He told her she'd never leave Wonderland again. That was Ella's biggest flaw. Her love for the enchanted place. So, Ella accepted.

"Ella told Alice she bought a patch of land, and invited her over for a smoke. When Alice arrived, she found herself in an abandoned barn lit by a single candle. As she stepped inside, a wire tripped and the candle fell. The barn began to light up in flames. Alice tried to run out, but Ella blocked her path.

"Alice asked why Ella was doing this, but all Ella said was "For Wonderland." Ella dragged Alice deeper into the flames, and tied her hands to a wooden beam with dried rope. Poor Alice was too hurt by the betrayal to defend herself. Once Ella deemed the knot tight enough, she turned around to leave. Never once did she look back. But when Ella went to open the door, she found it was locked. Panic surfaced in her as she began to bang on the door. Ella screamed at the top of her lungs for help, but no one was coming. She was on the verge of giving up, when a familiar green tail slid into view."

Jack gasped, "that snake!"

I laughed at how invested she had gotten and continued with the story, "'No witnesses love. It's bad for the business,' the caterpillar hissed then slithered away from the burning barn without looking back. And at that very moment, Ella vowed revenge."

"Same," mumbled Jack. I ignored her and proceeded.

"No one knows how Ella did it, but she survived. But witnesses say that when she rose out of the fire, covered in soot and ash. Those who saw Ella began to call her Cinder, hence the name Cinderella. But Ella doesn't go buy either name. The only name she wants to be called is Absolem's Slayer.

"Now as for what happened to Alice, well, that's a story for another a time."

Jack began to make a mocking DUN, DUN, DUN before speaking, "Wait a second, does that mean Walt Disney lied to me." She smirked.

"Joke all you want, but that's just how the stories are."

"Twisting all your favourite fairy tales, and ruining your childhood?"

I tilted my head left and right before nodding, "Basically, but these stories were my childhood."

"And I thought I had a terrible childhood?" The sarcasm in her voice was obnoxiously apparent.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes, "But if you think that was twisted, it gets a lot a worse."

She squinted in my direction, "What's worse than committing arson and burning your friend alive over drugs?"

"Do you know the tale of Little Red Riding Hood?" I asked.

"Yeah?" she spoke cautiously.

"In Les Carnavals, little red riding hood serves her grandmother to the wolf because she wouldn't give her an extra pastry," I spoke bluntly.

"Serves? As in diced up with a side of rice?"

"Yup," I agreed.

"Wow. If The Carnivals is so dark and twisted, why do people try so hard to find it?" Good question.

"Because in the center of it all, There's Eden. Where it's paradise." I smiled at the thought.

"Eden, as in the garden of Eden?" Jack asked.

"The one and only." I stretched, looking ahead to see our place of work.

"Huh. The things people ignore just for a chance at happiness. No wonder Villa rebelled," she tossed her hands up in frustration.

"Actually, it was for a whole other reason." I opened the door for her. We had five minutes left before our tour started.

"What other reason would there be?" I shot her a confused looked.

"You really don't know, do you?" She shook her head at me. How could she not know the story? It was taught in every history class in Villa. It was the most important part of the tour. I've met foreigners who knew the tale. It's why we had so many tourists. How could she not know?

"Love. They rebelled for love."

~~~~~~~~~~~