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| Alice in Wonderland; Down the Rabbit Hole? | |
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| Topic Started: Jan 20 2008, 08:05 AM (100 Views) | |
| LuneFleur | Jan 20 2008, 08:05 AM Post #1 |
Dreamer
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Here I will post completely non-topic stories involving Alice. Like her Lewis Carrol counterpart, let's pretend Alice followed the white rabbit and everytime she did that, he took her into an entirely new adventure in a dream world, of which she'll never have any memory when she wakes up. In her first adventure, I'll show you guys little glimpses of Brazilian history (with a lot more fiction than fact, of course). TO COME: "Alice at the court of D. Pedro I" |
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| HeroesFangirl | Jan 20 2008, 03:38 PM Post #2 |
You can't always get what you want.....
  ![]](http://209.85.62.24/static/1/pip_r.png)
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ok. i look forward to reading your non topic stories. I might do some myself. |
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| LuneFleur | Jan 23 2008, 05:00 AM Post #3 |
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Dreamer
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*** A little note: Why did crazy Lune chose this historical subject, you must be wondering. Well, I'll explain it right now. In this January, 2008, we are celebrating here in Brazil the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the Portuguese Royal Family, who came to what was their richest colony in 1808 to escape from Napoleon. The arrival of D. Joao and his family changed everything. The ports were opened to "friendly nations", banks were created, schools, research institutes, all sorts of things. It was also the arrival of D. Joao that created the opportunity for his eldest son, Pedro de Alcantara (beautiful name), declare Brazil's independence in Semptember 7th, 1822. His story is very interesting, exciting and also bittersweet, with a sad ending. We can call him a fallen hero, seen first as a savior, then a traitor, but always a brave MAN. And truth is, regardless of poor choices and some dodgy historical facts, we Brazilians mostly love him. And so do the Portuguese. I find him to be a wonderfull and fully dimensioned national hero, so I thought it would be fun to throw my character in his court. And in case you are wondering, the name Pedro is the Portuguese equivalent of Peter  ***SEPTEMBER Quinta da Boa Vista Rio de Janeiro, 1822 Alice looked around. She was in an old fashioned mansion, or palace, she couldn’t tell. There were people of many different ethnic backgrounds rushing around, but she was easily the most pale. Everyone wore early 19th century clothes; and, looking down, she realized she too was wearing a long dress with embroideries and lovely details. It would seem like the dress of some lady from an old painting from her own country, except that the colors were much brighter. Two beautiful women of African descent were talking. What was that language? She tried to get closer and listen to the dialogue. After a while, she could understand it. Portuguese. She wasn’t sure whether she was dreaming or not, but her ability seemed to be working fine. “But when will the Prince be back? Hehe, I miss him.” “Shh, don’t let the Princess hear you say that, she is so nice.” “She doesn’t care if he spends time with us slave girls.” “I am sure she does. Wait, who’s that?” The apparently more sensible one looked at Alice. “Oh, no, Francisca, look, it’s the new lady in waiting, sent from the Austrian Empire. Pray she didn’t understand what you were saying.” The girl guided Alice through a corridor to a lovely and ample ante-chamber. There were some brunette girls with a ridiculously over the top amount of jewelry laughing on a corner, some well dressed slaves changing the water of the wash-basin and fixing the drapes and, at the center of it all, a young, pale, full-figured woman with a lovely face and the sweetest eyes Alice had ever seen. “You must be Alice. Come forth, I don’t bite. Oh, I’m sorry, do you understand Portuguese? I could speak German or Italian to you, but I prefer to use my husband’s language. How do you like Brazil so far?” That had to be the Princess. Alice tried to think. Brazil. What did she know about it? South American Republic, very large country, Rio de Janeiro was there so was and most of the Amazon. But a princess? Had Brazil ever been a monarchy? She had no idea, she wasn’t really an expert on world history. And she had no idea how she liked the place so far, she had only seen two rooms and a corridor of that mansion/palace. “I understand your Highness, I still can’t speak it very well but I can learn. I – I like it here.” “No need to be so formal, I left the Habsburg pride back in Vienna. It’s so good to have someone from home. Or from close to. You are from the Balcans, right? You know, when I first got here I was so scared. I was already married on paper, but didn’t know my husband. It was November, almost summer, and so hot! But I was eager to see things, I love plants, flowers, animals, and this place is a natural wonder. You must see my garden later. Well, then I saw him. Prince Pedro. He was so handsome, I loved him at once. He didn’t like me, he expected a beautiful lady, and as you can see, I am quite fat. But you know, we are very happy now. He is far from being a perfect husband, but he is the most wonderful friend. We understand each other.” A Habsbourg! Alice was amazed. That was a daughter of the Austrian Empire. If she could only know what year was that, maybe she wouldn’t feel so dislocated. She tried to remember high school history lessons. That was definitely after Marie Antoinette lost her head in France, but before the famous Empress Sissi. How interesting. Alice had no idea how she ended up inside that 19th century palace in Brazil, but she was finding it very interesting. She longed to know more. To Be Continued… Edited by LuneFleur, Jan 23 2008, 06:17 AM.
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| IceMan | Jan 23 2008, 06:32 AM Post #4 |
FLYING man!
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WOW! that was great Carol I can't wait to read the next bit, and it's educational so it's good for me haha 
Edited by IceMan, Jan 23 2008, 06:33 AM.
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| LuneFleur | Jan 23 2008, 06:46 AM Post #5 |
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Dreamer
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 Ok, after the last part I'll post a list of what is really fact so it doesn't get confusing, hehehe. For now: fact - princess and then Empress Leopoldina loved her husband and he really listened to her and valued her opinion. They ruled together until her early death. fact - prince Pedro de Alcantara and afterwards Emperor D. Pedro the 1st was known as a very handsome man (the portraits would contradict that, but who really knows) and he slept around A LOT. He actually gave his name and surname to a bunch of children he had outside his 1st and 2nd marriages. His most famous mistress was Domitila de Castro, the Marquise of Santos. She wasn't really pretty, but he was crazy for her. |
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| LuneFleur | Jan 31 2008, 06:00 AM Post #6 |
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Dreamer
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After a couple of days, Alice started to get used to the routine of Quinta da Boa Vista and understand its inhabitants. There were some older advisors, but what amazed her is that it seemed to be a royal house ruled by very young people, it had been that way since King Joao the 6th had left to Portugal. While she was walking towards the princess chambers, someone pulled her arm. "Just the person I wanted to talk to!" "Prince Miguel" Alice bowed with difficulty. She felt a cold shiver. Prince Pedro's younger brother had piercieng eyes, full of contempt and even hate. "You should tell your lady Leopoldina that she better not mess with affairs that go beyond her understanding. It can be dangerous." "I don't understand, milord." "You do. But I don't care, as long as she does. Now get out of my sight." She felt herself boil with anger. Damn 19th century, she had to stand being treated like that by a -- a boy, really, quite a few years younger than she was, just because he was a prince. With her cheeks as red as apples, Alice went to Leopoldina's room. "Alice, come in. I see you have met Miguel in the hallway. So, did he threaten me?" "No, it was more a warn... yes, he did, your highness. It wasn't realy a warning." "I am worried, Alice. Pedro is in Santos, and I haven't had any news for so many days. I'm afraid I went ahead of myself, I'm afraid he will take my opinion and... he loves his father, Alice, he loves D. Joao. What if it comes to war against his own family?" Alice didn't have to say she didn't have a clue what her princess was talking about, Leopoldina noticed her bewildered face at once and started explaining. Brazil had been the center of the kingdom since D. Joao ran from Napoleon in 1808, but his recent return to Portugal had turned the country again into a colony. That didn't make sense, Leoploldina explained. Returning to a former situation after so many changes was just unnatural. Prince Pedro had grown up in Brazil, he had formed his own political entourage at the Quinta. He was the one who was fit to step in and do something about it. "I see. But what do you mean by your opinion, your highness. You sounded almost guilty." "D. Joao recently sent a letter ordering Pedro to return to Portugal at once, either as a son returning home or as a prisoner. So I forwarded it to him, with a note of my own. I told him it's time. The country is ready for independence." September 7th, 1822 Ipiranga Stream, Sao Paulo The prince's party stopped to rest by the stream in the province of Sao Paulo. From a distance, they saw a man approaching. He seemed rushed and quite thirsty. "Your Highness, I am a messenger. I have letters from Rio." "Give them to me. Thank you." He looked at the envelopes. Just as he feared. "Father Belchior, come here, please. I have no secrets from this party, so I want you to read King Joao's letter out loud." The priest from Minas Gerais did what the prince told him. It was threat after threat from Portugal, but from Rio came a letter of support from his minister Jose Bonifacio and advice from his wife. Leopoldina was his best friend, she would be by his side no matter what happened. "What do you think, Belchior?" "Your highness, I agree with her. If you don't make yourself King of Brazil, you will probably be disinherited anyway. If you return to Portugal, you will be a prisoner." "Yes, father Belchior. They asked for it! The Portuguese crown mocks me, calls me the Brazilian little lad. Well, they'll see now how much this little lad is worth. From this day forth, our relations are broken. I don't want anything to do with the Portuguese govenment anymore and I declare Brazil forever separated from Portugal. Brazilians, from now on our motto will be Independence or Death." To Be Continued... |
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