The Wishing Well

Chapter One: Alice

When Alice Johnston found the wishing well, she didn't think much of it. In fact, she didn't care about it when she threw her small coin into the gloomy depths below. She heard her mother calling her, so she made her wish.

"I wish to be popular at school." she said to the well. "Then people wouldn't tease me. It's so dreadful to be poor!" she frowned, and ran towards her mother.

"Now, my dear child, what were you doing at the well?" her mother asked.

"Making a wish, I suppose." she said with a shrug. Her sisters ran up to her.

"Now, now, Alice! What is going on, Mother?"

"Alice has been over by the wishing well! That will just make people talk even more than they do already!" Alice sighed

"Lily! Lenora! No one saw me!" said Alice. She frowned. Lily stared at her curiously.

"Alice?" she asked. Alice glared at her.

"Yes?" Alice asked back. Lily looked at her with her big, brown eyes.

"Are you embarrassed of us?" she asked. Alice looked at her curiously. 

"Of course not, Lily! Why would I be?" Lily shrugged her shoulders. 

"Girls, girls! Let Alice study! She's falling behind in science class already, not just in history!" said their mother. The girls nodded and walked away with their mother.

"Good-by, Mother! Good-by, Lily! Good-by, Lenora!" said Alice kindly. Then, she sighed. 

As young readers, some of you may want to know what Alice and her family looked like. Well, here is a brief description of the four. 

Lenora Johnston was the eldest child out of all of them. She had a lovely, dark brown shade of hair, brown eyes, and pale skin. She had small freckles dotted on her nose, barely visible, "but they were her one glory", as she said regularly. She was 17, but she acted like a true adult.

Lily Johnston was the youngest child of the family, and she had beautiful blonde hair and lovely green eyes. She had freckles dotting all around her face and cheeks, and dimples on one side of her cheek. She was very young, only 7 years old, but she was very bright for her age.

As for Alice, she had auburn hair and blue eyes, in which she inherited from her mother and father. She looked normal, as looks go, and she wasn't extremely beautiful, but she wasn't extremely ugly, either. 

The mother of the girls, Leona Johnston, was very beautiful, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Most of the time Alice felt like a misfit, because Lily had blonde hair like her mother and green eyes like her father, and Lenora had brown hair like her father and brown eyes like her aunt Linda. Alice also didn't feel like a part of the family, because her mother was Leona, and her sisters were Lenora and Lily. And Alice was just.....Alice. It was a lot different when their father was there.

Arnold Johnston, their father, with auburn hair and blue eyes, always respected Alice. Alice was respected at home, but with all of the other girls looking like their mother and having names that started with an L like their mother.....it got hard. Hard because they were poor and people judged them anyway, so it was hard enough without them thinking you were lost because you looked nothing like your mother and sisters. 

"Never mind that!" Alice said with a frown. "I'm better off looking like myself, because I'm not them, I am myself!" Alice grinned. "Off to homework then, Alice," she said to herself, opening her books. "History? Alright, then, this is going to take longer than I thought. STUPID Lenora." she muttered under her breath. Lenora knew that Alice was failing history class, and Lenora also knew her mother didn't care. Alice didn't mind that her mother didn't care about her schoolwork. But she did mind that Lenora did.

"NEVER MIND THAT, ALICE!" Alice yelled to herself. "You're going to prove Lenora wrong! You CAN do this! Especially with a little luck...." 

Alice grinned, and started running for the Wishing Well.

Alice ran past a young girl jumping rose whom she knew a bit. She was around 5 years old. Her name was Jane.

Excuse me, Alice? Where are you going?" asked the little girl. Alice looked at her. 

"Oh, hello, Jane! I'm going to the Wishing Well!"

The girl brightened. "Can I come too?" Alice shook her head politely, and said; "I'm sorry, dear, but I must go alone." And she hitched up her trains, and left. As she walked, she saw a young adolescent whom she knew from school. "Hello, Alice!" said the girl excitedly. Alice brightened up a bit, and stopped. "Why, hello, Abigail! How is life treating you on this bright and shining day?" Abigail laughed. "Quite well, quite well indeed, Miss Alice. What about you?" "It's treating me well, but now I must go. I had previous plans, and I shan't keep destiny waiting!" Abigail looked confused.

"Who's Destiny?" she asked, confused and cheerful all the matter. Alice smiled. "The Wishing Well, Abigail! I have plans with the Wishing Well!" Abigail grinned.

"Alright, then, I'll let you continue on your way, Miss Alice!" Alice smiled.

"Good-by, Abigail! Say hello to Della and Calla for me!" Abigail rolled her eyes, and Alice laughed, and kept running, even though it "wasn't ladylike." Alice frowned and spoke aloud. "Tell me, Miss Alice! How can something be unladylike? I am a young lady, and I do things, and if a lady does something, it's as ladylike as they want it to be! Our town rules are unfair!" She quickly covered her mouth, then exhaled. If Lenora heard her now, Alice would have no supper for the night. Lenora didn't like awful talk about the town. It would make people talk more about them, and Alice couldn't pretend not to hear the awful words the townsfolk said about her and her family. 

But if Alice got to the Wishing Well in time, and made a wish, everything would be back to the way it used to be! And that gave Alice the strength to keep running.

Hello! I hope you enjoyed this installment. If you want to read more, like this chapter, put a comment, and follow my page so you get notifications once I post more! Thank you for your support!