By: Alyza Van Tassel
Inspired by Tim Burton's 1999 film, "Sleepy Hollow,"
and Washington Irving's original tale.
All suggestions welcome. Please do not
sue me, this is just MY version of the story!!!!!!, and I am certainly not
profiting in any way by this, other than having the pleasure of knowing that
other people will read and like my writing. Please ask me for permission before
using this story anywhere and do not plagiarize, or I'll chop your head off like
a tulip! :) Hee hee, I'm kidding…but don't you DARE copy without permission! (If
you ask me to let you put it on your site or something, I'm pretty sure I'll say
yes…but ASK first! K? PLEEEEEASE?? :) (E-mail me at: Alyza_@excite.com) Alyza,
Eliot (as MY character), and all other people who do not appear in the originals
belong to me. A couple of things about the story. No, at first, the Headless
Horseman is not ghastly-looking in the BEGINNING like in the movie (sharp teeth,
I mean) I'll let you know how he changes as the story progresses. K? And
remember..... NO PLAGIARISM!!! Or else!!!
Chapter the Fourth
"All aboard!"
The ship let off steam. Alyza watched the passengers go
aboard. She looked at the sign. 'Destination: Boston, Massachusetts.'
Just
what she needed. Not too far, and not too close. The city of Boston was large
and prosperous, and she would do well there.
Alyza handed money to the
person at the boarding station. One good thing about being the daughter of a
rich man---she brought money, and lots of it. He let her in without a word.
"Look out Boston, I'm on my way!"
Waves buffeted the Atlantica badly. The captain, Jason Hordell, walked
to the main deck.
"How bad is it?"
"Very bad storm just ahead of us,
sir," his first mate replied. "We may need to make an emergency stop."
"I
know," Mr. Hordell replied with an air of anxiousness. "How far is the nearest
harbor?"
"Not far, sir. A mere ten miles."
"Direct the crew. We are not
going to endanger these people."
Alyza shivered. If Sleepy Hollow was cold, this might as well have been the
North Pole. Her breath could be seen in the air. This wasn't what she had asked
for, but then again, she was sort of a "walk-in." There was simply no room.
"And I thought everyone went south for the winter, not north," she muttered
to herself when she heard shuffling outside, in the hallway. It was 2 in the
morning. Who would be walking around?
Well, this WAS Alyza Van Tassel. Just
like her to get up and walk to the door, and maybe come face-to-face with a
serial killer. "Eh well..." She opened the door, but instead of a maniac with a
machete, she found one of the ship's officers. Mr. Garrison, judging from his
name tag.
"Err...umm......what is going on?"
The crew member turned. "We
are making an emergency stop in Providence."
"Why, I beg?"
"The storm
coming our way is too dangerous. We shall wait it out until morning. Meanwhile,
get your things together, if you wish to get an inn on land. We shall be at the
port in an hour, and depart the next morning."
"Thank you."
"You are
most welcome," he said and went to wake up more people.
Alyza shut the door.
"Great," she said. "Well, at least I'll get some sleep at a hotel."
She then
went to gather her things as she was told.
The sun came up, shining over Providence, Rhode Island in happy beams. The
city slowly awoke, but Alyza refused to. She turned time and again in the bed,
desperately trying to go back to her little dreamland.
"Ohh...what a night,"
she muttered. Before she threw the sheets off her face, Alyza thought, for a
moment, that she was back in her old room, the home she had left. She remembered
how soft and cozy her bed had been, and how safe she was there. "Was" was the
key word. This did not occur every morning anymore. No more Paul Masbath at her
window, no more hugging her father, no more coming down to have breakfast...
Alyza sighed. "Joyous day," she said as the sun shone in her face. Inside,
she felt lonely.
"What time is it??!!!???" Alyza shrieked at the unfortunate maid, Joanna.
Joanna tried to explain. "It is ten to 9, 8:50 am, ma'am."
Alyza threw
her stuff together. She stopped to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. "Oh
my God, the ship leaves in ten minutes."
"Well, you had better hurry, miss,"
Joanna said. "They usually leave five munutes early."
"Great, just great."
Alyza left the payment at the hotel's desk, not bothering to wait for change. It
wasn't much anyway. "Leave it to the maid," she said to the manager as she flew
out the doorway. She should have left a trail of dust, she was going so fast.
Alyza was relieved to see that the black-and-gray ship was still in the
harbor. It let off steam, ready for departure. She ran up the boarding bridge
and yelled at the person who was about to close the door.
"WAAAAAAIIITTTT!!!!"
The man turned. "We are leaving."
"Not without
me, you're not," Alyza said, and went past him into the doorway. She hated to be
pushy, but this was her future. She needed to get on that ship.
An hour later, Alyza Van Tassel felt like the biggest moron that ever walked
the earth.
"I am an idiot. Such an idiot." She considered jumping off, with
her stuff and all, into the water and swimming back. No way, she would never
make it. Too far. The coast had disappeared long, long ago.
She got on the wrong ship. And guess where this one was headed?
"Europe.
This ship is going to Germany. Damn. That's what you get for not looking at
destination signs. Idiot. I am such an imbecile."