One of my favorite stories from when I was a child is about Ronja, the robber's daughter. It’s one of Astrid Lindgren's stories that she developed as a fantasy for herself; you see, Astrid lived in the city and often dreamt about a simpler life away from it. That is how she came up with the story of Ronia. Ronia grew up in a castle in the forest with her family and the other robbers. Since this character grew up isolated from the city, from the noise of technology, she only knows nature and the mystical creatures that the forest keeps.
I would love to put Ronja into the modern story of Katy Keene. Katy is a struggling aspiring designer working at a high-end department store in New York City. Although she shares her two-bedroom apartment with two of her roommates and is constantly held back by hustling to pay bills and not having enough time for her art, she is entirely in love with the busy city. If we put Ronja into the world of Katy, we would have a very interesting mix of scenery and characters.
The story will take place in current time New York City. Since Ronja is used to very few people and mostly nature and forest, it's first a huge chock. There is also a lot of new technology she has never seen before, such as buildings, cars, and electronic gadgets. There is also the fashion; Ronja wears something similar to a burlap sack dress, her hair is messy, and she is pretty dirty compared to other people in the city.
Katy and Ronja run into each other in the city, Ronja dresses in her burlap dress and Katy in a glamorous dress that she designed for a party she was going to. Katy sees Ronja and wonders what on earth this girl is wearing in a city like New York. Katy approaches Ronja and offers to help her fit in better in New York. They end up becoming really good friends, and Ronja also helps Katy connect with nature.
My three scenarios
What if all of our computer keyboards melted and we could no longer use them?
What if Elvis had fired the colonel?
What if Vegas was never built?
What if Elvis had fired the colonel?
It's 1974, and Elvis had just fired his manager, Colonel Parker. The news has spread like wildfire in the press and around the nation. You see, this wasn't just about an artist firing his manager. The news about how the colonel had been pumping drugs into Elvis so he could perform and took 50 percent of all earnings came to light. The fans were horrified and angry with Mr. Parker. Elvis stated that he would get clean before continuing to do what he loved the most - singing and dancing in front of his fans.
Few knew what a huge impact this decision had on Elvis's life, and one, Mr. Jones.
Sandy Jones grew up a farmer's son outside a small town in Tennessee with 3 brothers and 2 sisters. He was the oldest of the siblings and the one to be expected to one day take over the family farm. Jones had seen hard work and struggle throughout the years and thought to himself, there has to be something bigger and better out there. Jones had heard many of Elvis's songs on the radio, but he had never gotten the chance to see the king. When the news about the colonel being fired reached the little farm, something sparked inside of Jones. Maybe this was a sign for him to leave the farm and try something else finally. Mother and father wouldn't approve, but his younger brother Arthur, only by 2 years, was more than fit to take over the farm responsibilities while Sandy was gone. But how would he afford to make it to Memphis?
Jones had to look into all the means to make some extra money to purchase a bus ticket to Memphis. But first, he needed to speak to his family and hope they would understand his decision. On a rainy night, he gathered the whole family to break the news to them. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are both saddened and disappointed to hear about Sandy's idea of leaving the farm to go away to Memphis. His siblings were quiet, scared of stepping on their parent's toes, but you could see Arthur nervously tumbling his fingers.
After they had all gone to bed, Sandy heard someone approaching his room, it was Arthur. Arthur tells Sandy that he has something for him. Arthur pulls out a small coin pouch and hands it over to Sandy. It was some of Arthur's savings, that he had planned to use to buy his own home for himself and his wife-to-be. It was just enough money to buy Sandy a bus ticket to Memphis and board him for a week.
While Sandy's parents were disappointed at first about him wanting to leave, they finally came to accept that it was happening and decided that Arthur would instead take over the family farm if Sandy didn't come back. Sandy's plan, however, was to make enough money to help his entire family, and they would all be able to live more comfortable lives. So, the day comes when Sandy finally steps onto that bus to Memphis and begins a new chapter of his life. While on the Greyhound to Memphis, Sandy meets a musician. , his name was Johnny Cash. Cash tells Sandy everything about music in Memphis, he briefly mentions Elvis, but they were never close friends. At the end of the trip, Cash gives Sandy his telephone number in case Sandy ever needs anything while in Memphis.
Immediately after arriving in Memphis and checking into his room, Sandy heads over to one of the bars that Cash had mentioned to see who was performing that night. Sandy has a couple of drinks during the night while seeing some of the most amazing performers he has ever seen in his life. As the night gets later, Sandy loses hopes of seeing Elvis out that night. And as he finishes his last drink and is about to head to his new home, there's some commotion out on the street outside of the bar. He couldn't believe his eyes when Elvis walked through the doors.
