Once upon a time Rapunzel was a just a happy child, playing with her brothers and sisters, singing to make her chores easier, swimming in the nearby lake to cool herself in the hot summers.

(‘Does she have a dog?’ Mia is jumping excitedly. ‘Every good story has a dog.’)

But as Rapunzel grew, her hair remained thin as a baby’s hair, soft but not beautiful. Her family all had great, thick hair, and Rapunzel felt it was so unfair that she was the only one who didn’t.

Then one day she found a fish on the lakeshore, trampled by wild boars, almost dead. Rapunzel took pity on it, and gently picked it up, put it back to the water, petting it until the fish opened its mouth and took the water in. It was still hurt but managed to swim away.

Rapunzel watched it happily. She saved a life that day, and that was enough to bring a smile to anyone’s face. She turned to go home.

“Thank you for saving her” a melodic voice reached her from the water. Rapunzel looked back: it was a dog on the other shore. Speaking to her!

(‘Was it me, was it me, was it me? It was me, wasn’t it?’)

“She is my friend,” continued the gorgeous little furball (‘Definitely me!’) “and I’d like to repay you.”

Rapunzel could only nod. What should she want? More food? Better clothes? To never grow up? She played absentmindedly with her hair.

The beautiful dog smiled, and flowers bloomed around in her smile’s wake.

“I see. Don’t worry, I’ll grant you your wish. Your hair will be as thick as tree log, as strong as a crocodile, as bright as the sun, as wavy as the lake.”

And so it was, Rapunzel’s hair grew strong, beautiful and long, the whole village, and soon, the whole land admired it. Never again did she feel like the worst of her family: her hair was born of magic!

Delta, the AI summarised the moral of the story:

The moral of this story is that kindness and compassion can lead to unexpected rewards. Rapunzel’s act of saving the fish resulted in her receiving the gift of magical hair. It teaches us that doing good deeds can bring positivity into our lives and sometimes, unexpected things can happen that can change our lives for the better.

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This post is part of the A to Z blogging challenge of April 2023.
Topic of this year is “The AI, the dog and the witchling”, real and fictional stories partially written/inspired by Artificial Intelligence, featuring Mia and Missy.
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Today is Creativity and Innovation Day so I took a creative spin on the known character of Rapunzel. This is Day 10 in the #100daysOfThoseDays. The series was started by Christine and Gloria and uses the “National/Global Something” of a particular day as the basis of the post. You can choose your own, and posting doesn’t have to consecutive.