Welcome to Story Quest, a weekly podcast where we bring your stories to life!
In this episode we bring Amelia’s story, Rapunzel and Prince Oblong! – to life.
If you have a story idea, you could be like Amber and have it turned into a Story Quest. All you have to do is send us your story idea here. We know you have the best imaginations and together we can create the most brilliant stories!
That’s just what Amelia did. You can watch the story they suggested come to life below, plus they tell us all about the inspiration behind the story at the end.
Listen out for brand new Story Quest episodes every Thursday!
You can read along to Rapunzel and Prince Oblong below!
Rapunzelβs And Oblong: A Great Escape
βYouβre going to have to give me more time, Rapunzel. I canβt work out how to get to the windowβ said Prince Oblong of Rectangular.
Rapunzel was in the tower, waiting for the prince to rescue her but Prince Oblong was, well, not very good at rescuing people. And Rapunzel, well, she wasnβt very good at waiting.
βIβm not waiting for months and months for a stupid princeβ said Rapunzel to herself. βI need a hobby or somethingβ
I know what youβre thinking; why is Rapunzel trapped and what sort of hobby can you have while locked in a room at the top of a tower?
Well, itβs all down to a cunning witch, who locked Rapunzel in a tower because she was very jealous. It was sometimes easy to be a little bit jealous of Rapunzel because she was clever and very very good at collecting hobbies.
Rapunzel was good at football, and singing, and collecting things, and writing blood curdling tales of nasty trolls⦠you name it, she was good at it. The only thing she was really bad at was waiting. Yet here she was, locked in a tower, with nothing to do.
βOi, Prince Oblongβ she shouted from the tower. βI need a hobby while Iβm stuck here. I canβt just wait for you to rescue me. Thatβs sooooo boringβ.
The prince looked a little shocked. βA hobby? Canβt you just spend ages growing your hair so I can climb up it and rescue you? Iβm pretty sure that would work.β It turns out that was not the thing to say to Rapunzel.
βYou. Are. Joking. Youβre joking right? I mean, mate, thatβs just the worst idea ever. Who ever heard of someone who grew their hair so they could get rescued? Besides, have you seen my hair? This style looks amazing. I donβt need my hair getting messed up thank you.β
βFineβ said Prince Oblong. βIβll find something you can do as a hobbyβ. And so the Prince went off to find something, anything, to keep Rapunzel occupied. And while he was gone, something rather unexpected occurred.
Rapunzel noticed a few bricks in the tower were a bit loose. There was a bit of a gap in them. Rapunzel put her hand near the gap and there was a bit of a draft. And then she pushed, and pushed, and the more she pushed, the more the bricks moved untilβ¦
βWait, this is a door. How have I been in here all the time and not known there is a doorβ
Rapunzel opened the door and looked at what was on the other side. It was a staircase, so she followed it down, and down, and down until⦠she was outside. She was free!!
I know what youβre thinking, this is a really short story. And it would be, if it wasnβt for Prince Oblong charging back to the tower.
βRapunzel, Rapunzel, where are you?β
Now she was free, Rapunzel didnβt really need the Prince anymore, but the last thing she wanted to do was have a conversation with him. βI thinkβ, she thought, βI would be better to just tell him to keep bringing me things. Then I can have some more hobbies. The witch never checks up on me, so I may as well collect hobbiesβ
So Rapunzel ran up and up and up the stairs and stuck her head out of the window to shout at Prince Oblong.
βYeah, sorry, I was just doing somethingβ she shouted.
βEh? Youβre locked in a tower. You have nothing to doβ said Prince Oblong, quite reasonably.
βErβ¦ toiletβ Rapunzel replied.
βOh, sorryβ said the Prince. βLook, Iβve got you a hobbyβ and with that he threw some balls of wool up into the tower.
βYou can take up knitting. Now move out the way while I get the knitting needles to youβ. Knitting is not quite what Rapunzel had in mind but she always liked a hobby that had an element of challenge to it.
βThanks Prince Oblong. Iβll get started on this while you go away and work out a way to rescue me. Bye nowβ. And with that, the Prince galloped off and Rapunzel got to grips with her new friends – the knitting needles. Before long she was knitting really complicated things, like fancy jumpers for tiny dogs, football scarves and a cat shaped like a donut.
Rapunzel was doing really well at her knitting and completely forgot that she was actually still technically a prisoner in the tower. Besides, talking to Prince Oblong was really boring and she really didnβt want to have him rescue her, especially now she knew about the towerβs secret door.
After several weeks of very high quality knitting, Prince Oblong was back.
βCan I just pretend to be out?β Rapunzel thought to herself. But she knew that wouldnβt work. Instead, she opened the secret door, and went down and down and down the stairs until she was outside. She hid behind a massive tree to avoid Oblong.
At this point Rapunzel noticed that she could hear something. It sounded likeβ¦ breathing. She realised she wasnβt alone. And there, standing just by her, behind the massive tree, was the jealous witch who put her in the tower.
βDid you think you would get away from me?β Cackled the witch.
Rapunzel tried to run, but the witch was too fast for her.
βYouβre coming with me back up to the towerβ said the witch, and with that, she took Rapunzel back up and up and up the big staircase to the room at the top of the tower.
The room was filled with knitted items that Rapunzel had made.
βWhat have you been doing in here?β Asked the witch.
βOh, I have a hobby. I have knitting. Iβm a knitter now. Would you like a jumper for a tiny dog, or a football scarf – Iβve knitted loads of those for all the different teams – or maybe youβd like a kitty shaped like a donut?β
βNo. No no no no noβ shouted the witch with anger. The witch was so, so angry she didnβt know what to do. And as it turned out, she had no time to think becauseβ¦
βItβs me, Prince Oblong. Iβm here to rescue Rapunzelβ
Rapunzel and the witch were both taken aback.
βHow did you get up here?β They both asked.
βI have a very special powerβ said Prince Oblong. He didnβt. Heβd just worked out how to pick the lock on the front door. But nevertheless, he was making a rescue attempt. The witch was furious.
βArrrrrrrrggh. Noooo. This cannot be happeningβ and with that she cast a spell. There was a massive bang, a cloud of smoke and all the doors were sealed.
βNow youβll never get out of here. All the doors are sealed up. You will both have to live in this tiny room full of knitting forever and ever. And with that, just like the drama queen she was, the witch disappeared in a puff of smoke.
βOh noβ said Prince Oblong βwhat are we going to do?β
Rapunzel sorted her knitting and gathered some pieces together.
βI said, what are we going to do?β. Prince Oblong was getting a bit stressed about it all.
βRapunzel, why are you playing with your knitting? Weβre trapped. We need to get out of here. There are no doors anymore. There are no locks to pick. Weβre doomedβ
Rapunzel looked at Prince Oblong and showed him what she had been doing. While Oblong had been moping, Rapunzel had tied together all the football scarves she had knitted. She had knitted one for each team, and each one was a long, sturdy scarf, perfect for a cold afternoon watching football. But also perfect to tie together in order to make a long knitted rope that they could use to escape.
Rapunzel tied one end to the window and threw out the other end of the huge collection of scarves. And with that, like a giant chain of sausages, the scarves fell down and down and down until they got to the ground.
They both climbed down the scarves and escaped.
After this, Prince Oblong gave up being a prince. He became a really good locksmith. So if youβre ever in trouble with a door, itβs worth trying to get in touch with Oblong. And Rapunzel? Well, sheβs still knitting, but also playing football, leading her local book group, singing, collecting bees and learning a few languages. Just in case any of those come in handy. Because you never know when one of them might come in handy.
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