The House at the End of the Road: With an Intersemiotic Translation

Dear Diary,

Tomorrow is my birthday, and I’m so excited. I can already feel little caterpillars starting to crawl around in my stomach. Tiny caterpillars, cute caterpillars. Tomorrow, they’ll be butterflies and the excitement I feel will grow even more. Tomorrow I’ll be exactly 8 years old. I feel like I’m huge! I want a huge cake for my birthday, with my name written on it in huge glittering letters: “ELSA”. It’ll have eight candles on it, and I’ll make a wish! It’ll be a wonderful wish. I don’t know if it comes true, but I hope it does. I want this so much. The caterpillars tickle my stomach, dear diary. I cannot write any more. I think it’s time to sleep now. I want to sleep right away, and I want my birthday as soon as possible, then I’ll be like a princess.

After Elsa made sure her diary was locked, she quickly placed it in her box. Then she put the box under her pillow as always because it was the safest way to hide it from her siblings who shared the room with her. She wanted to look at the sky one last time before going to sleep. The cotton of the sky was floating slowly in the air. When they fell to the ground, they disappeared. Elsa put her palm to her cheek, smiled at the sky, and took a deep sleepy breath.

“Elsa, Elsa, come on, wake up, it’s morning.” Elsa suddenly opened her eyes. Someone was calling out to her, but she couldn’t tell who it was. Elsa heard a sound like “tıks tıks”. She turned her head in the direction of the sound. She suddenly got out of the bed. A tiny girl wearing a pink dress was flying. Elsa asked, “Who are you? What do you want from me?” Her voice was beginning to tremble. The Fairy Girl said, “Don’t be afraid, Elsa. I want to be your friend. I’m here for you.” Elsa was terrified. She opened her eyes and slowly reached for her. This little girl, who was going left and right in the air, looked very strange. Looking closely, she saw a stick in the girl’s hand.

“What is that thing in your hand?” she asked.

“This is a magic wand, Elsa. I can do anything you want with it.”

“A magic wand! But doesn’t magic only happen in fairy tales?” Elsa asked in surprise.

The Fairy Girl smiled, “No, sometimes magic can happen in real life if you know how to do it. Today is your birthday, so tell me whatever you wish.”

“How so?” Elsa wondered. “Can you do anything I want?” she asked. “I want to be a princess like you. Can you make a beautiful purple dress for me?”

The Fairy Girl got close to Elsa, lightly touched her shoulder with the tip of her stick, and she heard “tıks tıks” sound. Elsa immediately looked at the mirror on the wall. The Fairy Girl kept her promise and gave her a princess dress as she exactly wanted. Elsa started to shout with excitement.

The Fairy Girl said, “Come on, Elsa. I’ll take you somewhere.”

Elsa was so happy that she immediately started following her.

When they walked out the door, Elsa felt that today was going to be a great birthday. The Fairy Girl brought her to the camellia on the back street. Elsa thought that soon my friends will come, my big cake will come, everyone will say happy birthday Elsa, hug me and give me gifts.

The Fairy Girl suddenly began to spin her wand. Elsa watched her in surprise. After the “tıks” sound, suddenly the street turned into a forest. Elsa couldn’t hide her amazement, for she felt butterflies starting to flutter in her stomach.

The Fairy Girl asked, “Elsa, there is a little house hidden among the tall trees at the end of this dark forest. But until now, no one could dare to go there and enter that house. Can you go to that house?”

Elsa said, “But why? Why does no one dare to go to that house? What is in there? Why do you want me to go there?” There was no answer. Since the sky darkened in an instant, the road looked even scarier suddenly. Elsa could hear her heartbeat. She looked around, but couldn’t see the Fairy Girl. The last sound she could hear was a deep “tıks”. She was alone in this desolate forest now.

Elsa didn’t know what to do. She looked around helplessly, but the whole place was so dark that it was impossible to see anything. She wondered what was going on in that house, but she didn’t have enough courage. Her mind was telling her to go back while her heart was telling her to go that house. She didn’t understand why Tthe Fairy Girl was playing such a trick on her. I wonder if my birthday surprise is there, she thought. Everyone is waiting for me there. The idea once again stirred the butterflies in her stomach, but the Fairy Girl said earlier, “No one dared to go there.” What if there is someone dangerous there? What if they hurt me? They will worry about me. My mother, Eve, will be very angry with me. I can’t go there. I have to go home. She had no choice but to return. Turning around, she faced with a grey wall. What is that? There was no wall here! She noticed that the wall was getting bigger and bigger. The wall was surrounding her, the way out was blocked. She started running, but wherever she ran, she ran into the wall. She realized that the forest was her only way out.

Elsa started walking slowly towards the forest with timid steps. Her excitement was growing. As she got closer to the house, she began to hear strange noises. By the time she reached the front of the house, the sound was more audible. She began to listen to the voices coming from inside. My friends are here, and they are waiting for me. When I go inside, everyone’ll shout with excitement and celebrate my birthday. However, the sound from inside did not seem to be a celebration. It sounded like something breaking. The Fairy Girl, where are you? I need you so much. Why did you leave me alone? I need you so much.

Elsa gently touched the door of the house and the door opened. It was dark inside, so she couldn’t decide whether to enter or not. A voice inside her was telling Elsa to come back. She suppressed her inner voice and walked slowly into the room. There’s no going back from here, she thought. She had to walk carefully because she saw nothing. Clicking noises continued to come from all over the house. Turning in the direction the voice came from, she heard a hard crash. The door was closed. She rushed to the door immediately, quickly pushing down the door handle. The door didn’t open. The fear inside Elsa grew even more. Who wants what from me? She tried to open the door a few more times but failed. I’m stuck here. How do I get out of here? The clicking noises in the house were getting louder. There was the sound of something breaking from upstairs. Elsa sat quietly by the door. If I don’t make noise, no one can hurt me, no one would find me, she thought. The sound of walking was getting closer. Someone is coming towards me. Elsa held her breath. The person in the house could hurt her. Elsa began to count silently; one, two, three, four… The sound of walking slowly began to fade away. Elsa took a deep breath. What should I do? The Fairy Girl, where are you? Why did you leave me? I wish you’d at least give me the magic wand. At that moment, her eyes lit up. Magic wand! How did wI not think of that?

She remembered what the Fairy Girl had said, “There can be magic in real life if you know how to do it.” Could there be a magic wand out there somewhere, she thought. It was pitch dark inside the room, so she couldn’t see anything. Is there no light in this house, she thought. First, I have to find a way to turn on the lights. Elsa slowly began to touch her surroundings. She was looking for something useful. She touched everything she could reach, but found nothing useful. Elsa was about to lose her hope. At that moment, the words of her mother, Eve, came to her mind, “Elsa, sometimes what we need is right in front of us, but we’re so busy looking for it that we can’t see the truth before our eyes.” There must be a clue here, she thought. The light in my room was turned on by the switch next to the door. Could there be a light switch near the door here too? She rushed to the door immediately. While she was running her hand along the wall, she dropped a few items on the floor. I can’t reach the light switch because I’m short, she thought. At that moment, she felt a prick under her foot. She bent down and picked up the object from the ground. She touched and tried to understand what it was. She unconsciously pressed the button on the object. She saw a small light leak into the room: It was a flashlight. Mother Eve would turn her flashlight on when the electricity went out so that her sisters and Elsa would not be afraid. Elsa was very happy. She had to find out where the noise in the house was coming from, then she walked slowly towards the stairs. There was a little hope in her: They are waiting for me upstairs. We came here for my birthday. Elsa slowly climbed the stairs.

This place looked like a small penthouse. There was no one in the room, Elsa could not understand where the clicking sounds were coming from. As she was leaving the room, she heard a voice “meow”. It’s a cat! There was a cat in the room. Where are you kitty? Elsa moved the flashlight around the room. There were broken plates and glasses on the floor. The sound was coming from the ceiling. Elsa noticed the cat stuck in the attic. The cat was meowing helplessly. Elsa immediately got on the bed and took the cat from there. The cat was hungry and cold. Elsa immediately took the cat under her arm. They went downstairs together. “Don’t be afraid, kitty. I’ll save you. We’ll get out of here,” she said. Elsa didn’t know how to get out of the house. When they went downstairs, the cat run away from Elsa’s arms. Elsa tried to figure out where the cat went. The cat had gone out through the open window. Elsa followed the cat immediately and left the house. It was cold outside, and the moon was shining beautifully. Elsa took the cat back in her arms and patted its head. When she returned to the house, she realized that the door was open. Fine, but how? I tried to open the door, but I couldn’t. The cat was meowing constantly. Elsa took it with her and immediately went home. Eve mom prepares food for this sweet kitty. She thinks of us all. When Elsa got to the camellia she stopped and looked back. Elsa didn’t know why the Fairy Girl brought her here. She went home. All she knew was that this cat would be a true friend to her. The grey wall was gone. Elsa brought the cat home with her, and at that moment she heard a “tıks” again. The Fairy Girl was back. Elsa stared in amazement.

“Why did you leave me, why did you send me to that house?” Elsa asked. “I couldn’t get out of there. Someone locked the door, and I was so scared. Who was in that house?”

The Fairy Girl said, “No, Elsa, nobody locked the door. The window was open, and the wind caused the door to close. There was nobody in the house. It’s just that your little friend was stuck there and needed you.”

“How could this be? I heard voices there. There was someone there. I tried to open the door, but I couldn’t.”

“Elsa, sometimes the biggest fears are the ones we grow inside us. This prevents us from doing the things we can do. Nobody was home, you wanted to believe there was. You could get out of that house when you really believed you could. You see, you don’t need a prince or a magic wand to save you. By the faith in your heart, you can achieve anything you want.”

The Fairy Girl turned her wand towards the road. After the “tıks” sound, the road was illuminated again. The Fairy Girl disappeared. Elsa stared in silence for a while, shocked by what she had experienced. The kitten suddenly disappeared.

“Elsa, Elsa! Wake up! It’s morning.” Elsa opened her eyes because Mother Eve nudged her to wake up. Elsa looked around, “Where is The Fairy Girl? Where is the cat?” she asked. Mother Eve looked at her in surprise, “I think you were dreaming, my beautiful girl. Come on. Get up. Your siblings are having breakfast downstairs, so have your breakfast before it’s too late. You know, Miss Jasmine gets angry when you’re late.”

Elsa sadly got out of bed and went down to the dining hall. She had breakfast. Then, she went out to the front of the dormitory to play games with her siblings. She couldn’t believe her eyes! The cat was at the door. She ran to the cat and took it in her arms. She immediately gave the cat milk. While the cat was feeding, Mother Eve came out to the garden with a cake in her hand. All her siblings said, “Happy Birthday Elsa!” Elsa was very happy. She didn’t have a birthday as she had imagined or as she had dreamed, but still she was happy. Now she had a lonely friend like herself. Who knows, maybe the cat’s mother left it, she thought. Just like me… This kitty became her best friend. There couldn’t have been a better birthday present than that.