悟空教育“第二届华裔家庭故事大赛”获奖作品：”Rapunzel Had a Dream”

2024年，悟空教育再度携手吴彦祖开启“第二届全球华裔家庭故事大赛”，邀请全球华人用文字讲述他们的华裔故事，分享人生感悟。卡耐基梅隆大学刘刚教授、华裔作家 Vincent Yee 等多位学术专家加盟担任评委，以专业点评和温情点拨提供独特视角与感悟。在众多优秀来稿中，25篇佳作脱颖而出，”Rapunzel Had a Dream” 就是其中之一。Grace充满童真气息的细腻笔触，为经典的长发公主故事赋予了全新的想象与情感。字里行间渗透着孩童视角下对“梦想与现实”的独特思考。

Rapunzel Had a Dream

Grace Yang Dong

Australia, Age 8

Shining Dream of Childhood AWARD

Chapter 1: The Dream

Rapunzel had a dream. In the dream, she exuded confidence and power, like a breeze, running under the sun. She had a lot of friends, with whom she laughed, studied, and went on adventures. Together, they discovered treasures and braved many dangers. However, no matter how perilous the circumstances, they never lost their hope and courage, because everyone knew that Rapunzel, their trusted captain, always lead them safely home.

Chapter 2: A Happy Solution

Rapunzel awoke to find herself back home, her eyes widening in relief…

Chapter 3:The Washing

At home, Rapunzel stood in front of the washing machine. She pushed the dirty clothes into the machine, watching the water pouring in, and the laundry detergent became the white bubbles on the black wave, like a dark ocean.

Clothes moved in circles, being washed, and briefly revealing their colors before being engulfed by the black tides, like drowning victims. She stood there, dry and safe. She had choices: She could choose to rescue them or let them die. She relished the moments before the decision, when everything was possible and everything uncertain was depending on her decision.

Chapter 4: The Drying

When the washing machine beeped, she promptly transferred the clothes to the dryer with assistance from her brother Flynn.

As she watched the clothes dry, Flynn focused on his homework, dreaming of college. This time, she imagined flying toward the sun. As Rapunzel neared the sun, she felt her body warming up but the moment the dryer beeped, she was snapped back to reality, cold and out of her daydream.

Chapter 5: The Folding

The clothes were carefully folded and placed into a basket. Neither Rapunzel nor Flynn left a single crease on the fabrics. Flynn put the basket by the window and lit a candle, and Rapunzel tied the basket to her long hair. Then, they waited.

Chapter 6:The Plan

With a whistle, the witch suddenly appeared. Rapunzel pulled down her longhair. The clothes were gathered by the witch and placed alongside a piece of dry bread and a glass of water in the basket. Rapunzel took the food, sat down on the only chair she had, and shared it with her brother. They ate in silence. She appreciated that the bread was grilled, a bit burnt, though. The witch never meant to maltreat her but ignored her needs, so she invented a system forgetting the food that she preferred. Whenever she was given the food that she disliked, she hardly ate it and couldn’t finish laundry on time due to insufficient energy. So far, the plan was working, and increasingly, she received the food she desired. Flynn agreed.

Chapter 7: The Day’s End—at Last!

After dinner, she went to sleep. She dreamed of the day she would finally be freed, the day she would be able to smell flowers instead of laundry detergent. Her brother also slept and dreamed the college life. Sometimes they could be like twins, sharing one brain, and sometimes they could be very different.

Rapunzel and Flynn were awakened by a whistle announcing that the witch brought another dirty laundry basket to wash. Rapunzel repeated her daily routine and knew a new day had started again. Washing, drying, folding, eating, and dreaming, sometimes Rapunzel suspected what her real life was and what her dream was.

One day, the witch came without a basket in her hand. Instead, she put a long ladder against the window. Without saying anything, the witch gave a deep look at Rapunzel and Flynn and then left.

Chapter 8: An Unwise Decision

Rapunzel and Flynn were dumbfounded…Uncertain how much time had passed, Flynn suddenly screamed with joy, quickly jumped on the ladder, and soon disappeared into the dark forest.

Rapunzel’s heart raced as tears cascaded down her face, bringing back a smile that had long been absent. She felt that she had become the bright girl in her dream again! “I know this day will come and it comes finally!” She cried and ran toward the window, held the ladder, and stepped down…She paused, hesitated for a while, and then retracted her leg, and pushed the ladder away. 

Chapter 9: Still Waiting

Rapunzel, seated gracefully by the window, lit a candle, and waited. She waited for the arrival of the next laundry basket.

最动人的是Rapunzel身上的矛盾感：她梦见冒险却在梯子前退缩，渴望鲜花的芬芳却又等待下一个洗衣篮。这种 “想走又留” 的犹豫，精准呈现了成长中对“未知”的胆怯与对“熟悉”的眷恋。8岁的笔触或许简单，却赋予“等待”以深刻内涵——等待不是妥协，而是孩童式的、带着期盼的温柔坚持，为这个新编的长发公主故事注入了独属于童年的细腻与力量。

25篇华裔家庭故事，一字一句，都传递着最真挚的情感。这些故事记录着个体生命的闪光与跋涉，更连缀成华裔精神的群像长卷。期待和你一起阅读，感受亲情的纽带，分享童趣奇思；跟随作者踏上寻根之旅，点燃文化传承的火种，见证华裔生活的丰富图景与生命的内在力量。

WuKong Operation Team

悟空教育内容创作团队致力于为全球3-18岁青少儿提供高质量、定制化、有价值的干货内容，为全球父母提供最前沿、最创新、有深度的教育资讯，让海外家庭在语言学习的路上不再孤单。