Thesis Premises

Premise 1

Rosalinda wakes up on a dark, stormy day. She struggles against the wind on her walk to school. A passing bike splashes her with with muddy water. The school is as dull and gray as Rosalinda’s home. She sits down in the back of the classroom and tries to pay attention. However, everything is painfully boring. After a while, all Rosalinda can think about is how she has to go to the bathroom. She slips out of class but, before she can go into the girl’s restroom, a third colorful bathroom door appears. Curious, she peaks inside. This bathroom is massive and full of mythical creatures. A huge tree is next to the stalls and a waterfall provides the water for the sinks. A tikbalang, who is washing his hands (hooves?), assures Rosalinda that this is a unisex bathroom. Rosalinda is shocked by the surreal bathroom but goes in anyway. She takes care of business but, when she flushes the toilet, it starts to overflow with a rainbow-colored magic liquid. She tries to sneak away without fixing it but the toilet comes alive and yells at her. All the creatures in the bathroom stare at Rosalinda until she goes back and uses the plunger awkwardly. Afterward, she cleans most of the rainbow gunk off in the waterfall-sink then heads back to class. She leaves shining, rainbow colored footprints all the way down the gray hallway.

Premise 2

Jay and his big sister, Pepper, are playing in a sandbox. Pepper goes over and wrestles the dump truck away from Jay. He gets sand in his eyes and starts crying. When their mother comes over, Pepper drops the truck and runs away. Mom comforts Jay by giving him a new, shiny plastic shovel. She tells him it’s magic and he forgets about Pepper. When Jay starts playing, the shovel brings some toys to life and transforms others into different fantastic things. He starts changing everything around him and accidentally turns his sister into a huge monster. He changes a bucket from the sandbox into a helmet and the shovel into a sword so he can fight her. The siblings battle on the now huge playground bridge. Jay defeats the Pepper monster and sends her careening into the lava pits below the bridge. The “magic” disappears and Pepper runs to Mom, crying about her scrapped elbow. Jay stands triumphantly on the bridge.

Premise 3

Kevin sits nervously in a lobby, awaiting a job interview. Two small, smokey creatures sneak inside the building and scamper around unnoticed by everyone else. Kevin watches as one creature causes people to mess up whatever they are doing. The other makes the people around it succeed. Success follows Kevin into his interview and he gets the job. Back at his apartment, he tries to work on a blueprint for a bridge but can’t stop thinking about Failure and Success. He goes outside to try to clear his head and runs into the pair again. A hobo by Success finds $20 and a college student crashes his bike when Failure walks past. Thinking quickly, Kevin snatches Success up in his bag. When he gets home, he puts the creature in a bird cage by his desk and gets to work. However, instead of grabbing Success, Kevin accidentally got Failure. He thinks everything is going well until his bridge is completed and then promptly falls to pieces. Death sits with Success and Failure on a park bench, the remnants of the bridge behind them. He reads a newspaper with the headline “HUNDREDS KILLED IN BRIDGE COLLAPSE,” folds it up, and pats Failure on the head.