Wonderland

Jon could still remember the hustle and bustle of the 9/5 life and the dreariness of knowing there was nothing more out there.

Cars, tv, diamond rings, running the rat race, just trying to make a living.

But then Wonderland came.

It came like an explosion, a sudden rending and upending of all they knew.

The most average people ran.

But many got stuck and a few chose to stay.

Nowadays, the giant toadstools and humming flowers were a part of everyday life. Most people still grumbled. But Jon could never get enough. Wonderland was more his home than anything had ever been.

The flowers were talking in whispers.

The Tiger-Lily crowed triumphantly.

What gossips they were!

Coming to her spot, Alice down on the grass and closed her eyes, letting the whispers run under, over, and through her.

Over and over she heard the same thing...

“...the girl in the mirror.”

“The one on the other side...”

“...the other Alice...”

“She’s coming.”

Alice rolled over, brushing away the roots and colorful heads. She didn’t like these rumors. But at least there were no mirrors here, stupid things didn’t know what they were talking about.

Or before

Maybe during...

Time was very upset so nobody knows.

Whispers say he tried to murder.

Shouts said that he was murdered.

Time was silent, as usual, ticking loudly away to no end.

Rumor has it on good authority, because she wasn’t there so she must be trustworthy, that muffins saved him.

That was the day

Or was it night

Mid afternoon..?

Won’t you?”

Hatter’s eyes fluttered open, heavy from the tea induced sleep.

The voice seemed to chuckle softly, ringing metallic like in the porcelain pots.

“Will you?

Won’t you!”

His eyes shot open.

“New cups!” He shouted, pulling the table cloth down. “Move seats! Move seats!”

Hare and Mouse grumbled.

“Won’t you join the dance?”

I felt my heart beating in rhythm to the music. It was Time, here himself. The giant that tethered insanity to reality.

I was going to cut that tether tonight.

So I started to sing.

I don’t really know what I was singing, I never did these days. Music was everywhere now but it made no sense to anyone, so I stopped trying.

I had barely finished the first verse when two voices schreeched at once.

One was the Queen. “HE’S KILLING TIME!! OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!”

The other vibrated the air itself.

I caught my breath and turned.

“The muffins!” She screamed.

Golden hair.

Blue dress.

No mistake.

Dancer’s swirled by, rapidly becoming clouds of haze that faded into the music. The orchestra was going to have a lot to answer for.

The girl in blue that nobody looked at was leaning against a table with an air of annoyed boredom. She hated balls, so mandatory and rolling but never going anywhere...just like everything else in this forsaken place.

A top hat bobbed along the outskirts of the crowd, making its way through the haze of dancers. But it wasn’t dancing.

The girl sat up, alert. Her eyes flitted to the balcony but the Queen wasn’t watching, she’d fallen asleep with tart on her face.

The Hat was moving to the center of the room...where Time held them all captive. Suddenly she understood, the heavy boredom, the endless tune, the Hat. He was going to kill Time.

There was only one thing to do.

“The muffins!!” She shrieked! “Take the muffins! They’ll save your life!”

A giant hand reached down from space to snatch the basket of muffins. The Hat whirled around and froze.

He saw the Girl in Blue.

“Alice...” he whispered.

The Duchess smiled softly at the round little man kneeling before her. A ring of smoke escaped her lips and thickened the air. “Yes, Porky?”

“Your invitation has arrived.”

The Duchess’s lips creased across her face, squinting her eyes and drawing the smoke out her nose. “About time.”

She plucked the crème colored envelopes from his pudgy hand and inhaled the perfume it was doused with. Then, with a twist of her finger, she broke the red heart seal, sending the blood colored card tumbling into her lap.

“BOYS! WE’RE GOING TO THE BALL!” Her bellowing voice echoed through the Old Town, rattling soit off the walls and sending as many rodents scurrying away as came running to her call.

Or was it assassination?

At this point, who knew.

“Hatter.”

He looked up with a smile “Hello there Topper. Ready for this?”

Topper shrugged, sliding down an embankment to join the man on the path. “Not really sure what we’re doing.” He checked a watch in his hand “but we’re late for the ball.”

“Is that a white rabbit’s?” Hatter inquired.

The boy grinned.

“Well...we’ll discuss the morality of filching from bunnies later.” Hatter adjusted his coat uncomfortably. “In the meanness of Time, just know that watch is always faster than we are.”

Topper watched him closely. “So, what are we doing?”

Hatter’s grin returned and he started whistling again.

Topper’s eyes narrowed. “Just as long as it’s nothing crazy, killing Time isn’t a hobby anymore.”

To be...perfectly honest...you have no idea where here is. Probably still within Wonderland but that boarder line is a little hazy so this could really be anywhere.

You push open the old screen door and the wooden frame creaks frightfully.

Inside, the still summer sounds are replaced by the sound of the rocking chair and knitting needles.

“What do you want?” Nanny Goat asks behind the counter, feeling out your interest.

You tell her.

The needles click

And clack.

A cicada sings somewhere...it has a nice voice.

And click

And clack.

Click.

Clack.

“So...”

You continue to wait.

“You want to hear about Alice?”

You correct her politely.

“Know? No one knows anything about Alice except Alice...and Mabel...and Marianne...The Caterpillar...and Dinah...so no one really you see.”

You nod and wait.

“But if you want to hear about Alice, well, how much information do you want?”

You offer her the toadstools you brought over the boarder, perfectly normal toadstools, possibly not even poisonous.

She pokes through them with an eighteenth needle and then sticks it in her yarn to work with it.

“That’s a lot of information. Let’s see. Alice is a girl sometimes and a woman other times. You’ll recognize her by her hair that it light and her favorite color is blue so are her eyes. Wonderland is hers, or she is Wonderlands, no one really knows, possibly not even Alice. We are all our own creatures, so we don’t have to play by all the rules...that’s why some things make sense. But she has to live by all the rules, or she enforces them, who knows, so everything makes sense. If you find her you’ll likely not know it. She is kind and cruel, selfish and selfless. And, here’s a truly pricey bit of tell-tale,” she leans forward and her voice drops into a whisper, “she’s not here.”

The weight of those words cause a hush in the summer’s eve.

The heat holds its breath as everything looks out.

Because of all the places Alice could be, one place she was absent.

You nod your thanks, put on your hat, and leave.

Summer breathes again in fast, adrenaline filled breathes that cause the air to pulse, drumming a cacophony of barks, brats, screeches, bowls and cries.

“A gift...

“A Word of advice...

“Do not fight the dragons.”

“There aren’t any dragons here Uncle Stefan.”

“But...”

“There are Jaberwocky.”

A shrill scream in the distance.

“Yeah, a lot of Jaberwocky...!” She smiled helpfully and patted his arm. “But you’re right, I won’t fight them either.”

He smiled and patted her head in return, finally releasing her hand.

She jumped back, blew him a kiss and headed for the scream. Of course she wasn't going to fight it, that would be stupid, but she might have to redirect it if they wanted to get home that night.