Forever Wonderland CHAPTER 1
Characters: Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland characters, and OFCs
Rating: G to PG-13 for some fighting sequences
Disclaimer: As much as I would love to claim Wonderland and all it's gloriousness, I cannot. Therefore, I give all credit to Louis Carroll, Disney and Tim Burton.
Summary: Imagine being the granddaughter of the great Alice of Wonderland. Imagine for a minute that you wished you could go to the place where you heard the stories? Could it be possible? This world makes you think that it couldn't be, but really, could it?
The commotion coming from the family room was getting to be too much for Melody. She loved her family but she needed some fresh air and some piece and quiet. If she didn’t soon, she felt as if she would go mad. A smile crept on her face as she remembered the stories her great-great-grandmother Alice used to tell.
The stories of the Red and White Queen. The tea parties with the Mad Hatter, March Hare and the dormouse. The silly Tweedle Boys, Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle Dum. The Garden of Live Flowers and the slaying of the Jaberwocky.
Most of the time Melody thought her great-great-grandmother told these stories for amusement. She had heard them since she was a child. And to a point, Great-Great-Grandmother Alice always seemed to make them feel real. Almost as if Melody herself could visit someday. Even her Mother’s mother and her mother’s grandmother told stories of this Wonderland. But why did her mother not?
Melody always wonder why her mother didn’t want any part of Great-Great-Grandmother Alice’s stories. They were whimsical nonsense and never hurt anyone. But it seemed that her mother thought them to be childish and flooded the mind.
Melody rather enjoyed the stories and looked forward to visiting her grandparents. Her mother kept things so straight laced at home it felt that even if she believed she could fly, she wouldn’t be able to.
Melody took a tour of Alice’s gallery. She walked past most of them but stopped upon one with a strange looking man. He had chalk-white skin, large friendly eyes, and bright orange hair.
“Hatter,” she whispered to herself as she ran her finger over the bumpy surface.
She smiled and tried to picture the times that Alice ventured to Wonderland and visited with The Hatter and his friends. More often than not, Melody wished that someday she could visit, even if it was only in a dream. It seemed so magical.
So many things weighed on Melody in her life that she just wished that she could get away. Her job as a secretary wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. Not only that, all her friends were married and had children. She always felt the odd ball out. Maybe it was her quiet nature when meeting new people that scared men away. After all, it always seemed they were into girls with a buxom chest, blonde hair and dim witted. And though she had the trademark blonde hair of her family, dim witted she was not. She had a brain and she thought most of the men in her time just didn’t like the face that she could actually open her mouth and have an intelligent conversation.
The noises from the family slowly faded as Melody stepped outside into the summer sun. She closed her eyes and let the rays warm her face. The breeze was fragrant of lilacs and freshly cut grass. It was summer in London; Melody’s favorite time of the year.
She stepped off the porch and took a stroll around the spacious yard. She forgot that Great-Great-Grandma Alice had a shrubbery maze put up many years ago for her children as a source of entertainment. It was finely pruned and as a child Melody enjoyed getting lost. It had been a few years since her last romp and she decided to take another. After all, being eight-and-twenty, you just didn’t go about running through the maze. But at that moment, she felt she needed to embrace her child-like curiosity once again. She took off her flip flops, rolled up the hems of her jeans exposing her ankles, and pulled her long, blonde hair back in a pony tail.
“On your mark. Get set. Go!” she said to herself.
She took off at a sprint running through the yard, heading straight for the opening of the maze. She ran around the first bend coming to a sudden stop. Which way; left or right? She closed her eyes and tried to map out the memory of her childhood. Right. She turned and ran around another bend. Round and round she went until she made it out of the other end without any other mistakes, ending back in the yard.
She wiped a glint of sweat off her brow and bent over placing her hands on her thighs. She felt the warm sun hit her back as she caught her breath. She smiled to herself and felt sweet intoxication of what it once again felt like to be a child. She placed her hands on her hips and stood back up surveying the spacious yard.
Over in the left corner by the bushes there was a strange ambient glowing. At first she thought that maybe it was just the sunlight reflecting off one of the lawn ornaments, but it moved.
With curiosity, she decided to take a look. Melody walked across the yard and headed over to the bushes. As she got closer, it seemed to move again. Never being one to ignore something, she kept following it. It brought her further into the bushes and it stopped and disappeared.
Melody inched closer to where the glowing was and stopped over the place where it disappeared. She heard some rustling and quickly turned to her left, then right. Her heart beat a little faster, being startled. When she turned back around she noticed a squirrel come out of the shrubbery. She screamed, taking a step back. Her heel got caught in a hole and before she could catch her footing, she was falling.
Falling, falling, falling. Her hair let loose from the ponytail and flailed around her face. Her screams echoed off the tunnel walls as she tried to reach in front of her. It was pitch black and she could see nothing. She could only hear the air blow past her ears as she fell deeper and deeper. The atmosphere got cooler the longer she fell. A couple times she ended up hitting the side of the tunnel as it twisted and turned. She didn’t know anymore if she was falling up or down; she was turning so much.
With a sudden stop, she landed face first onto the hard, dirty ground. She kept her eyes closed a minute, afraid to move. When she finally found a rhythm to her breathing, she peeked one eye open. She couldn’t see much since her hair covered her face. She winced as she moved her arm to free her face. She pushed herself up slowly, feeling the effects of the fall. She rubbed her arms and looked around her.
She was in a forest. The trees were bare and the wind creaked through the branches. The dried leaves floated around her dancing in the wind. The sky was dark with clouds, appearing as if it was about to rain. She could hear noises around her and they sent a shiver up her spine.
Melody thought for a moment that this place looked vaguely familiar, but didn’t all barren trees in the Fall? She pushed herself to her feet and looked down the path that she was standing on. She hoped the direction she headed would send her to someone that would be able to help her find her way back home.
As the noises seemed to get louder and more eerie, Melody picked up her pace and tried to exit the forest as quickly as she could. She didn’t like being in a strange place all by herself. She also realized she didn’t have her cell phone on her to call in case she needed to help. Fear started to creep through her veins as she started running.
The forest seemed to go forever and she was started to get anxious thinking she made the wrong decision. Just as she was about to stop and turn back the other way, there was a clearing coming close.
“Finally,” she whimpered and she picked up her sprint to a run.
When she made it to the end of the forest, she stopped and surveyed the area around her. It was open and the sky seemed to take on a different color. It was more red with hints of pink. But the clouds still made it feel dark and eerie. Ahead of her was a house. It seemed small from where she was standing but it still looked strangely familiar. She squinted and could see there was a light on inside.
As she got closer, the house started taking on a shape of it’s own. It was slanted to the right a little, bearing cracks in the siding. The siding itself was starting to fall off and the windmill on top had tore sails. It was black, singed almost, looking like it was in a fire. Grass sprouted up between the cracks in the stone and a fog rolled around the house.
Melody furrowed her brow as she walked past a long table in the front yard. The place settings and china were stacked clumsily and laying sideways. The long white tablecloth was gathered, bunched, and crooked. The chairs were pushed away from the table at odd angles.
“Curiouser and curiouser,” Melody said to herself. “Why does it feel like I have seen this place before?”
Melody turned to look at the house when she heard a faint singing. She stepped slowly up to the stairs. Curling her fingers into a fist, she reached her hand to the door, then pulled it back. She didn’t want to intrude, but she needed to ask for help how to get back to her house. But she didn’t even know where she was to begin to ask for directions.
She gathered her courage and rapped on the door three times. She waited patiently as she heard the singing stop and listened to the footsteps come closer to the door. Slowly the door opened.
She leaned a little to the left to peer in as a face appeared out of the shadows. Her eyes grew wide in astonishment. Her breath caught in her throat. She tried to swallow as the door opened fully, exposing the occupant of the house before her.
“Hatter?”
Rating: G to PG-13 for some fighting sequences
Disclaimer: As much as I would love to claim Wonderland and all it's gloriousness, I cannot. Therefore, I give all credit to Louis Carroll, Disney and Tim Burton.
Summary: Imagine being the granddaughter of the great Alice of Wonderland. Imagine for a minute that you wished you could go to the place where you heard the stories? Could it be possible? This world makes you think that it couldn't be, but really, could it?
The commotion coming from the family room was getting to be too much for Melody. She loved her family but she needed some fresh air and some piece and quiet. If she didn’t soon, she felt as if she would go mad. A smile crept on her face as she remembered the stories her great-great-grandmother Alice used to tell.
The stories of the Red and White Queen. The tea parties with the Mad Hatter, March Hare and the dormouse. The silly Tweedle Boys, Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle Dum. The Garden of Live Flowers and the slaying of the Jaberwocky.
Most of the time Melody thought her great-great-grandmother told these stories for amusement. She had heard them since she was a child. And to a point, Great-Great-Grandmother Alice always seemed to make them feel real. Almost as if Melody herself could visit someday. Even her Mother’s mother and her mother’s grandmother told stories of this Wonderland. But why did her mother not?
Melody always wonder why her mother didn’t want any part of Great-Great-Grandmother Alice’s stories. They were whimsical nonsense and never hurt anyone. But it seemed that her mother thought them to be childish and flooded the mind.
Melody rather enjoyed the stories and looked forward to visiting her grandparents. Her mother kept things so straight laced at home it felt that even if she believed she could fly, she wouldn’t be able to.
Melody took a tour of Alice’s gallery. She walked past most of them but stopped upon one with a strange looking man. He had chalk-white skin, large friendly eyes, and bright orange hair.
“Hatter,” she whispered to herself as she ran her finger over the bumpy surface.
She smiled and tried to picture the times that Alice ventured to Wonderland and visited with The Hatter and his friends. More often than not, Melody wished that someday she could visit, even if it was only in a dream. It seemed so magical.
So many things weighed on Melody in her life that she just wished that she could get away. Her job as a secretary wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. Not only that, all her friends were married and had children. She always felt the odd ball out. Maybe it was her quiet nature when meeting new people that scared men away. After all, it always seemed they were into girls with a buxom chest, blonde hair and dim witted. And though she had the trademark blonde hair of her family, dim witted she was not. She had a brain and she thought most of the men in her time just didn’t like the face that she could actually open her mouth and have an intelligent conversation.
The noises from the family slowly faded as Melody stepped outside into the summer sun. She closed her eyes and let the rays warm her face. The breeze was fragrant of lilacs and freshly cut grass. It was summer in London; Melody’s favorite time of the year.
She stepped off the porch and took a stroll around the spacious yard. She forgot that Great-Great-Grandma Alice had a shrubbery maze put up many years ago for her children as a source of entertainment. It was finely pruned and as a child Melody enjoyed getting lost. It had been a few years since her last romp and she decided to take another. After all, being eight-and-twenty, you just didn’t go about running through the maze. But at that moment, she felt she needed to embrace her child-like curiosity once again. She took off her flip flops, rolled up the hems of her jeans exposing her ankles, and pulled her long, blonde hair back in a pony tail.
“On your mark. Get set. Go!” she said to herself.
She took off at a sprint running through the yard, heading straight for the opening of the maze. She ran around the first bend coming to a sudden stop. Which way; left or right? She closed her eyes and tried to map out the memory of her childhood. Right. She turned and ran around another bend. Round and round she went until she made it out of the other end without any other mistakes, ending back in the yard.
She wiped a glint of sweat off her brow and bent over placing her hands on her thighs. She felt the warm sun hit her back as she caught her breath. She smiled to herself and felt sweet intoxication of what it once again felt like to be a child. She placed her hands on her hips and stood back up surveying the spacious yard.
Over in the left corner by the bushes there was a strange ambient glowing. At first she thought that maybe it was just the sunlight reflecting off one of the lawn ornaments, but it moved.
With curiosity, she decided to take a look. Melody walked across the yard and headed over to the bushes. As she got closer, it seemed to move again. Never being one to ignore something, she kept following it. It brought her further into the bushes and it stopped and disappeared.
Melody inched closer to where the glowing was and stopped over the place where it disappeared. She heard some rustling and quickly turned to her left, then right. Her heart beat a little faster, being startled. When she turned back around she noticed a squirrel come out of the shrubbery. She screamed, taking a step back. Her heel got caught in a hole and before she could catch her footing, she was falling.
Falling, falling, falling. Her hair let loose from the ponytail and flailed around her face. Her screams echoed off the tunnel walls as she tried to reach in front of her. It was pitch black and she could see nothing. She could only hear the air blow past her ears as she fell deeper and deeper. The atmosphere got cooler the longer she fell. A couple times she ended up hitting the side of the tunnel as it twisted and turned. She didn’t know anymore if she was falling up or down; she was turning so much.
With a sudden stop, she landed face first onto the hard, dirty ground. She kept her eyes closed a minute, afraid to move. When she finally found a rhythm to her breathing, she peeked one eye open. She couldn’t see much since her hair covered her face. She winced as she moved her arm to free her face. She pushed herself up slowly, feeling the effects of the fall. She rubbed her arms and looked around her.
She was in a forest. The trees were bare and the wind creaked through the branches. The dried leaves floated around her dancing in the wind. The sky was dark with clouds, appearing as if it was about to rain. She could hear noises around her and they sent a shiver up her spine.
Melody thought for a moment that this place looked vaguely familiar, but didn’t all barren trees in the Fall? She pushed herself to her feet and looked down the path that she was standing on. She hoped the direction she headed would send her to someone that would be able to help her find her way back home.
As the noises seemed to get louder and more eerie, Melody picked up her pace and tried to exit the forest as quickly as she could. She didn’t like being in a strange place all by herself. She also realized she didn’t have her cell phone on her to call in case she needed to help. Fear started to creep through her veins as she started running.
The forest seemed to go forever and she was started to get anxious thinking she made the wrong decision. Just as she was about to stop and turn back the other way, there was a clearing coming close.
“Finally,” she whimpered and she picked up her sprint to a run.
When she made it to the end of the forest, she stopped and surveyed the area around her. It was open and the sky seemed to take on a different color. It was more red with hints of pink. But the clouds still made it feel dark and eerie. Ahead of her was a house. It seemed small from where she was standing but it still looked strangely familiar. She squinted and could see there was a light on inside.
As she got closer, the house started taking on a shape of it’s own. It was slanted to the right a little, bearing cracks in the siding. The siding itself was starting to fall off and the windmill on top had tore sails. It was black, singed almost, looking like it was in a fire. Grass sprouted up between the cracks in the stone and a fog rolled around the house.
Melody furrowed her brow as she walked past a long table in the front yard. The place settings and china were stacked clumsily and laying sideways. The long white tablecloth was gathered, bunched, and crooked. The chairs were pushed away from the table at odd angles.
“Curiouser and curiouser,” Melody said to herself. “Why does it feel like I have seen this place before?”
Melody turned to look at the house when she heard a faint singing. She stepped slowly up to the stairs. Curling her fingers into a fist, she reached her hand to the door, then pulled it back. She didn’t want to intrude, but she needed to ask for help how to get back to her house. But she didn’t even know where she was to begin to ask for directions.
She gathered her courage and rapped on the door three times. She waited patiently as she heard the singing stop and listened to the footsteps come closer to the door. Slowly the door opened.
She leaned a little to the left to peer in as a face appeared out of the shadows. Her eyes grew wide in astonishment. Her breath caught in her throat. She tried to swallow as the door opened fully, exposing the occupant of the house before her.
“Hatter?”