Forever Wonderland CHAPTER 8
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 Lewis 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?
Melody tossed and turned all evening. She kept dreaming of something horrible happening to Tarrant. What could have possibly happened during his disappearance? Melody thought of the words that Mallymkun said about the trip that Tarrant took. Surely she knew something. But then again, she had said that Tarrant goes on these trips and comes back in a few days time. But why was Mallymkun so excited about this trip? Was there something terribly exciting that happened why he was gone?
There couldn’t have been. He had been bruised and beaten. Blood was oozing from his skin and he looked weary and worn. Something happened on this trip that he was not inclining to speak about.
“All in good time,” he had told Melody. “All in good time.” What does that even mean?
Melody sat up on the couch. Her hair was sticking to the back of her neck, the sweat damp on her skin. She rubbed her eyes trying to erase the images of Tarrant battling something she didn’t even want to imagine.
He was safe. He was back. That’s all that mattered.
The sun was starting to peek over the trees and Melody could feel the warmth of the rays beat against her skin. The naked trees were swaying in the wind, but it looked like it was warm out.
She stood up, folded the blanket and sat back down. She rested her elbow on the back of the couch, placing her chin in her palm. She looked outside, slowly falling into a daze. She wasn’t thinking about anything in particular, really; just about everything all at once.
She heard feet padding down the stairs. Slowly a bush of red hair peeked out under the doorway. Tarrant stood at the bottom of the stairs, hands twisting in front of him. He let a smile draw on his lips as he saw Melody turn to greet him. She moved herself off the couch and slowly walked to him.
“Sleep well?”
He began to walk and winced when his foot hit the floor. He limped his way over to the table.
“Yes. It was very kind of you.”
Melody shrugged as she poured some water in the tea kettle and placed it on the stove.
“This is your house, after all. I am just a guest.”
She sat across the table from him, playing with the cloth.
“Did you sleep well?” he shyly asked.
“Yes.” She met his gaze. She knew that she wasn’t going to be able to lie to him. Those eyes of his could see straight through her even if she did. “Well, no. I had a dream, a nightmare.”
“My dear! May I ask what about?”
She lifted her eyes. “You.”
“Melody-”
“I really wish you would tell me what happened to you on your trip, Tarrant. I know something happened. You don’t just leave and come back with bruises and cuts and say that nothing happened.”
Melody got up and walked over to the stove and poured the boiling water into two cups. She walked them back over to the table.
“All in good time.”
She raised her hands and shook her head. “Not this ‘all in good time’ stuff again, Hatter. I want to know. Don’t you trust me?”
She searched Tarrant’s eyes. They changed from light green to a darker green.
“I can’t. Not yet.”
“Why?”
Tarrant could tell that she was starting to get agitated.
“I just can’t.”
He got up from the table slowly and began to walk out of the room. He moved through the front door and went outside.
Melody let her eyes follow him out of the house and she growled. So he was going to be like every other guy that she knew. He was just going to walk away from a conversation. He couldn’t even face her to tell her what was going on in his mind. She could definitely tell there was something that he wasn’t telling her. She huffed and stomped around the kitchen, tidying it up. She grumbled to herself, mocking Tarrant and his comments. She stared at wall while scrubbing the counter top.
Why was she acting this way? She was a guest in his house. He had just returned back from who knows what, injured, and need a companion. Sure he had Mally and Thackery, but she was sure that he needed human company. She closed her eyes and let her shoulders sag.
A few hours had past since their mini-argument and she wanted to rectify the situation. She went outside and saw Thackery and Mally bounding about the table again, but Tarrant was nowhere to be found.
“No, no, no, no, no!” she babbled. She ran up to Mally and Thackery. “Where’s Hatter!”
Mally pointed around the house. She ran to the side of the house to see Tarrant sitting on a bench in a beautiful garden of flowers. It was colorful beyond anything she had ever seen before. She inhaled deep; the fragrance of the different flowers filled her nostrils, tingling her senses. She walked slowly up to Tarrant.
“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” Tarrant asked without looking at her.
She nodded, though he couldn’t see her. She stood behind him and played with the hem of her shirt.
“May I have a word, Tarrant?”
He turned around to see her.
“Can we…” she whispered, pointing to the pathway, indicating that she wanted to walk. “I mean, if you can. I know that you have been through a lot and-”
“That would be fine,” he said standing.
He walked beside her as they moved up the path heading to the woods. Melody continued to keep her eyes lowered on the path in front of her as she played with the hem on her shirt.
“I wanted to say I was sorry.”
“Hmmm.”
Melody linked her arm through Tarrant’s. He placed his hand on top of hers as they walked.
“I am truly sorry for the way that I was acting. There was no reason for it. I acted rash and lashed out at you for no reason.”
“It’s alright.”
Melody unlinked her arm and stood in front of him. “No, it’s not. I have behaved badly, Tarrant. I let my emotions get the best of me and I have become,” she rocked her head back and forth, rolling her eyes, “mad. Sorry, no offense.”
“None taken,” he chuckled.
“I really wish you could tell me what happened. I know, I know, ‘all in good time’” she said as Tarrant opened his mouth to speak. “But I just wish that you would.”
“I’m not sure you are ready for it, that’s why I’m waiting.”
“I am ready for it! Tarrant, please…”
Tarrant looked into her eyes. He could tell that she was pleaded with him to tell her, but he knew deep down she still wasn’t ready. He opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again. He repeated this three times, then grabbed her arm.
“I’m feeling a little weak. I need to go and lie down,” he lied.
Melody nodded and walked with Tarrant back to the house. She watched him as he walked back inside and headed up the stairs. It was getting late in the day and she decided to make dinner.
A few days had past and Tarrant still hadn’t told Melody about what had happened. He still didn’t feel that she was ready for the news. She was still unfamiliar with Underland and he did promise to take her on a tour.
He was feeling slightly better than he did a few days prior, so he thought it might be a good time to take her around. They walked through the forest and visited some of the villages close by. Many people knew who Tarrant was considering he used to travel to the towns to sell his hats and get his orders from the town folk.
Melody thought it wonderful seeing the people laugh and mingle with Tarrant. He seemed like such a personable man. Her eyes lit up when he would joke and dance around the with children. Tarrant took her to a little coffee shop that he used to frequent and they shared a plate of scones and drank tea.
“Oh! The look on that lady’s face when you told her that pink wasn’t her color!” Melody wiped a tear from her cheek in laughter. “Priceless, Tarrant! Absolutely priceless!”
Tarrant was grabbing his side in laughter as well. But he was also feeling some pain yet. “Oh, I do know. But I couldn’t let her parade around looking like an overstuffed pig, now could I? Dreadful.”
Melody and Tarrant both looked at each other in a moment of silence. Laughter was waiting to escape from each of their faces and they broke out laughing. Melody took a drink of her tea to calm herself down.
“Now, my dear, you have seen part of Underland that I am most familiar with. Tell me about your life in Overland.”
Melody waved a hand in the air and shook her head.
“It’s nothing like it is here. People aren’t as friendly. They’re very judgmental and they care only about themselves. I like it here, Tarrant.”
His face fell a little. “But what about that gadget that you talked about. An I-pod, is it?”
“Oh! We do have some marvelous contraptions that I do miss dearly. My iPod is a, well,” she was trying to shape her hands in the air creating what looked like an iPod but it was hard to describe. “It’s, uh, a contraption that holds an abundant amount of music. Stuff that I can play over and over again without having the musician tire from playing it too much and too long.”
“Oh, I see,” Tarrant said trying to imagine it.
“Then there’s my hair straightner…”
Melody went on about things that she couldn’t seem to live without on a daily basis: her cellphone, computer, beauty products, blow dryer, straightener, car, iPod, piano, etc. Tarrant’s eyes were changing colors drastically as she went rambling on about things in her life.
“I think that will about do it for today, my dear. My head is spinning with all this new information that you have bestowed upon me. It’s, uh, quite intriguing.”
Melody could see the confused look on Tarrant’s face. His browed was furrowed and his lips were puckered. She couldn’t help but giggle at his befuddled expression.
“I’m sorry, Tarrant. I am sure that was quite a bit of information to try and retain.”
He could only nod.
“Shall we head back, then? It does look like it’s starting to get darker now.”
“Yes, I think that would be a wise decision, Melody.”
Melody linked her arm again in his. They walked back to the house in silence. Occasionally they would look to each other and smile shyly.
Melody felt she had found a very close friend. She didn’t want to ever leave Underland in fear that she would never see Tarrant again. She wished he could always be there for her. She never really had any close friends. She had acquaintances, but no real close friends that she could spill her heart to. Tarrant was that kind of person that she felt most comfortable with and whom she could say anything.
Mally and Thackery had already gone to bed by time that they got back to the house. It wasn’t late, but the sun had just set and it was getting dark. Tarrant walked to the sitting room and lit the lamp. He heard Melody yawn as she walked into the room. He looked at her while biting the inside of his lower lip.
“I think it’s time that I told you where I went off to.”
Melody felt her heart leap. He finally trusted her. Or, he finally realized that she was ready for the news; what ever that news was that he was going to tell her.
“You had better sit down.”
Tarrant waited until she sat down before he went into the story. He mentioned every detail. Her face went from excited to hear what he had to say, to confusion, anger and disbelief.
“And that is what happened.”
Melody tried processing everything he just told her. She got up, paced the room a couple times then stopped in front of him.
“I should have been the one to take on the Black King. Not you.”
“But you would have never defeated him.”
“Why? I am Alice’s granddaughter, am I not? Do I not have her blood flowing through my veins? She was not Underlandian and she still defeated the Jabberwocky. Why was I not given the same chance to defeat the Black King and defend the White Queen and Underland?”
“As much as you would have made a wonderful champion, Melody, the Oraculum showed it was me that had to do it. Even if you would have gone to fight, you would have been killed. The Oraculum never lies. I had to do it. It was my destiny.”
Melody looked at Tarrant, tears starting to fill in her eyes. She turned away and started to walk out of the room. Tarrant grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around. He looked her in the eyes.
“Why can’t I be Alice?” she choked on her tears.
Tarrant pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. “You are Alice. But in your own way. The Orcaulum is never done changing. Who knows why you were sent here. It isn’t clear yet. But do know, Melody, there is a reason you came to Underland. Your journey here is not done yet.”
Melody felt her tears sting and she let them fall soaking Tarrant’s shirt. He held on to her until he felt her sobs slowly ebb.
“You are a good friend to me, Tarrant,” she said wiping a tear away. “I never want to lose you. I don’t want to forget you when I go back.”
“I don’t think you will.”
PREVIOUS CHAPTERS:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
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 Lewis 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?
Melody tossed and turned all evening. She kept dreaming of something horrible happening to Tarrant. What could have possibly happened during his disappearance? Melody thought of the words that Mallymkun said about the trip that Tarrant took. Surely she knew something. But then again, she had said that Tarrant goes on these trips and comes back in a few days time. But why was Mallymkun so excited about this trip? Was there something terribly exciting that happened why he was gone?
There couldn’t have been. He had been bruised and beaten. Blood was oozing from his skin and he looked weary and worn. Something happened on this trip that he was not inclining to speak about.
“All in good time,” he had told Melody. “All in good time.” What does that even mean?
Melody sat up on the couch. Her hair was sticking to the back of her neck, the sweat damp on her skin. She rubbed her eyes trying to erase the images of Tarrant battling something she didn’t even want to imagine.
He was safe. He was back. That’s all that mattered.
The sun was starting to peek over the trees and Melody could feel the warmth of the rays beat against her skin. The naked trees were swaying in the wind, but it looked like it was warm out.
She stood up, folded the blanket and sat back down. She rested her elbow on the back of the couch, placing her chin in her palm. She looked outside, slowly falling into a daze. She wasn’t thinking about anything in particular, really; just about everything all at once.
She heard feet padding down the stairs. Slowly a bush of red hair peeked out under the doorway. Tarrant stood at the bottom of the stairs, hands twisting in front of him. He let a smile draw on his lips as he saw Melody turn to greet him. She moved herself off the couch and slowly walked to him.
“Sleep well?”
He began to walk and winced when his foot hit the floor. He limped his way over to the table.
“Yes. It was very kind of you.”
Melody shrugged as she poured some water in the tea kettle and placed it on the stove.
“This is your house, after all. I am just a guest.”
She sat across the table from him, playing with the cloth.
“Did you sleep well?” he shyly asked.
“Yes.” She met his gaze. She knew that she wasn’t going to be able to lie to him. Those eyes of his could see straight through her even if she did. “Well, no. I had a dream, a nightmare.”
“My dear! May I ask what about?”
She lifted her eyes. “You.”
“Melody-”
“I really wish you would tell me what happened to you on your trip, Tarrant. I know something happened. You don’t just leave and come back with bruises and cuts and say that nothing happened.”
Melody got up and walked over to the stove and poured the boiling water into two cups. She walked them back over to the table.
“All in good time.”
She raised her hands and shook her head. “Not this ‘all in good time’ stuff again, Hatter. I want to know. Don’t you trust me?”
She searched Tarrant’s eyes. They changed from light green to a darker green.
“I can’t. Not yet.”
“Why?”
Tarrant could tell that she was starting to get agitated.
“I just can’t.”
He got up from the table slowly and began to walk out of the room. He moved through the front door and went outside.
Melody let her eyes follow him out of the house and she growled. So he was going to be like every other guy that she knew. He was just going to walk away from a conversation. He couldn’t even face her to tell her what was going on in his mind. She could definitely tell there was something that he wasn’t telling her. She huffed and stomped around the kitchen, tidying it up. She grumbled to herself, mocking Tarrant and his comments. She stared at wall while scrubbing the counter top.
Why was she acting this way? She was a guest in his house. He had just returned back from who knows what, injured, and need a companion. Sure he had Mally and Thackery, but she was sure that he needed human company. She closed her eyes and let her shoulders sag.
A few hours had past since their mini-argument and she wanted to rectify the situation. She went outside and saw Thackery and Mally bounding about the table again, but Tarrant was nowhere to be found.
“No, no, no, no, no!” she babbled. She ran up to Mally and Thackery. “Where’s Hatter!”
Mally pointed around the house. She ran to the side of the house to see Tarrant sitting on a bench in a beautiful garden of flowers. It was colorful beyond anything she had ever seen before. She inhaled deep; the fragrance of the different flowers filled her nostrils, tingling her senses. She walked slowly up to Tarrant.
“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” Tarrant asked without looking at her.
She nodded, though he couldn’t see her. She stood behind him and played with the hem of her shirt.
“May I have a word, Tarrant?”
He turned around to see her.
“Can we…” she whispered, pointing to the pathway, indicating that she wanted to walk. “I mean, if you can. I know that you have been through a lot and-”
“That would be fine,” he said standing.
He walked beside her as they moved up the path heading to the woods. Melody continued to keep her eyes lowered on the path in front of her as she played with the hem on her shirt.
“I wanted to say I was sorry.”
“Hmmm.”
Melody linked her arm through Tarrant’s. He placed his hand on top of hers as they walked.
“I am truly sorry for the way that I was acting. There was no reason for it. I acted rash and lashed out at you for no reason.”
“It’s alright.”
Melody unlinked her arm and stood in front of him. “No, it’s not. I have behaved badly, Tarrant. I let my emotions get the best of me and I have become,” she rocked her head back and forth, rolling her eyes, “mad. Sorry, no offense.”
“None taken,” he chuckled.
“I really wish you could tell me what happened. I know, I know, ‘all in good time’” she said as Tarrant opened his mouth to speak. “But I just wish that you would.”
“I’m not sure you are ready for it, that’s why I’m waiting.”
“I am ready for it! Tarrant, please…”
Tarrant looked into her eyes. He could tell that she was pleaded with him to tell her, but he knew deep down she still wasn’t ready. He opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again. He repeated this three times, then grabbed her arm.
“I’m feeling a little weak. I need to go and lie down,” he lied.
Melody nodded and walked with Tarrant back to the house. She watched him as he walked back inside and headed up the stairs. It was getting late in the day and she decided to make dinner.
A few days had past and Tarrant still hadn’t told Melody about what had happened. He still didn’t feel that she was ready for the news. She was still unfamiliar with Underland and he did promise to take her on a tour.
He was feeling slightly better than he did a few days prior, so he thought it might be a good time to take her around. They walked through the forest and visited some of the villages close by. Many people knew who Tarrant was considering he used to travel to the towns to sell his hats and get his orders from the town folk.
Melody thought it wonderful seeing the people laugh and mingle with Tarrant. He seemed like such a personable man. Her eyes lit up when he would joke and dance around the with children. Tarrant took her to a little coffee shop that he used to frequent and they shared a plate of scones and drank tea.
“Oh! The look on that lady’s face when you told her that pink wasn’t her color!” Melody wiped a tear from her cheek in laughter. “Priceless, Tarrant! Absolutely priceless!”
Tarrant was grabbing his side in laughter as well. But he was also feeling some pain yet. “Oh, I do know. But I couldn’t let her parade around looking like an overstuffed pig, now could I? Dreadful.”
Melody and Tarrant both looked at each other in a moment of silence. Laughter was waiting to escape from each of their faces and they broke out laughing. Melody took a drink of her tea to calm herself down.
“Now, my dear, you have seen part of Underland that I am most familiar with. Tell me about your life in Overland.”
Melody waved a hand in the air and shook her head.
“It’s nothing like it is here. People aren’t as friendly. They’re very judgmental and they care only about themselves. I like it here, Tarrant.”
His face fell a little. “But what about that gadget that you talked about. An I-pod, is it?”
“Oh! We do have some marvelous contraptions that I do miss dearly. My iPod is a, well,” she was trying to shape her hands in the air creating what looked like an iPod but it was hard to describe. “It’s, uh, a contraption that holds an abundant amount of music. Stuff that I can play over and over again without having the musician tire from playing it too much and too long.”
“Oh, I see,” Tarrant said trying to imagine it.
“Then there’s my hair straightner…”
Melody went on about things that she couldn’t seem to live without on a daily basis: her cellphone, computer, beauty products, blow dryer, straightener, car, iPod, piano, etc. Tarrant’s eyes were changing colors drastically as she went rambling on about things in her life.
“I think that will about do it for today, my dear. My head is spinning with all this new information that you have bestowed upon me. It’s, uh, quite intriguing.”
Melody could see the confused look on Tarrant’s face. His browed was furrowed and his lips were puckered. She couldn’t help but giggle at his befuddled expression.
“I’m sorry, Tarrant. I am sure that was quite a bit of information to try and retain.”
He could only nod.
“Shall we head back, then? It does look like it’s starting to get darker now.”
“Yes, I think that would be a wise decision, Melody.”
Melody linked her arm again in his. They walked back to the house in silence. Occasionally they would look to each other and smile shyly.
Melody felt she had found a very close friend. She didn’t want to ever leave Underland in fear that she would never see Tarrant again. She wished he could always be there for her. She never really had any close friends. She had acquaintances, but no real close friends that she could spill her heart to. Tarrant was that kind of person that she felt most comfortable with and whom she could say anything.
Mally and Thackery had already gone to bed by time that they got back to the house. It wasn’t late, but the sun had just set and it was getting dark. Tarrant walked to the sitting room and lit the lamp. He heard Melody yawn as she walked into the room. He looked at her while biting the inside of his lower lip.
“I think it’s time that I told you where I went off to.”
Melody felt her heart leap. He finally trusted her. Or, he finally realized that she was ready for the news; what ever that news was that he was going to tell her.
“You had better sit down.”
Tarrant waited until she sat down before he went into the story. He mentioned every detail. Her face went from excited to hear what he had to say, to confusion, anger and disbelief.
“And that is what happened.”
Melody tried processing everything he just told her. She got up, paced the room a couple times then stopped in front of him.
“I should have been the one to take on the Black King. Not you.”
“But you would have never defeated him.”
“Why? I am Alice’s granddaughter, am I not? Do I not have her blood flowing through my veins? She was not Underlandian and she still defeated the Jabberwocky. Why was I not given the same chance to defeat the Black King and defend the White Queen and Underland?”
“As much as you would have made a wonderful champion, Melody, the Oraculum showed it was me that had to do it. Even if you would have gone to fight, you would have been killed. The Oraculum never lies. I had to do it. It was my destiny.”
Melody looked at Tarrant, tears starting to fill in her eyes. She turned away and started to walk out of the room. Tarrant grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her around. He looked her in the eyes.
“Why can’t I be Alice?” she choked on her tears.
Tarrant pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. “You are Alice. But in your own way. The Orcaulum is never done changing. Who knows why you were sent here. It isn’t clear yet. But do know, Melody, there is a reason you came to Underland. Your journey here is not done yet.”
Melody felt her tears sting and she let them fall soaking Tarrant’s shirt. He held on to her until he felt her sobs slowly ebb.
“You are a good friend to me, Tarrant,” she said wiping a tear away. “I never want to lose you. I don’t want to forget you when I go back.”
“I don’t think you will.”
PREVIOUS CHAPTERS:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7