Chapter Text
The fire was glowing brightly, flickering off of Dinah’s fur. The cat had grown so very old, her fur had nearly all turned white. A twelve year old Alice sat stroking her, listening quietly to the tick-tocking of the grandfather clock across the room. She cast her eyes towards the looking glass, a vague memory of a dream she had once had crossing her mind.
“Alice?” Her sister’s voice echoed through the hall, “Where are you? You had better not have gone in the garden, you don’t want to be all dirty when uncle Charles comes do you?”
“I’m in here with Dinah,” Alice responded, hoping that her sister wouldn’t notice the unladylike way she had shouted back her answer. “Tell me, how much longer it will be until he gets here?” Alice then said, smoothing down a tuft of fur on Dinah’s paw that she had licked upwards.
“Quite soon I’m sure,” came the reply, though it was of little use to Alice, who had never much liked the word soon. She looked up at the grandfather clock, it’s features seemed to form a face the closer she looked at it, a mouth seemed to appear out of thin air, not unlike one she had seen so very very long ago…
Two yellow eyes opened and Alice was sure of it. “Why you? You’re that cat! That cat from my dream!” She whispered excitedly pointing up from where she stood at the face of the clock, or rather the cat that floated in front of the clock.
Cheshire’s smile grew impossibly wider, “Maybe I am, or maybe I am not.”
“Well I do hope you are,” Alice said, “Then again, how can I truly be sure if I’m not just dreaming you again.”
Cheshire's head rolled upside down, “Perhaps your whole life has been a dream, and you’ll wake up one day to find that everything is as it is and nothing is as it isn’t.”
Alice didn’t like this notion at all, so she quickly responded with her own remark, “I do suppose you could be right… but I am sure that I am myself, all that silly nonsense is behind me now, I’m a lady, and you’re just a dream.”
The crescent moon smile seemed to falter just the tiniest bit, “But of course I shouldn’t like to be a character in someone else’s dream, otherwise, I wouldn’t really be me at all, but just another version of you.”
Again Alice felt compelled to say something in defiance of this statement, “Well that can’t be true, those dreams from when I was little…” she paused to find the right words “Well I mean they weren’t entirely, well I mean some of the people I met-”
The large cat rolled back upwards and cut off whatever it was she was about to say, “I know exactly who you speak of, you speak of the dearest Queen of Hearts is that right? You don’t want her to be a part of you.”
“Well, this is all a silly argument anyway,” Alice said, “And she is NOT a part of me, she is just a dream. As are you.”
“Never mind that then,” said the Cheshire Cat, clearly wanting to change the subject, “I have a rumor I would be glad to discuss instead.”
Alice, being rather curious said, “What might that rumor be?” Her voice rising ever so slightly.
“Follow me, and I’ll tell you all about it,” replied the cat, saying every word slowly and sharply. The small door of the grandfather clock opened, revealing a long white hallway, where the walls were decorated with gears that turned each other back and forth.
Alice was slightly disappointed, “I apologize, but I can’t follow you,” she said, my uncle is coming very soon and I have to-“
“Oh don’t worry about Time,” replied the cat, “He has given you plenty of himself.” A long striped tail appeared gesturing to the clock, where the word ‘soon’ appeared between the numbers 4 and 5. Alice watched as the hour hand slowly wound back, until is was far enough away from soon that she knew she would have much time to spare, and without a second thought she squeezed through the door of the clock.
The hall of gears greeted her on the other side of the door, and Alice was surprised to find that when she looked back at the door she had come from it had completely disappeared from view. “Quite curious,” she said, more to herself than the cat, “I do hope I will be able to find another way back.”
The cat flew quite a bit too close to her face. “I thought that you were dreaming?” He said in a mocking tone.
Alice scoffed, “I am, of course, it’s just, hard to remember at times is all.”
“And yet, I remember you saying such a thing merely a minute ago,” came the reply, “Funny that you already forgot.”
They walked a little further down the hall and Alice noticed little faces on the gears twisting upside down and back up again over and over. I shouldn’t like to be one of them, Alice thought to herself, Always getting turned upside down and rightside up and then back down again. Not to mention they’re crammed so close to their neighbors.
It was as if the cat had read her mind, for he soon said, “Yes those poor little things, always twisting and turning. Miserable to look at if you ask me.”
Alice nodded her head in agreement and continued to stroll down the hall. “So, where might we be going?” Alice asked, trying very hard not to forget that this wasn’t real and she had no reason to get so invested.
“Time himself would like to speak with you,” was Cheshire’s droll reply. “Something about clearing it up for the ones that found their way in. Sounds like stuff and nonsense to me but what do I know, he is Time after all.”
Alice made the decision not to look further into Time’s reason for talking with her. “I do believe you promised me a rumor,” she said instead, and turned ever so slightly towards that cat, who was currently nothing but a floating pair of ears.
The full cat appeared, “But of course, I do love a good, juicy rumor don’t you?” Alice nodded again and the cat continued, “Well, don’t repeat it but I heard a few days ago, that the people plan to rebel against our queen.”
Alice’s eyes widened, and her hand reached up to cover her mouth, “Is that true?” She asked excitedly. She had read of rebellions in her lessons and they had seemed rather exciting, although the more she thought about it, the more it seemed they might cause more violence than there was before, she could very well remember the way the king had pardoned all of the sentenced croquet guests. “Why exactly are they rebelling? I thought that they didn’t really behead anyone, and I’m sure the queen is an annoyance but if everyone gets pardoned anyway why risk the bloodshed of a rebellion?”
The Cheshire Cat swirled along behind her, “Oh there have been beheadings, plenty of them, although the king does pardon some if he can. But the rebellion is just gossip anyhow.” He circled back in front of her, starting to lick one paw, “It’s purrrfectly fine with me either way. As you can see, I’m not at risk,” he said as all but his head disappeared, and for a moment he pretended to fall to the ground before gently floating back up.
Just then they came to a door at the end of the hallway. It was gigantic, and made Alice wonder if she might need one of those special cakes in order to fit in with whoever would use such a large door. It was painted a dark navy blue and sat slightly crooked on its hinges. “Well,” said the cat, “I do believe it is Time for us to part ways.” He laughed at his own joke as he slowly disappeared. Before Alice could take another step though, his smile materialized and said in almost a whisper, “goodbye… Alice.”
Behind the door was an enormous room covered in shining red and gold gears similar to the ones outside. They provided much chatter as pipes hissed out steam to the tunes of various nursery rhymes. A man sat still in the middle of it all. He had a dark lean face that was completely expressionless.
How odd, Alice thought to herself. It seems he could be made of stone. Perhaps he is a statue? I wouldn’t suspect Time to be so still.
But, as if to prove her wrong, Time blinked. It was a very slow blink, but the most peculiar thing about it all was that Alice heard a distinct clicking sound as it happened, and then a snap when his eyelids finally went back into place.
“Excuse me sir,” Alice said as she slowly stepped closer to him. “I was told that you wanted to speak with me, however it was an unreliable cat that gave me that information so, if you wish for me to go I wouldn’t mind.” Alice didn’t understand how he managed to intimidate her more than any of the queens ever had, but something about his quiet inexpressive face sent a shiver down her spine.
His mouth opened and again there was a slow clicking sound before it clicked into place. When he spoke, it didn’t close again, but merely stayed where it was, and the sound seemed to be coming from around her rather than from that wide, still mouth. “Yes I did indeed intend to speak with you, you see there have been several others who have stumbled into our world, and I would like to save as many as I can.”
Alice stepped back a bit, her mind struggling to comprehend exactly what he was saying. Perhaps she had heard him wrong, the chattering of the gears and hissing of the pipes could have overpowered the voice of this man. But she had to contradict her own thoughts, of course you heard him right, his voice was louder than any of these other noises. So again she tried to puzzle out what he had said. Not only had he implied that she wasn’t the only one to stumble into this wonderland, but he had also implied that it had taken some toll on the others who came.
“You are perplexed,” Time said again, his mouth still not shutting, “You likely believe it to be a dream, I assure you it is not. However, that is no reason to be frightened.”
Alice blinked, “Well, I can’t tell if what you’re telling me is true or if I’m just making this all up, so there’s no way to convince me that what you’re telling me is correct.” She huffed, and for a second she nearly forgot that she had ever been scared of Time.
She remembered when he spoke again. “Insolent girl!” This time the sound of his echoing voice was so loud Alice wondered if everyone around the whole world could hear it, “What I’m telling you is true, and it is important. If you refuse to listen it is your loss, not mine.”
Alice backed up again, quite afraid this time. Though it would still be hard for her to believe that this man wasn’t a figment of her imagination, but was in fact Time himself, she made a decision to listen to what he had to say, whether it was true or not. She wouldn’t like to see where the dream went if she again contradicted him.
As she was thinking his body started to move. First his mouth shut, then his legs started to bend upwards. Again there was a slow, steady clicking as he stood, though the clicking was much louder and nearly drowned out the other sounds echoing through the room. Finally when he was up, he made his way to the other side of the room, where a long burgundy curtain hung shut. Alice followed him, trying very hard to match his slow pace so as to not offend him. After what seemed like an eternity, he made it to the curtain and pulled a leaver, which quickly opened the curtain. Behind it was an enormous glass window from which Alice could see an expansive hedge maze leading out into the horizon.
“Time sir?” Alice asked, “Were there really others that came here, people like me?” She didn’t expect the question to be so genuine, but it was. If, by some chance, this wasn’t a dream, she needed to know that she wasn’t the only child that had wandered too far from her own world. “Have other children come?”
Time’s mouth clicked open, “No, you are the only child that has found her way to our kingdoms, but others have come, adults.”
Another question left Alice’s lips, “And I heard that you wanted to save us, pray, what was the meaning of that? What do we have to lose?”
His head, which had before stayed rigid, looking out the window with his empty eyes, turned, moving the same way as his other joints. When the clicking stopped he said, “Well, the cat might have told you, we’re all mad here. Including anyone who stumbles in. You ask what do you have to lose? Your mind.”
Shock covered Alice’s features, “How dare you call me mad! I’ll have you know that I am quite the lady, and no one, not even you have the right to call an established lady like me mad!”
Time did not acknowledge her outburst but instead continued speaking. “There was a man, Edgar. He was the first to come here in his sleep, spent his time in chess watching people die at the hands of an executioner, and left raving mad.”
“But what happened to him after that?” Alice asked.
“Nevermind what happened to him, I don’t want the same fate to befall you. If you lost your mind, who knows what would become of you?” His statement would have been less harsh had he given a sympathetic smile, or placed a hand on her shoulder, but he didn’t. Instead he stood still, his eyes seeming to hold everything, yet see nothing.
Alice looked away, quite unsettled by his appearance. “Were they always mad down there?” She asked, pointing to the hedge maze below.
Time’s head turned back to face the window. “Most of them.” Came his reply, cold and hardened, “Although, had I done things differently in the past, perhaps I could have helped the current situation in Hearts, the first kingdom you visited.”
“What do you mean?” Alice asked, trying to forget about the conversation they had previously had.
“I should have erased some occurrences from the mind of a certain monarch before she made any rash decisions.” Time said, and Alice wondered if he was being purposefully vague.
“Well what does that mean?” Alice tried to ask.
“Enough questioning me girl!” His voice rose again. Suddenly his body zipped around quickly to face her, something Alice thought wasn’t possible for him. “It is now that I will remove your memory of this place, and the places on either side of that hedge.” He pulled a pocket watch out of his hand and began to turn one of the hands back.
Alice’s head spun suddenly and it seemed that the hissing pipes emitted so much more steam than they had before. Flashes of her time in wonderland came into her vision. The tea party and the Queen of Hearts, the Tweedles and the White Knight, all of them seemed to come and promptly go. “Alice!” Someone was calling her name “Alice? Oh she’s asleep! There she is!”
Her eyes opened to see the face of her uncle Charles. She greeted him happily and they made their way to the dining room. “Now Alice, did you have any good dreams when you dozed off in the other room?” He asked.
Alice looked back up at him, a slightly puzzled expression on her face, “You know, I can’t recall.”