The conclusion to my story based on the SFC Prompt Not Quite Alice.
******************************************
An ugly old woman in a long gown and an even uglier younger woman also in a long gown stood in the clearing. They glared at each other over the head of a young woman who was squatting on the ground and covering her head with her hands. A crowd of people, dressed in brightlly colored clothes, some holding long wicked looking pikes surrounded the three women.
“Then the little brat told me that she thought you needed to wear more make-up to cover up your ugly face, your Highness!”, said the younger of the two ugly women
The crowd gasped. “She said what?!” thundered the older woman.
“That’s not true!” cried out the girl on the ground. “I never said such a thing! You’re lying, Duchess!”
“How dare you acuse me of lying, you little tart!” The Duchess gave the girl a kick in the side, and some of the people in the crowd laughed. The girl cried out in pain and curled up in a tight ball.
I started to rise to move towards the girl, but Hatter pushed me back into place. He motioned for me to back away until we were out of earshot.
“Who are those two old bats and who do they think they are to kick that child around!” I was red in the face.
“Keep your voice down, Alice, or they’ll hear you. You don’t want them to come looking for you…. they haven’t forgotten last time.”
“My name is Elle-Jay, thank you very much, and I don’t know what you mean by ‘last time’? I haven’t been here before.”
Hatter shook his head and looked at me in amazement. “I guess you really are not quite Alice are you?” Then he shrugged and flopped down the the ground. I plopped down next to him. He pulled an apple out of his pocket along with a pocket knife. He carefully began peeling the apple. “THEY,” he said, nodding his head towards the clearing, “are the Queen of Hearts and the Duchess, and the girl is, well, nobody I guess… in their world at any rate…”
“Why are they being so mean to her?”
“See, there are people in this world who feel so poorly about themselves that they take out their insecurities on those the perceive as beneath them. You know that, right?”
“Yes, it’s a basic method of operation in the world.”
“And the Duchess made up the story of the girl bad-mouthing the Queen so the Queen could be humiliated in front of her court. See, the Duchess doesn’t care much for the Queen.”
“Why not?”
“Insecure people tend to hate people in power…. and, there’s the fact that the Queen does what she can to annoy and humilate the Duchess as well.”
“A nasty little circle, isn’t it.” I watched as a single strip of peel curl from the apple Hatter was still peeling.
“The sad thing is that the Duchess, in order to set this up, pretended to befriend the girl, who herself has a lot of insecurities and got sucked right in.”
I felt myself getting even more angry. I clenched my jaw.
“You know that feeling, don’t you, Not-Quite-Alice.” Hatter eyed me, then he smiled and held up one long apple peel.
Suddenly, the Queen’s nasaling voice cut through the forest. “OFF WITH HER HEAD!”
I heard the girl begin to whimper and plead, “No, your majesty, please no!” The Duchess’s grating cackle erupted. I jumped from the ground and bolted towards the clearing.
“Wait!” hissed Hatter. He took a lounge towards me but I was just out of his reach. I dodged trees and sidestepped roots and rocks. I do not know how he managed to get ahead of me, but just before I reached the clearing, Hatter leaped from behind a tree and tackled me to the ground. Before I could yell out, he clamped a hand over my mouth.
“Do you want them to find you?” he harshly whispered. He pulled off of me and slowly removed his hand from my mouth. I looked at him with astonishment and then mouthed the words “We’ve got to do something to help her”.
Hatter then rose and hauled me to my feet. He motioned for me to follow him. He was heading away from the clearing. I figured he must have some plan. Guys like him always have a backup plan.
I followed Hatter back to the place where he had been peeling the apple. He plopped back down on the ground and began cutting apart the apple. I waited for a moment, just watching him. Finally, I burst out, “So what’s your plan?”
“Plan?” He eyed me with bewilderment.
“Yes, to rescue the girl.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because they-are-going- to- kill-her!” I enunciated.
He gave me a strange look. “No, they aren’t.”
I stared at him. “They aren’t?”
“No.” Hatter stood up. “You haven’t read the books, have you?”
“I’ve read parts of them.”
Hatter sighed. “If you had taken the time to completely read both the books, you would know that the King of Hearts always releases the people that the Queen wants executed.” Hatter shook his head in dismay at my apparent stupidity.
“You mean the girl is going to be okay?”
“Yes.”
“Oh…. but you said that if I interefered, I would have been in the same boat. Now you’re saying I was in no danger?”
“I didn’t say you were not in any danger, dear.”
“I just don’t get any of this.” I folded my arms in front of me and gave Hatter an exasperated look.
“Oh, alright. I guess I will have to spell this all out for you. What is the answer to my original question?”
“You mean about how ravens and writing desks are alike?”
“Yes.”
“Well…tsk…it doesn’t make any sense. Ravens and writing desks have nothing in common so there is no answer to that question.”
“DING!!!!! She finally got it right. There is no answer.”
“Huh?”
Hatter took me by the shoulders and looked me square in the eyes. “There are not always reasons that we can see for the things that we experience in this life. We don’t always have the answers to why bad things happen. And because of that, we cannot always fix things. YOU are always trying to find reasons why bad things happen and you are always trying to fix those situations or people.”
“That’s ridiculous. I can’t just sit by and let bad things happen when I can do something about it.”
“Of course not. But you need to assess each situation. Just know that you are not always the one chosen to fix every problem. If you don’t get anything else about what’s happened today, just know this: The Universe has everything under control. Sometimes you are meant to be a part of the answer and sometimes you are not. Sometimes you have to step back and let things play out in the way they were meant to. The wise person learns to know when to act and when to step back. Got it?”
I was stunned. I had to think about this. A sense of relief fell over me as I pondered this. I don’t always have to fix things? Finally, I quietly said. “Yes, I think I have it.”
“Good!” Hatter picked up the remains of his apple. “Until next time….”
“Wait! You can’t leave yet. I have questions.”
Hatter smiled. “There you go again…..trying to control the situation. Do you really think you need to learn more at the moment?” His eyes glinted with mischief.
I smiled back. “No, I guess I need to wrap my mind around this first. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome!” He popped the brim of his tophat out and put in on his head. “I shoulda had a fedora…..”
A swirl of bright light enveloped me and I suddently found myself seated on the ground, where I had been a few minutes earlier. The squirrel was still there, mutely staring at me with curiosity and munching on an acorn.
“Yeah, I really need to get a handle on this moment,” I muttered.
L. G. (c) 2009
Heather Blakey
Pelican1
Anita Marie
traveller2006
Suzanne
cheshire7
cronelogical
Sally
Jill
katirra
Edith
senua
cydlee61
cjvibes
bonniemc3
scribblenpaint
gwenguin1
Cle
keeperofdreams
woodnymph
