In a Wonderland
Disclaimer: I do not own Narnia or anything written by C.S. Lewis. I did however create Alice, Mila and her parents. They are mine.
"ALI, ALI CAN YOU READ ME A STORY?!"
Squealing in excitement, Mila thrust the book into her older sister's hands before she'd even got through the door. At eighteen Alice Riley had long overgrown the ritual of a bed-time story but this was not for her. It was for Mila. Well that was what she told herself but grasping her old, tattered copy of Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, she found herself wanting to read it again - for the two hundredth time.
"Alright munchkin, but I have college in the morning so just for a bit,"
"Hey," Mila said indignantly, "I'm not a munchkin, I'm nearly five!"
"You only turned four a week ago."
"Yeah but four is next to five and Mum says I'm her big girl because I'm leaving nursery soon to start Primary School."
"Ok then 'oh wise one' go and get into bed and I'll come up."
Mila scuttled up the steps on her hands and feet. Finally alone, Alice sighed before taking off her coat and shoes, placing them in the cupboard underneath the stairs. Looking around the dingy space she imagined a young Harry sat in a place very similar, not knowing how special he really was. Alice had often sat in there when she was younger wishing to find out she had magic so she could attend Hogwarts. Alas, that day never came.
"ALICE RILEY!"
Caught in thought about magic, Alice jumped in fright. After hitting her head on the hard, wooden door, she turned to see her Mum. There hands on hips, apron tied and with messy brown hair in a loose bun, stood a very angry woman. Alice braced herself for the lecture that was soon to come.
"Where on Earth have you been? Just because you're eighteen does not mean you can just come and go as you please without informing me. Two days you've been gone- two days! Not even a phone call or a text. Anything could have happened to you. Anything! Even Mila started to wonder where you were," seeing the look on her daughters face, she relented, "I know you're older so you're allowed freedom but it was very irresponsible of you not to even get in touch. I've been worried sick."
Alice winced at her mother's monologue. She had wondered if going to Alton Towers with her best friend was a good idea when she was supposedly revising for her A Levels. But it was her last time to hang out with Bethany before they both went to separate universities. She regretted nothing but now she just had to work on placating her Mum.
"I know and I'm sorry. It was just a last minute thing. You shouldn't worry about me anyway, that's the beauty of having a mature independent child. I give you my word as a lady that I will not die without letting you know beforehand," she stopped upon seeing an unamused look on her Mum's face. "Joking aside, I needed a break. I can't study for every waking moment of my life you know, it would make me suicidal."
"Stop being melodramatic and make sure you revise something before Wednesday. I don't want you failing. York University won't let you in if you don't get that 'A' in Physics."
"Urghhh" Alice moaned remembering how much work she still had to do. Turning around she closed the cupboard door and grabbed her book from the coffee table.
"Well I'm off to be an outstanding older sibling and read my little sister a bed time story."
"You. Are reading. To Mila?" her Mum repeated in disbelief.
"Yes I am. It's not that hard to believe, I'm incredibly self sacrificing."
Her mother scoffed.
"I AM," she insisted, "and the munchkin loves me."
"I AM NOT A MUNCHKIN!" hollered Mila. She was sat at the top of the stairs, in her My Little Pony pyjamas, sticking her head through the banister.
"Hey, get into bed you." Reprimanded Alice.
"Well hurry up then, I want you to read!" She moved from her spot on the landing and hurried back to her bedroom.
Turning to her Mum Alice chirped, "Goodnight, mother dear."
Rolling her eyes she replied, "I'll see you in the morning Alice. Don't forget we're going to see your Grandma tomorrow so I'll pick you up from Bethany's at around five o'clock."
"Okay," she called although she was already bounding up the stairs. She went into Mila's bedroom and shielded her eyes. The abundance of pink was assaulting her senses; it was everywhere. As a child Alice hadn't really been into the princess and doll phase that her sister was now infatuated with, she had been infatuated with Doctor Who. When little girls had wanted to wear ball gowns and marry a prince, she had wanted to fight aliens and travel with a nine hundred and eight year old Time Lord.
Time had changed her perspective of the tales that had filled her childhood. Although she liked to believe in the stories of Doctor Who and Harry Potter, she now knew that they were just stories so no matter how hard she wished, they would never come true.
She sat in the patterned arm chair near Mila's bed, the fairy lampshade behind her giving off a pink glow which highlighted the page, "Okay, so where should we start? At the beginning?"
"No!" Mila protested, "Mum already read the start. She got up to the part when they were watching the sports thing on brooms."
"Quidditch?"
"YEAH! Start from that bit Ali." She snuggled under the quilt but pulled on Alice's arm to let her see the pages.
So Alice read for an hour, her voice getting sore after the first thirty minutes because of all the accents she was putting on. Her impression of Hagrid was legendary. Mila was really enthusiastic at first, wanting to look at all the words but as time went on the four year-old's head started to droop. She ended up asleep with her neck bent at an uncomfortable angle.
It took Alice a few minutes to realise that Mila was not awake because she was so engrossed in the book. She placed the paperback on the bedside table and turned to her sister. She looks so much cuter when she can't talk thought Alice, carefully manoeuvring her into a more comfortable position.
Although she liked to deny it, the two sisters did look remarkably similar. They had the same rosy cheeks, blue eyes and small mouth. The one noticeable contrast however was that Mila was blonde but Alice was a brunette. They had both gotten their appearance from their mother but Mila had inherited their Dad's hair colour.
Turning off the lamp Alice made her way to her own room. She quickly got changed into her pyjamas and closed her curtains allowing darkness to consume the room. It was always a challenge trying to dodge all the clutter that adorned her floor. Cleaning was not Alice's strong point. Managing only to stand on a few items of clothes, she clambered into bed. The crisp covers making her shiver and huddle closer to her blanket. She closed her eyes and fell asleep dreaming of the college work she had yet to complete.
*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*
The incessant ringing made Alice open her eyes long enough to slam on the snooze button…
"Alice," said a voice whilst someone was also shaking her, "Alice it's almost seven, you need to get up."
"I'll get up in a minute," she groaned rolling over and falling back asleep.
Suddenly, the covers were ripped from her and the icy air invaded her body.
"I'm up, I'm up!" she said vaulting upright and searching frantically for her clothes.
"Good, don't go back to sleep," her Mum demanded whilst walking out of the room, "and breakfast is ready downstairs when you want it."
She found a pair of leggings and her old Captain America t-shirt and threw them on. She planned to go jogging today before college. She had often planned to do this before but had never found the drive to leave the warm, cosy house. Vowing today would be different and yanking on an old pair of converse, she found her way to the kitchen.
Surprisingly, sat at the kitchen table was her Dad. She loved her Dad but his work meant she barely even saw him; he worked in Singapore. Even though it was the thing that kept her away from her Dad, she wasn't even completely sure what his job was. Some kind of engineer or something.
"Dad!" she exclaimed hurrying to give him a hug.
"Hey, Pumpkin." He said crushing her from his grip.
"I'm eighteen now Dad, you can't call me 'Pumpkin' anymore. It's demeaning." After saying it, she realised how much she sounded like Mila. What a frightening prospect.
"I've always called you that and I'm not about to stop now. So what's been going on with you since I've been away? No boyfriends I hope." Typical Dad.
"Oh don't worry, Darren and I decided to have an open relationship rather than put labels on it. He's more of a friend with benefits than a boyfriend."
He almost choked on his orange juice.
"Darren?"
"And don't worry about the drugs; I've got down to only taking them once a day. Honestly, you're so predictable! I don't have a boyfriend: don't want one, don't need one. So you can sleep soundly at night knowing the only thing your daughter is doing will be studying for her impending exams."
"Well that's alright then, so long as you're not lying to me."
"Like I would lie to you," she said seriously, "and a boyfriend would just distract me. I can't afford that right now. I've been waiting for this exam for two years and no boy is getting in my way."
"That's my little Astrophysicist," he said fondly ruffling her hair, "have you got college today?"
"Yepp, but I'm going for a jog first."
Her Mum who was doing the dishes turned around in shock.
"You. Going. For a Jog?"
"That's the second time in two days you've done that, it's very demoralising."
"Well you're just surprising me a lot lately. It's not a bad thing though."
"Right, well I'll be back soon. I'm only going to the woods at the end of the road," she grabbed a piece of toast, "I hope I'll make it though, all that smoking might have damaged my lungs."
She smiled as her Dad gave another splutter and her Mum gave her a disapproving glare. She had planned to take her ipod with her to make the exercise more bearable and to break up the monotonous jogging. However, seeing that it had no battery left she decided to take in the scenery. The woods at the end of her road were actually very pretty. Around them were fields and old country lanes and they also overlooked an old Hall that made it seem like she had stepped into a Pride and Prejudice novel. Her ipod was definitely not needed.
Setting off walking it only took her five minutes to get to the entrance to the woods. As she started jogging, she wondered why she didn't do this more often. Although she was slightly out of shape and stopping every few minutes, the exercise was incredibly relaxing. Early morning meant no one was around, the scenery looked particularly beautiful and the crisp air allowed her not to get too sweaty.
Twenty minutes later and about three-quarters of her way around the field, she spotted a man with a dog not far away. Alice immediately turned around and decided she'd just go home. She had just become aware of the fact that she was a young woman on her own in an eerily secluded forest. Didn't that just scream murder? Plus, she was less than ecstatic about dogs. Not a fear per say, more of a disliking.
Another contributing factor for her hasty change of direction was her clothing. Not that she would admit it but dressed in leggings and a top, she wanted as little people to see her as possible. She felt under dressed and didn't like how tight the leggings were.
Making her way back she picked up her pace. If the jog was going to be cut short, she could at least make it more arduous.
She ran through the trees, dodging protruding branches and overgrown bushes that were in her way. Her converse pounded the ground as she approached a rather dense part of the woods. Her lungs were burning and her steps were becoming less pronounced. She continued on. It was just a bit further. Not that far. She glanced over her shoulder to check if the man was still following her.
Then she fell.
It was as if the ground had been removed from underneath her.
She tried to hold onto something, a branch or a bush, but there was nothing to grab.
Her stomach lurched upwards, like she was back on the rides at Alton Towers before she finally hit the ground.
A.N: So there we have it the end of the first chapter. You guys will have to tell me to keep going or not because I'm not particularly convinced I should. Although, I was proud of this chapter, it took me bloody ages. Honestly you think writings a joy; it's not for me when I'm so meticulous over everything. It gets annoying.
Hope you liked it- Mel x