Authors Note;; Figured I'd give it a try, why not?
WEEKLY ONE-SHOT CHALLENGE: WEEK 19
Deadline: Wednesday 7/15 Midnight PST
Theme:
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon and some days the statue."
Disclaimer;; I don't own any of the characters, sadly. Or Alice In Wonderland. But this idea, not the theme but the story, was all mine! I warn you…It's extremely odd. Just go with it. A few lines and actions are from Disney's Alice In Wonderland, and I don't own them. Read the note at the end. Also, this is un-beta'ed, so forgive me for any mistakes.
Time Frame;; This would take place after From Dead To Worse.
"If I had a world of my own,
everything would be nonsense.
Nothing would be what it is,
Because everything would be what it isn't."
"I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" Dr. Ludwig cried, rushing past her.
Sookie paused momentarily, staring in awe. Why was Dr. Ludwig dressed that way? The minuscule doctor was clad in light gray pants, a yellow vest with a bright red button up jacket open over it, and an umbrella in one hand, with her spectacles resting low on her nose. She also had a large hanging watch in her hand, connected to one of her back pockets Well…that was odd. She was perched on a stool in Fangtasia, waiting to see Eric after a long, hard day at work and sipping on a gin and tonic that tasted a little stale. Her impatience was beginning to pulsate across the bond.
Out of pure curiosity, she followed the doctor, as she rushed out the back door of Fangtasia, hot on the doctors heels. "What could she possibly be late for?" Sookie wondered aloud, trying to keep up with Dr. Ludwig. She was awfully fast for a such a short woman. "Dr. Ludwig!"
Dr. Ludwig half slowed down, rushing towards the near forest, turning and slightly hopping backwards as she waved at Sookie. "I'm late, I'm late, for my very important date! No time to say hello, goodbye! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!"
And with that, she turned around once again and continued rushing forward. Sookie frowned, continuing the chase. "Dr. Ludwig, wait!"
"No, no, no, no I'm overdue, I'm really in a stew! No time to say goodbye, hello! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" The doctor sing songed, diving into the bottom of a hill and disappearing.
Okay, this was getting really odd.
But she was terribly curious now.
Curiosity killed the cat, her subconscious warned her.
Despite that, she moved forward until she was right where the doctor had gone, peering down. It seemed to be some sort of large rabbit hole. She leaned forward, inspecting the site, when suddenly she lost her balance and fell forward. She shrieked, and threw her arms out to brace herself but she didn't land right away.
Was she…free falling?
After a few moments, the falling gradually slowed down and she floated (floated?!) past what seemed to be a lamp, in the dim lighting.
This was too strange.
She had to be dreaming. But living in a world of Supes and vampires, one adapts to odd things. And so, she decided not to question it too much, and reached out to grab the dangling switch, tugging it. The lamp turned on, illuminating her surroundings and showing her a few odd floating things, such as a desk covered with books and a mirror that made her see herself upside down. She was so amazed by these things, she didn't notice when she landed softly on her butt, legs out straight in front of her and hands splayed by her sides.
She was just about to rise to her feet, when she noticed what exactly was on her feet.
Mary Janes? Black Mary Janes? With white stockings running up her legs and…
And an effing Alice In Wonderland costume? Complete with the black ribbon in her hair and everything? What the hell was going on?
She heard lazy singing coming from a direction up ahead, and finally took in her surroundings. She seemed to be in the woods, or…was that grass surrounding her?
It was! This was too much!
"Oh, fuck it." She mumbled. What else could she do? She followed the singing, seeing a few floating vowels in the air. Literally, vowels. They were a bit fuzzy though, and oddly colored.
It seemed to coincide with the singing.
"Aaaaaa, eeeee, iiiii, oooo, uuuuuuuuuu…..Aaaaa, eeee, iiiiiii, ooo, uuuuuu!"
She was only slightly surprised to see a blue caterpillar perched comfortably upon a large mushroom, so large that she had to clamber up onto the smaller one to peer over the edge and see him.
He was, of course, smoking out of a hookah, and the vowels were his exhaled smoke. He was just bringing the handle to his mouth, when he spotted her and started a bit. He leaned forward, getting slightly in her face.
" Whoooo arrrre youuuuu?" He drawled, puffing smoke rings in her face to match the vowels, except an 'r' came out for are.
She rolled her eyes. She'd seen the damn movie and read the book before, so best go along with the story line right?
"I hardly know, sir! I've changed so many times since this morning, you see?"
"I do not see." He huffed out the letter 'c' in another smoke ring. "Explain yourself."
"I'm afraid I can't explain myself, because I'm not myself, you know." She replied readily, only a bit amazed when the 'c' spun hoops around her arm.
"I do not know." Came the dead pan response, and a puffy 'o' blew into her face, the smoke clouding her air. She coughed violently for a few moments, irritated, and she sighed, deciding to hurry things along. She scuttled away, disappearing behind a few blades of grass, when she heard him calling to her.
"You there! Girl! Wait! Come back! I have something important to say!"
She returned, placing her hands on her hips.
"Yes?"
"Make up your mind."
She started, taking a step back and gasping. "What?"
That wasn't how it went. She had been so ready for him to say 'Keep your temper', that she wasn't exactly sure what to do now except ask him to explain himself. Make up her mind about what? "I'm sorry?"
"Exactly, what is your problem?"
"Ohhh!" She fumed, her fists clenching. This was ridiculous. This wasn't happening. She just wanted to wake up out of whatever odd dream she was having, and be done with it. She stormed up to the mushroom, grabbed a piece off each side, and strode away, into the blades of grass again, damning the consequences. She knew she was supposed to say something about not liking being three inches tall, but she was already fed up with all of this. She nibbled on each piece of the mushroom, like Alice did, until she wa she normal height once again. She slipped the pieces into separate pockets of her white apron, and flung her hair over her shoulders, marching into the woods in front of her, ready for whatever was next.
She followed a sloping, green hill steadily making its way into shadows and scary looking trees, but she held her head high and continued. She felt a bit ridiculous in this outfit, but who was around to see, really? The hill smoothed out into a flat ground, and she simply walked for a few minutes, wondering where she was headed.
Pausing when more light was visible up ahead, she surveyed the sight before her before walking down the hill towards a small, slanted white house with what seemed to be bright yellow straw strewn across the roof. She heard merry sounds and whistling, and had a feeling she knew what was next. Her suspicions were confirmed when she reached the gate peering over the top of it. What did she have to lose at this point? She pushed the gate open, and her jaw dropped.
There were differently colored tea pots on the long, grand table, dancing around and whistling with steam pouring from their nozzles. The stream formed a haze over the table, but when she squinted, she could see two people sitting at chairs at the opposite head of the table.
What the hell?
There was Amelia, what was once possibly a classy dark orange pressed blouse on her torso, tied just beneath her breasts. A white collar peeked out of the tops of it, and a light tangerine colored bow tie was on her neck. She completed the ensemble with tight, buttery loking brown pants, and dark brown wedge heels. She was bouncing around merrily, chestnut hair whirling about her shoulders and grinning ludicrously at her companion.
Who was none other than her brother.
Jason bore the same loony grin, a huge hunter green top hat perched upon his straw colored hair that was just peeking out from under it. The hat had an even darker shade of green ribbon tied about the base, with a card with a huge 10/6 on it. An olive green suit to match the hat, with a black vest and a turquoise bow tie to complete the outfit. It wasn't too hard to figure out.
Amelia was the March Hare, and Jason was the Mad Hatter.
And they were singing.
"Aaaaaa very merry unbirthday, to me!" Amelia sang.
"To who?" Jason sang, cocking his head.
"To me!" Amelia poked herself in the nose, and winked one of her eyes.
"Oh, you!"
They clinked the tea cups they were both holding together, causing half the contents to topple out but they hardly seemed to notice and down their cups immediately, one of the tea kettles hopping over to hastily refill the cups.
"Aaaaa very merry unbirthday to you!" Amelia sang, her head swaying from side to side with the rhythm.
"Who me?" Jason sang, looking kind of confused.
"Yes, you!" Amelia confirmed, offering Jason her tea cup.
"Oh, me!" Jason accepted the tea cup, gulping it down in seconds.
"Let's all congratulate us with another cup of tea!" Amelia sang, grabbing one of the dancing pots and pouring herself and Jason yet another cup of tea. "A verrrrrrrrrrrrrrry merry unbrirthdayyyy to youuuuuuuuuuu!"
Coinciding with her last few words, she dropped the kettle she'd grabbed and popped the top off, reaching in and pulling out…
A miniature Sam?
No, it was Sam in the middle of shifting to his human form from a mouse, but upon seeing her he squealed and shifted back to the dormouse shape.
She stepped forward as Jason and Amelia turned their gaze to her, getting ready to sit down in one of the chairs.
"No room, no room!" They both cried, rushing forward. Jason hopped up onto a chair, and Amelia got mere inches from Sookie's face.
"But I thought there was plenty of room!" Sookie defended.
"Ah, but it's very rude to sit down without being invited!" Amelia chastised.
"I'll say it's rude!" Jason scoffed. Sam peeked his head up from the kettle, and looked at her with lazy, tired eyes.
"Very, very rude…" Sam whispered before a light snore ripped out and he disappeared into the kettle again.
Recalling what she was supposed to say, she looked at Amelia with wide, innocent eyes. "But I truly enjoyed your singing!"
"Our singing!" Jason gasped, a sudden prideful look taking over his features as he leaned forward, accidentally getting his elbow stuck in a cup of tea. "What a delightful woman! You simply must have a cup of tea!"
She knew very well, even as Amelia agreed whole heartedly with Jason and began pouring her a cup of tea, that no matter how she tried, she would not be drinking that tea. That was just how it went. From what she recalled. Alice never got to drink to tea so why waste her time?
"I would love to, you see, but I must be on my way! I'm trying to find the…Doctor?" She experimented, not sure if they would understand her meaning.
They stared at her blankly.
"The White Rabbit?" She tried, hoping they would understand that because she really didn't know what else to refer to Dr. Ludwig as.
"Ohhhhhh!" They mumbled in unison. Amelia pointed towards the woods behind the house. "She went that a way, but you must stay for our unbirthday party!"
"Unbirthday? What's an unbirthday?" She asked the obligatory question, itching to go the direction Amelia had pointed her in already. She wasn't sure why she was in such a rush.
"An unbirthday…if you have a birthday, then…you…" Amelia paused, and looked at Jason, snickering. "She doesn't know what an unbirthday is!"
"How silly! Why, it's quite simple!" Jason explained. "If you have a birthday, than every day that isn't your birthday is your unbirthday! And so, therefore, you have 364 unbirthdays!"
"I see!" Sookie said, slowly rising to her feet.
"Feed your head!" Sam suddenly cried, hopping out of the kettle and pushing a tiny tea cup at her. "Feed your head!"
Wanting to get out of here as soon as possible, Amelia and Jason were truly mad in whatever place this way, she sighed wistfully. "Oh, if only Tina were here! She would love this!"
"Who's Tina?" Amelia asked.
"Why, she was my cat."
"CAT?!" Sam screeched, running around in wild circles on the table, shrieking the entire time, before making a bee line for the other end. Jason and Amelia dove after him, and Jason slammed a cup over the top of Sam, trapping him inside. Both letting out a sigh of relief, they began to pour a cup of tea for themselves.
"See all the trouble you've caused?" Amelia accused, looking at her with wary eyes.
"But I didn't mean to-" She started, playing the part perfectly now.
"But you did!" Jason cried. Sookie puffed out air in mock exasperation, standing and putting her hands on her hips.
Jason and Amelia cringed, huddling together and hiding behind a chair, Amelia shaking and holding out a cup of tea. "Here, have a cup of tea!"
"Well I'm sorry, but I just haven't the time!" Sookie nodded, turning on her Mary Jane heel and stomping off in the other direction, to the woods Amelia had pointed to earlier. She came upon the variously colored trees with all the different arrows pointing opposite ways, saying things like 'this way', 'that way', 'up', 'go back', etcetera. Vaguely, she realized this was going in a backwards way of sorts. Didn't Alice come across the arrows before the Mad Hatter and March Hare? So which way should she go now? She was pondering exactly which way to take, when a beautiful, melodic voice began singing around her, and a few empty spaces between trees began lighting up different colors. She searched for the voice, and came across…
Of course.
The Cheshire Cat.
Only…
The same crescent, fluorescent white grin greeted her, but…
He had fangs?
Her brow creased, and she took a step in the direction of the smile seemingly floating on a branch. "Hello? I seem to be lost."
"Oh, it's quite alright." A familiar voice said, as two piercing blue eyes dropped into view, taking their rightful place above the mouth.
"Eric?!"
A deep chuckle, and the cat's body materialized. It was the Cheshire Cat, alright. Pink and purple stripes and everything. But it had Eric's fangs, eyes and voice. What in the world was going on? His tail swished up to lift his eyebrows off his head like a hat, in greeting to her, before replacing them. "Hello, Dear One, I'm here to help you."
"Eric, where am I? What is going on?"
"Relax, lover." Came his soothing reply, bringing one paw up to rest his furry chin on. "Have you seen now, how quickly things around you can change?"
"Eric, what's the point in all of-"
"Hush! I'm trying to show you a point here!" His tone became scolding for a moment, before softening. "Lover, I'm here to show you the two paths that will lay themselves before you later this night. Are you ready to see?"
"What the hell is this, some sort of screwed up combination of A Christmas Carol and Alice In Wonderland?"
"You could say that." He purred, licking his paw lazily. "Now, shut up and close your eyes."
Had she been in any other situation, she wouldn't have obeyed. She would have reamed him out for speaking to her in such a way, but something told her it was wiser to just listen.
So she did.
She closed her eyes, and when a gentle whisper told her to open them, she was back in Fangtasia.
Sitting in a chair in front of Eric's desk, waiting. Her casual jeans and the deep blue cotton long sleeve shirt she was wearing had returned, and her hair was in a pony tail once more, as it had been before all this insanity had begun.
Eric strode in, smiling at her and closing the door behind him. He leaned on the front of his desk, crossing his huge arms across his chest. "What may I do for you, lover?"
Her body was moving and speaking without any control of hers. It was like she was just watching, and there were two of her in her body. Her voice was gentle and deliberate, trying her hardest not to be cruel, but still be firm. "I've decided my feelings for you are only a result of the blood bond."
Immediately, his face closed down, all emotion swept from his features in a mere second. His eyes flashed something akin to pain for a spare second, before they shut down too. Cold, depth less ice.
"I beg your pardon?"
She-but-not-really-her took a deep breath, lowering her gaze from his. "I… Your world is too much for me, Eric. And…And I wouldn't feel the way I have been feeling about you, if it weren't for the blood bond."
A few seconds of nearly unbearable silence, and the only reward she got for dealing with it was a soft, barely audible, "I see."
She-but-not-really-her chanced a glance at his face, and she instantly wished she hadn't. Impassive and stone cold. Her heart began to thrum in her ears, and she became a bit nervous as to how he was going to react.
"I'm sorry, Eric. I wish-"
"Silence." Eric's voice wasn't even loud or commanding, it was lethally cool and calm, but the simmering raw rage beneath the surface made her mouth snap shut. "You wish nothing. And I am tired of convincing you that your stubbornness is going to hurt you in the end. The bond is not all we have, Sookie, but if you wish to believe so, than so be it. Get out of my office."
Her mouth opened and closed a few times, like a fish gasping for water, trying to figure out what to say. "Eric, I-"
"OUT!" Came his infuriated roar, going from calm to enraged in a mere second, like a switch flip. She jumped to her feet, turning on her heel and rushing out the door. No sooner had it closed behind her, than a crushing pain made her fall against the door from a wave of dizziness. But it wasn't her pain. It was his.
And then that pain shut off. Click. Like a remote.
But it wasn't that easy, of course.
A corner of her mind, the part that the blood bond had nestled its way into, seemed to dissipate. Her heart felt like it was, literally, physically shattering into pieces and a big, gaping hole was left inside of her. Her fingers clawed at the door, leaving marks in her desperate attempt to hold herself up.
Tears swam in her vision, and she realized that somehow, Eric had severed the bond. She wasn't sure how or what he had to do to do it, but it was gone.
She fell to her knees. She felt hallow, bereft. Like a significant part of herself was viciously torn out. Her fingers clutched her heart, that seemed to be tearing around the edges, and a crushing wave of remorse hit her.
Because, she'd been wrong.
The bond wasn't all they had, and she felt remorse for hurting him so deeply, as well as cutting off what possibly was her chance as real love.
A single tear fell, splashing to the cool tile beneath her knees, and her eyes squeezed shut. After a few gasping breaths, she opened her eyes.
To find she was back in the trees, luminous blue eyes gazing down tranquilly at her. The gaping hole she'd felt within her chest had vanished, but the ghost of that pain remained. She felt the urge to apologize to the …eyes before her, but knew it wasn't really Eric.
"Wrong path…" She rasped, pulling herself to her feet at looking up at the Cheshire…Viking, could she call him? with pleading eyes. "How can I escape that path?"
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days the statue."
"What does that even mean?" Sookie asked, throwing her hands up in frustration. Of course, the Cheshire Cat was always cryptic and vague.
A deep, rumbling chuckle bounced from him, that filled her with an inevitable rush of happiness and warmth due to…no. Snap out of that one, Sookie, she told herself. Not the bond. Yes, the bond was partially to blame, but not fully. His entire pink striped cat body came into view
"Oh lover, you amuse me so. It means whatever you want it to mean."
Unable to stop the glare that she now directed at the Cheshire Viking, she sighed impatiently. "But if you'd like to find your way to other path it's that way." One paw pointed down, while his eyes rolled in circles.
"It is?"
"Is what?"
"It's that way." She down, following the most solid hint he'd given.
"What is?"
"The path!"
"What path?"
Biting back her scream of frustration, she glared at him once more. "That's all you can give me? Alright. What's down the second path?"
Another chuckle, and he shook his head. Or what was equivalent to shaking his head by normal stands. As the Cheshire Viking, his head popped off his shoulders and bounced from side to side on the branch, before landing perfectly back on his shoulders, his gaze falling back to her.
"That, my darling," As he spoke, the purple stripes disappeared, leaving only what seemed to be a winding pink ribbon in the shape of where his lighter stripes had been, that slowly unwound and faded as it did so. "Is completely up to you."
And with that, the wind was knocked out of her. She felt like she'd been punched in the gut, and gasped. The surrounding trees seemed to melt, literally melt, and bleed together, forming a liquid swirl of neon colors, dripping into each other.
Her eyelids felt heavy, and she was just about to close them, when the ground beneath her feet collapsed. She screamed, throwing her hands up in instinct to cover her head, curling her knees into her chest.
And then, she was being violently shaken, her name called repeatedly.
"Sookie! Sookie, wake up!"
Mid scream, she shot up at the waist, her back rigid and eye wide and terrified. Her chest heaved with her labored breathing, and her eyes fell upon none other than the blonde Viking.
"Bad dreams?" Eric smirked, tilting his head.
Sookie simply stared at Eric blankly for a few moments, processing everything. It had all been a dream? She knew it! Which meant…
Yes. In the back of her mind, the light buzzing that was Eric was still securely in place.
The breath left her in a whoosh, and she flung herself at him, throwing her arms around him.
Shock flitted across the bond, before what amounted to satisfaction and contentedness, and his strong arms wrapped about her shoulders. "Bad dreams indeed." He chuckled, the same chuckle he'd given her as the Cheshire Cat.
Reigning herself in, she gather her control and leaned back, looking up at him and taking in her surroundings. She was in his office, and had been asleep on the comfortable couch in the corner. "When did I fall asleep?"
"Whilst waiting for me at the bar. Felicia noticed you were dozing off, and you seemed to be in such a deep sleep she called it to my attention and I carried you in here. You've been asleep for about an hour or so now, and I was more than happy to let you rest but you were screaming just now."
Her brow drew in confusion. So it had all been a dream.
But they say dreams reveal your deepest fears and desires.
"Did you need to speak with me about anything in particular?" Eric murmured into her hair, looking down into her eyes.
The pure intensity of his gaze froze her. She had come there that night to reject his blood and his affections, to tell him she thought it was all in the blood bond, just as she had in her dream.
And there was no way she was going through with that now.
So instead, she simply shook her head after gazing into cerulean eyes for a few moments, leaning forward and nestling her head in the crook of his neck. "No. Just wanted to see you."
A soft, half smile half smirk rose on Eric's lips, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. He felt her odd need across the bond. Not exactly desperation, but …fear, was it? The need to be comforted. He didn't want to push what exactly she needed to be comforted for, and decided if she wanted to tell him, she would.
Silently, Sookie was pondering the factors against them. She realized she was already too far into the vampire world to be left out of it, and he'd told her repeatedly that he was the main source of her protection. So why fight it anymore? If her dream was any indicator of what would come of her rejection, she was definitely not going to fight it any longer.
Only one issue remained.
Not bothering to explain the logic behind her question, her head tilted back and she looked up into his eyes again. He met her gaze with calm certainty. "Yes, lover?"
"How are we ever going to make this work, Eric? I'm stubborn, you're stubborn. We're both prideful. We're going to butt heads, and argue all the time."
A serene smile spread across his lips, and he gently shook his head, pressing a kiss to her lips for a brief moment. "Silly human. Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days the statue."
Her blue eyes widened in disbelief. Well, if that wasn't an indicator that she had made the right choice, she didn't know what would be. Rather than question how that was logically possible, that she'd dreamt of something he would say before he said it, and a dream had pushed her in the right direction, she simply surrendered to it with a knowing smile.
"What does that even mean?" She laughed, shaking her head.
A knuckle came up to brush across her cheekbone, and he brought them to their feet, from their previous kneeling position. His trademark vivacious smirk played across his face, a wicked glint in his eyes. "Accept that some days I will win, and some days you will win."
She couldn't make the connection between that and the phrase, but decided it didn't matter. So instead, she leaned up and brushed her lips to his. Two large hands tangled in her hair as a cool, wet tongue swept across her lower lip. A deep, guttural growl vibrated against her lips when she parted them to allow him entrance, and she smiled into his kiss.
He'd been right all along. She would grow to like the bond, and she would realize she belonged with, not to, with, him. And then, the phrase made sense.
Today, she was the statue.
_____________________________________________________________
Authors Note;; I am not on crack, I swear! It's just that when I read the weekly challenge, it took me a while to figure out some sort of meaning to it. I discussed it with my lovely best friend Kristina, and I finally figured out that it could mean 'Accept that some days you shit on others, and some days you get shit on.' Which could also lead to meaning some days your are the victor and get your way (pigeon shitting on the statue), and some days you don't. Which is where the moral of this story came from! The phrase itself made me think of the Cheshire Cat because of it's crypticness, and then somehow this was born. My mind is a scary place.
Anyways, I hope you guys liked it! Reviews highly appreciated so I know I didn't just waste my time writing this! I found it rather fun to write, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it just as much! It's a bit vague as far as my writing goes, I'm usually much more descriptive and go into more detail about situations and such, but I think this turned out well.
Reviews highly appreciated!
-Lollirot