A World of My Own
Chapter 1:
"Alice, open your mouth.", said the painfully boring Lady in her painfully boring white robe. I crossed my arms tightly and focused my attention at the blue birds dancing outside my window. The Lady tapped her foot impatiently. "Now! Open your mouth, Alice." She said again. Her dark eyes darted sharply and met mine. I sighed and opened my mouth in defeat. "Good girl." She placed the two white pills on my tongue and handed me a glass of water. "Swallow". I gulped down a few sips. "Open". I showed her my mouth. She smiled, "Good, now get changed into this dress." She handed me a sky blue gown with lace trimmed around the edges. I took it from her eagerly and ran the velvety fabric through my fingers. The Lady's unsettling eyes looked me up and down disapprovingly. "And please, brush your hair too? You have a very important date—your parents are visiting."
I turned away from her. "I don't want to see them."
"Alice, please just get dressed, you don't want to be late."
A monotone voice buzzed and mumbled over the loudspeakers, and the Lady gave me one final glance before turning away quickly. She shut and bolted my door behind her before sprinting down the hall towards the north wing.
"Finally." I spit the two pills out from under my tongue onto the tiled floor. "No more of these for me!" I said happily, as I kicked and sent them spiraling under my bed. That should fix everything soon. I unbuttoned my off-white gown, and shimmied it onto the floor. "Finally, some color" I said, as I admired my beautiful new blue dress. I stepped into it carefully, gently put my arms through its sleeves, and finally tied the satin blue ribbon tightly in the back. There are no mirrors in here, but I bet it brings out my blue eyes, I mused, as I twirled and twirled around in the beautiful new gown. I skipped to my window and grinned wildly at the birds. I held onto the bars and screamed, "Look birds! Look at me! Look how darling I look in my new dress!" They chirped and chirped but didn't say a word. Two robins chased each other and landed together on the oak's branches. "What do you think of my new dress Mr. and Mrs. Bird?" I asked them still grinning. The birds chirped loudly and flew away from the tree all in an instant. They left me completely and utterly alone.
I turned from the window and slid down the cement wall onto the floor. A tear swelled up in my eye, and a terrible knot formed in my throat. Ever since I've been sent to this awful place, the birds haven't been talking to me, the flowers haven't been dancing, and even the squirrels haven't been whispering sweet secrets to me. The Lady here says medicine helps me not see these "hallucinations." But these "hallucinations" are real as can be, and they're meant to be seen! "Where did my world go?" I asked aloud burying my head in my hands. My world was colorful and wonderful, and now it's depressing, cold, boring, and blindingly white. I'll give anything to get it back. The florescent light buzzed loudly above me and light footsteps stopped in front of my door. "Alice, you're parents are waiting for you in the courtyard. Are you ready to go outside?" "I'm ready."