Title: After the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Did Next
Summary: When Alice came back from Wonderland, and told her parents of the grand adventures she'd had, she never expected such a reaction.
Author's Notes: Partially inspired by Return to Oz. There are drug references in here, but... I think that's something people almost expect when it comes to Alice in Wonderland.
When Alice came back from Wonderland, and told her parents of the grand adventures she'd had, she never expected such a reaction. Electrotherapy and drugs, the doctor told her, would cure her of her delusions of Wonderland – people like the Queen of Hearts and the Cheshire Cat only existed in her head, despite all her claims to the contrary.
Even with all those assurances, Alice couldn't help but hope that she'd see Wonderland again. Sometimes, Dinah looked at her most curiously, and Alice had to stop herself from crying out "oh, Cheshire Cat! I knew you'd come to me!". After all, cats didn't talk in this world, and they most certainly didn't grin like the Cheshire Cat had.
After weeks of electrotherapy, the doctor started to give her drugs... such wondrous things they were! Alice could spend hours simply marvelling at the wonders of the curtains in her room, or the softness of Dinah's fur... why, she could almost forget Wonderland ever existed, wrapped up in this bubble of contentment and bliss. She could understand why the Caterpillar had been so fond of his hookah now.
'Oh, now. Silly Alice, thinking of Wonderland simply won't do!' she scolded herself. 'You shall never get better if you keep this up.'
As time passed, the doctor eventually declared Alice cured of her delusions, giving her a steady supply of those wondrous drugs to keep 'Wonderland' at bay. Once, whilst wandering the streets of London, she stumbled upon an opium den, and was quickly coaxed into trying some. Suddenly, the girl could see the world in a whole new light... when she returned home, she could almost swear Dinah was grinning.
If Alice couldn't go back to Wonderland, then it could come to her.