Finding Alice

Prologue

It was a warm summer day in which Aaron, and Alice played in the small forest thicket behind their house. The brother and sister were playing their favorite game "Adventures in wonderland" where they would often take the roles of different characters from the original poem and give them a twist of their own. Today Aaron, the older brother was playing the role of a noble white knight while Alice was playing the tyrannical queen of hearts.

Using sticks they found lying around as swords, the two were fencing with each other imagining they were locked in combat with lethal weapons. Casually the two battered the sticks against each other when Alice stumbled backwards on a nearby tree root; Aaron took advantage of this momentary slip up and jabbed Alice in the chest with the stick.

The jab pushed Alice down onto her butt as Aaron shouted triumphantly, "you have been slain queen of hearts." Alice Jerked her body a little bit then fell on her back making a few cliché dying noises then fell silent. "The queen is no more, you are free now Wonderland." Aaron said to no one.

Then after a brief moment of silence the siblings burst into laughter. Their laughs filled the entire forest as they almost didn't hear their dad calling to them for lunch. Aaron helped his little sister up and the two raced towards the house. Aaron was taller and faster than Alice and could easily outrun her but he kept his pace with her and waited until they were closer to the house to start slowing down. Alice won the race mere steps ahead of her brother; she knew he had let her win but still she cheered for herself and gave her brother a punch on the arm.

Over Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and some chips Alice admires how she wishes she could go to wonderland for real. She thinks out loud how incredible it would be to live there. Alice's praise of wonderland fills her entire house as she stuffs her face with food, spitting crumbs all over the table. Aaron laughs lightly at it and says, "Be careful now you might just wake up in wonderland and realize that you were only dreaming this world up."

"If it means I don't have to return to school in a couple more weeks then it's a deal." Alice said.

After another fun filled day of playing outside, Aaron and Alice went to their separate rooms and crawled into bed. Aaron woke up late the next afternoon; letting out a big yawn as he knocked on his sisters door to see if she was still sleeping. No answer. Aaron knocked again calling her name out loud this time, but all was silent.

"Alice I'm coming in." Aaron said as he opened the door.

Aaron was jolted awake by what he saw behind the door inside the room. Instead of his sisters bedroom the entire thing had been transformed into a study room. There was a neat orderly desk facing outside the window while the walls were lined with bookshelves that were filled with dust. Aaron turned around and bolted down the stairs.

In the kitchen Aaron found his parents at the table drinking coffee and reading some books. "Mom, Dad where is Alice?" Aaron asked.

His parents both look up at him, each with a puzzling expression on their face. "Who is Alice?" His mom asks.

"My sister, and your daughter for 14 years;" Aaron replied.

Aaron's parents give each other a concerned look then turn to Aaron. "Are you feeling alright son, did you hit your head?" Aaron's dad asks him.

"I'm fine." Aaron shouts. "Now tell me what's happened to my younger sister Alice and why has her room been changed into a study?"

After a long moment of silent Aarons mom said, "Sweetie you're an only child. You don't have a sister."

Thinking his parents have gone mad Aaron ran out of the house and into the forest thicket. "Alice!" He shouted. "Alice where are you?"

There was no response, and Aaron continued searching the forest thicket. After several hours of absolutely nothing Aaron called it quits and found his way back home in the dark. As he crawled into bed exhausted and confused he wondered what was going on and if he was losing his mind, he thought about hundreds of possible explanations for what was happening but none of it made any sense to him as darkness and sleep crept up on him.

The next morning Aaron checked back in what used to be his sisters room but it was just the same as the day before; a study room and no sign of Alice. Aaron's parents were at work today so he had the whole house to himself to search for clues for his missing sister. The first place Aaron goes to is the family photo albums and he pulls out every picture.

Aaron starts with the pictures from Alice's date of birth and on. He finds all the old family photos he remembers as a kid, trips to the zoo, the aquarium, visiting his grandparents. Every single one of the photos is exactly as he remembers it was with everyone in the same pose and some sort of silly face, except this time no Alice. His sister was not in a single family photo it was as if every trace of her has vanished, or like she was never real in the first place.

Aaron pushed those thoughts out of his head entirely and put back the photos from where he found them. Then knowing his parents would return soon and wishing to avoid there would be talk about his behavior the other night, Aaron went back into the forest thicket. He walked around at random thinking about what he should do next. After some time alone Aaron thought of a plan.

Returning home before the sun set Aaron played everything cool with his parents, explaining to them that he was having some sort of waking nightmare and everything was fine now. But for Aaron everything was not fine he still believed he had a sister named Alice and was bent on discovering what had happened to her. School would be starting up in a couple more weeks then he could ask Alice's friends, former teachers and anyone who knew of her if they had a clue as to what was going on.

Two weeks later on the first day of school Aaron sat outside the principal's office while his parents talked to the principal. Aaron had gone to Alice's friends as he planned but when they gave him the same reactions his parents did he started yelling at them, believing it was still some sort of practical joke. Security escorted Aaron to the principal after that and they phoned his parents.

Aaron returned home grounded for a week, and suspended from school for a few days. His parents tried talking to him about things but he only ignored them and when school came back around he avoided everyone and kept his head low. Things were fine for a while after that, or so it seemed.

One day at school after about a month of the incident on the first day some kids were mocking Aaron at lunch, he ignored them until they brought his sister into it. Without a second thought Aaron punched the first kid in the face and sent him sprawling backwards. His friend retaliated, by kicking Aaron in the chest and sending him onto an empty lunch table.

By the time Aaron recovered and was back onto beating the two other students security had shown up to break up the fight. But Aaron was not only big and strong; he was mad and very determined to hurt these two who had insulted his dear sister. Aaron fought off the security guards as he continued his assault on the students. More security guards came after that and eventually they were able to stop Aaron; but not before he beat the other students black and blue.

Aaron's parents were furious about the news of their son's actions. When they learned the fight was started over what they are now calling "the Alice conundrum" they started making him go to a therapist. If Aaron didn't go they would sent him to an asylum for adolescents, so he chose therapy instead. At first Aaron is entirely reluctant to talk to the therapist at all but eventually he opens up and tells her about Alice, and how they used to play in the forest thicket behind his house.

Soon enough the therapist suggests to Aaron that Alice was never real in the first place and instead he made her up in his loneliness at home. That he used the story of "Alice's adventures in wonderland" for a base on building an imaginary sister, thus her obsession with the novel. At first Aaron completely disregarded the theory, but over time Aaron began to accept it was possible.

After a year and a half of therapy and the overwhelming evidence stacked against him, Aaron finally accepts the fact that he really did imagine a younger sister named Alice to quell his loneliness at home. Then five months later Aaron still seeing his therapist helping him move past all that has happened to him graduates from high school and his parents tell him that they think its best for all of them if they move out of town now that he's no longer in school.

Aaron is sad to leave his friends behind but he also agrees with his parents and begins packing things up as soon as they find a place. Aaron no longer has to see his therapist but she gave him her number in case he needs to talk to her about anything. And after a couple weeks everything is packed up and put into a moving van that Aaron's mom drove ahead to their new house.

Aaron stays behind to help his dad clean up the dirt and dust around the house when he gets to his dads old study. He checks the room for dust or dirt but finds nothing and begins to walk out when an image of Alice, his imaginary sister randomly pops into his head. Aaron looks around the room and it is just as empty as before except the closet door which is cracked open slightly. Aaron realizing he forgot to check the closet to make sure there isn't a mess to clean up in there he slides open the door and finds a paperback novel titled: "Alice's adventures in wonderland."

Aaron picks up the dusty book as a piece of yellow aged paper slides out from inside it and lands by his feet. He picks up the paper and reads what is written on it: "Aaron, I am sure by now you are wondering about what has happened to me. It's not an easy thing to answer but it is simple and short. I have found myself in Wonderland and after my all that has happened to me here I have decided to stay. I am writing to let you know that I am safe and happy-

Love, Alice."

Aaron read the note a second time as tears started streaming down his face. When his dad called to him Aaron wiped his tears away and slid the note into his pocket. Aaron went back downstairs and told his dad he would wait in the car for him to finish.

As his dad starts up the car Aaron puts the note in-between the pages of the book and rests it on his lap. Then they start to drive away as Aaron looks back at his old house, his old home, and his old life; a life where he had a sister.