It was recently brought to my attention that one of the Secret Santa participants for this last year didn't receive their gift, and since I volunteered as a replacement Santa I whipped a little something up. The prompt I chose was "tea party" and I think it's rather cute.
Tammy absentmindedly brushed bits of bark and sand from her blue dress and white, lace edged apron as she walked away from jungle gym. Oh sure, playing with the other kids on it was a lot of fun, but they had been at the park for a while now and it was a little too crowded, a little too noisy, a little too much for her right now. And besides, that small path leading off behind a clump of trees looked really interesting. Where did it go? What was behind those trees? It looked magical, like it might lead you to a fairy kingdom or on an adventure.
Tammy started down the path, nothing but a streak of bare earth worn in the grass by many passing feet. It wound in and out of the trees she was walking under, the young girl took a moment to look up at the slender branches in admiration when a sound caught her ear. It was the clink of dishes, she was sure of it. But why would anyone have dishes out in the middle of the park? There was the murmur of voices too, Tammy looked in the direction and saw something that took her breath away. Beyond the trees, in the middle of a clearing of green, short grass was one of the park picnic tables. Well, the seats attached to it made it obvious it was one of the park tables, but Tammy had never seen anyone put a table cloth one. At least, not one made of actual cloth. She had seen people put paper or plastic table cloths on picnic tables before, but never a fabric one, and certainly never with a lace edge like her apron. And one of those fancy, embroidered, really long pieces of fabric down the center too. On top of the table and table cloth was a full tea set. There was the pot, the little milk jug, the little pot for sugar, and two tea cups on top of those little tiny plates that go with them, all made of white china with blue swirls all over them. There were even sandwiches and cake on the table, Tammy guessed they were on matching plates but she couldn't be sure from her vantage point behind the nearest tree as she peaked out at the scene before her. Last of all were the two people sitting at the table, one was a man with bright orange hair wearing a top hat, the other was a woman with dark hair and her back to Tammy.
The young girl dithered behind her tree for a while, unsure whether she should go away or go out and talk to them. She watched as the two people smiled and laughed at each other while sipping from their tea cups or eating the sandwiches. Finally her curiosity was too much and she finally stepped out from between the trees and out into the clearing. The man was the first to see her, he stopped talking and looked right at Tammy. The woman noticed next, turning in her seat to see what had caught the man's attention. Tammy started towards the pair nervously now that she had both the strangers' attention. The man opened his mouth to say something, but the woman beat him to it.
"No room!" The woman bellowed loudly, making Tammy smile.
"Ha-Haru?!" The man asked in surprise, though Tammy was too focused on the woman to pay him much mind.
"No room, no room!" The woman repeated, though she was having a hard time holding back a smile.
Tammy stepped up to the woman and shyly looked down at her feet as she asked, "Are you..."
The woman leaned down closer and waited for Tammy to finish.
"Are you Alice?" Tammy shyly looked up as she finally finished her question.
The woman sat up and looked Tammy over, "That's a silly question."
The man spluttered in scandalized shock, though Tammy was too focused on the woman to notice him at the moment. "You're not?" Tammy asked with a slight tremor in her voice.
"How can I be Alice when you are?" The woman asked. A smile bloomed across Tammy's face as the woman continued, "I am who I am and you are who are, conversely I'm not who I'm not and I'm not you so how could I be Alice? I should think you would know who you are."
Tammy finally spared a glance at the man, he was wearing the right kind of hat but it was the wrong color, and his hair was almost the right color but it was the wrong length, and now that she was close enough to see it his eyes were the right color. She looked back up at the woman, "And he's the Mad Hatter?"
"Who else could he be but who he is?" The woman smiled down at Tammy, who returned the smile with a wide grin. Before Tammy could say anything else the woman yelled, "Change places!" She got up and ran around the table, yanking the Mad Hatter out of his seat as she ran past him. Tammy ran around the table a few times too, laughing all the while.
When they settled down Tammy was on one side of the table and the two Wonderlanders were on the other. "If you're not Alice, who are you? You're not the Queen of Hearts, right? What's Wonderland like? Are we in Wonderland? It looks like we haven't left the park, really. Where's the Door Mouse and March Hare? You don't look like you did in the movie. What are you eating? Can I have some?" Tammy reached for the cake still sitting untouched to one side of the tea set.
The Mad Hatter reached forward and pulled the cake away from Tammy, "It would be best to ask your mother before we let you eat anything."
The woman nudged the Mad Hatter then, but he responded by shaking his head. Tammy pouted, the cake looked really good. "But Mom's not here, we're in Wonderland, aren't we?"
The woman smiled, Tammy still didn't know who she was, and rested her elbows on the table as she leaned closer to Tammy. "No, we're not in Wonderland right now. The Mad Hatter and I decided to come here for a change of scenery."
"Oh, that's nice. I like this park, it has more swings than the other one by the library."
"Tammy! Tammy where are you!"
The young girl turned and looked to her left, but only saw more trees. "That's my Mom, I gotta go."
The Mad Hatter and woman stood as Tammy slipped down from the picnic bench and headed back towards the jungle gym. "Would you like us to accompany you?" The Mad Hatter asked with concern even as Tammy trotted away from them.
"I'm fine, it was nice meeting you!" Tammy waved as she headed back into the trees.
"It was nice meeting you too!" The woman called to the retreating girl.
Now that their little intruder was gone, the couple took their seats again as they resumed their meal. Haru struggled to hold back a grin as she looked at Baron, who only raised an eyebrow at his companion.
"Wonderland?"
"You haven't seen Alice in Wonderland? Or at least read the books? I'm pretty it they was written before you were Created."
"Be that as it may, it is not easy for me to find copies of books meant to be read by one of my natural stature."
"Hm..." Haru agreed as she sipped her tea, "Finding books that small would be difficult. But I think it's about time we caught you up with modern pop culture, we should have a movie night." Haru paused in thought for a moment before adding, "Or ten."