A/N
EDIT: Cover art done by the amazing Spectra22! Thank you so much for the lovely fan-art and inspiration ^.^
deviantart . com art/Gaz-in-Wonderland-Her-Madness-Returns-516702061
I have returned from the dead! Kidding, but boy it sure seems that way. I have not written in a very long time. I was going through a dip in depression and was so un-motivated that I did not even want to write, but I decided to put all that to the side and begin one of my sure-to-be-a-hit stories: Gaz in Wonderland! I actually like how the first chapter turned out.
So, before I blabber on, I hope you like the story!
I do NOT own Invader Zim or Alice in Wonderland.
Enjoy and Review!
It was the beginning of December, Thanksgiving a fading memory that waved goodbye with a bittersweet gesture. Snow began to trickle across the ground and kissed the grass, only to leave behind a frosty whisper crossing the plains. If anyone had foretold of the future she was to encounter why, they must be mad. As mad as a hatter…
And so it was that she continued on with her life. Much crossed her path, but she rarely gave it a second thought and put it on its way, right out of her overall existence. That was the way Gaz had always been. Since she was young, she learned to decipher life; sorting through the fact and fiction, she set herself up not for a fairytale that her dreams birthed, yet a world with as little disappointments as possible. Though she could not avoid it all, her father and brother being the very root of science and progress, she steered clear of that way of life and remained in her own realm of solitude and rested her stern focus on what really mattered.
Who declared what was important in this world? What was important? Some may say money, riches beyond the wildest dreams. Others stated that family and happiness was all that one needed. So if all of that were true, why did she feel so unfulfilled? She had family. Even though they were not a picture-perfect family, an image of the American dream, she still had a brother and a father. Though they seldom communicated with one another, their presence was still known.
Most of the time.
And due to the success of her famous father, they had money to spare. Never before had she worried that they would go hungry, that one day they would lose the house, lose it all. So why wasn't she happy? What was it that little Gaz craved the most?
"Peace."
The shower drizzled down a rain of steaming water that covered her bare shoulders and back. As she breathed in the humid moisture, she laid her back against the almond, creamy walls surrounding her. She listened to the water cleansing her body. It tickled every root of hair, sunk into each pore, and doused every freckle.
It was not often that she could relax and leave the insanity of her whirling life to search out a moment of serenity. Usually whenever she finally managed to unearth the well hidden tranquility, someone would find a way to disturb her and interrupt the scarce feeling. For once it seemed that she was able to rest.
A thud on the door caused her eyes to slowly open. With an irritable sigh, she listened to her brother holler through the locked door, "Gaz! How long are you going to be in there? It's almost time for school and I still have to take a shower!"
She banged her fist against the wall, switched off the rain of water, and slid the glass shower doors open. Stepping into her black cotton robe, she wrapped it securely around her body before peering into the mirror. Dark circles beneath her eyes, frowning eyebrows, and a weeping grimace to rot the world; it was not the sight she had wished to see, especially if that image was of herself.
She swung the door open and stepped passed her brother who lectured her for the great deal of time she had spent inside the bathroom. Inside the safety of her room, she swished the towel across her violet hair and produced a tangled mass of weaving tresses. Her robe slid to the floor and with icy feet, she stepped into her closet to retrieve the usual outfit: a black dress that hung over magenta, black-striped leggings, complete with a skull necklace.
Dib waited impatiently outside her room as he listened to the hair dryer roaring. When all was calm, he banged on the door. "We've got to go to school now, Gaz. Or we'll be late!"
She scoffed.
Shooing him off after reaching for her backpack, she glanced around the house one more time before closing the front door.
It was only the middle of the day and already she was bored. It was the same routine over and over. Dib would argue with Zim and point out that he was a being not of this world, failing each time. She slipped in and out of each class without speaking so much as a single word to neither her peers nor her teacher. At lunch, she would drown herself in her video game and continue to ignore her brother's rants of Big Foot and Loch Ness. A sigh of relief and she stepped into her English class, escaping her brother's lectures. She shot a glance at Miss Bitters who remained perched at her desk with a scowling glare. She reminded her much of a mocking gargoyle. How she had managed to gain a class of hers even years after elementary school had ended, she did not know. But what she did know was that this was the class she dreaded most for she had come to expect the one peer that sat right behind her: Zim.
"Of all the people…" she muttered as she took her seat. Zim hardly noticed her presence and remained messing with the device hidden in his hands.
"Class, we have something very important to talk about," Miss Bitters began. As she continued, Gaz mouthed out the words as the teacher spoke. She said the same thing every day. "We are going to discuss your pitiful existence and see if you have any hope of making it in this dark world."
Gaz zoned out for the remainder of class, ignoring the familiar reminder that each student in the room was doomed to a life of working for Bloaty's Pizza Hog and scrounging for quarters in broken payphones.
She was so unfocused that she nearly missed the tidbit of information that the teacher said at the end of class. "Wait," she said, sitting up, "what?"
Miss Bitters frowned but repeated herself. "I said that due to the principle hoping to reduce the misery of this school, each grade level has been assigned a novel to read. So for homework, I want each of you to read the first eighty pages of this." In her hands was a copy of Alice in Wonderland.
"Are you kidding me?" Gaz groaned as she passed the stalk of books back to Zim.
"The Gaz-human does not wish to partake in this human ritual?" Zim asked.
"It's not a ritual," she spat, "it's just some stupid story."
Zim glanced at the cover. "I believe I have read this before…"
She rolled her eyes and replied unenthusiastically, "Congratulations."
"It was when I first arrived on this pathetic planet," he continued. "I happened to read several of your "Earthly novels" in hopes of gaining information about your people. But I must say that I have never seen a Mad Hatter or a rabbit in a waist coat. And who is this Alice that they refer to over and over again?"
"They aren't real," she said, standing to leave when the bell rang. "It's just some fictional story. It doesn't matter."
He followed her into the hallway, much to her detest. She entered the combination into her locker and shoved the books within. Zim leaned against the wall of metal doors and crossed his arm.
"Gaz-human does not care for fiction?"
"Why would I?"
"Why shouldn't you?"
She shrugged. "It only reminds me that this world is the exact opposite of a fairytale."
"You surprise me, little Gaz. Every other female worm I have met is constantly daydreaming of fantasies and Prince Dashing. Why not you?"
"First, it's Prince Charming." She sighed. "And forgive me for not waiting up for a knight in shining armor, but I don't believe in happily ever after."
He rubbed his fingers together and stared at her questionably. "Is that so?"
"I'm not going to get my hopes up like everyone else and become disappointed when Charming doesn't arrive. I don't need anyone to save me. I can handle myself."
"Interesting…"
"Yeah, well," she closed her locker and walked down the hall, "if you think the stuff in the books can really happen, then let me know how that works out for you."
Zim drummed his fingers together, his eyes squinting at the girl as he hummed, "Yes, interesting. Very interesting indeed…"
A/N
Uh-oh. I believe Zim is planning something for our little Gaz xD
Chapter 2 will arrive shortly!