DISCLAIMER: We DO NOT own any chars from AIW. They belong to Disney. If we did, the Tweedles would have a record deal and the Cheshire Cat would have joined the Wonderland circus as a traveling act. The only character I own is Alicen Sierra Kimberly Miller and her family.
A/N: In this story, my Alice is twelve and Sammie is eight.
"Sticking Close to Home"
Chapter 1-A Glue Like No Other
Twelve-year-old Alicen Sierra Kimberly Miller, Alice, ducked behind the Hatter's attic door in an effort not to laugh at her friend's attempts at making a center piece for the upcoming Thanksgiving festival the Queen was throwing.
"So Alice, what do you think of this?" Hatter asked. He held up his unfinished master piece as though it were something out of Wonderland Home Design.
Before Alice could answer, another voice did it for her.
"If you want my opinion, I think it's purrrfect. But unfortunately," the Cheshire cat said, turning his gaze upon the pre-teen, "your mother says no cats allowed at the festival."
"What did you do this time?" She asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
The cat faked a wounded expression.
"Me? Cause a catastrophe? Not this kitty."
Rolling her eyes, Alice turned back to Hatter's for mentioned work in progress.
"I don't mean to sound judgmental, Mr. Hatta," she started delicately, "but the last time I checked, center pieces didn't have a turkey wearing a sombrero on them."
Hatter frowned.
"So I guess the sunglasses are out too, huh?" He asked.
"I'm afraid so." She said.
"Besides," the cat chimed in, "I think they look better on me anyway."
"They're not Rose colored glasses." She told him.
"Maybe if the Queen tried them on again, she would see inviting me to the celebration in a whole new light."
"If coming means that much to you," she said resignedly, "I guess I could try to persuade Mom into changing her mind."
"Would you really do that for me?" He asked.
Hare chose that moment to enter the room.
To no one's surprise, he was lugging something big behind him. The thing looked like something that had jumped out of a badly directed Halloween movie.
"What in Wondaland is that?" Alice asked. She eyed the model suspiciously.
"Isn't it obvious." Hare asked.
"Uh no." She replied.
"It's a pilgrim."
"That's the strangest looking Pilgrim I've eva seen."
"I'm with Alice." Hatter said. He got a thoughtful look on his face. "Actually, I have seen stranger. Remember that time we went bird watching and accidentally aimed the binoculars the wrong way."
Hare nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh yeah. The Queen wouldn't let us near her bird bath for a month."
"Till this day, I still don't know what went wrong."
Before they could go any further, the sound of dishes hitting the floor brought them back to attention.
"It wasn't me this time." The Cat said gleefully. "I'm as innocent as a newborn kitten."
"Dinah!" Alice scolded gently. "What are you doing in there? That's no place for you. Get out of there." With that, she extracted her faithful calico cat from the confines of one of the many cabinets that Hatter used to keep his tea pots.
Dinah meowed as though to ask Alice why she had spoiled her fun.
"I know what you mean." The Cheshire Cat told her. "They're always ruining my fun too. And just when it gets going."
Picking Dinah up, Alice headed for the door.
Before she left, Hatter stopped her. He held out a tube that resembled nail polish.
Knowing her friend all too well and knowing her second home wasn't all that it seemed sometimes, Alice braced herself for anything.
"What's this?" She asked. "I know I said I ran out of nail polish, but I bought some yesterday."
Hare laughed at her statement.
"Nail polish!"
"Oh no, no, no. This isn't nail polish."
Alice gave him a look he knew only too well. But being the Hatter, and even he had seen her give him this look several times before, he acted as though she hadn't.
"She means if it's not nail polish," The Cheshire Cat said, "Then what is it?"
"Oh! Then why didn't you just say so in the first place?" He asked.
Alice rolled her eyes.
"What you hold in the palm of your hand is my newest creation."
The look on Alice's face must have suggested alarm because Hare spoke up just then.
"Don't worry. I was there when he made this. It's harmless."
"How true that is." Hatter said.
Alice had half a mind to contradict him, but she didn't.
"Now where was I?" Hatter asked.
"Well, you were standing over there and I think you were about to pour yourself a cup of tea and then Alice asked a question. I'm not sure how important it was and then…"
"Hello! I'm still here." Alice informed them.
"Would you like some tea too?" Hatter offered.
Alice shook her head. She sighed exasperatedly while trying to muster up the little patience she had left.
"What is this stuff supposed to do? What did you invent it for?"
"This stuff is a work of art." Hatter began.
Hare gave his best friend a confused look.
"I thought it was your first ever invisible super glue?"
"Invisible super glue? Mr. Hatta, what are you up to now?"
"Invisible." The Cheshire Cat spoke up. "Now that's something I know a lot about. You may even say I'm an expert."
"Why don't you show us a thing or two?" Alice suggested pointedly.
"I think she wants you to leave." Hare told him.
The Cheshire Cat disappeared. As he left, they heard him mumble something that sounded suspiciously like, "Like mother, like daughter."
Not wasting any time, Alice rounded on her two friends.
"What does the super glue do? And why does Mom want it? What makes it so special? It' seems like ordinary glue to me."
"Alice, Alice, Alice…" Hatter said as though he were explaining the wonders of the world for the first time. "You've lived here for the last eight years and you haven't learned yet?"
"Learned what?" She asked.
"Nothing here is ordinary!" The two friends said in unison.
"In fact, it's extra ordinary. Extra being a pre-fix meaning more than." Hare chimed in.
"Okay, okay. You've made your point. Now, what does it do?"
"She wants to know what it does." Hare said.
"We could tell her." Hatter replied. "But where's the fun in that?"
Hare nodded.
"Let's show her instead!"
Taking an extra tube out of his pocket, Hatter applied it to one of the many stained glass cups around the room.
Alice watched in fascination as the cup's surface became as clean as a whistle.
"The stain's gone!" She exclaimed in awe.
"Of course it is." Hatter said. "With my super invisible glue, Wonderland will never see another stain again."
"And the Queen naturally wanted to be the first person to try it. Apparently, Rabbit hasn't found a cleaning product strong enough to clean the Queen's prized china."
"I didn't know china could win prizes." Hare said. "What kind of contest did her Majesty enter it in?"
"Not prized as in winning something. Prized as in expensive and rare. And we all know how much the Queen likes expensive and rare things."
"So is this tube for the Queen to try?" Alice asked. She then shifted Dinah to her other arm as the cat tried to sniff the contents of the tube.
"Yes indeedy do." Hatter replied. "I wanna see if it'll do as good of a job as it did on my cups. And if she likes it, who knows where it might lead."
"Hey, since it worked so well on the cup, why don't we try it on that old mirror in the forest." Hare suggested. "It's looking in need of a clean up."
Since Alice was halfway down the stairs, she didn't hear the Hare's suggestion or Hatter's agreement. If she had, she maybe could have prevented what was to come…
Unbeknownst to the two friends, they were being overheard by none other than the Cheshire Cat.
Grinning mischievously to himself, he disappeared. He was waiting for just the right moment to make his move.
Shaking her head, Alice made her way back home to the palace…
Meanwhile at the palace, the Queen was trying on a set of new robes that she wanted to wear for the festival. She had never hosted or been to a Thanksgiving festival before. And she wanted to look her best. After all, she was the Queen.
"How does that feel, You're Majesty?" Rabbit asked. He stepped back to admire his handiwork and almost crashed into the table that was half decorated for the festival.
Before the Queen could answer, they were joined by the Walrus and his invisible friend, Penapid.
"Aah, You're Majesty, just the Queen we were hoping to see."
The Queen gave him a look.
"I would certainly hope so. Since I'm the only Queen here."
Ignoring her answer, the Walrus continued.
"Penapid and I were hoping to help with the plans for the Thanksgiving festival. Is there anything we could do?"
"You could start by sorting through those lovely pictures of me on the coffee table over there."
"If we may ask," he said. "Why so many?"
The Queen looked as though the Walrus should have known the answer.
"Why shouldn't there be? After all, they're pictures of me. And anyway, I Thought they would make wonderful place cards. What better way to find your seat than to be greeted by a picture of my beautiful face."
"I could think of a few."
"What was that?"
"I meant I could think of a few ways to make them look even more royal than they do."
Before Rabbit could get himself any closer to the fire pot, Alice walked in.
"Hello my dear." The Walrus greeted. Alice was one of his favorite people.
"Hi Mr. Walrus." Alice replied. She set Dinah down and the cat ran straight for the table.
Before she got very far, the Walrus picked her up.
"That's no place for you." He said only half seriously. "The Queen would have your tail."
The Queen huffed at his statement.
"I could think of another certain feline whose on my bad list right now."
"Did someone call my name?"
Alice tried not to groan. She didn't want to be rude, but she had left Hatter and Hare's with the understanding that she would get some peace and quiet.
"No I didn't." The Queen retorted. "Now scat! Get out of here."
"You don't really mean that." He said. HE flashed her a wide smile before turning his attention to the Walrus. "I was wondering where Pennapid got off to. We were playing hide and seek in the forest and he just took off."
Wanting to change the subject, Alice held her right hand out palm up.
"Mr. Hatter gave this to me for you." She said, turning to her mother. "He said you wanted to try it?"
"Thank you, my dear." The Queen said. She took the tube from her daughter's hand as if it was an early Christmas gift. "I'll finally have china worth using at the festival. Then again, knowing who invented this makes me wonder if I should even try it."
Alice spoke up in her friend and father figure's defense.
"You're Majesty, it really works. I saw it with my own eyes. And then…well. Or should I say, I didn't' see it."
"What do you mean?" The Queen asked, rounding on her. "How can you see something and then not see it? It's impossible."
"Actually, You're Majesty," spoke up the Walrus. "It's not that impossible. Just ask Penapid. He's living proof of it every day. In fact, he's getting so good, he might be hired as the next act in the Wonderland circus."
"OH hurumph! What does the circus have to do with cleaning my china?"
Nobody answered.
"Rabbit." The Queen ordered after a minute or so. "I order you to get to work right away. Make sure all the china is clean by dinner time. If I find one spec of dirt on any plate or cup, it'll be your whiskers."
"Yes You're Majesty." Rabbit replied. "Right away." With that, he took the tube from her and left.
"Maybe I should help him." Alice suggested.
"Don't you have a math test to study for?" The Queen asked.
Alice sighed.
"I guess you're right. See ya later, Mr. Walrus. Bye Penapid."
By the time dinner was served that night, you never would have known the china was dirty. No spec of dust or dirt could be found.
The Queen was so pleased, she called Hatter right away and asked him to make her another batch.
She then instructed the Tweedles to help clean all the glass surfaces in the palace.
Alice volunteered to help right away. She always had fun when she hung out with her older brothers.
"You know the Queen seems a little crabbier than usual." Dee observed.
"How can you tell?" Dum asked, making Alice giggle.
Dee gave his brother a look.
"You have a point."
"Come on you guys. Mom wants this done by lunchtime."
"She didn't' specifically say lunchtime today." Dum observed.
"Hey, you're right." Dee chimed in. He grinned in the way that told Alice she was in for a good time.
The three worked for the next few hours, playing around along the way.
Little did they know they were getting some unwanted help…