Time...it was pointless in that place. It felt like that only a couple hours ago, Alice had waked up and lazily washed her face with ice cold water. And yet, the sun was already setting. The once light blue sky, covered with friendly white clouds had now turned into an orange colour, just like the sun that disappeared in the middle of the tall trees that surrounded her. Time was like some kind of eccentric philosophy since Alice fell into that strange world. In the moment she dared to set foot inside the rabbit's hole, she had completely lost conscience of how fast time could pass. She had barely done anything that day besides walking around in circles in that forest that seemed to be Alice's own personal labyrinth. The young woman released a small worried sigh while peeking over her shoulders.
She was all alone. The strange creatures that seemed to spy on her almost every day were gone and there was no sign of the Cheshire Cat. That cat seemed to only show up when Alice didn't want to see him…but when she did, there was no sign of him or his large white smile. "…What now?" Alice mumbled under her breath while crossing her naked arms. Her dark blue dress didn't seem to protect her from the cold weather. It felt colder than any other night, which made Alice wonder what season it was. It shouldn't be summer, since she didn't feel very hot during the day, but it was definitely not winter, since there was no snow or rain…
Time was pointless in that place. Alice would have to ask the White Rabbit what month it was, or even the year…but she was afraid she'd get too surprised with the answer. But right now, Alice figured she should be concerned about finding shelter. It wasn't safe to walk in the woods at night; especially in Wonderland where everything and everyone seemed completely and absolutely insane. It was then that she heard a small crack in the darkness behind her. Her blue eyes widened slightly while she slowly turned around, afraid of what she could find. Behind her there were only huge trees and, between them, nothing more than darkness.
Deep and thick darkness. A small chill ran down the young woman's spine while she stood still, staring at something she couldn't really see. The blue eyed girl cleared her throat and grabbed her hands tight, trying to keep them from shaking. "H-Hello? Is anyone there?" Her weak voice asked, trembling with cold and fear. But no answer ever came. Instead a pair of huge bright yellow eyes seemed to stare at her from the dark. The pupils were mere dots, so small that you'd have to narrow your eyes to see them. Alice's throat suddenly became dry and her heart seemed to freeze.
Those were the eyes of insanity itself. And they were staring right at her, like they wanted to eat her up and leave nothing behind. Alice gave a small step back, holding her breath, afraid that any sound could cause the one who contained those eyes to move. But while she stepped away from whatever hided in the dark, the animal itself began to step forward, in the young woman's direction. Slowly, it began to step out of the darkness and made it easier for young Alice to see who her attacker was. An animal that resembled to a large black bear stared at her with those huge threatening eyes, its paws armed with claws sharper than anything Alice had ever seen. His fur didn't seem soft or warm; instead it seemed spiky and cold. But it was its mouth that made the blond girl's hands cover her heart, trying to keep it from jumping out of her chest. A huge mouth smiled at her, showing all of its white and sharp teeth at her, ready to chew every limb of her body. Every scientist said that one should try to not make any sudden or quick moves when facing a wild bear…
But this was Wonderland, where everything that wasn't was and what was wasn't. So, Alice decided to do what scientists didn't recommend. She ran. She ran as fast as her slim legs could, dodging the large trees of the forest with difficulty while gasping for air at the same time. Her blue eyes didn't dare to peek over her shoulder, afraid that she'd find the huge insane creature close enough to rip her head off. But Alice could tell it was chasing her. The beast was huge and heavy, and it made terribly loud noises while bumping against the trees and hitting with its paws against the cold grass. Alice felt like she could vomit her heart out in that very instance.
She had never feared for her life like she did in that moment. Alice had found a few mad characters along her way, most of them were quite harmless, others were even annoying, but none of them was dangerous. Not in the life-threatening way. Not even the violent and cranky Queen of Hearts. The growling animal seemed to get closer and closer to Alice who now decided to look back. It was only a meter away from her. How had such a strange and wonderful place turned into a frightening and dangerous one? The blond girl's eyes stared at the animal with horror, begging it to spare her life; but the huge animal didn't feel touched or merciful. Alice knew now…she was going to die.
But as soon as she began thinking how she would die in a horrible and painful death, her head seemed to hit something that blocked her way, making the girl give a small unsteady step back. Her head hurt now, but it wasn't broken. Whatever she had hit was somehow soft, which meant it couldn't possibly be a tree or a rock…so, what was it? Her blue eyes opened to check what the object that blocked her way was, afraid that she'd find another hungry beast; but what she found made her eyes open wider than ever in shock. In front of her stood, not a terrifying animal, but a Hatter. A Mad Hatter, that is. There he stood, without a care in the world with his tall dark green hat, hiding his light blond hair and his elegant long coat, staring at her with a peaceful expression while holding a small light yellow tea cup. Alice's heart seemed to give a huge sigh of relief when seeing that strange character. It was somehow relaxing to know that she was not alone anymore. The man with the hat blinked his eyes a couple of times and looked up at the now dark blue skies, like he was checking the time. "Oh my," He began while arching both of eyebrows. "Do you have any idea how late it is young lady?"
The blond haired girl furrowed her eyebrows in slight confusion while her blue eyes stared at the man's face with a surprised expression. Where had that paternal and serious attitude came from? The Mad Hatter had always been rather weird and unpredictable, but that attitude that reminded Alice of her parents made her feel slightly uncomfortable. The Hatter placed one of his hands on his hips while the other held the tea cup. "You missed our five o'clock tea party!" Alice's eyes widened slightly. "…And our six, seven, eight and eight thirty tea party too!" The blond couldn't help but to give a small chuckle. The Mad Hatter hadn't changed after all.
But when his head titled slightly to the right and arched one of his eyebrows, something seemed to make Alice's spine freeze. "Who's your little friend?" The large dark creature now stood right behind her, breathing heavily and staring at her with hungry eyes. How could she have forgotten that animal was still there?! Alice slowly peeked over her shoulder, but as soon as she did that, the beast roared as loud as it could, making a frightening sound echo through the entire land. With a loud scream, Alice quickly wrapped her arms around the Hatter's neck with all her strength, making the poor man drop his cup of tea and give a small step back, trying to keep himself from falling.
Alice's heart was about to break her ribs. She was too frightened to run or to say anything…all she could do was cling to the Mad Hatter with all her strength, hoping that he would, somehow, save her from the animal. She expected the beast to swallow her or for the Mad Hatter to grab her and run as fast as he could. But, instead, all she heard was a small soft laugh and a pair of comforting hands gently patting her back. The beast didn't move forward and the Hatter didn't seem to be scared…he was actually laughing at the situation. The Mad Hatter gently unwrapped the girl's arms and looked down at her with a small closed smile. "What's the matter pumpkin? Afraid of a teddy bear, are we?"
Alice's face was now full of terror while staring at the smiling man that now grabbed both of her slim wrists with his gloved hands, carefully pressing them against his chest. Her frightened expression turned into a panicked one while she shook her head. "Are you blind?! That thing has nothing to do with a teddy-be…" But before Alice could finish her sentence the beast growled once again, making her give a loud scream of fear and pressing her face against the Hatter's shoulder. She'd never realized how Mad that Hatter really was. Could he be insane enough to not distinguish a dangerous animal from a harmless pet? If that was the case, they were both doomed.
The Hatter chuckled once again, letting his head fall back and placing both hands on Alice's shoulders. "Relax sugar pie! This little guy wouldn't hurt a fly!" Yeah, right. An animal of the size of a house with huge canines and claws who drooled while staring at two juicy humans was not dangerous. The blond gave a small sigh of despair, feeling like she could start crying at any moment of frustration and fear but suddenly the Hatter's hands grabbed her shoulders tightly, turning her the other way round, forcing her to look the enormous beast in the eye. Her entire body froze while her mouth opened wide…the animal was a couple of inches away from her! Was the Hatter using her as a shield?! "What are you doing? Let go of me!" She yelled trying to release herself from the Mad Hatter's grasp, but, although he was rather slim, the Hatter seemed much stronger than Alice.
"Now, now, Alice, be nice." Her blue eyes stared at his hazel ones full of fear, but the Hatter seemed to simply grin at Alice. "You can't walk around this place without meeting the founder of our wonderful land." The blond girl didn't want to listen to the Hatter's babbling. She just wanted to get far away from that dark animal and hide for the rest of the night. "Allow me to introduce you my and everyone else's mother…" Alice stopped struggling for a second once she heard the Hatter's sentence. One of his long slim hands now pointed at the enormous beast, like he was introducing her to one of his friends. "This is Insanity."
The blond girl furrowed her eyebrows while staring at the huge beast who breathed heavily while staring into her eyes. What was he talking about? Could that huge and frightening animal be the personification of Insanity itself? The girl didn't want to know. She just wanted to run away. But once Alice was about to take off, the Hatter's hands held her even more tightly, making the blond give a small gasp. "Insanity, this is Alice." The animal roared once again, but this time, all that Alice did was cover her ears with both hands. "What does she want from me?!" She finally asked, her voice much louder than she expected. Alice didn't see it, but she could feel the Hatter smiling at her question. "Well…" He said while rolling his hazel eyes that would only stop when looking down at Alice again. "…She wants to eat you." It wasn't the phrase itself that frightened Alice, but the way how he said it. It was so indifferent and carefree…they could be talking about cricket and his tone would be the same.
"But…why?" Alice asked, feeling like her legs were about to fall apart. The Hatter shrugged his shoulders while staring at Alice with a friendly expression. "You can't expect to live in Wonderland and keep your sanity at the same time, can you?" Alice's blue eyes began to burn…she was about to cry. It wasn't fear anymore, it was the injustice of the entire situation. She'd be forced to suffer and be dragged away from these strange but friendly characters, simply because she wasn't insane like them. Insanity would rip off and bite every piece of her mind, until there was nothing left of good old Alice. It was just too much for her. "Oh God…ple-please don't do this…" Her lower lip trembled and her eyes seemed to become red. Small tears ran down her cheeks while her knees shook violently. The beast seemed to become quiet for a second while the Hatter gently patted the top of Alice's blond head. "Aw, clean those tears away sweetie…Sure, you could be eaten up by Insanity and never be seen again, but you can do what I did…" Her blue eyes looked up at the Hatter, full of curiosity and hope once again, which made the man's lips curl. "You must tell her, with confidence, that you are NOT insane." Her blond eyebrows furrowed slightly while she looked back at the huge beast. Was it really that simple? Would that make the creature go away or was the Hatter tricking Alice? It didn't matter…The girl took a deep breath and closed her fists with strength while looking into Insanity's eyes. Her voice was calm and clear.
"I am not insane."
A moment of silence came up. Nobody seemed to move or even breathe. The Mad Hatter smiled while looking at Insanity, Insanity seemed to stare fixedly at Alice, and Alice bitted her own tongue, hoping the animal wouldn't get angry. And then, without any emotion or sound, the large black bear turned its back to Alice and the Mad Hatter, and calmly walked away, making a few trees shake and the ground tremble every time it gave a step. It was gone. When the animal was out of sight, The Hatter released Alice, that sat on the ground, giving a long relieved sigh while her head fell back. The Hatter gave a few steps forward, standing next to Alice, still smiling widely. "Wh-what was all that?" She asked, frowning at the tall and slim man. "Why did she give up?" The Hatter chuckled, grabbed her arm gently and helped her get up, cleaning the back of her dress with his hand. "Because you're not as sane as you think." Alice frowned while placing both hands on her hips. What was he talking about? "But I just said I wasn't insane…"
"Exactly. A sane person would be open to the possibility of not being sane. Any person knows that it is possible to just loose your marbles. But, an insane person will simply deny it. An insane person strongly believes that her actions are, in fact, sane."
Alice stood there for a couple of seconds, her eyes wide open and her lower lip sticking out while the Hatter wrapped his arm around her waist, showing one of his warm and friendly smiles at her. "You, my dear, may not be insane. But you're far from being the opposite."