Hi! For those of you that haven't read any of my fanfictions before, nice to meet you! I hope you enjoy this little stint into Wonderland! I will leave this here and if you enjoy, do pass on a review and give me your thoughts! I will carry this on if people want me to!
Too Small, Too Tall and Too Far Away
Prologue
The air was filled with words beginning with L.
Leaves of varying colours ranging from flaming red to deepest indigo drifted endlessly from the leaning trees that sheltered a narrow beaten bath on both sides. The shedding branches stretched out in a wide arch, meeting in the middle and tangling, meshing together so that, from certain angles, the whole scene seemed to be centred around a heart.
And it was starting to get dark.
The air below the canopy of trees positively glittered with tiny orbs of flickering orange light, some softly floating though the shadows but others zipping haphazardly back and forth before bursting in a controlled explosion of smoke. These fireflies illuminated the path, showing the way for the man who did not need to be shown, who knew the path off by heart, now and forever. He did not need to see, so he didn't. He thought instead.
A firefly exploded near his right ear causing a leaf that was floating softly to the ground to catch alight, which in turn singed the hair of the man who was slowly making his way down the path alone. He didn't even look up.
The air was filled with words beginning with L. Leaves, light, lethargy. But he was thinking of a word beginning with A.
A very pretty little word, filled with muchness and smallness and tallness and messy hair that he'd love to hat and... missness. Peculiar little word. He added it to his growing list of conundrums. The A word had run away, gone home and, as he walked the lonely route home, we was touched by its absence. There were plenty of A words that still remained: Absent, alone, angry, aggrieved, agony... alliteration, but for some reason, none of these words cut the mustard. It had to be that A word. He was missing that particular A word.
It had only been gone for a little time.
He knew he could use the word in question. Oh yes, he could use it until his voice-box handed in its notice due to overwork but it wasn't the same as it being near him. The word was special but it was nothing compared to what it described. Smallness, tallness, muchness with messy hair that he'd love to hat that brought on a wave of missness. Yes, that word helped. Missness. Missness for her muchness.
"You are dreary dear Hatter," drawled a voice to the right of the man that now stood, motionless halfway through the heart-like path. "It is as if you hadn't even Futterwackened at all. Dreary mad Hatter. On his way home."
The man turned his head sharply to the right and glared into the pair of green eyes that were peering out of nothingness. "As you have said, I am mad." He said softly, lisping sadly. "Changeable is one of the defining attributes of being mad. I am expected to keep in this excellent practice."
The eyes blinked and seeping from the blackness between the trees a wide toothy grin materialised, followed by the smoky, shadowy form of a grey cat with wide teal stripes. It floated on its back, arms tucked under its head, the very picture of relaxation and calm. "But it is still Frabjous day, dear chum, why are you not celebrating at Marmoreal with the rest of us? Some of us were expecting to see the Futterwacken again."
"It's teatime."
"It's not always tea time anymore, Hatter."
"But I want tea."
Chess flicked his tail and turned in a lazy loop, running his paw along the brim of the Hatter's hat. "Ah, you are missing The Alice."
The hatter winced at the Alice word and once again returned to his sullen stomp through the beaten path. He never usually came this way, but his thoughts had filled him with A words and his regular route would allow him to think too much. This route had fireflies that liked to steal your thoughts so they did not pop so quickly.
"McTwisp followed her you know?" The Hatter stopped again and stared at the cat that was lolling through the air, toying with a leaf that fell between his furry paws. "He followed her home to make sure she was safe. Do you know what she did?"
The Hatter shook his head, his forehead wrinkling as his bushy eyebrows made a bid to escape to his matching hair, green eyes wide.
Chess grinned, widely. "She Futterwackened."
The Hatter nodded and allowed his feet to take him home, leaving the cat where he was, currently catching more leaves to play with. "Tha's my Alice." He murmured gruffly, so quiet that the forever falling leaves were the only ones that heard him.