Bury The Castle
An Alice In Wonderland Fanfiction
By
Marigold85
Summary: After Alice returns, Margaret tell her parents about everything. Their decision is simple, but it will destroy Alice...
Well she lives in the fairytales,
Somewhere too far for us to find.
Forgotten the taste and smell
Of a world that she's left behind.
When Alice awoke, she was next to Margaret again, and the girl was shaking her. "Alice, we have to go now. It's almost supper!""Huh?" she mumbled, looking around and wondering what had happened to Wonderland. Then she remembered, and was hit with a wave of longing unfamiliar to the 6 year old.
It's all about the exposure
The lens, I told her.
The angles are all wrong now
She's ripping wings off of butterflies.
Alice told her sister everything about Wonderland, about the Mad Tea Party, and the White Rabbit and how it was all real. And Margaret listened, pretending to believe, but genuinely enjoying the shine in Alice's eyes and the way she smiled as she recounted her adventures. Even as they walked home, she continued to pretend, and all the while Alice chattered on about everything that had happed, insisting that it was not make believe. It hurt Margaret to see her sister believe in something so mad, so impossible, and she began to fear for Alice's sanity.
Such was this fear that after Alice had fallen asleep, Margaret crept out to see her parents, and she told them all Alice had told her. They listened patiently just as she had, and when they sent her away she began to wonder what they would do. She didn't mean to eavesdrop, of course not, rather she found herself lingering outside the slightly ajar door. As she listened, a tear trickled down her cheek. That place would destroy Alice.
Keep your feet on the ground,
When your head's in the clouds.
Well go get your shovel,
And we'll dig a deep hole,
To bury the castle, bury the castle.
Alice walked slowly along the path to the tree she had been sitting under yesterday, troubled and daydreaming about Wonderland. Mother and Father had been arguing, and Margaret wouldn't tell her why, though she knew it had something to do with her – her name had been mentioned several times. "Now Alice, why on earth would they be arguing about you?" she said suddenly, talking to herself.
There were cups and plates flying around the kitchen when she returned. It reminded her of the Duchess and the Pig Baby, but she didn't dare say anything as she hurried along the hallway, desperately trying to avoid being drawn into the argument. She needn't fear – they didn't even register her presence. "We can't send Alice there!" shrieked Mother. "Don't you remember Aunt Imogene? She went in, and she never came out!"
Go get your shovel,
And we'll dig a deep hole,
To bury the castle, bury the castle.
Ba-da ba ba-da ba ba-da
Alice tiptoed into Margaret's bedroom, and saw her sister curled up on the bed, weeping. She crawled onto the bed and rested her head on Margaret's shoulder. She was silent for a while, and it pressed in on them, until Alice had to speak. "Margaret?"
"Hmmm?"
"Where did Aunt Imogene go?"
Margaret sat bolt upright, throwing Alice off her and back onto the bed. "Who told you about Aunt Imogene?" she snapped. "It's none of your business. Get out!" And for once, Alice didn't argue. She ran.
So one day he found her crying,
Coiled up on the dirty ground.
Her prince finally came to save her,
And the rest you can figure out.
But it was a trick,
And the clock struck twelve.
"Alice!" The voice snapped her out of her slumber. "I have a surprise for you!" Eager for a surprise, and a change in the tense atmosphere that had encased the house for the past few days, Alice barely noticed the tearstained pillow as she scrambled out of bed and down the hall into the parlour. Her father stood there, his face unsmiling, flanked by two men in white coats – off to the side, Mother and Margaret held each other, sobbing. Alice's eyes widened, and before she knew what was happening, the men grabbed her and carried her toward a carriage just as white as their clothes.
The men let Father speak to her before the driver flicked the reigns for the horses to go. "Margaret told us about the dream, Alice. These people will make those silly fantasies go away." Somewhere in the house, a clock chimed, and Alice counted. 1... 2... 3... "I'm so sorry, Alice!" Margaret's heartbroken voice floated through the window as they closed the doors. 6... 7... 8... "I didn't know this would happen!" 10... 11... 12...
Well make sure,
To build your home
Brick by boring brick,
Or the wolf's gonna blow it down.
She beat at the doors and screamed until her hands were bruised and her throat was raw. Still they did not stop. Alice fell sobbing, each harsh cry stinging her throat, to the floor of the carriage. She was so frightened. She wanted to go home. To Wonderland. She knew she didn't belong here, not anymore. Not while a bitter hatred filled her whenever she thought of her family.
Alice was thrown against the walls of the carriage as it stopped and the doors were flung open. She flinched away from the sudden wash of bright light. "I'm not mad!" she screamed, hitting out at them, and ignoring the pain in her throat. That was all she could say, those three words, over and over, desperate to make them believe.
Keep your feet on the ground,
When your head's in the clouds.
So go get your shovel,
And we'll dig a deep hole,
To bury the castle, bury the castle.
She was still repeating the same three words when the doctor came to see her. He walked into the small grey room with an aura of confidence about him, and Alice immediately hated him. He wanted to take away Wonderland, the rabbit hole, the Hatter, everyone Alice cared about. "Alice?" he asked, bending down to where she lay in the corner. "Do you know where you are?"
"I'm not mad," she whispered. "It's real."
"Alice, I'm going to make it all go away. Wonderland isn't real, and I'm going to make you see that."
He nodded toward some nurses, who rushed forward and dressed Alice in a simple dress, grey as the rest of the room. When one of them tried to give her water she kicked and hissed at them. All she knew as she thrashed was that it was real, she wasn't mad, but then the sharp pinch in the crook of her arm brought her back to reality, just before she dived into the blackness.
Go get your shovel,
And we'll dig a deep hole,
And we'll bury the castle, bury the castle.
When Alice finally woke, there was a nurse leaning against the door, and she had been lifted onto the creaky metal bed. The nurse smiled kindly at her, but it did not stop the sour taste from rising in Alice's mouth. This was someone who had locked her away, who was going to destroy Wonderland. She deserved no kindness. "Hello, Alice. How are you feeling?" Alice said nothing. "Would you like something to eat?" Again, silence. The woman must have found it unnerving, sitting in a room with a child staring at her, because eventually she walked out. 'Stay strong, Alice. Ignore her. Remember Wonderland,' she told herself. 'You can't forget.'
Well you built up a world of magic,
Because your real life is tragic,
Yeah you built up a world of magic.
The few times Alice was allowed outside, she had to be brought back in immediately, because she held conversations with the flowers and crawled through the shrubbery after rabbits and caterpillars. She frequently talked to things others couldn't' see, and her condition only worsened as time passed.
The doctor was no exception. He, like everyone else, did not believe Alice's tales of Wonderland. At first, he was determined to bring Alice out of her magical land, but he soon gave up on the little 6 year old, and let her dwell in her own little world.
If it's not real, you can't hold it in your hand,
You can't feel it with your heart,
And I won't believe it,
But if it's true, you can see it with your eyes,
Or even in the dark,
And that's where I want to be, yeah.
Margaret stared at her mother, sitting across from her in the carriage. "Why did you do this to her?" she asked, her voice strangled as she tried not to cry. "Why?"
"It was for her own good."
"They were harmless stories!"
"They were unhealthy for Alice." The older woman clasped her hands together in her lap. "It could not be allowed to continue." Margaret's mouth fell open. She closed it quickly and her eyes turned cold. "And now," she said softly, meeting her mother's eye. "And now she will rot in there, because of your desperation to make our family pure." Now it was Mrs Liddell's turn to gape. She stood and looked down at Margaret, who stood up too. "How dare you be so insolent! I have only done what is best for Alice, and for our family."
Margaret just looked out the window. "No," she murmured. "You have done what is best for yourself."
Go get your shovel,
And we'll dig a deep hole,
To bury the castle, bury the castle
Go get your shovel,
And we'll dig a deep hole,
To bury the castle, bury the castle
Alice stumbled toward the hedge. The nurse who was supposed to be watching her had fallen asleep, and then there was the rabbit. A little fluffy white one, and Alice could have sworn she saw something gold glinting on its' side. "Mr Rabbit!" she cried, following it. Dark clouds loomed overhead, a sure sign that it was going to thunder soon, but a sign that Alice missed. Desperate, she pushed her way through the leaves and looked around. Things were different on this side of the hedge, she thought. The trees were black and missing there leaves – they had fallen off, and they scattered on the ground. It was so dark...
She couldn't see it anywhere. 'Maybe it went down the rabbit hole,' she mused. It was sprinkling now, and Alice was so frightened. Her heart pounding, she ran toward the trees, seeing something glinting through them. Just as she reached the raging river, something white darted in front of her, and down she went...
Ba-da ba ba-dah ba ba-da
Ba-da ba ba ba-da ba ba
Ba-da ba ba-da ba ba-da
Ba-da ba ba ba-da ba ba
"Alice!"
"Alice, come back, please!"
"Alice! Alice, come here now!"
Their calls were to no avail. As they followed the trail of scarlet drops Alice had left behind, they reached the river. It was obvious what had happened. The doctor took off his hat and held it over his heart, and the others did the same. "She's gone to Wonderland now. Forever." A murmured agreement resounded throughout the group. The search party turned to walk away, and the doctor looked back at the river, and at the blood.
"I'm sorry, Alice..."
The End
And at the beginning, and at the end, there was the White Rabbit...