Muchness of Childhood

An "Alice in Wonderland" 2010 story

By: Draculamomma

Summary: Alice is bored one day in Underland and decides to go exploring with the Mad Hatter and friends. When they come across a special type of cookies in an abandoned cookie castle, Alice finds herself in trouble as her body reverts back into childhood. Can the Mad Hatter save her before she loses all her memories of him and the Underland forever?

Author's Note: Hello dear fans and readers! I was actually planning on making a sequel to "Slip, Slappity, Hop, the Rain Drops Plop" however I decided to go for something different and more interesting! I thought to myself what would happen if the Mad Hatter got changed into his baby self, but I already had poor Alice trying to deal with a psychotic, murderous hatter in the last story. So this time, it's Alice's turn. She's going to drive him MAD! Haha, I hope everyone enjoys this new story! Review too. EVERYTIME YOU DON'T REVIEW A KITTEN DIES. DO YOU WANT ANYMORE KITTENS TO WIND UP DEAD? THEN REVIEW!

Chapter 1-Lace and Boredom

It was an exceptionally hot day down in the Underland. Alice fanned herself madly with a Chinese fan she had found lying on the table cloth at the Mad Hatter's tea party. Alice had decided to stay for good after learning her place was truly missed and needed in the Underland. Ever since she had come back a few months ago, she made herself right at home living with the Mad Hatter and often visiting the White Queen whenever she had free time. But sometimes she found no time at all to do so because the Mad Hatter never stopped chattering his head off.

She did enjoy his conversations, but sometimes she felt he didn't know when to stop. She didn't want to be rude, so she pretended to listen and would often nod her head or smile to show possible signs of interest. Luckily, on most days he wouldn't notice and would carry on unaffected.

It came to be one of those days, and Alice fought the temptation to roll her eyes and yawn loudly as she heard the Mad Hatter mutter on and on about different flavors of tea he had been concocting.

The sun was beating down harshly on Alice's pretty head. There was an absence of a single breeze about the humid air, and Alice felt her head swimming and getting dizzy to the point where she literally felt nauseous.

"Please let his chattering stop!" She thought over and over in her head.

But the Mad Hatter seemed to show no signs of being affected by the heat. He waved his hands about and laughed excitedly more to himself than anyone else.

As Alice looked around, she could tell she wasn't the only one bothered by the crazy heat today. The March Hare had slunk across the table, with his face buried into a plate filled with water, snoozing away loudly. The Dormouse was also wheezing out hot air painfully, as she plopped into a teacup lazily.

"And so, if you always remember when the dragon snappers grow, you will learn that they're most friendly! Especially over here! They're very easy to tame, and they make lovely house pets and decorations!" the Mad Hatter muttered jovially, sipping some tea as he gazed over at Alice.

Alice nodded slowly, even moving her head proved to be a mistake. Her head was pounding and throbbing, she felt the top of her head on fire. She fanned herself quickly, sighing with happiness as a little bit of a breeze was created.

"Why so glum?" the Mad Hatter asked.

Alice glared at him. Why was he so dense sometimes? "Aren't you in the slightest bit uncomfortable?" she asked painfully.

He looked shocked. "No, why should I be?"

Alice rolled her eyes this time and groaned out, "Hatter the heat is absolutely dreadful today!"

He looked up at the sky and shrugged. "It's not bothering me, Alice."

She fanned herself more furiously. "Well it is bothering me!"

"Shall we go inside then?" he offered, standing up.

"It's even worse inside!" she shrieked.

He frowned slightly and sat back down, "Just a suggestion."

Alice glared. She had no idea what went on inside his head sometimes. Truth be told, she envied him right now, if he was being truthful by not being affected by the heat.

Alice lazily kicked off her short ankle boots, and tore off her leggings, sighing with happiness as she wiggled her toes underneath the shadows of the table. "That's better."

The Mad Hatter laughed and poured himself more tea. "See? All better now!"

Alice shook her head, "It's still awfully warm. What's going on today? I don't remember it ever being this warm!"

The Dormouse hissed as she stood up inside her teacup. "That's because it was never this hot, Missy!" With that said, she plopped back inside the cup.

The Mad Hatter nodded, smiling widely, "There you have it!"

Alice was about to scream with frustration, when a familiar set of grinning teeth appeared before her. "Hello Cheshire." She greeted miserably.

The Cheshire Cat also looked affected by the weather. His fur was matted and dripped with sweat. "Good afternoon, Alice."

"How do you deal with it?" She asked, meaning the heat.

The Cheshire Cat smiled, "I'm not. Even sitting high on a tree branch in the dark forest is doing me no good."

"How about some tea? Tea always helps!" The Mad Hatter offered.

The Cheshire Cat floated over to the other end of the table facing the Mad Hatter and sighed sadly, "No, I do not care for tea, Tarrant. For tea is awfully high in temperature, and it would defeat the purpose."

The Mad Hatter's eyes turned dark at once. He stood from his spot at the table and approached the Cheshire Cat menacingly, speaking in his infamous Scottish accent, "How dare you presume to know so much about everything, you great big, good for nothing-"

"HATTER!" Alice and the Dormouse yelled simultaneously.

"Sorry!" He squeaked in a high pitched voice, his eyes returning back to normal.

"I think the heat is getting to everybody!" Alice said, fanning herself rapidly.

The March Hare's ears perked up at this, and he lifted his head from his water filled plate. "The heat! The Heat! Such a mess! It's driving us all very mad! HAHA!" he giggled and threw a teacup into a tree trunk.

"And this dress is just absorbing it all in!" Alice carried on. She was wearing a white dress, filled with lace. The dress covered majority of Alice's shoulders, leaving a little view of her collar bone. The dress covered her back, and arms just up to the elbows, but it was still trapping in a lot of the heat. The dress had a few thick layers, but other than that it appeared to be a very comfortable dress.

"I'm so warm; I can literally feel beads of sweat clinging on to my body underneath the dress!" Alice cried, fanning herself once more before setting the fan down, clearly giving up.

"Lace makes waste!" the March Hare randomly yelled out, pulling at his soaking ears, and tying them in a knot above his head, resembling something of a small ball above his head.

Alice pushed her chair away from the table. The heat seemed to be enveloping her wherever she was, and sitting close to the table did her no good.

"Come on Tarrant, she's right, we cannot stay out here much longer." The Cheshire Cat purred.

The Mad Hatter took off his hat and fanned Alice. "It can't be that bad…"

"It is!" Alice shrieked.

"I take your word for it, Alice, but what can we do?" the Mad Hatter asked.

Alice bit her bottom lip, deep in thought. She hadn't been prepared for a question like that, but the Mad Hatter was right, they needed to come up with a solution to the heated problem lying in their hands.

She turned to the Cheshire Cat, who was lying on his back, tail swishing about madly. Alice had an idea, "Cheshire, you say you were just in the forest, yes?"

He grinned weakly at her, "Correct."

"Tell me, isn't there just one cool area?"

The Cheshire Cat suddenly grinned deviously, "Now that you mention it, there is a pond down in the forest where most of the animals and beasts of the forest dwell, especially on days as hot and humid as this."

Alice sat up immediately, eyes shining happily, "What a splendid idea, Cheshire! A pond sounds perfect!"

The Dormouse crawled out of her teacup lazily, tail drooping, "I'll second that!" she wheezed out.

The March Hare giggled and held up his plate full of water above his head, laughing louder as the water in the plate dripped all over his face. "A marching to the pond we shall go!" he sang out as he shook his head about like a dog. "PLATE." He said randomly, looking up at his now empty plate.

The Mad Hatter leapt up on the seat of his chair, standing tall at attention while pointing toward the woods. "To the woods we march, seeking the solace of the cold pond!" he placed his hat upon his head, and jumped down bowing before Alice.

"Milady." He said, holding out his hand to her.

Alice giggled and placed her hand in his, allowing him to lead her toward the woods. The Dormouse hitched a ride on the Cheshire cat's back, while the March Hare remained behind, not moving from his seat.

"Aren't you coming then?" Alice called back to him.

The March Hare only laughed and threw his plate at them, which both Alice and the Mad Hatter ducked.

"Don't forget to come back in time for tea!" he laughed manically, rolling onto the grass.

"Onward then!" the Mad Hatter cried, hauling Alice into the woods with him.

End of Chapter 1 I hope you guys enjoy my new idea for another story; I am getting a bit bored of all the ones where Alice goes back to wonderland and falls in love with the Hatter. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to put anyone's story down in particular, but I like new things, and I never get tired of trying out new ideas. I am sure there are some wonderfully written stories about Alice going back, but I unfortunately can't make them all as interesting as those ones, so I tried something else! Review, or else I will shoot a kitten. (Just kidding, I'm a HUGE cat person!)