I do not own the Alice in Wonderland characters. Though I may build a few extra castles, this is not my sand box.
Three years later…
Alice stared out of the dirty window onto the muddy path that led from her house. Rain splattered the glass, creating a constant pattern of tears flowing from the grey clouds above. Leaning a rosy cheek on her left palm, Alice let out a sigh. Her warm breath fogged the window for a moment. She was on the second floor of her house, and had an excellent view of the grounds. It was perfectly dreary outside; humid but cold, the plants flourishing with life, and yet the air felt so dead. The chipping white door to her room was pushed open, and Dina, Alice's cat, slunk in. Nothing in her life had turned out the way she had expected it to since her mother died. It was as if all of the laughter, all of the fun in her life had been sucked out. Now it was mainly pacing empty dusty rooms in the large house alone, waiting for her father to return home from work. Her grandmother said that it wasn't 'healthy' to still be in mourning. She set up dinner party after dinner party, trying to coax Alice out of the house, but Alice always refused. Nothing seemed to be of terrible importance anymore to Alice. All that she could think about was how absurd life was. "First a mother baths their child, then the other way around." She often said out loud. How peculiar.
Grandmother had finally convinced Alice's father to set up a marriage between his daughter and Sir Charles of Barrington, in hopes that it might change his daughter's spirits. It did not. She would not meet Charles for walks, or to go to the ballet. Alice kept to her rooms, silently pacing over and over again. She tried hard not to live. Tried to make herself believe that if she just stayed inside, time would stop. But it didn't. It moved onward like an indestructible, unforgiving force, and there was nothing that could stop it. Just as Alice could not control where the rain drops struck the Earth, she could not control time. And how time was almost up, as her grandmother reminded her every time she came over. Soon Alice would be seventeen, at the end of the acceptable age to marry. "Oh Dina, I do wish time would stop, if only for a little." The ginger cat meowed and jumped into Alice's lap.
There was a sudden knock at the front door. Alice frowned and peered bellow her window. All that she could see was a man's top hat. He was carrying…a bouquet of flowers. "Uh no!" Alice shrieked; it was Charles. How very improper of him to come to call on her when her father was not at home! She hoped that he hadn't any indecent ideas! Jumping to her feet (and Dina hissing rather angrily as she fell to the floor, mind you) Alice ran to the bedroom door and threw it open. "PINO DON'T-!" She hollered. But it was too late. The click of the front door sounded as it was opened.
"Good afternoon, Sir. How may I help you?" Pino politely asked downstairs.
A feeling of panic and desperation over took Alice. "Gah!" She sprinted across the hall to the bathroom and locked the door when she was inside. Voices floated up to her from the vent that went from the downstairs hall into the bathroom.
"Yes, Ms. Alice is home. I shall fetch her in a minute. Would you care for some tea?" Alice smiled. Pino was stalling for her. Throwing open the bathroom window, Alice stood on top of the latrine, and crawled out onto the roof.
Rain pelted her, but she ignored it. The roof of the house was grainy against her bare feet, and Alice cursed herself for not taking shoes with her. Heart pounding in her throat, she inched over to the overhanging willow tree. Her foot slipped and Alice fell to her knees. "Careful, Alice." She reminded herself. As lightning struck the sky Alice lost he balance again and tumbled off of the roof in one clumsy movement.
and
everythIng
wEnt
BLACK….