Welcome Home
Alice was angry, annoyed, agitated, abraded, and a number of other 'A' words that all described the way she felt at her inability to find the hole she had fallen down twice in the past. Both times she had no problem stumbling upon the entrance to Underland. The only difference between this time and the last two times was that she was searching on her own, rather than following a curious white rabbit in a waist coat. Perhaps she should have learned to be more at tentative of her surroundings all those years ago.
Tears of frustration stung at her chocolate eyes as she sat down with a huff. How she desperately wished that her rabbit friend would show up with his waist coat and clock to lead her way to the entrance. She could almost hear the obnoxious sound of it now; ticking down the seconds and reminding her friend of his constant state of tardiness. Even the wind rustling the bushes created the illusion that he was there.
Suddenly, the movement of something white in her peripheral vision caused her to turn her head, and a sudden realization of how real that ticking seemed to be. She had long ago accepted her madness, but this was a form of madness she had not often experienced. Hallucinations were things the woman only experienced when under great stress, overworked, and fatigued all at once! Surely, this was not one of those times.
She paid great attention to everything surrounding her, hoping to see Sir Nivens McTwisp so that she might follow him back to his homeland. She heard a rustle, louder than that of the wind, and she jumped to her feet running towards it. The ticking grew louder as she moved faster, and she soon caught sight of her quick little friend, waistcoat and all.
"Sir Nivens!" she called out, upon spotting him.
Just then, the white rabbit hopped off in a hurry, as though startled by the young woman tailing him. Alice scolded herself mentally; she knew from experience that he was jumpy and easily frightened and she still ran towards him and called out like that. It was a truly foolish move, but now this was becoming reminiscent of her past trips as she ran as fast as she could to keep sight of the little rabbit.
To Wonderland, Alice! she cheered to herself, You're returning to your friends; you're returning to him!
This as her mantra, she managed to pump her legs faster, her skirt rippling in the wind behind her. Times like these made her quite glad that she was so against corsets, for if she were wearing one, she'd surely be unable to breathe by now. The rabbit was fast, and darted down the hole before Alice was close enough to try to stop him, but she knew she'd see him on the other side.
She stopped in front of the gnarled tree stump, catching her breath before lowering her legs down so that she sat. Pushing off with her hands, she began to fall down the hole as furniture and various other objects fell up. She braced herself just in time to smash through the floor, and landed on the ceiling. A moment later, she hit the checkered floor, winded from the impact.
Briefly, it crossed her mind that she'd never have to take that plunge again and she smiled.
Pushing herself to her feet once more, she took the key from the table, and took a swig of the potion that makes you shrink. She finagled herself a dress to fit her small frame from a scrap of cloth torn from her petticoat. Glancing about, she found the pastry that she could use to grow back to her former size and placed it in a make-shift pocket as to not lose it on her way through the small door that was now just her size.
The miniature woman grabbed hold of the key in one hand, and her large clothing in the other, dragging the latter behind her as she unlocked and opened the door. A wide grin found it's way to her face as she took in the sights of the place she left five years ago. Wonderland was as amazing as ever, and now she was back. She could hardly contain her excitement as she crawled into her dress, situating it in such a manner that she would grow right into it. She took only one bite of the cake. Once she was her proper size, the woman spoke to herself aloud.
"Welcome home, Alice," she whispered contentedly, "welcome home."
Now all she had to do was find her friends. It would be most logical to find the Cheshire Cat first, as he had helped her to find her way both times, and she was certain that couldn't be too terribly difficult.
Authors Note: Due to the almost instant and rather large (in my mind) amount of positive reviews for the past installment, I have decided to continue this story. Though I did send all my reviewers messages personally, I would like to mention them.
Dreaming, Nicomy43, Jamielouise, Sami1010220, lacenoel, Mad as a Hatter (anonymous reviewer), JustBFree, Waifine, short turtle, (anonymous reviewer), cherehatter, stfoosa, Heartsong's Fanfictions, , and Shadow of Darkness 22, this is dedicated to all of you!
