The Red Queen had vanished and Alice muttered something about manners. Her last visit

familiarized alice with the awkward way things were done on the other side but still she braced her

self for the unknown. A cat lay in the chair which Alice had occupied in reverse just moments

before, but only the tail could be seen. Hopefully, Alice pictured the mirror-verison of Dinah and

walked over to it. Upon further investigation she found it to be of the same size color and stature

of that of the Chesire Cat and while disappointed in it not being Dinah, she was glad to see it. "Oh

Chesire Cat, how do you do?" Her voice was full of excitement as she waited for its reply, only to

be disturbed as it rolled onto his side, facing her. "I do beg your pardon, but who are you?" came

the rude cat. "I am Alice, do you not remember me?" she said sadly. The Cat sat up and

examined Alice, "Of course." She brightened up. "You are Queen Alice, so please to make your

aquaintance," the cat bowed half-heartedly. "It's a honor, but I really must be going." The Cat

slunk to the floor and scampered off drunkenly towards the door. Alice called after it but it did not

turn around nor did it acknowledge her call. "Well, I should hope to never see that cat again." She

looked around and decided the best thing to do would be to venture out of the house. "Last time,"

she said softly, "I had to walk in the opposite of where I wanted to go." Her first steps where in the

wrong direction. Once she reached the yard, Alice came upon two parrots chattering frantically.

"Pardon me, but..." Alice began slowly. The birds flipped around, scattering feathers and creating

an awful racket. "Help!" cried the two continously and Alice had to sieze one by the neck to quiet

it. "Please!" she said harshly. "I wasn't trying to startle you, honestly." The parrots calmed down

little by little and soon were sane enough to realize who was speaking to them. "Queen Alice, you

gave us such a fright," the said softly. "We weren't aware you had returned." Alice put her hands

on her hips, "I am no Queen. I'm a little girl." The two birds shook their heads, "Oh, don't play coy

your majesty." She stamped her foot, "Queen's do not parade around in the nightgown I dare

admit." The parrots looked stunned, for you see her nightgown was replaced by a beautiful dress

of yellow and blue. "Yes, I suppose Queen's have rather extraordinary night gowns then," said the

smaller of the birds. She looked down and admired the extravagance of the dress and twirled

about. "Oh dear this is beautiful,"she said surprised. "Where ever did I get it?" Snickers and snyde

comments were made under hushed tones and she shot them a sharp look. Alice sought to

repremand them but as she started to speak the Red Queen whipped out of a nearby bush and

cried out, "Now is no time to be dally-dillying!" She grabbed Alice harshly by the arm and ranted,

"Standing around when there's work to be done." Alice lagged behing the lightning fast queen as

she sped through the woods towards the river. Once at the bank she stopped and Alice was left

catching her breath and wiping her eyes. Across the river lay a large town, one unlike Alice had

seen on her visits to the strange world. "I do believe it's the largest city I have seen since my visits

to Wonderland." She stopped a moment and thought loudly, "Well Wonderland wasn't through the

looking glass was it? It was down the rabbit hole. And rightly so there is no white rabbit." The

Queen was watching her intently but didn't bother to answer any of the posed questions. Alice

continued, "And in Wonderland, all ways were the Queen's ways. But that was the Queen of

Hearts. Of course red is the color on the heart card, but the Queen of Hearts had such an awful

temper."

She paced around, one hand on her hip, the other wagging a finger while in deep thought. "The

Red Queen couldn't possibly be her or else she wouldn't have helped me find 'my way' to the

Eighth Square for feasting and fun. And then again there are two Queens here" The Red Queen

kept slumping over, as if falling asleep but Alice payed no mind. She kept on, "But the Hatter was

present in Wonderland and is the messenger to go for the White King in this land. Also the March

Hare was the messenger to come for the same King. And there is no tea party." Leaning on the

rail of the bridge Alice continued, "In Wonderland they were lazy and mad, but here they are hard

to work and listen intently to directions." The Red Queen finally dozed off when Alice clapped her

hands together hard and exclaimed, "I've figure it out!" The Queen yawned, "What have you

figured out?" Alice jumped up and down, "This isn't Wonderland at all. And if its the opposite of

Wonderland and everything here is backwards it must be Dnalredonw!" The Queen stood up and

walked towards the wooden bridge that would lead them to the city, "What a dreadfully slow child

you are."