A/N: Sorry ladies and gents, I've started a new semester at college and classes have been a little demanding (and time-consuming). I haven't been able to update/write like I had originally hoped, but this story is still ongoing, don't worry.
This little chapter was inspired by mrsblitzwing :) Happy Reading!
"Watch it!" she cursed as the carriage swiped past her. The driver hardly took any notice but did shoot back a curse of his own. She muttered under her breath and stepped off the curb once more.
London was so very different than Wonderland.
The people, for one, were so rude and thoughtless and uncaring. The smells – the midst of the industrial age – littered the sky with occasional grey smoke.
The skies were clear in Wonderland. And the people were kind overall.
London was grey and bleak but yes, full of prosper, Alice thought. But she had no real friends in London. She had no real love – except for the sea – to keep her grounded in her world. But she knew she didn't belong in Wonderland-
"Madam, is this yours?" a little boy asked curiously. He tugged on her pants.
Alice frowned slightly and looked at him. He held up a brass pocket-watch with a right crack in the middle.
The pocket-watch wasn't hers but she felt connected to it. Her cheeks colored as she thought of Time. "Yes, thank you," she said in return. He dropped the watch onto her palm and bounded away.
"Oi! Get out of the street!" another carriage driver shouted at her in frustration.
She blinked – no doubt realizing where she was – and finally crossed the road.
"Where have you been?" Mason huffed at her the second she set foot into the house. That little weasel had the unfortunate dream of becoming a sea captain – unfortunate for Alice because she was the only sea captain for miles that had the time to spare.
Which she most certainly did not! Time was not one to be spared.
"Had business aboard the Wonder," she replied simply.
He narrowed his eyes at her as she crossed the room and wandered off down the hall. He scoffed rudely. "Don't tell me you've forgotten about the books? The maps? You're supposed to teach me these things, Kingsleigh!"
She glanced at him over her shoulder. "Well, perhaps you should sit down and start then. A good sea captain isn't impatient and demanding. You don't need me to hold your hand when you can perfectly read a book yourself." She stopped walking and swiveled in his direction. "You can read, can't you?"
A natural look of triumph settled on her face as she took in his dumbfounded look. "I'm going to have a few hours to myself. When I come back, I want those books and maps to have been thoroughly read!"
She closed the door behind her. She drew back the curtains and pulled out the pocket-watch, examining it in the light.
At one point in its life, it must've had a beautiful shine to it – one that was surely fought over at game tables. Now the shine was gone, all scratched away, replaced by the wear and tear of old age. The glass that shielded the clock had nearly all shattered, a few shards still hanging on. The face of the clock was still and dead.
Alice felt her heart break at that. This clock was dead – a fallen soldier as Time would say. No hope in repair for he had lived his life. She never knew this clock and this clock never knew her, yet seeing that its time had run out, she noticed the skip in her heart.
She wished her part with Time would not ever run out.