Chapter 6

Return To Wonderland

By Courtney Erickson

I cowered in fear, Eleonora stood, towering over me creating a very large, menacing shadow. The other "flowers" or whatever they considered themselves to be hissed and snarled at me like I was a bottle of rat poison or a slice of moldy bread.

"It is an honor to sing with my Golden Afternoon! Not one soul has ever turned down this offer in our very existence!" Eleonora's voice seemed to boom across this place in which they called "Wonderland".

"Thistle!" The red flower Eleonora had called Fabala hissed at me.

"Crabgrass!" A violet flower snarled.

"Why she's about as fragrant and beautiful as poison ivy!" A what seemed like golden tulip stuck her nose up into the air as she said this to me. I may not know much about talking/singing/crazy-mood-changing flowers, but I know that can't be a compliment.

"Look, I really am I very sorry to turn down your offer, but I need to find the hatter!" I said, fearfully. Eleonora rolled her black, darkened eyes at me. Those once pale, angel-like eyes seemed more like a portal into a dark, unforgiving abyss.

"Oh please! You didn't just 'turn down' an honor! You insulted and humiliated an honor! We banish you from the Meadow of Melodies. May you be hated down into history of Wonderland!" Eleonora scolded me, furiously shaking her head at me. Her leaves acted like hands and were clenched tightly into fists. The flowers shoved at me and pushed me away. They pulled my hair and slapped my face till it stung.

I was tossed and turned until eventually I had left the miserable flower bed. The flowers turned away from me murmuring mean and nasty things at me. Like I actually cared that I was insulted by a flower. Now that I was out of that place, it was time to move on, to venture further into Wonderland. I looked all around me, surveying where I was. My risky and curious decisions hadn't done me much good. I was stuck in a dark wood. Behind me was a heaven of colors and joy, while this place was a forest of coldness, and black.

Twisted and gnarled trees stood out of the ground, which were stripped of their leaves. The ground was no longer a brilliant shade of violet, but an ugly shade of brown and moss. It smelled like mold and mildew. I wanted to hold my nose, but as if that was one of my major issues right now!! I was stuck in a place that seemed like a hallucination! My main concern right now was to stay alive and get home somehow. I walked through the dark woods, terrified of what lay before me. After what seemed like miles of walking, I came to a towering gate.

Why was everything towering over me in this world? Oh yeah, that stupid drink made me about 3 inches tall!!

The gate was mad of stone, and wasn't locked. Why not go in?

"Yes, hehehe! Why not go in child?" A strange giggly voice chuckled behind me. Yet again, I was thoroughly surprised.

There sat, a brightly colored, purple and pink striped cat.

"W-what?!" I said, not meaning 'what did you say', but meaning 'How is that possible?!?!'

"Why, did you not hear me? I said why not go in? After all, the gate is unlocked! And who knows what wondrous things lie behind it!" The cat said. It crept down from its tree branch a sat next to me, a bit taller than I was. "You could find anything behind that gate! Anything! Don't you want to find out, Audrey? Do really want to go on all your life remembering that one moment when you could've entered, but didn't? Besides, it's no big deal! If no one was allowed inside, then why isn't it locked?" The cat circled me, whispering these things in my ear. After considering this, I was extremely tempted. I decided I should at least know someone's name before I take their directions.

"What is your name?" I asked the peculiar cat.

"Why! I don't really have name really! People call me many different things. One of which is most common: 'Cheshire Cat'. I really don't know why they would call me that. It is a town in Connecticut." The cat rattled on and on.

"Connecticut! That's a city in the land I come from! Do you know how I might get back there?" I asked, praying this cat might know something that might help me.

"Of course I do. But you can't leave! No, no, no! Wonderland is in peril, and if you leave it will remain this way and all will be lost! The only beautiful place that remains in Wonderland is the Meadow of Melodies, which has been overcome by a bunch of snobby flowers!" The cat pleaded.

"I know, I was there earlier…." I said.

"Yes, I see. You need to be careful in Wonderland! Although its beauty has been lost, the madness remains. Of course, I guess we all are mad in our own little way! Hehehe!" Giggled the Cheshire Cat once again.

"Yes…..Might you know where I am to be going? I was told to see the hatter. I'm terribly lost…." I said to the crazed cat.

"Oh but of course I know where he is! Right here, through this gate! I must warn you, he is terribly mad. But no worried Audrey, I'll always be here, just waiting!" Said the Cheshire Cat. And just like that, he disappeared, almost poofed away into the wood.

Then I guess I had better go through this gate…..

I began to turn the lever with my trembling hand…………..

To be continued