Alice's eyes widened as she recalled that if she distributed her weight equally to all her body parts, less weight would act on any of her individual limbs and she wouldn't sink. She spread her arms and legs and rested her head level to the quicksand.
Her lower body rose slowly out of its imprisonment. Then, she grabbed wildly above her until she found a solid branch. Pulling the branch with all of her might, her entire body was lifted into the air.
Relieved, Alice held the branch with both hands and hoped that it wouldn't break. Then she used her legs to swing herself. Front, back, front, back...
The momentum brought her very close to the edge of land that wasn't quicksand. Just then, she heard a creaking sound, realising that the tree branch was breaking. With one last swing, she leapt into the air and landed clumsily on her bottom again. Her bottom ached.
"Are you Alice?" an amused voice asked. She looked around. But there was no one.
Before she could freak out, the same voice called out to her. "I'm here, on top of a tree." A teenage boy dressed in a cat costume was lying atop the trunk of the palm tree. His greyish crystal clear eyes switched to babyblue and he winked. "And you have passed the first test amazingly. Not many people who come here can escape from the quicksand you know." He grinned widely at her, his teeth sparkling in the sunlight. "Who are you?"
"I'm Alice," she answered simply, too surprised and tired to say anything more. This was a weird place. A place where people wore clothes that represented animals.
The cat held her eyes, his eyes flashed from babyblue to gold. When he spoke again, his playful tone turned serious. "I guess you're wrong about that. You see, you are Probably Alice." He faded away into the surroundings, materialising at her side.
Alice gasped. "You are a teleporter!" She stared at him disbelievingly and quickly regained her composure. "Who are you and what do you mean by 'Probably Alice'? My given name is Alice and I'm Alice. What right do you have, to doubt the name I was given?" she bristled at his words.
"Quite right," he agreed amiably, "but this is Wonderland. In Wonderland, the name 'Alice' is earned, not given. And you have just taken a very small step to earning it. I am the Cheshire Cat and you'll usually find me by the Dutchess's side. For now, I bid you farewell."
Alice was contemplating his words when a hand cuffed her right wrist and she was pulled along. She looked back and saw the Cheshire Cat waving at her, and grinning again. Like before, he dematerialised. She looked at her captor. He had spiky silver hair and was dressed in a grey suit. He was pulling her towards a campfire celebration of some sort. She had just noticed that it was night in this place.
The fire flared magnificently. Its flames boasted of brilliant shades of colours, connected so The people around it danced merrily around the fire. As Alice neared the campfire site, she could make out that the people were also wearing suits that represented different animals too, like seagulls, clams, crabs and lobsters. They were holding hands and dancing around the fire, laughing and singing merrily.
Round and round the fire, a never-ending cycle. People come and stay, never finding the reason to go. They have found an excuse: an eternal happiness.
Her captor pulled her into the tightly-knitted circle. The girl in the seagull suit smiled invitingly at her and held her left hand while her captor held her right. Alice was part of the circle now.
The circle with no start and no ending.
Round and round she went around the campfire until she felt dizzy.
She felt the happiness and the intimacy like the family she had always wanted. She understood why they stayed. There were no troubles to worry about, nothing to feel miserable about. She wanted to remain there forever, hanging out with these happy people all day long and dancing to her heart's content.
But she could not. She had to return to her sister, the only family she had. Her sister must be worried about her. It was late at night and she had to find a way home, by first finding the white rabbit.
She asked the seagull girl where the white rabbit was. The girl ignored her question and continued dancing. Alice wanted to ask the boy with the spiky silver hair who had pulled her here. She turned to her right to ask him- He had disappeared. She was holding hands with a boy in a crab suit. No wonder her fingers felt like they were pinched. She winced.
Alice tried to pull free of the hands holding hers but she was too weak. Desperately, she bent down and bit their hands hard. She tasted a salty tang. She had bitten their hands until they bled. The seagull girl and crab boy tried to pull her back but Alice scrambled away, too fast for them to reach out for her again.
She ran up a hill, only daring to look back when she was well away. It appeared as if the seagull girl and crab boy had given up on catching her and keeping her in the circle. They were dancing around the fire again.
Tired and no shelter to stay in, Alice climbed atop a tree with difficulty. She gazed up at the night sky. The night sky was beautiful and mystical. The stars twinkled every now and then, like little gems decorating a plain background. Her eyelids drooped and she sank into a slumber.
But not for long.
"Ah, you must be Probably Alice,"a voice cackled, in obvious glee. She shuddered, feeling goose bumps on her skin.
Trouble. Not again.