Happy (Un)Birthday Alice!
Alice opened her eyes after a dreamless sleep to her room's ceiling in London that morning too, the sound of heavy rain filled her ears.
Bloody weather.
She closed her eyes again trying to fall back asleep, trying to dream; why couldn't she find the Palace of Dreams? However, a strange flutter-like sound that caught her attention made her open them again soon.
She sat and looked around the room when it stopped.
Then flutter again. It reassembled the sound of a paper sheet shaken by the wind, but all the windows and doors of the room were closed…
She got up careful not to be too loud, ready to catch the sound and where it came from.
At the third flutter she walked to a drawer of her wardrobe and her heart skipped a beat.
All her watercolors looked back at her: wonderful shades of blues and grays mixed together, curious shadows and lights created by her brushes. She flicked through them and saw Chess at the head of the tea tables with his head propped up on his paw the day he had helped her out of the forest.
The second one showed the White Queen standing behind the Tweedles, Mally riding Bayard, Thackery with his beloved spoon, Nivens and his pocket watch and Chess floating over them when they had told her goodbye on the Frabjous Day.
But the third one her breath knotted in her throat: it showed a dark night seen from a marmoreal balcony, she herself wore a pearl white nightgown and was leaned against the railing with her ankles crossed. Beside her stood his tall, dark clothed and hatless figure. A thick cloud of ginger colored hair hid his head completely and contrasted violently against the blue the entire picture was colored of.
The more she stared at the picture, the more her imagination seemed to be moving it and long ago said words came to her mind…
You would have to be half mad to dream me up!
I must be then.
"I'll miss you when I'll wake up…". She slumped on the floor sat in front of the opened drawer and clenched the drawings almost desperately. "I miss you now, Hatter… I'm sorry I woke up so late… I need you" She shifted her eyes upwards not to let her tears fall, eventually she lowered them to look at the picture once more: "Will you have me have your birthday gift, even if late? Will you let me see you? Please?".
Her eyelids closed and a tear made its way down her smooth cheek and crashed against the thick paper of the drawing startling Alice, who sighed at the pool of ruined color, but gasped in surprise as she noticed that something in the scene had changed. The Hatter had turned towards the point where the tear had stained the sheet and was frowning!
She blinked several times and even pinched her arm while staring at his figure and concluded that, yes: it definitely was moving!
The 'Hatter' seemed to have disliked the tear nearby him, he was now looking up at her with an happy grin on his pale white face. He took his hat from the marble railing and slid a hand inside but, surprisingly, his whole arm managed to slip in! His nose twitched as if he was searching for something, then he smiled big and retrieved his arm: he was holding a white and shining rabbit by the skin behind its neck. The painted Hatter winked at her and let the rabbit free to jump in mid-air, it was flying leaving behind himself a trainer of snowflakes.
Alice was thoroughly shaken: not only the picture –an inanimate picture was moving, but now it was also coming out from the sheet? She gasped and dropped what she had been holding as the flying glittering animal jumped here and there twirling around in her room. It finally stopped in front of her full length mirror, sat still in mid-air on his back paws and wiggled his nose at her.
Alice stood and looked at it intently, unsure of its intentions. The rabbit leaned forward as to smell the glass, and touched it's cool surface with its tiny nose and, as a result, its consistence seemed to become almost liquid. She looked at the picture again and saw the Hatter gesturing with his head towards the looking glass, a playful smirk played on his lips. She returned her attention to the rabbit, which positioned itself on all of his four legs, shook his cotton-like tail and jumped through the looking glass.
Alice smiled and giggled like a school girl. She turned towards the drawing: "How did you-" but the picture had changed so it was as it had been at the beginning, with a turned, hatless and still Hatter. She nodded at the fluid mirror, grabbed her coat and put it over her nightgown, she quickly slipped a pair of shoes on and stepped through the looking glass over again.
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Alice stepped into a room that had the furniture in the same position as in hers, only mirrored, like any house through the looking glass should be. Looking around her she recognized the room as the Hatter's. She blushed as she thought about the fact that their bedrooms were linked somehow.
She got to the door and silently stepped downstairs, following the humming sound that filled the air and smiling all the way. She found an ajar door near the entrance of the house and heard movement coming from there, so she peered in and her heart fluttered.
The Hatter was intently working on a new creations, muttering nonsense and occasionally singing a tune in a language to her unknown. His hands moved swiftly and brushed delicately the fabrics and rough fingers would sometimes pick up a pin to keep a rebel ribbon attached to the rest of the hat. She didn't know how much time she just stood there and watched him work, she started to ask herself that when he lifted the completed hat to examine it better and made an approving sound.
"Pray tell, this will look wonderful on that golden nest of hers!" he frowned slowly, laying the hat on the head of a mannequin: "It would look wonderful, if only she was able to wear it… or see it…". She saw the tips of his damaged fingers wander along the cheek of the mannequin: "Or remember me…"
"Hatter…"
"AAHH!" he jumped behind the mock human in fright. Alice hadn't even noticed that she had walked into the room and 'stalked' behind the poor man.
"Hatter! I'm sorry I didn't mean to frighten you so!"
"Alice?" he asked incredulous, peeking from his hiding place.
She giggled: "Yes, Tarrant, it's me"
The Hatter walked up to her and in a split second, had her in his arms twirling around and her laughter was filling his ears. He put her on the ground but neither of them let go of each other: "How did you come? What are you doing here? Besides scaring the life out of a working milliner?" he laughed.
She arched an eyebrow: "You mean you don't have anything to do with my watercolors?"
His eyebrows knotted together: "Pardon? What watery colors are you talking about?"
She shook her head: "Oh, never mind…"
He nodded, then shrugged: "I'm afraid I have no tea to offer you today Alice dear. We are not holding any tea party on this particular day"
"Oh?" she tilted her head on one side. The Hatter noticed that she had considerably cut her flowing golden locks. "And why not?"
It was now his turn to tilt his head in confusion: "Alice, don't tell me you don't remember what day is today? Look!" he turned and got the hat from the mannequin to gracefully put it on her own head: "I've even made this for you, as a gift!"
"Why are you being so mysterious, Tarrant?" she asked tilting the hat back a little so she could see his face "What's the date?"
"Alice today it's your birthday! And we celebrate unbirthdays, so can't hold a tea party on-"
"But, Hatter, my birthday was two days ago"
"Nonsense! My watch told me this morning that your birthday is today, not two days ago, silly Alice! Time must still be messed up with you!" He grinned at her.
She put her hands on her hips: "Are you sure that your watch isn't two days slow?"
Tarrant quirked an eyebrow, starting to search in his pocket for said watch: he pulled out a sticky looking round object that showed bumps all over and… was that spring coming out from its shutting?
After a growl of frustration the Hatter stated: "I knew that that marmalade had gone moldy!"
"Marmalade, Hatter?"
"Yes!" he said indignantly: "It had always had a thing for sweets, the pocket watch here! Won't do its work without some butter or strawberry marmalade or simply sugar! Still he managed to disappoint me" he pouted.
Alice took the unfaithful thing from his grasp to place it on his desk, then took one of his hands in hers: "Know what? As it isn't my birthday anymore, we are going out to have our mad tea party. Are you with me?"
Tarrant looked over their joined hands, blushing a little. Then squeezed hers gently and nodded his approval.
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And as the sugar toothed pocket watch's ticks and tocks echoed though the empty house and the Champion and the Hatter were having fun celebrating an unexpected unbirthday…
The White Queen sat on her throne, patting a glittering, flying white rabbit.
Happy (Un)Birthday Mia Wasikowska!