Malice in Wonderland

Malice in Wonderland

A hollow and ominous wind fled from the depths of the murky woods, as if it were sprouting from the twisted branches of the wooden giants that shattered the light from the sky above. The day had before been so still, frozen like the rest of Wonderland had become. The snowflakes now left their vertical pattern to flutter wildly in the new current, dancing in glee to what was a welcome alteration to Alice’s walk through the icy forest. Snow was an unwelcome newcomer to what was once her childhood retreat, and as the intensity of the wind grew, she fought to keep her miniscule enemies from stinging her eyes and cheeks. Her footsteps were awkward as frozen ground was discovered in the place of the lush moss and grasses that once sprung from the fecund soil below. She squinted through the veil of icy crystals that surrounded her as she wondered what could possibly be left in this dead and hostile landscape. The mushrooms and other helpful assets of the forest seemed to have frozen and withered long ago; no resources could she find to garner to defend herself against what might await her at the journey’s end.
The cold threatened to debilitate Alice’s entire being with every breath she felt herself draw. Her body weakened and started to stiffen into brittle ice, and the more her thoughts were allowed to leak through, the more she failed to find a reason for her struggle. She was soon overwhelmed with a penchant to accept failure, if only to avoid further suffering. How she longed for little more now than to lose herself to the icy remains of what she once was. Her vision was losing its acuity as she could nearly feel the blood crystallize into frigid slush in her fair veins. Just as she felt she would fall to the ground and lose everything, she heard a cold laugh echo from the core of the forest. Alice might have not even recognized it, being another icy snowflake among millions that were just as cold. This was different. This was a laugh she so vividly remembered, even if it was nearly as distorted as the rest of the wood had become. She had nearly forgotten the ubiquitous Cat, who was constantly on the next branch over or grinning as he oversaw the nonsensical workings of wonderland. Suddenly revitalized, she spun her head about, darting her eyes through the tree branches in search of an esoteric grin or those curiously luminous eyes. Her heart raced with the prospect of receiving even the most obscure clue from her mysterious guide, even if his peculiarity of avoiding the point had become one of her more severe frustrations.
Finally she discovered him lounging in the crook of a gnarled bough, his pupils narrowed despite the dimmed light. He looked so different to her, his fur matted and his eyes gleaming with spite rather than his characteristic mischief. He carried with him an overall depraved look, as if the newfound darkened chill of Wonderland had found a home within him as well. The relief she expected to receive in his presence was restrained even further as she took notice of his menacing claws and intimidating incisors. In spite of her unease at the twisted reunion, Alice asked the same question that initiated the first conversational encounter between the two so long ago, but this time with desperation straining her delicate voice.
“Cheshire, where must I go?” She awaited the hallowed answer from her one source of hope, vowing to follow it as if it were a commandment from God. Even an answer with the most subtle hint of sophistry would be followed diligently. The reputed harbor of the wisdom of wonderland proved his astuteness by simply widening his clever smile, mimicking what looked like a Mona Lisa gone horribly wrong.
When she didn’t receive an answer, she tried again. “What of that conceited Queen?” she shouted urgently to him. “What became of her?”
“I assure you that her fiats and vanity have been swept away to join the rest of this dreadful snow drift.” The cat said slowly, flicking his ragged tail. Alice did not expect him to delineate any further; such was not his nature. She didn’t dare ask about the opulent castle grounds that once were strewn with lavish tapestries and whimsical landscaping. “Besides,” he continued unexpectedly, “you should have no reason to ask. This is all your doing.” Alice’s breath stopped in lung-crushing mortification as her mind fought to stay from the ideas that pricked her insides like daggers. “You destroy yourself, and Wonderland goes with you, you know.”
“I want to go back.” Alice wailed, her gasps nearly coming out in sobs. Her dark past had to have some solution. After all, this place was little more than a figment of her own mind. Couldn’t there be some way that she could control the one creation she had left? “I’ll die out here, Cat. Please, I can’t take the cold anymore!”
Even as the cold closed in on her like the pressure of a thousand knives, searing through her numbed extremities and mocking the effort of her failing heart, the cat took all the time he desired in answering. He clearly had no concern for the mundane needs of the young woman freezing to death before him. “Do you know what happens if you die here, Alice?” he asked lazily. Alice’s eyes widened at his nerve. She decided words would not help her to survive now, so remained silent to await his explanation. He leapt from the branch above to one much closer to her face. Every gruesome detail of his mangled face was now plain to Alice’s sight. “If you die here, you become a lifeless shell in your ‘real world.’ A vegetable. But your heart will continue to beat. Electricity, however faint, will still circulate through your brain. Wonderland will be there, but you won’t.” He snarled at her with unsettling cruelty. “I’ll still be here.”
Alice stepped back with the strength she had left. She bit into her already chapped and bleeding lips with horror as the Cheshire Cat came nearer still. “You won’t be around to mess it up. Until the day you die in your hospital bed,“ He continued, “Which may be very far from now due to the expenses your dear family is surely willing to spend on you, Wonderland will have the chance to prosper as it once did. Do you even remember how it was when you were small? It was flawless disorder. Paradise, even, if you learn to love it as I have. And you wasted it away to live the wretched life you did in the real world. You’ve destroyed Wonderland, Alice, and I’m going to take it back.”  He crouched on the thin branch and disappeared as Alice collapsed in breathtaking terror and submission to the shut-down of her body in the cold. Her eyes opened once more to see the devilish grin of the cat above her, his brilliant eyes narrowed at her. She wanted to say goodbye for old times, but it was too late. Darkness surrounded her as she felt her heart screech to a frozen stop.
The wind began to die down, leaving Alice’s hair swept across her pale stony face. The Cat gazed at her curiously for a moment, and disappeared into the darkness of the wood.