Alix in Wonderland
I live in an asscrack of a town, where the most exciting thing was the installment of a traffic light at a four way intersection.
"Alix!" My best friend Robby screamed as he drove the car. His voice was muffled by the sound of the wind whirring by me.
I had crawled out of the passenger side window, and lay on the hood of his hail-dented Honda Civic.
In a town like this, you have to stupid shit to have any fun.
The car went to a halt as we were next to a nature preserve. I hopped off of the hood of the car and stretched out my arms. The wind was chilly despite my light blue hoodie and white beanie. "That was awesome!"
He shook his head. "No, that was horrifying!"
We both held up our cell phones. Our flashlight apps were the only lights in the darkness. The woods seemed neverending as we walked along a dirt path. In some parts the path were too worn down.
"We should go home," he said. "This place gives me the creeps."
"Good," I said and laughed. "Maybe there's finally something fun to do here."
He stopped suddenly and checked his phone, " Oh no! I'm late, I'm late. I got to get home!"
"I don't want to go home!" I shouted. "C'mon, lets look around some more!
But Robby was already running back through the path shouting, "I can't be late!"
I followed after him, but at some point I lost track of him and the trail.
Maybe I should have been scared, but I wasn’t. I was excited. I guess I was just so damned bored in this town.
“I wish something interesting would happen,” I whispered.
I doubled back and continued down the path Robby and I had followed. The path was too worn, and I was just following the bends of the trees. Eventually my phone died, and I was stuck with nothing but the moon, half full and the stars twinkling ahead.
That’s when a little panic rose up within me. The trees seemed to move, shadows looked like monsters, and when I looked down I realized I had gotten off of the path. I didn’t know where to go.
I cursed as I turned around, trying to find the way back home.
Suddenly I saw the outline of a wide and wicked grin from the darkness. It had blue lips and sharp white teeth.
I stepped back. “Who’s there?”
“Who indeed,” the mouth said. It had a girl’s voice. “Who are any of us, really?”
The mouth was in front of me and then materialized into a girl.
She had messy, light blue hair and a pair of blue cat ears. Her mouth looked normal, so I guessed I had seen things. She wore a blue and black striped shirt, blue skirt, and knee-high black boots.
“Some call me the Cheshire Cat,” she said. “What do some call you?”
“Alix,” I told her. “So, what are you doing out here?”
“What is anyone doing out here or there or everywhere?” She asked and she disapeared. She appeared again on a tree branch, squating. Hanging down from the tree branch, I could see a fluffy blue tail. “I mean anyone really doing anything, or are we all just doing nonsensical nothingness?”
I shook my head. “You’re giving me a headache.”
I continued on through the forest, walking away from her—but then she suddenly appeared in front of me. This time she was on all fours. Her face looked more cat-like. She had sharp teeth and claws. She looked like the Cheshire Cat from
Alice in Wonderland, except much more dangerous.
I stepped backwards, but tripped on a tree branch. I fell onto my back.
She was nothing but a disembodied grin floating above me. “Do I frighten you?”
“No,” I lied and I sat up. I clenched by fists. I wasn’t even convinced what I was seeing was real. “You don’t scare me.”
“Well, you should be,” the mouth said, following me as I stood up.“I’m not the only thing frightening here.”
When I stood up she was back as a girl with cat ears, standing in front of me. “In fact, I may be the nicest thing in these woods.”
“Whatever,” I said and I walked through the woods.
The further I walked in the woods, I heard something snarling with snapping teeth.
There was a horrible creature in front of me. It looked like a dragon with large wings and a tail, but it had a small round head.
“Are you frightened now?” the Cheshire Cat whispered in my ear. I felt a chill down my spine.
The creature crept closer, snapping it’s jaws at me and growling. My heart beat so hard I thought it would break through my ribs. I wanted something interesting to happen, but this wasn’t what I meant.
“Be careful what you wish for,” the Cat said. “The
Jabberwocky is certaintly interesting isn’t it?”
“I did not wish for this!” I shouted as the creature crept closer.
“Do you wish to live?”
“Yes!”
“Then look to the Tumtum tree.”
I looked around, but she had disapeared again. “The what?”
I started to run from the creature, but then I saw the Cheshire Cat grinning from another tree’s branch. Leaning against the tree was a shining metal sword.
I ran to it and grasped it. It felt awkward in my hands. I’d only held a sword in video games, but there was no “A” button in real life.
The creature roared and spread its wings.
“Make the vorpal sword go snicker-snack!” Cheshire Cat shouted.
“Stop…” I swung the blade. “speaking…” I swung it again, and it hit the creature. “in riddles!”
I thrust the sword forward and into the creature’s chest. It was dead.
“You have slain the Jabberwock!” Cheshire Cat shouted, suddenly standing in front of me. “Oh frabjous day! Callooh, callay!”
I felt weak, tired, and my head was spinning. I leaned against a tree and fell asleep.
When I woke up the sword was gone and so was the Cheshire Cat.
I wandered back through the woods.
Dawn came, and I found my way. I didn’t know if I had dreamed it all, but I never did go back to those woods, and I never wished for something interesting to happen ever again.
Author's Note:
If you didn't guess it, I read
Alice in Wonderland this week!
There are so many renditions of Alice in Wonderland, and they are all mostly just different variations of a teenage Alice. So, I thought why not gender bend it and have a male Alice (or Alix?) So this is a Young Adult version of Alice in Wondrerland with a teen boy as Alice--or here as known as Alix! Hence, Alix in Wonderland.
I was most amused by the Cheshire Cat in my reading, so I wanted him in here--also gender bent as a girl! I don't know if it the cat is male in the book or the movie, but it seems that way to me. I designed the Cheshire Cat off of the
Cheshire Cat from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.
Also, if you didn't pick up on it Robby was supposed to to be like the White Rabbit (Robby...Rabbit, get it?) That's why he's all, "I'm late! I'm late!"
I had not reached the part with the Jaberwocky yet, but I am familiar with the poem. So, I made a lot of references to that. If you want to read the actual poem click
here. It's an interesting read, to say the least.
Anyways, this was different than my usual stories. It was my first story on here that had a male point of view, and was without romance (my usual thing is YA Romance with supernatural elements, in the point of view of a girl.)
I hope you guys like my story! I had a lot of fun writing it.
