Alice into Darkness

Just a Present

Seven large ravens looked down at Alice from a tree as she passed below them, curious to know why she was all alone in the forest and delighted to admire the bright and fiery color of her hair... They cawed a little perhaps saying something to each other, and Alice stared back at them for a moment before continuing her path.

"You lucky ravens" Alice whispered, more to herself than to the birds- "Nobody forces you to get married, and you are free to go anywhere you please..."

The beautiful ravens flew together on their way to take a look at whatever that was happening at the Manor below, a soft wind continued to whisper between the trees and Alice, after carefully advancing between fallen branches and rocks, finally arrived at an old, lonely and quite deteriorated bench right beside a small lake.

A few of the trees in that part of the woods were already losing their brown and orange leaves, it was a peaceful and yet nostalgic place and Alice sat down on her favorite old bench, deciding to just enjoy the various sounds of the forest all around her while she waited for her sister to show up...

"It looks like everybody is dancing down there" Alice said, admiring a view of Layttel Manor and the Meadow that she could see very well thanks to her elevated position- "I wonder what new wacky dress my mother shall choose for me to wear this time..."

Alice was very relieved to have at least some time to enjoy in the forest, to be alone, to be herself between the trees... The thought that she would soon be forced to adopt that boring and restricted lifestyle which all married women were expected to follow was a monster to her, and she tried to push away the idea that she should just run for her life now that she had a good chance.

"There you are!" a high and happy voice screamed all of a sudden somewhere to her left.

Loraine Layttel was a tall and beautiful woman, taller than Alice herself and even more elegant and stylish. She displayed the same intriguing, violet eyes and the same fiery red hair that both sisters had inherited from their revered father, but she was three years older than Alice and she was known and respected all over Surrey.

The lovely Loraine was wearing a violet cloak that her sister perceived as a frozen deep blue, she sat down on the old bench as well and Alice forgot to stop being herself even though she had company now...

"Hey, Loraine..."

"Alice" Loraine said, taking a look into the eyes of her sister and becoming quite surprised at what she discovered in them- "It's that look in your eyes again..."

"What do you mean?"

"You know, sometimes... You have this blank, emotionless look in your face" Loraine explained, clearly confused and yet more amused than alarmed at the mysterious transformations of her sister- "There is nothing that I can detect, and your eyes change... It's like you are not yourself anymore, like there was no soul at all inside of you..."

"Oh yeah, sorry..." Alice replied, and after making some effort to light her eyes up she managed to wear her usual mask and conceal the real Alice once again- "What about now? Any better?"

"Quite better! Well, my dear Alice... I have brought this for you!"

Loraine handed over to Alice what seemed to be a cardboard container, perhaps nothing out of the ordinary except that it was more than four feet in length and was all wrapped in violet paper... The presents inside were sure to be something heavier than either clothing or canvas for painting, and Alice wondered indeed what the mysterious gifts could be.

"Loraine, you know I did not want any wedding presents!"

"These are your birthday presents, Alice!"

"Oh... Thank you, then!" Alice replied, quite excited now and getting ready to open the container- "Six days early, but... What a nice surprise, my sister! Let's see what lies inside..."

The excited Loraine watched with a great smile, a few ravens looked down at them from a nearby tree, they could hear beautiful music coming from the distant Meadow and Alice had loads of fun tearing the violet paper with her strong and sharp nails...