Alice and William retreated into the Dentistry to collect the Dentist. They found him in his study, hunched over a stack of medical journals at his desk. Even he, that terribly non-dramatic old man, could not disguise his joy at seeing William once again. His face broke into the widest smile that Alice had ever seen him wear. Perhaps absence really does make the heart grow fonder, Alice thought. William seemed thoroughly delighted to see that his mere presence had elicited such a reaction from his father. He positively radiated joy. He shared a glance with Alice and seemed to communicate 'Do You See That?!' with his eyes. To which Alice replied with a grin of her own and a rather smug look that communicated something along the lines of 'I told you so.'
Soon enough, the three of them were standing inside of William's contraption that he called the glass elevator. He stood in between his father and Alice, and as he pushed a series of faintly glowing metal buttons that lined the well adjacent to the entryway, he warned them that they "might want to hold onto something. The old dentist snorted at the warning, and Alice was not entirely sure what to do. There was no railing or guards to be found inside of the strange glass box. The only discernable features of note were the entrance, the buttons alongside one of the walls, and the three standing in the center of the glass box. Alice tentatively reached out towards William and grasped his arm ever so lightly, her heart beating fast as she did so. William put his gloved hand atop hers. "You're going to want to hold on tighter than that, Alice!" He unceremoniously looped his other arm with his fathers, who guffawed at the proceedings but otherwise made no objections. The entryway closed, and the sound of invisible metal gears turning could be heard. William grinned at Alice and shouted, "Off we go!" and that was the last thing alive heard before the sky exploded into stars.
The accent was so sudden and jarring that Alice did not register it immediately. One second, she was standing in a box in the snow, and the next, she was standing in a box that was, if she had to guess, several hundred feet in the air. Alice screamed, and to her comfort, the old man was as well. William laughed at the both of them. "Isn't it exhilarating?! Watch this!" He said excitedly as he pushed another series of buttons that sent the glass elevator reeling. They were jostled about quite roughly. Both the old man and Alice clung to William and, to some extent, to each other. The old man had his eyes tightly shut, but after the initial shock of it all had worn down, Alice found that her curiosity had gotten the better of her. As the elevator was apparently made of glass, there were no obstructions between herself and the world around them. As they sped about at a speed Alice could not even begin to comprehend, there were flashes of lights from towns and cities that passed by underneath them. She could see the stars as they whirled about. They were so high up in the sky that they passed through several clouds, and Alice saw them dissipating like fog beneath her feet. Oh, but the chief beauty of the elevator ride was, by far, the moon. From this altitude, the moon looked so close Alice swore that if she could only just reach out, she was sure her fingertips would brush up against it. "It's so beautiful." She whispered. "Sure is." William grinned at her, and the two of them stood beside each other for a moment. Arm in arm, in silence. Taking in all of the beauty that surrounded them. The moment was shattered as the elevator lurched downwards so suddenly and quickly it was as though it had been pulled downwards on an invisible string. Alice and the Old man screamed while William laughed riotously. Alice felt her stomach drop to her feet and clung to Williams's arm as though it would save her, burying her face into his shoulder and letting the velvet plush of his coat muffle her terrified screams.
When they finally descended fully, with the elevator finally coming to rest upon the firm ground, Alice could have wept for joy. The entryway opened, and the Old Dentist lurched outside and fell upon the ground, retching. "Oh... oh no, Father, are you all right?" William rushed after him. Hovering above the old man as he crouched on the ground on his hands and knees. His hands flapped helplessly around his father without ever quite touching him. The old man spoke at long last and called for her"...Alice?" he said weakly. "Yes, sir, how can I help you?" She crouched beside him, the snow soaking into her stockings and creating dark circles on her shins. "I am unwell...I think I might sit down for a while." Alice nodded in sympathetic understanding and helped the old man to his feet. "Let's find you a chair." They stood. Beholding for the first time the marvel of the building that stood before them. "Father, Alice," William called to them as bowed deeply and with great flourish. "Welcome, to my Factory."
