Alice felt as though she was floating. She did not feel entirely real or as though she were fully tethered to her body. She ate every sweet morsel that William offered to her with reckless abandon. He seemed to delight in watching her face as she reacted to the complex, exciting, and entirely new flavors. Alice felt as though she had never truly experienced sweetness in the entirety of her life until this point. As she regarded the sweetly smiling young man with the easy laughter and twinkling brown eyes, she thought, This is sweetness. Alice smiled at him, and he returned it with a smile of his own. He took her hand once more, interlacing their fingers together. "Alice, there is so much I still have in store for you! You simply must see all that there is to be seen!" Willliam ran, and Alice followed. Trying to keep pace with him, they sprinted towards a chocolate archway with what she believed to be a door leading out of the room. "Why are we running, William?" She huffed. Unaccustomed to moving so fast but trying to keep her breath from sounding too obviously labored. Beside her, William laughed. "To get to where we are going faster!" Alice couldn't help but laugh along with him. More often than not, the man spoke in riddles and nonsense, and his mannerisms were far beyond her comprehension. But nevertheless, she allowed herself to be pulled along for the ride because whenever she was with William, Alice felt alive. She felt happiness and contentment and a sense of wonder and awe. She felt as though she could listen to him all day. He always told the most fantastical stories, and Alice felt as though he could tell her a story about paint drying on a wall, and she would still listen with the same sense of adoration. She adored him, truly. His whimsical nature was unlike any other person she had ever met. Alice ran beside him as they neared the chocolate archway. They came to a stop, and slice noticed that he had yet to let go of her hand. Which was rather impractical, she thought, as now he would most likely struggle to open the door. But whatever his reasoning was for continuing to hold her, she was glad for it; it meant that she could hold onto him for just a few moments more.
As it so happened, Alice did not need to worry, for as they approached, the chocolate doors swung open wide for them, and the pair passed through into a room that was deathly cold. William released Alice's hand and removed his velvet maroon coat, gently placing it around her shoulders before finding her hand again and giving it a squeeze. "Welcome to the ice cream room!" He laughed, and Alice watched, fascinated, as his breath clouded before him. The room they stood in was covered entirely by ice and snow. frost formed on every clear glass door, which opened to reveal a small cavity in the wall where rows of ice cream boxes were neatly arranged. They stretched the entire length of the room in every direction. "You imply must try a bite of everything!" Said William as he led her further into the room, opening doors, scooping spoonfuls, and feeding them to her. Alice was beginning to feel completely overwhelmed y the experience. There was simply too much. Her mind swam, but still, she ate. Thinking surely William must, at some point, exhaust the list of flavors he wanted her to try. Yet somehow, he never did. Alice could not have said how long they spent in the ice cream room, it could have been five minutes or two hours. But eventually, Alice yielded to her body's desperate pleas and held up her hand to William. "I simply couldn't eat another bite, I'm afraid." William frowned, and his brows knit in concern. He set down the spoon and grasped her by the shoulders, peering into her face. "Ah! Alice, I seem to have gotten completely carried away, my sincerest of apologies! Do you feel ill? Do you need to sit down?" "No, no, I am all right; I simply have to finish trying the rest of the flavors another day," she answered, smiling at him, as he loosened his grip on her shoulders and his hands fell down the length of her arms, coming to rest on her elbows. "You...would come and visit again then?" he asked. His eyes twinkled with hope and anticipation. "Of course, should you wish me to." replied. To which William grinned his fabulous grin. "Oh, my dear Alice, don't be so silly! Of course I want you to! Please, do come back tomorrow or the next day and the day after that as well! Come as often as you would like!" Alice laughed at the warm invitation, and together, they exited the room and started the trek back to the old man.
