Alice

4. Madness

4. Madness

I kept walking, and all of a sudden, I heard cups tinkling. I came out of the trees, and found myself in a clearing. In it was a long table with a white tablecloth and many chairs around it. On top of the table were a teapot, a few colorful cakes, and many teacups.

Seated around the table was the oddest group I had ever seen. At the head was a man wearing a very large top hat. On the right side of him was a rabbit (a brown one. I had no idea where the white one had gone), and on his left side, a mouse was asleep, his head resting on the table. The man and the rabbit were engaged in conversation. I knew that it would be rude to interrupt them, but I walked close to the table, and then I said, “Hello. I’m Alice.”

The rabbit was so startled, he dropped his teacup, and it fell to the ground with a crash. “Intruder!” he cried. “Intruder!”

“Calm down, Mr. Hare. I’m sure she means no harm. You do mean no harm, don’t you?” the man in the hat asked me.

“No! Of course not.” I replied.

“Then, by all means, sit down!” he told me. I did. “Tea?” Before I could respond, he had poured a cup of tea and shoved it into my hand.

“Uh, I guess so,” I said, staring into the teacup.

“What is your name?” asked the Hare, who had been eying me.

“Alice,” I answered, even though I’d already introduced myself.

“I’m the Mad Hatter.” the man said. “He’s the March Hare.”

The Mad Hatter grabbed my untouched tea and started refilling it. “So,” he asked. “What brings you to Wonderland?”

“Well, I fell down a rabbit hole-”

“A rabbit hole? How curious,” observed the Hare.

“Uh, yeah. I would like to go home, but then the Queen of Hearts invited me to tea-”

Just then, the Hatter, who had been taking a sip out of his cup, started spluttering, and tea came out of his nose. “The Queen invited you to tea?!” he coughed.

“Yes. And she said-”

“You have to go!” cried the March Hare.

“You cannot go!” cried the Hatter.

“But she’ll have me killed if I don’t go,” I explained to the Hatter.

“She’ll end up killing you anyway. She’ll find some excuse to have your head chopped off.”

“She’s horrible!” wailed the Hare.

“Sh! Her spies will hear you!” the Hatter warned him.

“Why don’t you overthrow her if you hate her so much?” I asked.

“Can’t. The last person who tried that never came back!” the Hatter told me.

“I wish we could go back to the old days,” sobbed the Hare.

“You mean, it wasn’t always like this?”

“No,” said the Hatter. “Things used to be grand. We lived in a happy place.”

“What happened?”

“The tale is long, and dark. Very dark. Bloody, even.”

“Tell me anyway,” I insisted.

The Hatter set down his teacup, wiped his mouth with a napkin, took a deep breath, and began, “Many years ago, the king and queen of Wonderland were a kind and caring old couple. When their son became the King of Hearts, he fell head over heels for Malcurie, the beautiful daughter of a nobleman. Sadly, she didn’t really love him; she only wanted to marry the young king so she could become queen. A few months after their wedding, the Queen killed the King, making herself the only ruler of Wonderland.”

“That’s horrible!” I exclaimed. The Hare nodded sadly.

“She rules by fear, beheading any that oppose her,” the Hatter continued. “Most of us sat around and did nothing, even though we hated the new Queen. Esrella, however, wasn’t so smart.

“Esrella was the King of Hearts’ sister. Everyone loved her.”

“She was so nice,” sobbed the Hare.

“Esrella’s husband, Conrad, led a group of armed men who planned to overthrow the Queen. However, her army overtook the small band of courageous men. They killed all of the men except for Conrad, whom the Queen wanted alive. She had him thrown in her dungeon, which is rumored to be the most horrible place in all of Wonderland.”

“No one ever comes out of it alive!” whispered the Hare in a scared voice.

“If no one ever comes out, how do you know that it’s horrible?” I asked.

“That’s beside the point. Can I please continue?” the Hatter asked, annoyed.

“Anyway, Esrella was infuriated. She stormed into the castle demanding that the Queen release Conrad.  The Queen just laughed and told Esrella that she would have her executed. Esrella started to fight the guards, intent on rendering the Queen helpless. However, the guards cornered Esrella, and the Queen ordered her execution. She’s been in power ever since, and no one dares question her.”

“Openly, that is,” muttered the Hare. “She won’t let us throw any parties,” he said sadly. “Hatter used to throw the best parties.”

“Ah, yes. Those were the good days.... When the Queen loses power, I’ll throw the biggest party ever,” he vowed.

“Bigger than Frabjas ‘09?” asked the Hare.

“Way bigger.”

The Hare sighed. “That’ll be lovely....”

“When she loses power.”

“If she loses power,” the Hare corrected him with a sigh.

I sat in stunned silence for a moment. Finally, I took a deep breath. “That was the most horrible story I’ve ever heard!” I cried.

“Yes,” said the Hatter solemnly.

“I definitely can’t go see her now!”

“But you have to!” the Hare insisted.

“You want me to go have tea with that- that-”

Just then, I heard horse hooves pounding on the ground. Suddenly, several horses thundered into the clearing.

A herald dismounted. “Alice? Alice?” he called, looking around the clearing.

I stood up. “I’m Alice,” I told him.

“We are here to inquire if you are accepting the Queen’s invitation to tea.”

“Um,” I looked at the Hatter and Hare for help. The Hare nodded vigorously, while the Hatter shook his head slowly. Not knowing what to say, I blurted out, “I- I guess so.”

“Then come,” the herald gestured for me to mount his horse. I got on, and I waved solemnly to the Hatter and the Hare. With a grave look on his face, the Mad Hatter held up his teacup, as if he was toasting me.

The horse lurched forward, and it galloped away from the clearing.