Alix in Wonderland

Part 1. Tears of a Bat

She walked down the dimly lit street, being careful to not drag her black dress on the cobblestone sidewalk. It had a slight shimmer that would reflect quietly when the ornamental streetlamps flickered overhead. She stopped by the only light in full glow, refusing to flicker and join the rest of the crowd, and began to examine its base. Her hands clasped at the rectangular base, and gently held the cold metal chilled to the touch. It felt so plain and lifeless. She ran her hands up the rough green, oxidized rod that lead up to the lights above and wondered how old the light was. Her eyes looked to the top of the pole where it intersected with another rod, this one, symmetric on either side, acted as two semicircular arms, each with a traditional streetlight as a hand. Their style made her look down and wonder if they were perhaps made at the same time as these cobblestone streets...

She bent down until her knees touched the decorative sidewalk below. She traced the cracks in each cobblestone brick until her eyes became heavy. This post could be most comfortable, she thought. Just as hunger feeds flavor, so too does exhaustion feed comfort. At this point her eyes became too heavy to carry on, so she laid her back against the cold metal post and hummed herself to sleep.

She was awakened with a squeak above her. She looked up to see her most consistent light had gone out. The squeak came again. This time the squeaks came out spaced much closer together. It was almost as if someone were talking, but the tape that had recorded them was sped up way too fast. She got up as she heard the sound again, except this time right above her head.

"Whoever is talking, can you please slow down? I cant understand a word you're saying!" She shouted to the top of the lamp.

"Can she hear us?"

"I think she can hear us."

"She can hear us?"

"That's what you just asked isn't it?"

"That's what you just answered."

"Well of course."

"So she can hear us?"

"I don't know, can she hear us?"

"Well of course I can hear you now that you slowed down!" She yelled up at the damaged street light talking to itself. But, of course, she had no idea if their speaking had slowed down or if her hearing had sped up.

"Well can you hear me?"

"Or me?"

By this time her eyes began to adjust to the light. And soon she could make out two small figures. They looked like tiny rats hanging upside down.

"I can hear you best," she said pointing to the rat hanging on the right arm of the lamp, "but I can kind of make you out too," she said indicating to the rat on the left arm.

"Oh no!" cried the rat on the left. "What a miserable wretch I am? I can't see a thing, and now I can't even talk. What good am I? Next thing you know I won't even be able to fly!"

Alex paused, "Fly? What type of rat flies?"

"Ohhh!" he yelped in pain. "Did you hear her? She said I look like a disgusting, old rat! I might as well just fly away and never come back."

"Oh, now look what you've gone and done!"

"Me?" cried Alex.

"Yes, yes you!" Alex paused then as she realized her mistake.

"I'm such a miserable, filthy, useless, old creature!"

"He's quite sensitive you know. He hates criticism, and he's always been self-conscious about his voice."

"How was I supposed to know that?"

It only now started to dawn on Alex that what she was was looking at were not two rats at all, but two bats. And what peculiar bats they were! The bat to the left, the one crying now, was wearing an adorable, little bat suit, and had a monocle which now, of course, was just dangling as the bat was crying too much for it to stay on his eye. The one to the right was also dressed in pants and a shirt, but Alex could tell from her gorgeous hanging earrings and motherly heir that she was a strong woman.

Her thinking was interrupted by the crying male bat. "My voice is so high and squeaky, its like nails on a chalk board. No! Nails on a chalkboard would be a gift to bestow upon someone to avert their attention from the screeching that is this voice! Can you imagine if I tried to sing? The birds would fall from the skies! Leaves from the trees, 'til this Earth was a wasteland!" The crying clearly wasn't stopping, and, although the streams down his cheeks stayed a consistent size, with each insult he hurled at himself the droplets dripping from his nose seemed to get larger and larger.

At first his tears were just regular bat tears, so tiny they could barely be seen. They evaporated before they could hit the ground. Soon however, they became the size of small beads. The tears quickly became the size of marbles. And then they grew to the size of small oranges falling from a tree.

"And can you imagine if I danced? Oh, the poor creatures that would have to watch me flounder and flail. Flog and flap. Fumble and tumble."

Alex suddenly felt moisture gathering on her hands. Why is the rest of the lamppost wet? She looked up to see the lights of the street lamp dangling like extinguished earrings. She watched as tears formed on the ornamental decorations, acting as the street lamp's eyes, and rolling down the lamp pole as they would down the bridge of a nose. As Alice followed the tears to the floor, she realized that, between the tears of the bat and those of the lamppost, a pool forming at her feet. As the water continued to fall, a small stream began to rise around her stockings.

"Oh, Mr. Bat, please stop crying!"

"I know, I know, I'm hideous when I cry! Please avert your gaze!" And with this last insult the tears grew to the size of basketballs and with each crash began to shake the ground. Alex started to stumble with each tear. She soon lost her balance and went to grab the streetlight for support. Alas, she had forgotten how slippery the crying lamppost had become. Her hands reached out so she could catch herself but slipped right off of the lamp. To her dismay, she splashed right into the giant pool of water now on the floor. The water level was much deeper than before, and as she tried to get back up, she realized the water was really beginning to move, and, now, it had its own powerful current. She knew without any help the stream would surely drag her away. She thought of the bats who might be able to pull her out. They could fly after all!

"Help," she yelled. "Bats, I'm sorry about my comments about your voice. I'm sorry I called you rats. You really are quite lovely creatures, and you have a wonderful voices! Just please help me!"

Yet when she went to look up, the bats were too busy, caught up in their own affairs. The bat in earrings was beginning to sniffle as she watched the first bat continue to cry profusely. Alex was worried that she might start crying too. It didn't help that the tears were now coming from all over the bat in a suit's body. The tears became more and more apparent until they covered the bat's whole body and there was no bat to be seen, until, finally, he transformed into a giant tear and 'plop,' dropped from his upside-down spot on the lamppost all the way to the ground. And with that plopping dropping suddenly a wave began to rise.

Alex had already been carried about quarter of a block from the lamppost by the stream, that was at a heavy rush now, but as the gigantic teardrop fell, she could see, in horror, as a wave rose up to meet her.

It started under the lamppost as a small blip, but as it got closer, it quickly rose and rose. Alex had previously trying to swim against the current to get back to the lamppost, but now as the wave rose to meet her she turned and swam as fast as she could the other way. She was no match for the speed of the wall of water behind her though, and soon she could feel herself being lifted into the air. There was almost a thrill to it as Alex felt it lift her further and further into the sky. Excitement quickly became fear as she suddenly realized how completely out of control she was on this wave.

And then it crashed.