In 1865, a young girl by the name of Alice Liddell went missing from outside of her home in Oxford, England. Left in the care of her older sister, Margaret, no one could understand how the seven-year-old had disappeared so suddenly. Yet, after multi...
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─── AS AN ABNORMALLY WARM DAY OF MAY graced the early afternoon, a young girl by name of Alice Liddell found her mind drifting, much like the petals of the flowers that had bloomed early and were caught by a strong breeze. For the past hour or so as her older sister Margaret read to her, Alice had yet to hear any word of it. She found the material to be dreadfully boring and paired with her sister's monotonous voice, the girl felt the stages of a nap falling upon her. To keep herself awake to avoid a scolding, she had decided to climb the tree that they had been sitting under.
Much to the displeasure of Margaret, who watched in disdain as Alice kicked off her shoes in the most unladylike manner and proceeded to climb the branches. However, it was useless to scold Alice, as the girl never seemed to listen. In her mind, rules were meant to be bent or broken all in the name of fun. But one could hardly blame her, she was only seven years old at the time and there was a ten year age gap between her and Margaret. The eldest of the Liddell family had always been considered mature for her age, even from the time she was young. Known for her poise and elegance, their parents were hoping that it would pass down to Alice, but so far they were in no such luck.
Alice had the mind of a dreamer, always thinking of the impossible and never caring if someone told her she couldn't do it. In her mind, if someone told her she couldn't, she only took it as a challenge to prove them wrong. Some took it as stubbornness, others saw it as determination, but Alice didn't care what they called it. Her world of impossible allowed her to envision a different life from the one that she saw destined for her, the one she didn't want.
She came from one of a family of aristocrats, the upper class of the Wizarding World, and yet, that held no value to the girl. There was no reason for her to care about social status at such a young age, but from the time that she was old enough to speak, she had found herself reciting things she didn't understand for the sake of coming across as better than others. She wore dresses that she found incredibly uncomfortable, attended gatherings that left her tired and was expected to act as an adult, even if she had yet to hit puberty.
Even at seven years old, Alice was more than sure that she didn't want to live such a life. Already, her mother and father had trained Margaret to be like them and they were all working full-time to make sure that Alice followed the same path. They had their hands full with the rambunctious girl that was full of questions, mainly beginning with the word " why?" Why did the women have to wear the uncomfortable tight dresses? Why did the men lead the household? Why did Margaret have to marry a boy she hardly knew? All questions that often led to her receiving a harsh scolding behind closed doors.
"Normal" was a word tossed around on more than one occasion when it came to answering her questions. But Alice didn't see that as good enough because everyone that was considered normal around her, seemed miserable as well. Where was the fun in all of that? Life was not meant to be fun all the time, her father informed her. People like her family members were ones that were supposed to set the example for others, for people to strive to be better. She didn't understand that either and maybe her family didn't really understand it themselves, but it was what they had been taught and now they were passing it on to her and Margaret.
