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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NO AMOUNT OF SINGING OR DANCING could change Alice's mood after Lennon had broken off the friendship so bluntly the night before. It had come as a sudden and unexpected blow, which immediately brought Alice down from her high and joyful mood brought on from the holidays. Alice seemed to enter a trance of sadness as she got ready for classes, remaining relatively quiet instead of wishing everyone a good morning as she always did. Mr Rabbit and Cheshire were worried, although always forcing a smile to their faces whenever she looked in their direction. And even when they arrived at the Great Hall for breakfast, Alice didn't find herself at all hungry.
From the doorway, Mr Rabbit and Cheshire watched as Alice stirred at whatever was in her bowl.
"Should we do something?" Cheshire whispered as students scurried inside to meet up with their own friends.
"What exactly can we do?" Mr Rabbit replied. "We can't force the boy to be friends with her."
"We can't?"
As much as they wanted to drag Lennon by his ears and force him to apologise, they knew it wouldn't go over so well. Alice would never want someone to be her friend by force.
"No, Cheshire. At least, we can't make him do anything without using violent force, and if we take that route, we'll be no better than the Queen herself."
"So are you suggesting that we just let her sit there and mope around all day?"
"Of course not! You stay here with her and try to distract her. I'm going to come up with a way to cheer her up. I'll be right back."
Alice sensed some movement before her, leaving her to abandon her bowl and look up. She saw Cheshire standing on the table, balancing a spoon on his nose. It brought the corners of her lips to twitch in a very faint smile before she asked him what was he doing?
"I'm balancing a spoon on my nose," he responded, always stating the obvious. Alice could have smacked her forehead, reminding herself that she needed to word her questions to be more specific.
"Yes, I see that, Cheshire, thank you," she said, " but pardon me, why are you balancing a spoon on your nose?"
"It's simple really," Cheshire said, " because I can."
"Fair enough."
Mr Rabbit stood outside the Great Hall, waiting for anyone to show up that he knew would bring Alice into a better mood. And it was just his luck that a few minutes later, he spotted the twins as they made their way down the corridor in the opposite direction. He quickly scampered off after them and raced ahead to stop them in their tracks. It was George who noticed him first, grabbing Fred by the collar of his shirt to stop him before the rabbit was trampled.
"Hello, Mr Rabbit," he greeted first, " what are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be with Alice?"
"She's in the Great Hall," Mr Rabbit told him, " and I'm afraid she's not in the best of spirits right now, gentlemen."
