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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THE LONGER SHE REMAINED IN THE LOVEGOOD HOME, Alice felt more and more at ease. Settled on the floor of the sitting room, she watched as Cheshire continued with his disappearing act every time Luna attempted to pet him. At first, Luna appeared startled by all those that came from Wonderland, but with every passing second, her smile grew and her laughter echoed through the home. Xenophilius looked on in his own delight and Alice swore at one point, he mouthed a "thank you" in her direction, but what he would be thanking her for, Alice didn't have the slightest clue.
And while Mrs Synergy had worked herself into a near frenzy earlier, overly anxious about Alice's biological family meeting her Wonderland family, it seemed there had been nothing to fear. The Lovegoods received everyone into their home with warmth and such joy. Luna took to Alice immediately, sitting as close as possible to Alice without sitting in the older girl's lap when it came to asking every question she could about Wonderland.
"I would love to see it one day," Luna told Alice at one point, " it all sounds so beautiful."
"It is beautiful," Alice reiterated with a nod of her head, " even the darkest corners of Wonderland hold their secrets of beauty. And I think...no, I know that the Wonderlanders would like you too. You could skip through Tulgey Wood and see the mome raths. I find them to be rather cute, especially when they are startled. Although, I suppose it would be rather cruel to startle them just to see how cute they are. Half the time they just run away..."
As Alice went on to describe the mome raths and others that could be found in Tulgey Wood, Xenophilius turned his attention to Mrs Synergy. At first, she looked relieved to see Alice and Luna getting on so well, but as time went on, he could see the concern grow on her features. He could only find himself puzzled at such a reaction, after all, wouldn't Mrs Synergy want the two girls to get along?
However, Xenophilius didn't understand that while Mrs Synergy loved a good tale, she only wished to keep them as that. Even with Wonderlanders appearing in her home more often than not, part of her held onto such doubt that everything she witnessed was, in fact, real. Or perhaps, she wondered if Wonderland was really such a wonderful place as Alice described it to be. A child had gone missing for a century's time and it seemed none of the Wonderlanders took concern of trying to get her back to her home.
She thought about how Alice's family must have felt, losing their youngest without the slightest clue as to where she had ended up. More than likely, they would have assumed that she was dead with no explanation. But then there was Luna, listening to all the stories of Wonderland and wishing to visit, with no idea if she would ever return and possibly not a care in the world. After all, Luna was a mere child, years younger than Alice and most children did not think ahead or of the consequences. Alice had learned the hard way, believing to go away for a holiday among whimsical characters, only to return and find that her family members were long gone and she had never had the chance to say goodbye.
