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Chapter 9: Alice

So tell me, where shall I go?

To the left, where nothing's right?

Or to the right where nothing's left?

-Unknown

Cora ran and ran even after she couldn't hear the Wolf behind her anymore. When she finally ran out of adrenaline she slowed to a walk, panting and heaving in between gasps for air.

It wasn't real. It couldn't be. Running away, leaving everything in an instant. And now...

The woods had closed in closer than ever. Awful noises came from every side, real and imagined. Cora hugged herself. The Wolf had said to follow the sun, but she couldn't even see it. It had been a few hours since she'd left the castle around noon, but it couldn't be close to night, yet the woods were almost black.

Cora's stomach started to squirm and protest. She jumped at the sound it made, holding the Wolf's knife out in front of her, before she realized it was she who had made the sound. Cora clenched the edges of her cloak. There was nothing to eat that she knew was safe, and she had accidentally left her basket back at the field of thorns. The food had always been brought to the castle. She'd never had to scavenge out in the forest. But just ahead there were some bright orange berries on a bush, then farther along some that were so pink that they glowed. There were berries that were black too. The mushrooms and toadstools were far more colorful than she had ever imagined they could be. Some of them had electric blue caps with shining yellow spots. Others were scarlet all the way through. One seemed to be smoking. Some looked normal though, like the mushrooms she cooked with in the castle kitchens.

The Wolf's reminder not to eat the mushrooms made its way back into her mind.

But those normal ones were surely fine. And she really was hungry.

Cora bent down and plucked one of the white mushrooms from the ground. Instantly it turned poisonous green and began to sizzle. Cora shrieked and dropped it. There were throbbing, glossy blisters on her fingers where she had touched it.

She didn't try to pick any of the mushrooms after that, or the berries for that matter.

She walked on for hours more it seemed. Her stomach groaned louder and she reasoned that night had to be close. She still hadn't eaten a bite. Some of the noises from around her seemed to have quieted. Cora couldn't tell if that was a good or bad thing. She began looking for a good tree to climb to spend the night in. Maybe if she got high enough she could also see the sun. She scanned for low hanging branches that she could grab, but her eyes caught on a flash of white. Cora's vision swiveled to catch a white rabbit bolting past her. For a second she stood frozen. Then she bolted after it. She ran with the knife in one hand, trying to keep up as the rabbit darted in a zig-zag that left her panting and exhausted.

She swore in between gasps for air.

"Just- just- wait-,"

Her legs were beginning to quiver and one twisted step sent her sprawling. The knife flew from her hand and she landed face first in the gritty debris of the forest floor. Her red cloak flew over her head so when she tried to get up she couldn't see anything but crimson fabric. Cora growled in frustration and shoved the red cloak back into its place, slapping twigs and dirt off her skirts when she stood. Her stomach growled louder.

"Shut up already," she said.

The white rabbit had vanished. She searched the forest floor for the knife for a good five minutes before she found it hidden under some slimy leaves.

Cora wrinkled her nose and wiped her hands off on her skirt. Then she started looking for a tree again. After another few minutes she managed to find a good one. After stowing the knife in the hood of her cape, she tried to climb. It took a lot of jumping to finally get a good hold on the lowest branch, but she managed to wriggle her way onto it, scraping what she swore was every scrap of exposed skin that she had, and even her legs beneath her skirt. Finally, she was panting on the lowest branch. The next few branches were fairly easy to reach after that, and soon she had managed to get herself decently high. Something shining glared in her eyes. Cora squinted and saw that it was an orange glow. She climbed faster to finally broke through the tightly woven branches of the forest canopy. It was the sun. She'd finally found it. A grin broke over her face. But then she realized something.