One Hundred Nights

Chapter 3

Alice walked to her room, looking very tired. She sat down on her and stared around her cobweb-covered bedroom. She had never admitted that she hated living like this. Once upon a time, she could have everything she wanted but freedom and adventure. And now, while life was an adventure and contained as much freedom as she wanted, she nearly got nothing.

Everyone knew that Alice was once a respected, high-class English young lady, who was known very well by her story Alice's Adventure in Wonderland. But then, when she came back, she was very excited to share her stories and adventures to her fellow friends and families and instead of getting good comments, she received harsh remarks. At first, Alice thought that was quite common because no one could ever imagine a mad man in a hat, a cat as elusive as Cheshire or a talking caterpillar. But as she tried again and again, people started thinking that Alice was a mad lady. Of course I'm mad, she had once thought. If I'm not, then how did I ever find Wonderland, a place of madness. Sooner, she was banished by her parents for they did not want to acknowledge a daughter as stubborn as her. She was forced to live a life on the run...until a woman found her.

"Young lady, what brings you to this part of the forest?" she asked.

The woman was middle-aged. She was wearing a loose, black dress that had burnt edges. Her face was covered in cinder and ash. Burnt marks appeared almost everywhere on her body and face.

"I-I...I got b-banished by m-my parents," she sobbed, covering her teary face with both her hands. She knelt to the ground and sobbed furiously, wailing and moaning. The woman knelt down beside her and patted Alice's back.

"Do you want to tell me about it, dear?" the woman asked, gently soothing her back.

"If I told you, you would think I'm mad," Alice answered. "But I'm not mad, not like the Mad Hatter."

"That's okay. You can tell me."

Alice looked at the woman. She felt that she could trust her but deep in her heart, she felt like something tugging her back. But she told the woman anyway. "I once followed a white rabbit into a hole and went into a place called Wonderland. It was amazing and...wonderful. I met the Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, a talking caterpillar and he smoked hookah, the Queen of Hearts and even there were treats that could change your size. When I got home, I told everyone about my adventure but they didn't believe me and thought I was mad, even my parents. They didn't want me as their daughter and now, here I am." A tear dropped from the corner of her left eye as she retold her past.

She looked at the woman and curiously asked," Ma'am, what are you doing in the middle of the forest?"

The woman smiled sadly and said, "I will tell you but can a little girl keep a secret?"

Alice nodded eagerly.

The woman took a deep breath and sighed, "I am a witch."

Alice blinked for a second as silence coursed through them. And then she chuckled. "For a second I thought it was going to be much worse. I can promise you, ma'am, that the Queen of Hearts is way worse than you. She's willing to chop off thousands of heads. So, is that it? You ran into the forest because you're a witch?"

"No," the witch answered. "That's not it. You see, child, from my life, I've learnt something valuable, that is: never speak unless spoken to. I was a foolish maiden in the past. I thought I could have everything in the world. My father was a knight and he was paid handsomely. So I have riches. My mother was a witch too and she gave me a potion to drink every day. 'Drink it,' she always commanded, 'and you can be more beautiful and irresistible than that cursed Snow White or that fool of a maiden Briar Rose.' All the village boys fawned over me.