Behind Sanity

Chapter Forty

Behind Sanity

Chapter Forty

1

            Alice awoke to a violet sky.  The mix of purples and blues reminded her of a carefully painted backdrop for a play at the theatre, though the stars of white were scribbled in as if a pen had made them.  They reminded her of something that Morgan would draw.  The pain in Alice’s neck was lost to the loveliness of Wonderland’s night sky as she rested against the tree’s trunk.  She wasn’t comfortable, but her thoughts were filled with Morgan, and nothing else was able to bother her.

            As soon as this was all over, she was going to be with Morgan every possible minute.  They were going to do the things that the girl wanted to do.  They could go to the park and play hopscotch.  Anything.  Alice would just be so happy to see her again.  Her thoughts of Morgan lasted only briefly before she pushed them away, thinking that she had already spent much too much time worrying about the girl’s safety.  She was taking action, and now that resolve would have to be enough to keep her mind clear.

            She pulled herself up from the ground, reaching her long fingers toward the purple sky, stretching her body back to life.  She glanced around, surprised to find herself alone.  The area was feline-less, though she wasn’t really sure she had expected anything more.  He had promised to keep watch, but reliability wasn’t one of his better qualities.

            She looked over the area, feelings of anger growing stronger within.  She knew she could only wait so long before she was too angry to turn back, so she busied herself peering at her surroundings.

            Trees.

            Snaky vines hung, draped over reaching branches.  Before her was the land she’d just traveled, and she hoped she wouldn’t have to cross it again.  Behind her were the twisted trees that beckoned her to come inside.  Her patience wore thin toward the feline.

            Ten more seconds…  That was as long as she would wait for him.

            The moonlight passed across the trees, switching the direction of the light, thus clearing a different forest path for Alice’s view.  Tiny fungi glowed, and her attention was suddenly grabbed by the sight of a different texture in the distance that was not part of the natural landscape.

            There was a wall, smooth and painted, off in the trees.  Peeling red paint bled into the scenery until the wall almost seemed to belong in the growth, and Alice could not keep herself away.  She walked slowly, her eyes fixed, almost like the wall was calling her to it.  A building set in the trees was an unusual sight, especially since she remembered nothing of it.

            As she approached it, she spotted a door, as wide as it was tall, painted the same color red.  She reached out for the iron door handle and gave it a light tug.  It came open easily and she stepped inside the building, her footfalls loud against the wooden floor.  It was dark inside, a faint, salty smell on the air.  Her feet crunched across something on the floor, but it was too dark to see.

            A single lit candle sat in the middle of a small, round table in the center of the room.  When her eyes adjusted slightly, she made her way slowly toward the table, guarding herself from stumbling and lifted the candle.  Curious as to what the crunching was beneath her feet, she bent down and her hand scooped into the crunching bits, bringing a larger piece to her face.  It was smooth on one side and rough on the other.  She pulled herself up and held it into the light of the candle, finding herself gazing at half of an oyster shell.  Confusion only lasted a moment before an old memory came to her.