Wonderlust

8:00

The next morning I was awake before Josh knocked on the door of my room. I had awoken at three o'clock in cold sweat. I had had a dream that I often had in this kind of season.  As I waited patiently for the sun to filter through the cracks in the heavy blue curtains I could still smell the smoke from the train and hear people rushing to board the vehicle. 

I sighed as I threw the covers back and padded into the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. As I splashed the cool water on my face I could feel the memory dissolving from my mind. Today I was finally going to get to see what this world was like. I was going to see what was happening around me. I could not let a dream I had the night before distracting me. 

I came back to my bedroom to find Mouse laying out a lovely blue dress for me. However... it was too short. 

"Good morning, Miss Allis." Mouse yawned behind her hand. "This is your dress for the day. Your shoes and stalkings are also laid out for you. Will you be needing help with them?"

"Mouse, Isn't that dress a bit small for me?"

Suddenly she turned to look at me with a strange look. "Certainly not, Miss. You are quite small yourself. If it was any bigger it would fall off your shoulders." 

"That's not what I-"

"In fact, I think you could stand to gain a few pounds. You might fly away with the new breeze if you don't." She got to work pulling off my night gown in one yank of her hand. I could feel the cold draft on my skin. She replaced it with the pale blue dress that had been decided for me. I was right. It was too short. The hem only reached my knee. I had not worn a dress this short since I was a child. 

The thick petticoats underneath made the skirt heavy and thick. Lace peeked out of the bottom of the hem. The sleeves exposed my shoulders, yet covered my arms all the way down to my wrist. What a foolish design. My chest was not entirely covered, exposing the scar on my collar bone for anyone to see.  

"Please sit on the bed, Miss." Mouse said as she finished buttoning the back of my dress. When I had done what she said she began to pull the stockings up my leg.

"Do women not wear corsets here?" I ask as I watch her put on the high leather boot over the stockings. 

"Pardon? What is a corset?" She did not look up from her task, but she sounded intrigued. "Do we need to get you one?"

"NO."I said it with a bit too much passion, as it made her lift her head to look at me. "A corset is something that women wear to make their waist look smaller. It is quite uncomfortable to wear one and you cannot breathe very well."

"That sounds dreadful." Mouse said as she finished buttoning the boots 

I stood to look in the vanity mirror across the room.  

"Ah, hold on a moment." Mouse went over and touched the edge of the mirror. It began to get taller, and as it did the vanity table got shorter, until it touched the floor. 

I did not say anything as this happened, but I was at a loss. It was normal for her after all. My common sense did not apply here. 

Setting aside thoughts of ensuing insanity, I took a look in the newly formed mirror. I looked indecent. My hair was still a mess, but I made quick work out of it as I brushed through it with my fingers. 

"Perhaps you should leave it down today?" Mouse suggested. "It just barely touches the ground."

I nodded. That suited me just fine. I did not want to go through the hassle of styling it.  

"Where is my cloak?" I asked, pushing a piece of silver hair out of my face. 

"It is in the washroom."She led the way into the hall."I will retrieve it when we make it downstairs."

My boots clicked against the marble floor. the sound reminded me of just a few weeks ago when I had followed my brother out of the small Hatter shop and made our way to the next station. The Hatter, who called himself Mark, came rushing after us with a hat in his hand. It had been gaudy and not something I would have wanted to wear, but his face was flushed with embracement and he would not look me in the eye as he handed it to me. 

"P-please accept this. I made it in your image." He had said with a face full of hope. I could not comprehend that feeling or the bravery it took to give it to me. . . yet it was still an awful hat. 

Never the less, I had taken the article gingerly and placed it on my head with a broad stretched out smile. "Thank you." I could not force my voice to match my face. It was still monotoned and emotionless.  How pitiful that I could still not show gratitude to him in the fullest, but he did not seem to mind. When his downcast eyes finally looked up to meet mine they began to sparkle even brighter. He smiled and-

Suddenly, I was jerked back into the present. I felt a sting in my head and a restraint on my leg. The world tilted upside down. I was certain that I would hit the railing of the staircase until someone caught me.

"How clumsy. Is it safe to assume you are not a morning person?" Ciel's voice vibrated in my ear.  "Mouse, please free her leg."

My leg? I looked down to find that a thick piece of my silver hair had wrapped itself around my ankle.  My face heated in embracement. that had never happened before.

"Hmm, what shall we do about this?" Ciel said thoughtfully "We can't have people stepping on it and have you falling over. I would have been horrible if you had fallen down the staircase."

"I can handle it myself." I snapped fiercely as I gathered my hair up to wrap it around my wrist. It was heavy and slick. I stood up and brushed myself off. How could I be so clumsy? 

"I have no doubted that you can, M'lady."  He sounded sarcastic and that made my blood boil. "But it's okay to ask for help."

The last part made me pause. He was right, but that didn't mean that I wanted to or even that I had to. It just gave me the option to.  

"I will keep that in mind," I said as I descended the staircase. 

As I reached the bottom Josh handed me my cloak. It was much cleaner than the last time I saw it. It had been covered in dirt and leaves from sleeping outside. 

"If you will follow me, we will be leaving." Ciel guided me over to a door in the hallway. When he opened the door a mirror was revealed, but it was strange. The glass seemed to move and fluctuate. Was it liquid?

"What is that?" I asked cautiously, not sure if I should run away or not.

"This," Ciel said proudly, "Is a looking glass. It is how we get from point A to point B."

"But-" 

Before I could say anything he was grasping my hand and pulling us into the mirror.

"To Illumose!"