Hatted (On Hold)

Lisi Wonderwell

Lisi Wonderwell held her shoes by her hand as she trudged into the forest. Her friends. She hmphed like the angry, spoiled teenager she was. She'd just have to get new friends. Daddy wouldn't mind.

She was far in the forest now. But she would find her way back. She was a smart girl after all. Or so she claimed. Her thoughts were criminal. She wanted humiliation. She wanted vengeance. They had the fancy dresses and the jewels. And the oh so lovely suitors but she had Daddy. And Daddy would do anything for his dear, little girl.

She smiled as she thought of this. She frowned when she swiped at a low branch that got in her way.

It wasn't her fault anyway. Everyone would certainly take her side and blame the girls. They brought it up. The name she despises. She very much remembers she told each one of them her name was Lisi. Why, it was special just like her.

Her stocking feet slipped on a rock.

The name was just so boring. Nobody loved drab these days. Lisi was a much presentable name.

'What's your name, little girl? My, you look a lot like dear Daddy, don't you?'

'Lisi' she said with a giggle.

'Beautiful name. Just like the owner. Aren't you an adorable young thing?'

Everyone loved her. It was the law.

She silently agreed on this as she grabbed for something to hold on to. Her hand planted itself on a tree. She got up. A rock, moved from its solid position, took off and clanged against the forest floor.

Now that was queer. Rocks don't clang. They don't even so much make a noise.

But it bounced and there it was again. CLANG!

Her friends. Their jeering. Their stupid voices. And the smile of Natalie Brauxman.

She looked for the place the second clang came from. It had landed in a pile of leaves. And still have a sound? Queer it was.

She crouched down, her knees touching the ground as she sat down. She put her hands down and her fingers started searching. She smiled. She had to go find that rock and show it to the girls. Wait just a hat, why would she? When realization hits you, you see how stupid you were for a moment there.

They weren't even her friends anymore. The memory replays in her head. Natalie opens her mouth. Lisi touched something hard. She found it! She smiled and dug deeper.

Natalie smiles and says, "You weren't always a Lisi, were you, Alice Wonderwell?"

In the drop of a hat, her hands don't touch ground. Her body tilts forward. She's falling. Faceforward into a burrow-hole as small as a rabbit's. She grabs. No use. She kicks. No use. Her shoes lay on the ground. Her exensive, favorite pair of stockings do her no avail. They slide. And so she falls in. To long dead Wonderland.