'There is a place, like no place on earth. A land full of wonder, mystery, and danger! Some say, to survive it, you need to be as mad as a hatter. Which, luckily, I am,'
--Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carrol
...
Jane
Once upon a time, there was a little girl of about nine years old. This little girls name was Jane Evanander III. And Jane Evanander III was a practical little girl who did not care to dabble in improbable or juvenile little things.
Jane like her name. It was a plain, simple, and practical name. It was perfect for her because Jane like plain, simple, and practical things. Jane did not like it when people made up nicknames for her first name and did not stand to allow anyone to call her little nicknames like Janie or Jay. Nicknames, in Janes opinion, were juvenile excuses to not remember someone's real name.
Jane had two little brothers and one newborn little sister, making the practical girl the eldest of four. The boys names were Daniel and Robert, very practical and smart names. Daniel was one year older than Robert and three year the new baby's senior. The newborn was named Anne, another practical name. Anne was Jane's junior by five years.
Janes parents were also very practical and simple. Jane's mother was named Amelia. Amelia was a violin teacher on some days and a mathmatics tutor on other days. Jane's father was a professor of history and his name was Frank. Frank's mother, Jane's grandmother, was were Jane received her namesake, Jane Evanander II.
Jane's tutor was named Aaron Dejuntes. He had been employed since Jane was two years old. Her babysitter was named Carol O'Mickis. Carol had been employed since Jane's birth. The house butler and chaffuer was Charles Ovon. The cook and housekeeper was named Hannah Ovon, Charles' wife of twenty-nine years. They had been employed when Amelia and Frank had been married and moved into the only house Jane had ever known.
Jane's life was in a set schedule of everyday life because that was how Jane liked it to be. In the morning, Jane would eat her breakfast with parents and then move onto her school lessons with Aaron. After her lessons were finished, Jane would eat her lunch in the kitchen with Hannah and then move upstairs to the library to read for a few hours. After she read a book or two, JAne would go for a walk with Carol and return in time to get ready for a family dinner in the dining room. After dinner, Jane would play a bout or two of chess with either herself or, if her had the time, Frank would join her. After chess, Carol would help prepare Jane for bed before Amelia would put her to bed with a simple kiss to the forhead.
The only complication in her life was Jane's babaysitter, Carol O'Mickis. Carol could be quite stubborn and she avidly believed that Jane needed to change her schedule up every once in a while and that Jane needed to be a bit more creative. While Jane did not like it, Carol would sometimes change Jane's schedule without telling the little girl. Instead of the regular walk around the block, Carol would take her somewhere else; a park, an arbortorium, or a public garden house so Jane was in a new and different place. Sometimes Carol would lock the library so Jane could not go read after her lessons and Jane was forced to find something else to entertain herself.
One day, Jane changed into a plain beige dress with a cream-colored smock. In her shiny black walking shoes, Jane went downstairs to to wait for Carol at the front door. It was four-thirty P.M., time for her afternoon walk around the block.
Twenty-seven minutes passed before Charles appeared, holding a tray with a sealed envelope on it. He walked slowly over to the bench Jane sat on and bowed to the nine year old. Jane inclined her head to listen to the elderly man.
