Not Alice nor Wonderland

Don't Be Such a 'Fraidy Cat!

CHAPTER THREE

Mirrors. All around me. Everywhere I looked, I saw my reflection. On the ceilings, even the floors. The room seemed extra spacious this way. But what startled me the most was how I looked.

That bunny boy wasn't lying when he said I looked like a deer. Because I literally was. Well, just my head, that is. The rest of my body was perfectly normal. This must be the reason why my head felt so heavy the last time I awoke, and why I struggled with putting on my sweater. Now there's a ripped part of it. I mentally slapped myself for not even being able to look presentable in front of Heir and-- aha, why the heck am I even thinking of looking good in front of the beast! Psh.

I stood up from my slouching position and wiped my clammy hands on my jeans. I needed to find a way to get out of this room or whatever. I tried to feel for some button, a lever, or just about anything that could hopefully reveal an opening in this room, until a slight click was heard.

Bingo! Now I could escape from this foreign domain.

And Heir was right again: my nose twitches whenever I think too much.

I continued to stare into my reflection, thinking what my family would even think of this atrocity. I wondered if Charlie would be a deer like me. I wished he was here with me, so I wouldn't have to be alone. Quietly, I felt a lone tear slide down of out my doe eyes. I feel afraid all of a sudden, for being part of Heir's world where people have animal heads and deep, dark eyes with no sign of white or life in them. And I was one of them now.

Then I caught a movement behind me from my reflection. Was Heir here again?

Nope, probably just my hair--

A screech. Which sounded like a cat dying. Or giving birth. I ran out of the door which I unlocked and found myself standing in the forest, but nothing in sight, not even my house or the roads.

The scream continued, and I followed it as much as I could with my animal ears. Whoo hoo for animal heads. Not. This head was bulky as my school backpack. Ugh.

Just when I feared my antlers and thoughts weighed my head down, someone tried to pounce on me from behind. I let out a strangled yell.

Laughter, as usual, filled my ears. Was my life seriously this bad of a joke that everyone has to guffaw at my situation? Oh but no, this laughter was hearty and familiar. Light and airy. Like that of...

"Oh my, you should have seen your face though!" The creature in front of me doubled over, clutching his stomach with his hands. His head was hung low, and I could see his triangular, folded ears.

Oh goodness gracious, another animal. At least it wasn't Heir.

"What do you ever mean, and... who are you?" I took deep breaths out of frustration and embarassment.

Hold still, self. Don't lose your wariness; he's still an odd creature like Heir.

"Why, I'm Charlie," he said, grinning a full-on Cheshire cat smile. Just like the one from Lewis Carroll's books.

Charlie? As in, my Charlie? My brother?

"You're my brother? Charlie?" I could hear the hope filling my sentences. I might finally have someone to trust now.

But Charlie laughed a little wilder. "Of course not, silly Deer! I'm a cat, you're a deer. In what way could we have ever become relatives, let alone siblings?"

I could feel my hopes being crushed by the tone of his voice. But I recognized him, he was my brother! The way they both talked and laughed and even the actions. I don't get why he wouldn't know me.