The New Heir of Wonderland

Chapter Two - Welcome to Wonderland

Lizzie awoke some time later, in a very strange position. She was hanging upside down from a strange tree. Her dress was tangled up around her legs, carefully; Lizzie grabbed another branch so that she wouldn't fall. She noticed a strange butterfly land on her shoulder; she wouldn't have thought anything of it except it began to speak to her.

"Well, well, well, it seems as if the insolent little girl has returned. What brings you here this time?" the butterfly asked, speaking to Lizzie. She stared at the vibrant blue bug, and shook her head,

"What do you mean returned? I've never been here before, who are you?"

"Don't be ridiculous, of course you have. Wasn't it you who slayed the Jabberwocky? No, that's right, it was Alice. You're not her, are you?"

"No, I'm not Alice... I'm Lizzie... just Lizzie. I don't know where I am or how I got here. Can you explain it to me? Who are you?" Lizzie asked as the butterfly flew onto her finger.

"Of course, I am Absolom, you are in Wonderland. But I fear you may be in grave danger, young one. For now you must find your way to Teas' Court, in the middle of the Forest of the White Sea. Good luck, Elizabeth."

With that, Absolom flew off, Lizzie watched him go. "Now what am I supposed to do?" She thought to herself, Lizzie sat back against the tree, and reached up for one of the fruits of the tree. When she brought it down, Lizzie was surprised. The fruit was multi-coloured, green polka dots on top of purple and yellow stripes. The puzzled child looked at the fruit once again then took a bite out of the fruit. It tasted sweet, like sugar cubes or summer time lemonade.

Lizzie smiled to herself as another wave of sweetness entered her mouth. She began to think, how to find Teas' Court. Once Lizzie finished the first sweet fruit, she reached for another. This time, the strange fruit was bright blue, with a pink and white plaid pattern on it. Lizzie bit into the fruit and scrunched up her face; the fruit was utterly bitter, like biting into a lime at its ripest. Lizzie managed to finish all of the fruit, she then climbed down the tree, onto the ground. She heard some whispered and looked around for any signs of anyone.

"Is it true?"

"Is that really her?"

"Has she really returned?"

"She couldn’t have returned already."

"Alice has been here for a while, is that the new one?"

"Is that the one who’s going to save us all?"

"Impossible, she's only a child."

"Maybe we should ask?"

Lizzie turned in circles, looking for the source of the voices. She only saw several trees, similar to the one she was just sitting in. Lizzie took several steps closer and noticed that all of the trees had faces. One of them opened its eyes, causing Lizzie to jump back in fright. The tree laughed,

"Just like Alice, scared the first time she saw us as well. Relax child, we can't harm you; notice we're all stuck in the ground with these roots."

"How... how can you talk? That's impossible, I must be dreaming."

"Oi! Alice said that same thing. Hey mates look, Alice is back!" another tree shouted, waving a branch. Several more trees opened their eyes to stare at Lizzie. Smiles appeared in the bark, more branches began waving at her.

"I'm not Alice. I promise, I don't know who she is, but I'm not her. Sorry." Lizzie apologized; she started walking away from the trees. Lizzie only managed to walk a few feet when a vicious wind swept through the clearing, sending shivers through her spine. Lizzie looked behind her and fell to the ground. The trees no longer looked friendly and helpful; they looked menacing, and almost dead with horrid grins on their bark-like faces. Lizzie screamed as the trees began to uproot themselves. Those trees were hunting her now, Lizzie had to run.