Splintered Fanfiction

A Day in Wonderland-part II

I close my eyes and breathe in deeply, trying to calm my jittery nerves. Immediately, I wince. The awful stench I noticed before makes me gag. Even the bandersnatch, Red's pet before it got cut open from the inside by Morpheus, didn't smell this bad. The putrid stench reminds me of rotting flesh and manure piles, and even worse is the cloying, sickly sweet smell underneath that leaves me struggling not to throw up. I clap my hands over my nose and think.

How can I fight an enemy if I can't even see it? The terrifying sound of snapping twigs gets closer, but the creature doesn't roar again. I stay very still and hope its own stench prevents it from smelling me. My heart pounds with adrenaline and fear, and my breath comes in ragged gasps, but I keep my eyes closed as my mind races to find a solution. Something about this stench nags at me. I know I've smelled it before, but where? The memory swirls just out of my grasp. I grind my teeth with frustration. I'll have to light up the clearing, then, and get a good look at the beast before I can do anything else.

I look around in desperation, but the pitch black darkness seems to mock me. Then, I remember my first trip to Wonderland. Jeb and I spent the night on a rowboat and looked up at the amazing constellations above. Stars! I look up, hoping to see a few. Although no light reaches the tulgey forest, sure enough, a few stars throw off a weak, cold light that I have to squint to see. Netherling logic kicks in. I close my eyes again and forcibly calm myself down, imagining that the stars are Chinese lanterns. I coax them to drift downwards, and when I feel something brush against my head, I smile. Two Chinese lanterns cast a soft glow around me. I coax the lanterns to drift toward the source of the smell and wait, trying to stay calm.

The mystery beast's face is illuminated, and the memory I had been struggling to recapture floods my head.

-I'm with Morpheus in Wonderland, and we are both children again.Morpheus giggles as he takes my hand and bounces toward a cave that seems to be made of hay. The hay isn't tied together, but I don't stop to wonder how it stays shaped like that. I'm only happy to be having another adventure with my childhood friend, who is currently skipping along, little black wings flapping against his back."Aren't you going to tell me what's inside, now?" I ask hopefully. Morpheus pouts. "Well, that wouldn't be much of a surprise, now would it?" I scowl and try to stamp my foot while running. Morpheus doesn't notice. We run into the cave without stopping. The inside of the cave is unexciting. The same hay makes up the whole place, and not one wisp is out of place. The cave slopes downward and begins to spiral into a staircase. Morpheus puts a finger to his lips as we tiptoe downwards. The stench hits, me, and I make a face. "I don't want to go down anymore. This place is stinky," I wihisper. Morpheus shakes his head stubbornly. "I want to show you what happens to a bandersnatch after a tulgey spits it out," he whispers back, sounding wiser than a child should. "After this, we can go and play," he adds persuasively. I fall silent, and we coutinue downwards until Morpheus stops and tugs at my arm. He points below us, and I breathe through my mouth as I look down. I'd always been terrified of the bandersnatch figurine when we animated chess pieces, but this creature is worse. If a bandersnatch went through a heavy dose of radiation and grew two more heads, it would look like the creature below us. Each tongue flickers in and out as the beast sleeps, and its hide is a mottled purple. Slime oozes out of its closed eyes, and a pile of bones lies next to it. I gasp, and Morpheus claps a hand over my mouth. The bandersnatch jerks, then goes back to sleep. -

I remember what Morpheus taught me about the tulgey-rejected bandersnatch. It has a terrible sense of smell and sight, so I'll have to stay absolutely quiet. As to get it out of the clearing, I'll have to use flames, the one thing these creatures fear most. I know what to do now. As if anticipating my need, my wings shoot out of my back, and I look at the rest of the stars in the sky.