UpSide Down Alice

The hail was pounding down on Wonderland. Alice was squirming uncomfortable with ice pelting down on her bare skin. Not that anyone would really enjoy this storm much. She scowled at the sky, angry with its sudden mood swing. Her eyes narrowed as she saw a white rabbit hop from tree to tree, basket full of hail in his small paws. His petticoat covered in a layer of frost, his ears down in a small winter cap. He was throwing the hail back up into the clouds who then would spit them back out at him.

“What is he doing?” She growled in his direction. “Who is he anyway?”

I had rendered myself unseen to the eyes of others; I didn't want to get hit with the ice too. So Alice twirled about frustratingly trying to locate me. She despised it when I vanished like that, but she always loved wandering through Wonderland alone. She gave me the finger, then starting climbing up the tree to give the white rabbit a piece of her mind. I knew that she would not leave him when he seemed to be the cause of this unfortunate weather. She climbed rapidly through the branches of the tree looking like an animal as she moved so easily without any sign of difficulty. That’s when she spotted someone other then the white rabbit.

Perched on the edge of the white clouds was the Hatter. Tea stains were on the frills of his once white shirt. Hair disheveled under his askew green top hat, eyes gleaming with an insanity that is very familiar in Wonderland. His mouth twisted up in something caught in between a grimace and grin. In his hands he held balls of ice, which he was hurling to the earth below. He did not see Alice staring at him in a mixture of disgust and admiration, and he would not see her this day. He hurled a ball with all his might and the white rabbit moved from the line of shot causing it to hit dear Alice in the face.

She fell to the ground and her body caused a thud that filled Wonderland’s ears. I was about to go to her side when she rose up effortlessly, eyes filled with unadulterated rage. In those moments I feared for Hatter’s life. That was until his laughter rang out as the white rabbit chased after him, and I saw her features soften. Something within her was changing, besides the changes Wonderland had already begun to make. I hadn't seen Alice smile since; well I am not sure if I have ever really seen her smile. Her eyes remained to where the Hatter once stood. I watched for a moment longer, before Wendy’s scream pierced through Wonderland. The sound startled both Alice and I out of our trance.

“Wendy?!?” Alice shouted as she ran towards the sound, eyes filled with fear.

I followed after sprinting much faster than her on four legs. I reached a clearing where the ground was dead and the air was heavy. Wendy lay face down with a man pressing him foot against her chest. She was crying softly into the hard ground. I couldn't move, the man was familiar, a fear bubbled up in me. The man grabbed Wendy by the hair pulling her head back. He stuck a long thorn into the side of her neck. Her eyes rolled back slightly into her head and her body went slack into the man's eager arms. The man smiled with his success, tossing her head back unto the ground.

“Take her back,” he whispered to the shadows that stood behind him.

I retreated into the brush, Alice clenching my hand firmly.

“How did they get here?” Alice looked at me questioningly. "Who are they?"

"They are the Red Queen's doctors." I hissed, pulling her further away from the men who means us every harm.