Nightmare Wonderland

The cheery colors that once adorned these tranquil woods were gone. The purples, the blues, the greens, and reds, the yellows, the oranges, everything; gone. The trees are dead, their leaves wilted and brown. The fog reeling though the trunks was putrid and stale. The grass was dead. I wandered through it, a misplaced Alice in a nightmare Wonderland. As I followed the beaten path, I heard a rambling tick-tock of a clock. Suddenly, a menacing growl echoed through the trees. I turned slowly, fearful, and saw the most revolting creature. Drool dripped from his lips. He bared his teeth. The only recognizable feature was the huge rabbit ears sticking from the top of his head. He was wearing a light blue waistcoat and holding a noisy pocket watch. I dashed away only to hear him follow. I ran for what seemed like an eternity through the sticky fog and stale air. “Hey! Here!” The thick hedges on my right side opened up and a man appeared. I darted away, eager for the help. Once the rabbit had gone away down the path and we were at a safe distance, I took in the man’s clothes. He was dressed ornately. He wore a black top hat and a black trench coat. Under the trench coat, he was wearing a black vest with a white undershirt. He was in black pants and had on black combat boots that clunked heavily on the soggy ground when he walked. He had a maddened grin plastered to his face. His hair was spiked under his hat haphazardly. Some of it had fallen from under his hat and was lying over his eyes and forehead. I spoke for the first time since I had been catapulted into this world. “Who are you?” His striking eyes darted to me before that grin was back on his face and he spoke the classic words that all Hatters use. “A friend, I hope.” His voice was grand and melodramatic, like he had rehearsed this many times. I couldn’t help but smile. An easy silence settled over us. He stopped our march a few minutes into the silence. He swept up the tree limbs with his arms, exposing a long table set with shining silverware. The tablecloth was a deep blood red. There was some kind of beast in the center of the table on a plate. Seated around the table were a dormouse, a hare, and a dodo. They were singing a chorus of something in a foreign language. Upon the entrance of the Hatter, they shut up and looked at him. He smiled grandly. “Please, don’t stop your wretched renditions on my account.” They all laughed nervously. He pulled out a chair and motioned for me to sit. I sat and watched as the Hatter made his way to the head of the table, where he pulled out the most decorative of all the chairs and plopped himself down upon it. He swung his legs over the left arm of the chair. “So, my dears, what have we to discuss today?” The hare gulped nervously when the Hatter’s voice had stopped echoing. The dormouse’s eyes settled on the ground. The dodo looked everywhere except at the Hatter. The Hatter snorted back laughter. “You fools! Scared of a poor little Hatter.” He smirked and for the first time I noticed that there were several gaping holes where teeth should have been. He reached for a teacup. His long, spindly fingers grasped it. It shook in his hand as he lifted it to his lips. As soon as it touched his lips he swung the teacup away so hard it smashed into a tree. He spat the tea out. His eyes flashed with rage. “What is this?!” None of the animals reacted. He snarled the question again. The dormouse finally answered. “I-it’s t-tea, S-sir.” Hatter opened his mouth to utter a snide remark, but I cut him off. “Maybe it wasn’t sweet?” He slammed his shaking hands onto the table with a hollow bang. “This was a waste of time.” He stood angrily. The animal’s eyes darted away from him. He lunged forward and gripped my hand. He pulled me from the chair and dragged me along behind him. I didn’t try to fight him, knowing it would be futile. My feet dug into the soft ground as he pulled me along. He muttered angry words under his breath. I strained to listen, only catching certain words like “defeat” and “Queen”. I looked down at his hand, cleaving tightly to my wrist. His fingernails were long and crooked and his fingers were an unnatural red. He slowed to a stop when he noticed me looking. He jerked his hand away. I looked up to his face, taking in his always-red cheeks and multicolored eyes. For the first time since I had met him, his stare faltered and he looked away. “Hatter?” He didn’t answer. “Hatter, what’s happened to you?” He looked up. “It’s from the hats I make… They make me shake, they make my fingers ache. How many teeth must they take?” He cackled madly. I slapped his chest. “Be serious.” He stopped mid-laugh. “It’s something in the hats then, is it, Hatter?” He nodded. I had no idea how to help him. Luckily, his next sentence told me. “Help me defeat the Queen. If I can then we don’t have to hide, and I can stop making hats.” I looked up, into his swirling eyes and in that instant my heart made the choice for me. “Okay. I’ll help.” He smiled his crazy, Hatter smile and I couldn’t help but smile back. We walked for a while before coming upon a small barn. Hatter opened the door revealing a black horse. But this was no normal horse. His mane, tail, and hooves were on fire. He snorted and smoke flew out of his nostrils. “What is that?” Hatter smiled. “A Nightmare.” I watched with awe as the Nightmare moved about, his muscles rolling under his skin like a wave. “And what are we going to do with a Nightmare?” Hatter grabbed a handful of its fiery mane and swung himself up on its back. It stepped forward into the light and Hatter held out a hand for me. I grabbed it and he swung me onto its back. I clung to his sides as the Nightmare bounded off. Hatter cackled as the Nightmare leaped and galloped. His hooves hitting the earth sounded like thunder rolling through the hills. Within half an hour, a huge, gleaming castle came into view. It was decorated in light, cheery colors. Hatter scowled as he reined in the Nightmare. Suddenly, a cat swung down from a low-hanging branch in front of us. It was marked with black and red stripes and the most ungodly smile clung to its face. Hatter smirked. “The Cheshire Cat, I’ve missed you.” The Cheshire Cat grinned, its teeth gleaming in the dim light. “And I, you, Hatter…now who is this new piece of meat you’ve brought us?” Hatter smiled wide, a genuine smile, before answering. “This is our new Alice.” “Our new Alice? I think the old one is doing perfectly fine.” “Our old Alice is buried deep in a tar pit. I would know because I put her there.” After he said this, he turned to me. “No worries, dear. She was a dreadful little thing.” The Cheshire Cat smiled. “As you were Hatter and New Alice… I’ll just be going.” Everything disappeared except for the cat’s awful grin which hung in the air as he chuckled evilly. Hatter swiped at the teeth and they too disappeared. Hatter shook his head. “We need to go. I know how to defeat the Queen, but I need you to lure her there. Here” He reached into his pocket and produced a set of paints and a paint brush. He leaned forward until his breath was hot and sticky on my face. He dipped the brush into the paints and set to work painting my clothes and face. I wandered into the castle’s magnificent gardens. The flowers there were tall, magnificent, and full of colors. I touched one lightly, its petals barely wavering under my touch. A siren howled in the distance and I heard marching footsteps. Columns of Card Guards, soldiers whose midsections are made out of cards, came into view. I tried to run, but they had me surrounded. A shrill voice was heard above the trees. “Who touched my flowers?!” The sound of high heels clicking on the stones echoed through the walls. A short woman came into view. She was dressed in bright, almost neon colors. Anger was written on her features. She passed under one tree and black paint came pouring out onto her. She screamed and began to melt. Hatter swung out of the tree to the sound of her cries. He smirked. The Card Guards stood still, startled, as their Queen melted to a black puddle. Colors from all ends of the spectrum zoomed out of the puddle. Hatter’s voice rang out. “The Colors of Wonderland have been returned! You can rejoice in that or I will strike you dead!” The Guards slowly dropped down to their knees. Hatter smiled grandly. A few hours later, Hatter and I were walking the magnificent fields in the South of Wonderland. Hatter’s shoulder brushed mine gently. He didn’t seem to notice. I broke the peaceful silence. “Will you rule Wonderland?” He glanced into my eyes. “I was hoping you would.” I stopped walking and looked at him. “Are you serious?” He nodded before turning to face me completely. “I won’t be around much longer. The sickness is catching up to me. My fingers and back ache all the time, my hair is falling out, and I see things. I can’t stand it.” I reached out and took his hand gently. Our fingers intertwined together. He smiled. He stepped closer and our chests were touching. I looked up at him. He watched our hands, turning them for a better view. His hand squeezed mine. Blood dribbled down from a deep wound on his wrist onto my hand. His eyes clouded slowly. He fell slowly, me trying to catch him and ease him to the ground. I screamed his name, tried to find a pulse, but it was fading. “Hatter!” His eyes met mine and his grin came back before the lights in his eyes entirely faded away, and I was left sobbing over a corpse. I never left Wonderland. Its colors returned, but I never got mine back. I was never the same after Hatter died. Sometimes I wish it had been me, but when I look back on it, I realize Hatter would have never let it happen that way.