Alice in wonderland - Short story #7

Today started the same way every other morning started; Alice woke up to the sound of the birds singing in the trees and the sunrays bouncing off her skin. She flopped out of her huge fluffy white bed and took a moment to enjoy the feeling of the lush green grass, which served as her carpet, under her feet and between her toes.  Alice looked up and smiled at the awesome landscape that lay before her. There were sunflowers as far as the eye could see. The sun was coming up in the distance, birds were singing, bees and butterflies were bringing the air to life with their wings and the sound of a distant waterfall brought a tranquil calm to the field. “Alice...”

This was life. It was perfect in every way. This was the way it had always been; alone out here in the field, happiness and sunshine and rainbows. Alice didn’t really know how she got here, nor did she ever give it much thought. Each day was lived in the moment, embracing every joy there was that the field had to offer.  Alice didn’t know her own age, or what she looked like; there wasn’t such a thing as a mirror out here, not even the water from the river in the distance showed her reflection. Either that or she’d never looked, but never the less, she’d never seen herself, and didn’t know what she looked like. But what she looked like didn’t matter out here. “Alice...” Alice started walking through the sea of sunflowers towards the sound of the waterfall, the filed started to part, one stem at a time; for each step that she took into the field, another sunflower moved out of her way, slowly but surely, creating a pathway so that she could move toward the waterfall with ease, without resistance, inviting her in. When Alice got to the waterfall, she eased her way into the slow moving water at the edge of the river. A soft blanket of spray, created by the waterfall splashing into the rocks, covered her face like an angel’s hands, embracing her with tender love and care; cleansing her body, cleansing her mind, heart and soul.  “Alice, do you hear me?”

Once bathed, Alice went to the rose garden; A good stroll down the river, was a wall of roses as high as the eye could see. When Alice would approach, the thick thorny vines would separate and make way till they formed a perfect archway for Alice to pass through. The rose garden inside was absolutely magnificent. The rose bushes were always in full bloom, with roses of every colour imaginable. Amongst the buses, animals roamed free. In the centre of the garden was a labyrinth of rose bushes, bursting with white roses. Alice stepped into the labyrinth, the rosebush walls stretching up so high they almost blocked the sun out completely. But Alice wasn’t worried; she came here every day, following the voice, the voice that called her name. “Alice, I’m here”

As Alice walked through the labyrinth, her heart started to flutter with excitement. Eager to get to the middle, she started to pick up pace. When Alice finally reached the inner circle, she saw a red and white checkered picnic blanket laid out in the sunshine with an assortment of treats ready to be tucked in. Alice raced up to the blanket and plopped herself down. She poured herself a glass of milk and ate a few of the delicious chocolate cookies that were in the basket. Alice didn’t want to have too many, as she knew her favourite was still to come. As Alice looked over the layout of food, she searched; there were cupcakes, candies, cucumber sandwiches, jam tarts, chocolate éclairs, and then Alice felt a hand rest on her shoulder. She spun around and there he was, with her toffee-apple in his hand. Alice lunged forward towards the toffee-apple she’d so been looking forward to, but the man pulled it back out of reach, “What do we say?” he asked. Ready to burst with anticipation Alice said, “Please!” He smiled and gave her the toffee-apple.

Adam sat at his daughter’s bedside. “Alice? Alice, do you hear me?” His tears, hot, burning his eyes as he tried his level best to hold them back, to be strong – for Alice. He wondered if she could hear him. Adam squeezed her little hand between his, before kissing her delicate little fingers and whispering into them, “Happy birthday sweetheart” and with that the tears started to flow; he could no longer control them. “Daddy loves you so, so much my angel.” Nearly two years had passed and every day, Adam came to visit Alice. He’d sit by her side for hours; holding her hand, reading her favourite books and reminding her that he was waiting. The doctors had long since given up. They insisted that it was just life-support keeping Adam’s precious little girl alive, but Adam never ever gave up. Every day, he came with a bribe; “Guess what I brought? A toffee-apple, your favourite. It’s waiting for you, all you have to do, is wake up”.

Alice looked into the man’s sad eyes as she sank her teeth into the toffee-apple. He always looked so sad, but when she took that first bite, he would burst out laughing and pull her into his embrace. This was indeed the perfect day yet again, she thought to herself, and the best part was, she got to do it all again tomorrow.