''Are you Alice?''
The girl turned back. Who was the stranger? She never saw him before. The confusion must have been clear in her face, because the stranger smiled sheepishly and introduced himself.
''I am Hatter, a lost traveler. I was told that you are the guardian of this place.''
Alice thought, then nodded. ''Yes, I am. What do you require of me?''
''Can you show me the way to the castle of Jack-of-All-Trades?'' he asked.
Alice looked at him sheepishly, ''Well, unfortunately, I don't have any idea where that is.''
---
- Alice -
A short story.
---
Welcome to wonderland! She had said. She wasn't so regretful to announce that she was also lost in her own land, but she had some idea where the place he was looking for was, and offered to take the journey with him instead--so they could be a little less lost together. There was no other way, so amusedly, he agreed.
The two crossed various landscapes--her airy steps took them wherever the wind blows. Booby traps with bridges accross the dimensions sometimes appeared and took them to totally strange locations, sometimes familiar and other times not. What kind of guardian was she, to be lost in her own land? he thought, still amused. On and on they traveled, battling strange creatures and seeing weird phenomenons, meeting people who was as surprised as her to see her. (Some of them said, I didn't expect to see you again) Some gates posed questions to solve before they could pass through, and some places was such a messy wasteland he had to help her pick up the fallen ruins as she used her magic to place it back where it belong. More and more things show up as they walk by.
They took a long way--or a shorter way, he couldn't tell--but in the end, they reached the destination.
It was tiring, but strangely, he found it rather fascinating. Maybe even fun.
And now, it had ended.
He contemplated a little bit as they braced themselves to say goodbye.
''Thank you, Alice, for taking me here. But, how come you don't know the way in your own land?''
''Well, why do I need to know the way?''
''I don't know. So you don't get lost?''
''But I don't mind being lost.''
He stared at her, intrigued.
''But what if there is somewhere you need to go? What if it makes you late to an appointment?''
''I don't have anywhere I want to go.'' Again, she amused him. ''Besides, it's more fun to just go wherever, and discover whatever. Just enjoy the walk, you know? Be surprised.''
For a moment, he was speechless. ''Well, I suppose that's true,'' he replied genuinely. He was about to go when the thought occured to him.
''What if I want to see you again? Where can I find you?''
Alice stopped in her tracks. ''Um. I don't know...''
He laughed; that was so like her. ''You know what? Meet me here, the one bell after the next solar eclipse. I will wait for you here. How about that?''
''Well...'' she bit her lip, carefully replying, ''I really hope I will see you again,'' she said, smiling. ''But I can't really promise that, I mean...''
''You might get lost, huh?'' he finished her sentence. Smiling, he said, ''It's a long time until then. Try to find your way. A map might be a great idea, you can even use copy magic to help people go around your land.'' When she looked unsure, he added : ''You have a beautiful land, but it's a shame no one visits, because it's too easy to get lost, and too hard to go anywhere.''
''Hmn, it's not like I mind if no one visits...'' she replied, but her eyes were sparkling and her gestures unsure. Hatter grinned at her while turning back, waving.
''Well then, see you, Alice!''
''See you,'' she replied, a little too late.
--
She didn't really know when she started to pay attention to where she was going.
For a long time, she was just going wherever she liked to, as before. Sometimes she thought about the promise, and wondered a little how she could get back to where the Hatter was. But mostly she was thinking of something else, chasing the clouds and walking with the wind.
She didn't know when, but 'if I turn right at that tree, I will find Tweedledee's house' she thought, and was surprised to know that she knew. She didn't really know how she ended up in the Worm's library, purchasing a set of ink and feathers, and empty scrolls made from the sweet cork tree. It was also for food supplies, she argued to herself, but in the end she found them full of scribbles, barely edible anymore.
She now knew, that the blue ape tree always points to the right direction, and the colorful valley of talking flowers was just five minutes away from the red castle, if she used the shortcut across the un-deep-abyss. She now knew the White Rabbit had been late to the meeting so often, that he made a track across the Whispering Woods that everyone call as ''The White Rabbit Track'', and listened to Dodo as he told her the skymap of the big lake; a big help for the aerial forces. Along her adventures, sometimes she found barren land and torched ground, dusty places and messy ruins, that she never really finished healing (she told herself she could always come back and tidy them up little by little). By time she started to realize that the wings of the Flyhorse changed colors in the sunlight, and the painted red roses magically turn pure white at sunrise, and that the cotton-candy clouds told tales by shapeshifting themselves in the sky.
Suddenly she needed another scroll of sweetcork. And blue paints--yellow, red and blue paints.
She needed to draw that beautiful calm water near the castle.
''Chesire, which way is the right way?'' she asked one day to the cat-head floating above the low tree-branch.
Yawning, it replied, ''Well, where do you want to go?''
This time, Alice smiled confidently. ''Castle of Jack-of-all-Trades.''
---
