Kathrin Return to Wonderland

by Ninja Cat in the flesh >:)

Chapter 1

Raleigh Durrum, North Carolina

                I’m Kathrin Parker, blood descendant of Alice Liddell. Never heard of her? Well I’ll give you some hints, Cheshire cat…Queen of Hearts…and a little white rabbit. Ring any bells? Yup, Alice in Wonderland. Obviously the Alice in the book was a fictional character. But the girl who asked Lewis Carroll to write the book was Alice Liddell. But there’s a family secret…Alice Liddell was no normal girl. She had a controversial condition now known as ESP, or extrasensory perception.  Basically she could tap into things that no one else could.             

                Alice had always been a little on the weird side but then one night she disappeared. Our family searched for weeks on end, never finding a trace of Alice. They never sought out the help of the police for they didn’t suspect kidnapping. They figured they’d find Alice wandering around on the far edge of the house grounds. But they never found her. A year went by, but Miss Liddell refused to believe that Alice was dead.  But when two years passed our family gave up hope and held a funeral out behind the house. But then, before the priest could say his part they heard a cry from the woods.

                 All the attendees of the funeral rushed into the woods behind Miss Liddell. At the base of an old, bent tree sat Alice Liddell, not a day older than when she’d left. Obviously everyone was amazed and relieved by Alice’s reappearance. But she wasn’t quite the same. Her mutterings became worse, something about wonderland and a queen and she was plagued by nightmares that she could never remember when she awoke.

                One extremely intriguing detail was Mr. Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll. Dodgson had been a long family friend of the Liddell’s. He’s always taken particular interest in Alice, even before her disappearance. But after she returned he almost never left her side, he used a journal to write down things that she told him. Long fantastical stories of where she’d been while she was gone. This place soon came to be the magical world of Wonderland that Dodgson wrote of.

                Fearing for her health Miss Liddell wouldn’t let Alice leave the house without being accompanied by someone or other, normally Dodgson. Every time she went outside she would stumble around the grounds, particularly the old tree where they had found her, saying she’d forgotten something but whatever it was she never found it. She was like this her entire life until the day she died in 1853.

                You might be wondering, what does any of this have to do with you, Kathrin? Well, I wondered that too. For a long time I paid no attention to the story that was passed down in my family from generation to generation. Until ten minutes ago.

                Two hours ago I’d left school and came home, one hour ago my mom got a phone call from the hospital telling her that grandma wasn’t doing well and we should come to the hospital. Thirty minutes ago we parked in the hospital parking lot and rushed inside. And ten minutes ago my grandma was alive. But the strangest part of those two hours was the twenty minute mark. At this time I was standing next to my grandma, she had wanted to see me and mom was outside talking with the doctor.

                “Katie,” she croaked her voice hardly a whisper. She had always called me Katie.

                “Yes Grandma?” I leaned in closer so I could hear her.

                She motioned vaguely at her nightstand, “The drawer…the drawer!”

                 I opened the bottom drawer, inside was a medium sized notebook that looked very old. That was all that was in there so I figured that this is what she wanted. “This, grandma? Is this it?” I asked, showing it to her.

                She nodded, “Yours…yours now.” She wheezed, “Passes on, from parent to child. Your mother…wouldn’t accept it.” She closed her eyes.

                I looked at the journal more closely. There was something written on the cover, I brushed off the dust and gasped. It was Charles Dodgson’s notebook! Suddenly my grandma opened her eyes again and grabbed my wrist tightly.

                “What is it, Grandma…what’s wrong?” I asked frantically.

                She tugged on my wrist and I leaned inwards until our faces were inches apart. Her eyes, normally foggy and distant were focused and bright. Like they had been when she was younger. “Two years and a day, Katie, I’ll be waiting.” She whispered.

                I nodded, scared out of my wits.

                “Beware the fireflies…” her voice trailed off and her eyes closed again.

                Suddenly every machine in the room started beeping all at once. The doctor outside looked in and his eyes widened. He ran in and began doing stuff all over the place. Two nurses came in and began to help him. I was in a daze, watching as my grandma’s breath became slower and slower. My mom gently grabbed my shoulders and began to guide me out of the room. I hugged the journal to my chest and felt hot tears fall from my eyes as I saw my grandma’s chest rise and fall for the very last time.

                 It had been two weeks since my grandma died, and I still grieved. I had kept the journal with me at all times, wondering when I would have a chance to read it. The way my grandma had told me my mom didn't accept the journal made me think she would not want me to have it either. It was a Sunday morning, the Sunday morning before winter break. I sat on the couch, staring blankly out the window. I normally would have been excited, two weeks to do whatever I wanted. But the thing that I wanted was to be with grandma. The funeral had already been held, and I had watched them fill the grave. But I still couldn’t believe she was gone.

                Ever since the funeral I had carried around three things in a small shoulder bag. One was of course, Charles Dodgson’s notebook, the second and third items, the two Alice in Wonderland books. I continued to stare out the window, my mind drifting from one thought to another.

                “Sweetie?” A timid voice interrupted my thoughts.

                I turned slowly to see my mother standing next to the couch, looking at me sympathetically. I nodded, showing her I was listening. She sat down and stroked my long, wavy, black brown hair. “What do you say we go on a trip?”

                I looked at her quizzically, “Where?” I asked. We hadn’t gone anywhere since I was nine.

                “There’s a tradition, that when a girl turns eleven,” she paused for a minute, seemingly lost in thought, “She and her guardian go spend a week in Oxford England, at the old Liddell mansion.”

                I was a little offended, my eleventh birthday had been last year. “Mom…my eleventh birthday is already over.” I stated.

                She looked a little embarrassed, “I know. We were far too busy last year to go. But now, with all the trouble with grandma, I thought maybe a fun trip would take your mind off things.” She continued to stroke my hair lovingly.

                If anything, that would make me think more about it. I thought glumly. I really didn't want to go, but she was trying…really hard. “Sure mom!” I said, forcing a smile and fake excitement.

                I saw the relief written on her face. “Good, I thought you’d like that.” She smiled and stood up. “After I buy the tickets we’ll pack.”

                 I sighed and stood up as well. In my room I lugged my suitcase out of my closet and dropped it on my bed. I began pulling out clothes and folding them carefully into the suitcase. I sighed; I wished that I could call grandma and tell her where I was going.

                My mom came in, bright and smiling, “I got the tickets…we leave on Wednesday!”