Alice in Wonderland World rough draft

Alice in Wonderland World Part 4

Advice from a Caterpillar.

I pushed my way through the blades of grass as I tried to find where I was. I hugged myself as I ducked under a stick; everything looked so unfamiliar and massive. “This isn’t what was supposed to happen. This was just supposed to be an ordinary theme park. Now I am tiny and lost.” I shook my head. “I wish I knew what was going on.”

I noticed strange puffs of smoke rising through the blades of grass in the distance. “Is that a fire?” I shook my head. “No, that is crazy. How could anyone cause such a small fire? I am just a few inches high.” I laughed. “Maybe it is another figment of my imagination come to life. I should go say hello.”

I squeezed through the blades of grass to see a fantastic sight, a blue caterpillar sitting upright smoking from a long pipe. The caterpillar didn’t notice me as I approached, puffing away stars and rings and staring up into the treetops above.

I walked to the mushroom where the caterpillar was sitting and waved, but it still didn’t see me. “Hello?”

It slowly took the pipe from his mouth. “Who are you?”

I opened my mouth and then closed it. “I umm don’t know. I knew who I was when I woke up, but now I am not so sure.” I crossed my arms. “I am pretty sure I have changed a few times since then.”

The caterpillar narrowed his eyes at me. “What do you mean by that? Explain yourself.”

“I can’t explain myself because I’m not myself, you see, sir?”

“I don’t see.”

I scratched at my head. “I don’t know if I can explain it any cleaner than that, sir.

Besides, I have been so many different sizes today everything is so confusing.”

“It isn’t.”

I crossed my arms. “Well, maybe it isn’t confusing for you. But I am sure when you go through the process of transforming into a butterfly, you will find things are not so simple.”

“Not at all.”

I sighed. “Well, I would find such a thing to be quite odd and weird myself.”

The caterpillar moved, so his face was close to mind. “Who are you?”

I sighed. “I think I should know who you are first.”

“Why.”

This is getting me nowhere.  I started to walk away when the caterpillar called out. “Wait. I have something important to tell you.”

I turned around as he said, “Keep your temper.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Is that all you wanted to tell me?”

“No.” He pushed himself up, so he appeared to be standing. “So you think you have changed?”

“I feel like the longer I am at this park, the more I am becoming someone else. I am having a hard time remembering things, and I can’t even keep a consistent size.”

“Can’t remember what things?”

I put my hand to my chin. “Like things about myself. I think I am supposed to be Sarah, but at the same time, I feel like I am Alice.”

“Well, which is it? Are you Sarah or Alice?”

I sat down and shrugged. “Sometimes I feel like I am both and others none at all.”

The caterpillar sighed. “What size do you wish to be?”

I perked up. “I would like to be a little larger. Three inches tall is such a horrible height to be.”

“It is a very good height indeed.”

“I am just not used to it. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

The caterpillar began to inch away. “One side will make you grow taller, and the other side will make you grow smaller.”

I narrowed my eyes. “One side of what?”

He looked back with agitated eyes. “Of the mushroom.”

I sighed before I climbed up onto the mushroom that the caterpillar had been sitting on just a few moments ago. I crossed my legs and sat down, my hands in my dress. I then reached over to my left and pulled out a piece of the mushroom. “It is so squishy.” I then leaned over to my right and pulled out another piece. “That is so strange. This side feels rough and hard.”

I held the two pieces in my hands as I looked back and forth. “One side makes me grow taller and the other shorter. But how am I supposed to know which side is which?” I held the pieces in my hands and tried to measure their weight. “I just don’t know.” I looked up at the small expanse of sky above me. “I am tired of being such a small thing. Maybe. . .” I lifted a piece to my mouth before lowering it. “Ugh, I just don’t care.” I took a bite out of the squishy left side of the mushroom.

I stood up and slide the pieces into the small pockets of my dress. “Hmm, strange I don’t feel any different.”

Suddenly I began to grow. I stepped off the mushroom, not wanting to crush it. Once my feet were on solid ground, my body rapidly shot up. “Whoa.” Up and up I went, my head crashing through tree limbs and branches. I watched as I passed by the mighty trunks of the oaks around me, coming closer and closer to the canopy above. Then suddenly, my head burst through the treetops.

I looked around to one side, then the other, and finally directly behind me. “Wow, I am high up.” I tried to scratch my head but found I couldn’t. “That is odd.” I looked down. “Wait.

I can’t see my shoulders. They must be lost in these tree branches.” I lowered myself through the leaves and branches.

“Wait, this can’t be right. My body is all the way down there. Oh no.” I took deep breaths as I looked down at my long neck, which was twisted around multiple tree branches. “What do I do now?”

“Serpent!” There was a sudden pecking at the back of my head. “Serpent!”

I raised my head to see a tiny ebony feathered bird. “Hey, I am not a serpent.”

The bird narrowed its little eyes at me. “That is just what a serpent would say.”

“Wait.” I pleaded. “I am just a normal woman. I was visiting this park with my friend Carien.”

The bird laughed. “Hah, a likely story. You can’t trick me. I won’t let you get at my eggs.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t’ want your eggs.”

The bird landed on my nose. “All serpents eat eggs. You can’t trick me.”

“Well, I had eggs for breakfast—“

“I knew it. You are a serpent.” The bird flew around me. “A serpent!”

I shook my head. “This is crazy.” I lowered my head down towards the ground as the bird continued to parrot the same line in the skies above. After a few moments, I reached my body, pulled out the mushrooms from my pockets, and took a small bite.

Immediately my neck retracted into my body, and I shrunk back down to where I started from. I looked back up as I held the mushrooms in my hands. “This is going to be hard to get used to.”

I slowly stood up, dusting the dirt off my dress. I then looked at the mushroom that had made me grow and took a much smaller bite this time. Moments later, I rapidly grew until I was my average size.

“Ahh, this is much better.” I ran my hands along the length of my dress. “Now to find Carien and get out of here.”

I began to walk down the trail when some park employees in their card outfits walked up to me. “Alice.”

“Yes?”

“We need you to come with us.”

I shook my head. “Did I do something wrong?”

They grabbed my arm. “We will discuss that when we get there. The Red Queens orders.”