Alice in Wonderland Christmas

 A New Alice in Wonderland story

Chapter One

Into The Abyss

It was many years later when Alice had her next adventure, and whilst she was quite surprised to be having one at all, after the passing of so many years, she was even more surprised to see that she was a child again, no older than when she had first entered Wonderland and slipped through that fascinating Looking Glass.
“How curious,” Alice said quietly to herself, while trying to recall the child she had once been…

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Chapter Two

The Fertilizer Mine

Despite feeling sad, at having to leave the aspidistras behind, Alice had given them her word that she would return with some fertilizer, and so she would. “All that I must do,” she said, “is to find the mine, and secure a bag of the stuff. That shouldn’t be too hard to achieve. I wonder,” she said, while looking around her, “which way shall I go, to the left, to the right or straight on ahead?” Without having any idea as to where the mine was actually located, Alice thought it best to follow her nose. “I can’t go too far wrong, doing that,” she said as she stepped off the path, onto a swathe of neatly cut grass…

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Chapter Three

A Series of Confusing Directions

 When Alice and Fle, with his little cart and its precious cargo trailing behind him, arrived at the aspidistra-bordered path, they set about feeding the hungry plants.
“Heavens above,” said the mother aspidistra, when Alice had finished feeding her roots, “I feel better already.”
“So do I,” said the baby plant, which was enjoying its first taste of the precious stuff.
“My,” said Alice, as she stood in astonishment, at the baby plant’s spurt of new growth, “I can see you growing before my very eyes!”
“They are all growing,” said Fle, as he finished watering in the last granules of fertilizer. Moreover, the plants had put on so much new growth, their strappy green leaves had covered the path they bordered…

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Chapter Four

An Unexpected Encounter

After stepping onto the escalator, Alice began rising fast from the ground. “This is indeed a fast escalator,” she said nervously. “It’s a pity I am travelling so fast, though, for I might have enjoyed the view immensely if I had risen at a more leisurely pace.” As the picturesque countryside grew smaller and smaller beneath her, the speed of the escalator increased…

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Chapter Five

The Trip of a Lifetime and the Fright of her Life

As the sleigh sped bumpily through the snowy terrain, illuminated by a pale quarter moon hanging lazily in the darkening sky, Alice marvelled at the wintry landscape around her. Her eyes, watering from the icy cold blast of wind, saw many strange things in the half-light, like igloos, and beavers, small houses and kittens, babies and hatters and a walrus reclining next to a coat stand. She saw all these things – and more – in that bitter cold night in the far north…

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Chapter Six

Off With Her head!

“OFF WITH HER HEAD!” a powerful voice suddenly roared.
Awakening with a start, Alice enquired, “Who said that?”
“I said off with your head!” the Queen of Hearts roared at her. Looking about her royal self, she said, “Where is that executioner when you have need of him? Off with his head!”
Although suffering the Queen‟s icy cold glare, Alice tried to be as polite as she might possibly be, considering the circumstances. “Excuse me, please,” she said, “is it really you? And if so, is this your seat?” Uncharacteristically silent, the Queen eyed Alice most suspiciously. Alice, however, pressed her further. “If it really is you, the Queen of Hearts – your majesty – I am delighted to meet you again, and I am most frightfully sorry for having fallen asleep in your chair. It is your chair, isn’t?” she asked, and all of this in the one long breath. Taking another deep breath, trying to explain further, Alice said, “Unfortunately, since my arrival here, at the top of the world, if that is where I really am, I have been overtaken by these sudden spells of acute tiredness…”

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Chapter Seven

Bells, Again

“Where are you going, child?” the Queen of Hearts asked Alice, when she curtsied, bidding the Queen and her husband goodbye.
“I have no idea,” Alice admitted, as she curtsied, while trying to decide which of the two doors might lead her out of the building.
Seeing her dilemma, the King said,” It matters not which one you take, both doors will lead you out, make no mistake.” (Once again Alice found herself wondering why the King was speaking in rhyme).
Raising an eyebrow, Alice said, “Both doors will lead me out?”
“Yes,” the King insisted. “For sure, you can walk out from here, but tread carefully lest Life and Death might hear.”
“Life and Death; that frightful, skeletal thing I met earlier?” Alice gasped.

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Chapter Eight

A Song, a Plot, Some Merriment – or Not?

A Song
As the sleigh rose higher and higher into the wintry night sky, above the clouds and under a veil of twinkling bright stars, Alice’s sight suddenly returned. “I can see again!” she cried out excitedly.
The Cat, sitting behind her, meowed by way of reply.
“And thank you for saving me, Cat,” Alice said gratefully to it.
The Cat meowed again, though this time less enthusiastically.
“Sorry, Cat,” Alice apologised. “Thank you for saving us both, the Mouse and I, from that dreadful wintry waste down there.” She pointed over the side of the fast moving sleigh.
The Cat grinned.
Turning to Father Christmas, Alice said, “But how did you know where we were, and that we needed your help?”
“Father Christmas smiled, and said, “Your hand.”
“My hand?” she asked, at a loss as to what he could mean…

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Chapter Nine

The Off

The hour passed quickly, and soon the patter of many small feet could be heard returning to the workshop. Watching the doors open, Alice was surprised to see that the elves were now dressed in their coats and hats. Recalling that the remaining duties involved working outside, in the loading bay, where they would be exposed to the harsh wintry conditions, Alice understood why they were dress, so. Grabbing hold of her hat and coat, she donned them, and then followed the elves through to the loading bay.
Outside, the icy cold wind blowing, howling its way into the loading bay made Alice shiver to the core. Father Christmas will have a long, hard night ahead of him, she said quietly to herself.

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Chapter Ten

A Calamity!

Most of the journey back was uneventful; as smooth as a baby hippopotamus’s skin. It was so uneventful Alice, along with the Cat and the Mouse, fell fast asleep.
“Easy does it, Rudolf,” Father Christmas said to his reindeer, when they were suddenly caught in some turbulence. “Easy, easy,” he said, trying to reassure them that all was well. The rough weather soon passed. Gazing across the sleigh, to Alice, Father Christmas was happy to see that she was still sleeping soundly.
All of a sudden the sleigh, caught in another patch of turbulence, lurched and shook violently. The old man struggled with the reins, trying to maintain control of the sleigh. “Easy, easy,” he said to the reindeer that were struggling to find traction in the unstable air.
Waking up, Alice asked, “What’s happening?”

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Chapter Eleven

A Nice Surprise

Once again Alice found herself outside in the cold, once again she found herself with only a bony, brooding figure for company and once again she found herself wishing that she had found the White Rabbit’s neat little house. Pulling her coat tightly around her, Alice began following Life and Death, hoping that this time her journey was shorter than her earlier one…

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Chapter Twelve

“How Can You Possibly Be Me?”

After everything had disappeared, instead of finding herself outside, in the cold, and the snow, Alice was pleasantly surprised to see the narrow, winding path ahead of her. “Hmm, it seems Mortar was right,” she said, as she began making her way towards it. “You are wherever you want to be; I am sure that’s how he put it.” Stepping onto the path, Alice looked both ways, wondering which way to go. Forgetting Mortar’s wise words, she said, “I don’t know which way to go.” Then she said, “I think a rhyme is needed, here. Eany, meany, miny, mo, which way to follow, which way to go. Left or right, up or down it makes no difference as time turns around.” Setting off, Alice went right, then left, and then right again before marching along the winding path, hoping she was going the right way…

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Chapter Thirteen

An Old Friend Revisited

As she travelled further along the path, and in the right direction this time, Alice felt that she would soon be going home. Yes, she had a long way to go and, yes, she still had to find the White Rabbit in his neat little house, but she felt happy, content in the knowledge that she knew who she was, and, more importantly, where she was in her life. Turning a bend, Alice said, “I hope it’s not far, for it’s getting quite late. Moreover, I am dreadfully hungry.”

There were no plants bordering this section of path, only orange-painted curbs and the occasional bench. Alice walked some more. Despite the lateness of the hour, the sun shone brightly, making Alice thirsty as well as hungry. Taking off her fur coat, and wiping her brow, she said, “This is terrible, I am hungry and thirsty, with nothing to eat or drink in sight.” Approaching the next bench, she sat upon it, to take a much need rest. “If I weren’t so dreadfully uncomfortable within myself,” she said, “I might enjoy this fine view.” And it was indeed a fine view, with hill after hill drawing her eyes far across landscape to a particular spot on a particular hill where, halfway up it, Alice thought she saw something familiar…

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Chapter Fourteen

A Magical Combination

“When they arrived at the mine entrance, Fle removed the padlock from the gates without the need for a key. Seeing this, Alice asked, “You never locked it?”
“Nope, Fle replied, winking mischievously at her, “there’s no needs to be a doing that.  Peoples tend t’make assumptions on looks, so’s a padlock is enough, whether it’s locked or not, is how I’s do sees it.” He winked at Alice again.
“You are a funny and very nice elf,” she said, giving him a hug. The old elf’s face flushed red, with embarassment.
As soon as they were ensconced within the fertilizer mine’s secret cavern, Fle wasted no time in offering Alice and the Mouse some refreshments. “Would yous like to be eating it a’formally or in the informality?” he inquired of them…

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Chapter Fifteen

Rabbit Bound

Bidding the kind, loveable old elf a fond farewell, Alice began making her way across the many hills and valleys leading away from the mine, on her way home, hopefully, via the White Rabbit’s neat house.
“I know where the Rabbit’s house is located,” she said, thinking aloud, “but not the way to it. This is such a strange place, this top of the world…”

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Chapter Sixteen

Goodnight, My Child

Standing outside the front door of his house, with a theatrical wave of his paw, the White Rabbit asked, “Would you like to come in, Alice?”
“I would love to,” she replied. Stepping through the doorway, and into the house, Alice admired the homely interior...

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