DeviantART's 14th UnBirthday, Alternative Ending to Alice in Wonderland!
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"Noooo!" screamed Alice, "I must kill the demons!"
The radio crackered.
"No Alice. You are the demons."
And then... Alice was a zombie.
As if that had been a signal, the last cards started disappearing as well one by one, in the odd manner of the Cheshire Cat: the King was reduced to a crown (a crown without a king, didn't her teacher say something about this in History class?); the Queen was down to two furiously powerless eyes; while the Knave was now just four hearts, the ones that previously stood in the corners of the card. Alice could not spend too much energy wondering about the kingless crown though, for the disappearance of the cards was also the beginning of her growing smaller again, smaller and smaller, until she feared she would disappear with a pop like a soap bubble...
*Pop* Alice woke up with a start. Her sister was still reading under the tree, and she herself felt perfectly rested if a bit hungry. She thought of the Knave of hearts, who'd looked so hungry, then she thought of the Queen of Hearts, and the Cheshire Cat, and all of Wonderland. She realized that she could still remember every part of her trip in Wonderland, where she would usually forget about her dreams as son as she woke up. She cried, and resolved to treat kitties a bit kinder from now on. She didn't want to get disappeared again anytime soon, after all...
“Mama, mama- Alice fell asleep and I can’t wake her up!” The beautiful young woman gazed over at her mother, eyes crazed and cheeks flushed, “Oh Mama, I don’t understand, I don’t understand. Was it my fault? Oh Mama, what if it was the heat? I promise we were in the shade and I didn't know and I- Mama, mama please she has to wake up!”
“We gather here today to mourn the death of Alice Liddel, daughter to Charles and Helen Liddel,” The strange little man was interrupted by a loud cry from the middle, a half-sob of misery from the girl's mother. He cleared his throat, waiting for his cue to continue. Only after she sniffled and blew her nose was he able to resume his carefully prepared speech, “I myself did not know her closely, but I was asked by Margaret, her dear sister, to read this today.
“ ‘She was a curious girl. She was always more like Father, spending time to imagine instead of read, explore instead of sew, sleep instead of talk. I only imagine that on her way out of this world it was confusing. She didn’t barely understand the concept of death yet, so when she died, I doubt it was a beautiful tunnel of light. Maybe she felt like she was falling instead of flying. Like all the mortals things were leaving her reach forever.
“She was a good girl, but even I doubt she knew that. She often took Mother’s words to heart, and I wonder now if she truly would believe she made it into heaven. Dear Alice, she would probably make it an adventure. Finding her true size, meeting interesting creatures along the way to lead her to her true self. I, of course, know she would find a pure white soul, but would she imagine someone to paint it red? Perhaps mother, whom she often felt would criticize her even when she did no wrong. Perhaps her tutor, who never quite understood how her mind worked and would often argue her to the ground even if she was right. Or even I, who she would sometimes follow blindly even if I had no way of knowing where to go.
“I only hope, in the end, she grasped hold of her true self and didn’t let the negative words she’d been told influence her in the end. I would not wish Alice an eternity of nothing, stuck in time forever for she knew not where to go. Anyone could go mad in a place of that. Even my dear Alice, who was so mad already with her silly ideas.
“I know she’ll be alright, anyhow. She always is. I only wish I could have been there, when she slid into a daze of heat. I only wish I could have been the one to shake her awake and take her inside for tea. Instead I must live without her, wondering about what might have been.’ "
The man looked up, perhaps for applause or at least a few sniffled sobs. Instead he was met by stunned silence, the silence of people who could not grasp what they had just heard. With a quick thought, one he presumably thought would save him, he added, “Though, of course, we of older age all know that dear Alice rests safely in the realm of heaven, watched by God. Amen.”
The stupor shattered and the group broke into quiet applause, thankful for a safe thought to fall back on. Because no one, no one but those special few, allowed themselves to wonder if the End contains more than just a simple pearly gate. No one allowed themselves to imagine that, in the end, they could fall prey to the imagination they had last encountered when in their early years. Because that, of course, would be mad.
As she struggles to comprehend why that is, she hears a familiar voice, muttering quietly in the grass near by. It cannot be, can it? Alice stands up, dropping her forgotten book on the ground as she seeks the source of the voice. True enough, it is the white rabbit, staring at his clock in dismay and talking to himself about being late, and how furious the queen will be.
As Alice creeps up on the rabbit he suddenly runs off, hopping down a hole, and she can't help but feel a sense of déjà vu. She hurriedly follows him, curiosity getting the better of her. But little does she know what is really happening right now...
Many years pass, but Alice is still repeating her mistakes, much like we all do from time to time. She is in a constant loop, waking up, following the rabbit, then traversing the maddening world of Wonderland, just to awake on the grass below the tree again. Yet, she cannot help but curiously follow the rabbit again, and again, and again... And so she is trapped in this never ending..MADNESS
Many years pass, and you still hear tales of the poor girl who fell asleep on the grass and never woke up, many have even written about her in stories, but she is never the main character, the main role, she is simply another cog in their small worlds, another thing holding their stories together, just as she should be. Why, where would Wonderland be without her?
There was a knock on the heavy door followed by a big woman in whites, who has a startling resemblance to the Queen of Hearts.
Alice realized that she must have been imprisoned somehow by the queen. "Where am I?! Let me go! I'm only a child!"
The woman sighed. "You are not a child Alice. You are a young woman, 22 years young." She sat next to Alice and aimed a pen light on the girl's eyes. "...have you been dreaming again?"
Alice gasped and looked down on herself. Yes, definitely not a child! How could this be!? She tried to remember... maybe, maybe she drank or ate something strange once again that made her become older!
"No! I am only 7 years! I am still in Wonderland, aren't I?!"
The woman shook her head. "No, you are in Bedlam, my dear. I am a Nurse." She placed her hand on the girl's forehead.
Alice shook her head. "No, no. I was reading a book with my sister on our estate, and I began chasing a white rabbit that appeared when she left!"
The woman nodded thoughtfully. "I see."
Alice then proceeded to tell her all about Wonderland, where the laws of physics does not apply and nonsense was the only thing that made sense.
"What a strange dream you had!" She commented, straightening Alice's crumpled gown.
"It's not a dream, I tell you! And you are the queen!"
She laughed. "A queen in my household, maybe. Now, go back to sleep. It is too early for you to be awake. Why it is only three hours past midnight!" She proceeded to tuck Alice in bed and pulled the blanket over her body.
As the nurse left, she couldn't help but feel bad for the girl. 22 years young and she's already confined in an Asylum since she was a teen. Diagnosed with Madness, the doctors say. Always believing she was seven, always telling the same stories of visiting this wonderland repeatedly. And it was ALWAYS her first time.
It was a few years later that that particular "madness" Alice was ailed with coined its name... schizophrenia.
"Finally you're awake."
Alice gasped lightly, seeing the pair of glowing yellow eyes and an overstretched grin within inches of her face. The rest of the Cheshire Cat's face began to phase into existence, his whiskers twitching in what seemed like amusement. Looking around frantically, Alice recognized the elongated table scattered with with an array of teapots. "Oh dear!" she miserably exclaimed, her face growing red, "I utterly refuse to fraternize with such... heathens!"
"Either lose your mind, or your head, my dear." The Cheshire Cat mused, his ears beginning to disappear.
"Oh please Mr.Cat, don't go!" She sprung to her feet, wringing her hands, pleading.
"The Queen of Hearts and her men won't bother searching the forest!" he called out as the remains of his face began floating higher and higher. "We're all mad here!"
And with that, he was gone, grin and all. Mournfully, Alice made her way to the table, sitting upon a soft chair of blue velvet. Barely noticing, she began to pour herself a cup of tea, awaiting for the inevitable arrival of the other guests.
"Marigolds!"
"Matches!"
"Mortar!"
"Mittens!"
Alice broke out into a fit of wild giggles, her teacup splashing over the tablecloth. Abruptly, they all stood up: Alice, the Dormouse, the Hatter, and the March Hare, and switched to different chairs. With a noisy plop, Alice sat on a small rickety chair, hands shooting out to grab her new cup of tea. Taking a small sip, she set it down once more, unaware of how a tangled, disorderly lock of her hair was submerged in her drink. Her hair was not the only thing that was unkempt. Her frock was littered with tea stains and crumbs, as well as spots of jam and marmalade. However, her most concerning feature was her face. Both of her eyes were as wide as saucers, barely blinking, while her mouth was stretched in a grin that would challenge the Cheshire Cat.
"Alice, 'tis your turn for the next word!" the Dormouse said with a sleepy squeak. Alice clapped her hands together, a shrill cackle escaping through her teeth as the perfect M-word came to mind.
"Madness!"
Her parents and her little sister are afraid of what Alice has become and they send her away to a room of endless gray with men with hearts for faces and hearts of cold, cold ice. She falls deeper into her madness and begins scrawling images of white rabbits, cats with human teeth and grins, a queen that rules over an empire of red red red as her blood and her heart and of tea parties and hatters and and and-
They put her into a dreamless sleep at the end. A lost cause, they said to Alice's family as they offer their condolences.
....
Years after her death, a bored author stumbles over the records of her insanity and her scrawlings recorded by the men of hearts. Inspired, he takes up his pen and begins writing.
That man was Lewis Carroll.
"Oh hello. I see you've finally woken up. If you would kindly exit the cryostasis chamber, I have some tests for you to solve. If you can get through all of these 100% not-deadly testing chambers, you will be rewarded with cake."
Alice reluctantly leaves the chamber, not realizing the giant mess she's about to get into, and that the cake is a lie....
Alice has a scratch on her arm and is wearing an armor.
Even though she is seven and was DEFINETLY wearing a blue dress when fell down the hole.
We will judge and select the best Alternative Endings you come up with, and winners will receive a 3 month premium membership! (participation
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