Wonderland

The Rabbit wonders, through roses of grey
Slowing to see the moons dim face fade away
He wipes his white fur, a tear in his eye
The Beautiful Wonderland, ‘A Land that Will Never Die’.
She is gone now; the Cat stops his grin
He is frowning at nearly everything.
The Hatter has maddened, beyond that of compare
The Balance has gone, the Imagination, her Flair.
The Queen stands alone, bedraggled and not making one sound
The House of Cards, fallen, fallen to the ground.
The Rabbit walks forward, holding a watch, the one she had dropped
He places it gently in the river, its colour has gone
They relied on her and the Watches song.


  ~~~

London, The United Kingdom 1888.


  A young girl stood staring at a rabbit hole. Around her, the frozen branches of trees loomed closer, framing the rabbit hole, icicles pointing towards its mouth, inviting her inside. Her short brown hair curled around her face in the winter breeze and her bottle green eyes gazed, confused at the hole. Something in her heart began to stir. Her hand began to play with a golden locket around her neck. The family Crest of the Noble family Von Phantom was carved onto the Locket. The Crest was of a clock, surrounded by an eagle, a rabbit and an assortment of other creatures. Alice Von Phantom continued to gaze at the Rabbit hole. The wind blew around her and the winter snow around her feet crunched as she moved closer. She brought her navy coat closer to her chin and shivered.

“Alice? Alice? Its time to go home.” The male voice drifted from the other side of the hill. The girl turned her gaze from the hole and peered at the man running towards her waving. His blonde hair pulled back into a snug cap.

“Jasper… look.” Alice pointed at the rabbit hole.

Her brother stood behind her and looked were she was pointing. He smiled and begun to laugh.

“It’s mothers rabbit hole, Alice.” He grinned at her. His scarf flew around them. He remembered the stories their late mother had told them. She would sit them both down before bed and them tales of a Cheshire Cat, a Mad Hatter and a bad tempered Queen with a loves for hearts and jam tarts. Their mother was killed 12 years ago, when Alice was only 4 years old.
Alice nodded and held her brothers hand, fighting back a tear. She never really knew her mother
.
“… Come on Alice, Father is home.” Jasper turned away and pulled his sister behind him. Alice didn’t take her eyes away until the Rabbit hole vanished from sight, in the haze of wind.

  ~~~
A White Rabbit stood a top the Hole; its eyes looking watching Alice and her elder brother slowly walk away. An old man, who walked up towards the river, distracted it. The man had white hair, and a monocle over one eye. H was clearly a man of some wealth, as he was walking with a golden stick in his right hand. He held a small watch in his left hand and muttered something about been late. The man fascinated the rabbit, so it followed him to the rivers edge. The man stood looking at the darkening sky and sighed. The rabbit also looked to the sky.
“Old friend, do you have the time?” The man sighed. “My watch is apparently broken.”
The moon began to show above the twilight hues in the sky.
“Ah! There is no need” The man was seeking to no one in particular, unless you count the rabbit. “I see I am on time for once!” He smiled down at the rabbit, which chuckled.
A golden watch was floating down the river towards them. The man scoped down and engulfed the watch in his hand.
“It will make a fine birthday present for her, don’t you think?”
The rabbit smiled, its work done. He ran off to the rabbit hole, disappearing in the darkness. A One way ticket back to Wonderland.

  ~~~
They walked home in silence, thoughts of their mother weighed heavily on their minds. Her murder had been brutal, sudden. She left home one day, to dole out medicines and food to the poor. She was never to return. Their father spent the next two days searching for her body; his jobs as the Queens’ viceroy meant that the whole Police Force was at his aid. He found her body, naked and covered in blood. A single White Rose was placed on her chest. She was found on a winter’s night, her tears of pain frozen in her eyes.  Their Father held the funeral at the Chapel in which they had married, the Chapel was alive with flowers. She was buried under the Oak tree that they had met; he had been a Young Duke scared of his role and duty to the Queen. She belonged to a family related to the Queen; her golden hair shimmered in the summer sun. Her grave would catch that sun in summer and have tulips and roses sprout in the spring. Duke Frederick Von Phantom would never marry again.
Jasper wound his scarf tighter around his neck. A mist descended upon the district of Mayfair. A figure strode towards them, looking directly at them. The man hand a slight smile on his face. He bowed at them and held out a hand.
“Young master and mistress, your father bids that you return home immediately.” Their butler smiled at them, his dark hair wound in curls around is angular face. “He apologises for not making it home tonight, but urgent matters are needed to be attended to at the Palace.”
Jasper nodded, a frown on his face.
“Will you follow me young master?”
“Edgar. Has Rebecca…?”
“A letter awaits you on your dresser.”
Alice looked up at her brother. He had proposed to Rebecca a few weeks ago, she had accepted and the wedding was planed for the spring. But she had just recently become ill with a bad flu. She was hallucinating, and running a temperature. Jasper had been preoccupied watching over her.
The three of them walked through the mist, back to their grand townhouse.
Edgar led the way, he rung his hands and glanced about him. As he led them through the door, he spotted a tall man, cloaked in the fog. Edgar could just about see a small doll in the figures hand. He looked down and saw Alice was staring at the figure. Edgar quickly shoved her through the door. That night the butler prayed.

    ~~~

Somewhere a piano was playing. It’s nostalgic melody chimed across the room, its high vaulted walls drifting the melody through the place. Suddenly the moon appeared in a far window, illuminating the room. It was finely furnished. Satin drapes hung around the monochrome window frame, which looked somewhat oddly twisted. An assortment of strange, but beautiful objects littered the room. A grandfather clock was lying on the floor, is pendulum sill moving, despite it been complete horizontal, a chess board lay open some of the pieces smashed, some standing tall with glory. The piano stood before the window, the moonlight illuminated its player. A young man was bent over the piano. His hair fell before his face, and he was dressed as though he where some noble prince. As his long fingers swept across the piano, something stirred on his lap. A purple cat lay lounging on this mans knee. Suddenly the man stopped playing, and the cat stood up. They both looked out of the window. Somewhere in the distant City landscape, an old man was walking through a park, a wet hand holding a beautiful ornate watch. They turned their heads back around, and he began played another melody. Both man and animal; grinned like a Cheshire cat.






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