Wunderland

She spread the peanut butter slowly and thickly on the piece of white, almost stale bread. Her long tussle of deep red, messy hair fell in her face and grazed over her afternoon snack, coating her hair in peanut butter. She laughed. Then laughed some more, and hugged herself. Her skin felt soft against her small, rough hands. She tilted her head back and gazed at the sky, looking down her petite, curved nose. The tree she sat under blocked her view of the entire blue abyss, but through the gaps of the leaves she saw a tiny plane fly, on and on until it disappeared from her sight; Far beyond her realm of vision, past the tree, through the sky…She then remembered her peanut butter encrusted hair, and her piece of bread, waiting for its special topping. She stuck the lock of hair into her mouth and sucked off the sticky butter while she reached for the paper bag beside her lap. In it contained a precious treat. Earlier that morning she’d gone to a small and sparse field, loaded with beautifully colored mushrooms. With no one else present, she was alone and free to gather as many of the mind-bending morsels as her sack could hold. She fulfilled that promise. Sitting under the shady tree, she removed a few shriveled, blue mushrooms and delicately placed them atop the creamy layer of peanut butter. This made her smile, a very wide smile. She pushed the deformed morsels into the bread, sinking them into the smooth layer and placed another piece of stale bread on top. She licked her lips and sunk her tiny mouth deep into the sandwich, peanut butter and bread sticking to her two front teeth. The girl finished quickly and licked her fingers, smiling all the while and anticipating what would come next. She stared at the open landscape in front of her and waited for the magic. Ahead of her was a deep forest, many tall trees and extravagant bushels. One could very easily become lost in such a place, and with nothing to do for the entire day, she rose to her feet, dusted off her printed summer dress and stuffed the paper bag into it’s front pocket. What she should do with the glass jar of peanut butter she didn’t know, but finally she decided to scoop the rest out and plaster it onto the tree’s bark, a meal for a lost, homely bird. She placed the empty jar open side down into a nearby snake hole and giggled to herself, thinking of the silly snake who would slither up and become stuck in the peanut butter cave. She ran her fingers through her mane of auburn hair and stole a last glance at the sun filled sky, soaking in as much warmth as she could before plunging herself into the darker, cooler forest. She made her way across the plush green grass, enjoying the feeling of the tall weeds and grasses brushing against her long bare legs. She suddenly stopped when she heard a rustling sound ahead. Probably a small animal, a field mouse or a stray cat from a nearby barn, she thought. She ducked down and parted the grasses, searching for the furry friend. “Hey!” She heard. The girl gasped out loud and fell over, onto her bum. Stunned, she looked around her. Where had that come from? She wondered with shock. “Hello girl, I’d like it if you’d get off of me, please.” “What? Who is this, where are you?” She shouted. “Look around,” it replied “it’s me, the grass. You’ve been stepping on me your whole way through this field. Bending my tender stocks and flattening them into the soft earth. As you can clearly see, there’s a beaten path, right over there.” Taken aback, she glanced around, turning in circles and examining the grass with intensity. “Oh….oh, grass. Oh, I’m very sorry, weeds. I-I didn’t mean any harm.” She turned her head to the right and noticed the small brown path, twisting its way into the full and lush forest. It made sense to her now. She’d gone gallivanting through the grasses and weeds without a second thought on how the grass might feel. As gingerly as she could, and trying to step in barren spots, she made her way to the trail. When she reached it, she hoped she wouldn’t harm the earth beneath her, too, but after a moments silence, and no word from the grainy brown earth, she looked to her left and apologized to the brown and green sea of grass. “That’s fine, girl, but perhaps next time you will put more thought into your decision, before you go stomping through a tender field, like mine.” She bowed her head and continued once more towards the ever expanding forest. As she got closer, the trees looked taller, more full. The little inside she could see looked greener than ever and more clear than spring water. After what seemed like quite a while on the small brown path, she finally reached the edge of the woods and felt a bit more frightened than previous. The trees now were no ordinary trees. Some came in shades of blue and purple, some mottled together and some seemed as if they were melting. But all of them were taller than any tree she had ever seen. Tall as buildings! She remembered the plane she had seen through the leaves of the oak she’d sat under earlier and thought that if it flew over this massive patch of forest, it would get entangled in the branches, woven into the forest and lost forever. Moving forward scared her now. What if she become part of the monstrous trees, arms like limbs, her slim body a trunk, never to return? But as much as the forest scared her, it appealed to her. She remembered learning of Artemis, goddess of hunt and of the woods. If only she could be like her; Running through the thick bushels with bow and arrow stretched ahead of her and a flock of trustworthy animals trailing her. Her auburn locks catching the sunlight. She smiled and pictured herself in a short, white toga, gold sash around her waist, bronze skin gleaming. With this she walked forward, forgetting all about the too-tall trees and the threat of being swallowed by the forest. After some time of wandering and gazing through the leaves, seeing nothing but rows and rows of trees, fallen logs and bushes dotted with every color berry imaginable, the girl stumbled upon a small stream. Not small enough to wade across, she thought. So instead she found a rock to sit on and placed her toes in the cool, babbling water. “Oh!” She suddenly heard. Something seemed to have sucked her toe farther underwater! Perhaps she was being swallowed by the wood! She pulled her feet out of the water with lighting speed, almost toppling off her perch on the mossy rock. She pulled her knees to her chest, examining her toes but saw nothing, so instead turned her gaze to the clear, blue water. There she saw an amazing sight! A beautifully dappled koi fish glittered under the surface of the water! What would this gorgeous creature be doing in a modern wood’s stream? The fish was long and slender, it’s body a bluish hue spotted with green, pink, purple. Iridescent when it’s wiggling caught the sunlight. “I’m sorry, girl! Your bronze and slender feet dipped in this cool stream looked like a bit of an afternoon snack to me! I hope my slimy skin and scratchy scales bothered you none.” Did this beautiful fish just speak to…me? She wondered, again taken aback; Just as she was when the weeds had scolded her for treading too heavily. But in an instant her curiosity was gone and she was replying to the fish, “Oh, splendid koi fish, look at your gorgeous scales! Not scratchy at all in texture, but smooth and shiny like a coin. Oh and your colors, koi! How I envy to be just like you. Swimming all day in a cool stream, my skin glittering under the surface like a constellation under water.” With this, the fish’s round mouth seemed to turn upward, into a sort of fishy smile and the girl swore she saw a brighter red appear around the corners of it’s lips. “I could say the same, ravishing beauty of the land. Peer into the un-rippled water at your self. Your burgundy hair and blushing cheeks. Your chestnut eyes deep as a water well.” But all she saw when she peered into the smooth layer of sweet water was a distorted version of herself, eyes drooping and mouth set in a upside down ‘u‘. She sighed heavily and though the fish was no connoisseur on complex human emotion, it noticed her now sad and dark eyes and thought of something that would return the smile to her full, bright lips. “Beauty, would you like to take a swim with me? Down the river bed?” The damsel’s head rose and the soft curtain of chestnut hair fell away from her heart shaped face, framing it in a circle of fire. Her look was inquisitive and watchful, but she thought to herself of how the chilled water might envelope her body and steer her into another place, time zone, body. “But koi,” she protested, “this stream’s too small for me. Why, you fit perfectly, but of course are much smaller than I. How will I fit?” With that, the slender fish swam downstream a bit, lodging itself between two gapped rocks to escape the slow current. The girl padded over and waited for the koi to speak again. “Do you see that flower there? The one right next to that meager pile of acorns. See how it’s petals are round and ruby, just like your lips. Pick it, go ahead.” She leaned down, examining the beauty of the odd flower, the only one of it’s kind in sight. It seemed to have burst right out of the ground not a moment sooner for the soil around it was fresh and aromatic, smelling brown and dusty. She placed her fingers around it’s base and tugged slightly and with this small gesture the juicy flower popped out of the ground with a pop. “Match it’s color with that of your lips and tongue, taste it’s sweetness.” Continued the koi, sparkling in the rays of light filtered through the blue stream. She had never eaten a flower before, surely not a fresh picked one and was unsure of how to go on. Maybe she should eat only the petals, only the stamen? But the thoughts quickly left her head the moment she pressed her nose against the smooth, powdery petals. Inhaling it’s scent and not leaving an inch of her body untouched by it. This flower smelled like wood and dark wine, a musty cellar somewhere far off. The smell alone transported her far out of herself and so she wasted no time in devouring the entire thing, petals, stamen and all. Afterwards she might have felt silly except instead she lay down beside the stream, the ends of her hair sinking into the water. “You were right koi, that’s the sweetest flower I’ve ever seen, or eaten.” She giggled and rolled on her side to face the stream where the koi was wriggling between the rocks, still avoiding being swept away. “Come, girl, now we swim.” This time she didn’t argue, but instead lazily rolled into the water. Her delicate arms going first, then her lean back followed by the rest of her glimmering self. What she saw after she plunged amazed her. Instead of the small stream she’d seen a second earlier, what lay before her seemed like an ocean! An ocean that never ended, but kept on plunging deeper and deeper, until it reached the hot core of the earth. Looking beside her she gasped at the sight of the koi! How much more beautiful it had become. It’s shining skin almost blinded her and she reached out to touch it’s scales. To add to her surprises, she noticed how her once large fingers now matched the size of the fishes waving fins and she laughed a deep, bubbling, underwater laugh, fit for a goddess of the sea. “You see, my girl, we are now equals and can swim and play for as long as you want! Come and follow me down the river bed and I’ll show you things you’d never dreamed of.” And she didn’t even have to swim to keep up with the koi because the current lazily rolled her along, allowing her to take in the sights and the wet smells of living under water. After a too short minute, the koi steered them to the right, into a darker part of the never-ending stream. A black place, murky and cold. But the girl wasn’t scared for she trusted the koi and even this dark and despairingly frigid place seemed alluring to her. “Come girl,” breathed the koi, “Follow me into this deep hole and watch for what will emerge on the other side.” Smiling and laughing her laugh, she followed suit. Twirling her arms and legs, down, and farther, then even farther down until all she could make out were the faint scales of the koi, shimmering now and then. The girl lowered her heavy lids and let the water wash over her.