by Cameron Jace
“He started it ,” Carolus grunted.
“What?” The Cheshire rolled his eyes. “Is this high school on mushrooms all over again?”
“You never went to school,” Margaret shouted. “Stop it, and let’s talk about the Inklings.”
“What about it?” the Cheshire said.
“I heard rumors it has a secret tunnel you can use to escape,” Margaret said. “So go make sure Alice won’t escape when she wakes up.”
“Will do,” Carolus said.
“Aren’t you coming?” the Cheshire asked Margaret.
“No.” She sat back in her comfortable leather chair, tonguing a pen in her mouth. “I have to tell the Queen about my plan with the keys.”
“She doesn’t know yet?” Carolus asked.
“Not yet, and there is a reason for it ,” Margaret smirked.
7
SOMEWHERE IN THE FUTURE
I wake up in a big bed inside a white room with cushiony drapes and modern furniture. I am suffering from a headache. Mr. Tick and Mrs. Tock told me it would subside soon. It’s surreal to imagine another version of me lying on a couch a few years ago in the backroom in the Inklings, while I am here in the future. All at the same time.
I straighten up, remembering that the March Hare’s life is at stake. I haven’t had enough time to get to know him, but he reminds of Constance, whom I saved in my first mission. Both are pure children at heart, and all I want to do is hold them tight and protect them.
But where am I? How many years into the future? And how has the Inklings turned into this beautiful room I am in?
The headache begins to subside, and I get off the bed. This room is big and beautiful. Mostly white.
I am wearing a white dress. The tiles on the floor are black and white, like a chessboard. Except they’re made of elegant, expensive, shiny material like I have never seen before.
There is a window to my right, overlooking a garden. It catches my eye. I can’t help but look.
The garden is vast. Endless. Full of lilies and greens. It reminds me of… wait… is that a hedgehog the shape of a rabbit?
It is.
No. Not a rabbit. A March Hare.
I realize the garden is another fabulous replica of Wonderland, probably designed by the March Hare — in the future.
Does this mean he is alive? Does this mean I will succeed in getting back the keys and saving him?
Too many ideas roam in my head and stir that headache back again. It’s surreal being in the future. All those possibilities.
I turn and face the room again.
I walk to a wardrobe — probably my wardrobe. When I open it, my mouth hangs open. Look at those beautiful shoes. And at those endless, beautiful dresses. All mine? I pick one after the other and take a better look at them. They don’t look my size. A little bigger, belonging to someone a bit chubby.
Then it occurs to me. I am in the future. I could have gained weight. How old am I?
I put down the dresses and locate the mirror in the room. A wall mirror. Beautiful as well, with calligraphy on the white frame.
Standing there and staring at my reflection, I look much different. Not just older. I have gained weight. Not much, but it explains the dresses. God, I have a couple of wrinkles under my eyes. I must be in my early thirties.
I can’t tell whether this is fun or shocking, seeing myself so many years into the future. So I let it go.
“But wait, Alice,” I say to my reflection. “You live in what looks like a good house. You’re probably rich. Does this mean…?”
The words are stuck in my mouth. But I think all of this means that the Inklings won. There can’t be another explanation. Whatever the Wonderland Wars are, I’m sure I wouldn’t be living as luxuriously in the future.
Unless we won.
“We won!” I raise my hands in the air and shout like a kid with a trophy. “Yeah!” I bend my elbow and wave it in the air as if I am surrounded by an audience of millions.
Really? We won?
I run back to the window and open it. Why isn’t there a soul outside?
“We won!” I scream out at the garden. “Suck on this, Black Chess.” I jab my finger at no one.
I am jumping in my room. Left and right. Wondering where my friends are. What happened to them in the future? Fabiola. The March Hare. The Pillar. Where are they?
And Jack? Is it possible I found a way for Jack to stay in this world?
All kinds of thoughts weigh down on my shoulders. I can hardly breathe from the excitement. I need to meet someone to get answers.
I run to the door, hoping to meet whoever is living with me in the house.
But then I stop. My heart drops to the floor when I hear a voice outside. It’s not the voice of a Wonderland Monster.
It’s a sweet voice.
Of a child.
But it scares the heck out of me.
Why?
Because a little girl is standing by the door. She is about six years old. She has blond hair, flabby cheeks, and an incredibly amazing smile. She is holding a lollipop and licking it.
She looks at me.
Then she says, “What’s taking you so long, Mum?”
8
THE PRESENT TIME: BUCKINGHAM PALACE, LONDON
Margaret stood before the Queen, watching her feed peanuts to her dogs. The Queen awarded them one each, only after they slobbered and licked her feet. The Queen liked the feeling while she drank bone broth of the people whose heads she had chopped off last week. Human bone broth gave her power, like drinking an enemy’s blood from their skulls.
“Brilliant plan, Margaret,” the Queen said. “I thought you were dumb. But you turned out to be a little better than that. Rather stupid, which is way better than dumb.”
“Thank you, My Queen.” Margaret wasn’t going to comment. Like always, she sucked in all the humiliation until she got what she wanted. “But that’s not just it.”
“What could you have possibly done better than getting the keys from Alice by sending her to the future?”
“The fact that only I control the aspects of this plan, My Queen.”
The Queen stopped feeding her dogs. She spat out the bone broth at them. The poor pets moaned and lowered their chins to the floor. “What do you mean, Margaret?”
“I mean, the keys will be delivered to me, not you, My Queen.” Margaret tried not to snicker or smile. When doing business, a poker face was her mask.
“I’m not sure I heard you well.”
“No, you did,” Margaret said, hands laced before her. “And I’m not going to repeat myself.”
“Holy Lords of Wonderland.” The Queen sighed. “Are you blackmailing me?”
“Who said I’m blackmailing you, My Majesty?”
“You said the keys will be delivered only to you and not to me.”
“That’s right, but it doesn’t mean I will not deliver them to you.”
“I’m paradoxically, nonsensically, unexplainably confused.”
Because you are dumb little thing. “Why so, My Queen? I will deliver you the keys, under one condition.”
“You are blackmailing me.”
“I wouldn’t call it that. Think of it as a small employee in a large company asking for a raise in exchange for the things they do and never take credit for.”
“It’s still blackmail.” The Queen chewed on a nut. “So, you want a raise?”
I want to be the queen, but it’s too soon to bring that to the table. “No. I don’t want a raise.”
“It’s Mary Go Round all over again. You’re blackmailing me, but you’re not blackmailing me. You want a raise, but you don’t want a raise. A puzzle?”
“Not at all.” Margaret took a single step forward. “I will give you the keys if you give me what I want.”
“Which is?”
“You know what I want.”
The Queen dropped her nut. She finally got it.
“I want what you have taken from me.”
Margaret’s eyes moistened, although she’d sworn to hold back her emotions. “I want what made me become your tool for so many years. It’s time you bring it back.”
“You know I don’t want to give that back to you.” The Queen stared at her from top to bottom.
“But it’s mine. Not yours.”
“I believe things are only yours if you have them.” The Queen smiled flatly. “How can they be yours if you don’t?”
“They were mine once.”
“But they aren’t now. See the logic?”
“Then, you get no keys.” Margaret collected herself and took a step back. “And, you know what I can do with them.”
“I don’t think you know what the keys are for, Margaret,” the Queen said. “And you know I can chop your head off right now.” She glanced at her bowl of bone broth on the table. “How I’d love to drink your brain in that bowl.”
“Suit yourself.” Margaret turned and walked to the door.
“Wait.” Margaret didn’t turn and face the Queen, so she’d keep up the tension. “I will give you what you want, but you must know you will be my enemy then.”
“I understand.”
“I hurt my enemies bad, Margaret.”
“I’ve witnessed that.”
“As you wish,” the Queen chirped. “What’s wrong with getting the keys in exchange for this stupid thing you want from me?” she mumbled. “Bring me the keys. You get what you want.”
“Thank you,” Margaret said, and walked out to the hallway, her chin up. She mustered her Duchess face as she dealt with all kinds of businesses.
A few moments later, she took the elevator, waited until she was alone, and began crying her heart out.
9
SOMEWHERE IN THE FUTURE
I am standing clueless in the most surreal situation you can imagine, trapped in my future self, and staring at my future daughter. Oh my God, I just noticed her hair’s texture is a replica of mine. And her walk reminds me of myself. I’m going to cry bubblegum tears right now.
“Mummy, we’re late,” she says. “Have you slept in again?”
I kneel to the floor and open my arms, wanting her to jump into them. Instead, she stares at me, as if I am a loon. Then I realize I don’t even know her name.
“What’s wrong with you, Mummy?” she says. “Did you take your pills?”
“Pills? Huh,” I say, not caring about pills. “How about you come into Mummy’s arms?”
“Ooofff.” She stomps her feet and blows out a long sigh, showing her bubbly cheeks. “All right.”
She approaches me, and my heartbeat is like a freight train. Then she slowly moves into my arms. I squeeze her so tight. I can’t help it. Tears squeeze out of my eyes. This feels so good. So illegally good.
“Mummy, you’re choking me,” she says. “What’s wrong with you today?” She slides herself away and stares into my eyes. “Do you want me to tell Dad to drive me to school?”
“Dad?” I raise an eyebrow. Is it Jack? Really? It must be Jack. She has those light dimples in her cheeks. It must be Jack.
Then another voice calls from the hallway. Not that of an adult. Another kid. A boy.
“Lily!” the boy calls. “Where are you? I need to go.”
“Lily?” I stare at my daughter.
“Yes, Lily, Mum. It’s not like I chose the name.”
“Lily is a nice name,” I say. I love it, actually.
“Yeah, so you say.” She rolls her eyes. “At least it’s better than Tiger.” She points at the boy, a little older, standing by the door.
“Tiger?” I stare at him.
“Yes, Tiger,” she mumbles. “Hey, Tiger. Come meet Mum.”
“Thanks, I’ve seen her before.” Tiger giggles.
“Because she is acting like she hasn’t seen us before.”
“Then she didn’t take her meds,” Tiger says.
I am at a loss for words, staring at my cute kids, and experiencing something I’ve never thought of before. Hell, I haven’t even experienced being married. And frankly, I thought a girl who was out there to save the world wasn’t going to fall in love and have kids, ever.
But wait. Tiger and Lily? Is that why my plant in my cell means so much to me? Does this mean I have been into the future before?
“She is in a daze,” Tiger says. “Let’s get Dad to drive us to school.”
“No.” I stand up. “I will drive you to school.” It’s my responsibility, isn’t it? “Have you had breakfast yet?”
Both stare at me as if I am an alien.
“Did I say something wrong?” I say.
“You never make us breakfast,” Lily says.
“Oh.” I rub my chin. “That was a bad mum. Not from now on.”
Tiger and Lily burst out laughing.
“Dad won’t believe this ,” Lily says.
And then Dad calls out. He sounds like he is down in the foyer or something. My room is on the second floor. And he says, “Baby, are you awake yet?”
Suddenly, and upon hearing his voice, I realize I don’t want to see him.
10
The man calling me baby isn’t Jack. That’s not his voice. I’ve never heard it before. No, I can’t meet him. That’s like a big spoiler for the movie of my life. I don’t want to know the man I am going to marry. I don’t mind my children. They are the blood that runs in my veins. I don’t mind meeting them now. But not the boy who will become the man I will fall in love with. I will have a boring love life this way when I get back.
“Listen.” I kneel down. “How about we make it a surprise to Dad, the fact that I am making you breakfast? Let’s not see him now.”
“What do you want us to do?” Tiger says.
“Let’s leave through the back stairs. Get into my car. I have a car, right?”
“If you call your fancy rabbit-looking vehicle a car.” Tiger rolls his eyes.
“Okay.” I nod. “I will drive you to school, buy breakfast on the way, and then I’ll come back and meet Dad. Then I will cook you the best dinner you can gorge on when you come back.”
“I want marshmallow tarts,” Lily says.
“I can do that.” I have no idea what that is.
“Laughing Jelly Sticks, too?” Lily adds.
“Of course.”
“You’re the best, Mum.” She hugs me again.
“You want something special, Tiger?” I say.
“I just want to see you cook, for real,” he says. “That’d make my day.”
“Awesome.”
“Awesome?” Tiger squints as if he’s starting to suspect I’m not his mother. “Who says awesome anymore?”
“What should I say?”
“Frabjous,” Lily squeaks.
“Ah.” I forgot we won the Wonderland War. “Frabjous. Now any idea how we could sneak out without Dad seeing us?”
“You’re the boss, Mum,” he says. “That’s your problem.”
“Of course,” I say, unsure what my next move will be.
There is a man who calls me baby climbing up the stairs. My eyes veer toward the window again. Then to the bedsheets. Then back to my children. “How about we climb out the window?”
“Wow!” Tiger says. “You’re seriously the coolest mum in the Great Republic of Wonderland.”
11
I roll the sheets into a rope and dangle it down the window. Lily climbs on my back and wraps her tiny arms around my neck. Tiger holds me from the front, head on my bosom, arms wrapped around my back. We climb down, and I am surprised at my athletic physique. I must have trained well throughout the war. Chubby but strong.
Midway, the rope starts waving left and right, like a pendulum.
“Like Tarzan!” Tiger chirps.
“No, like Rapunzel,” Lily insists.
“Like the worst mother ever,” I say.
Finally, we hit the ground. My husband’s voice is calling for me upstairs. He must be in my room now. And soon he’ll see the dangling rope.
I let my children guide me to my car. It’s around the corner from the fabulous garden. I still can’t believe I’m living luxuriously in this future. Did someone compensate me that well for killing monsters and saving lives?
Tiger points at what looks like a vehicle, draped in a large white cover. It’s parked in a garage full of pink roses, covered with a pergola of green leaves.
Surreal.
I uncover it, and there is one funny-looking car underneath it. It looks like a modified Corvette, redesigned into the shape of a rabbit. The front is the rabbit’s nose, mouth, and chin stretched out to serve as a car, a convertible with custom-made backseats. The back is the rabbit’s ass.
“Is this my car?”
“Come on, Mum.” Lily pulls me by the hand. “We’ve wanted you to take us for a ride in it since forever.”
“Okay.” I shake my shoulders. “Jump in.”
They do. I get into the driver’s seat. There are no keys. There is a button that says ‘Push Me.’
I push it, and the car stirs into existence. My kids cheer behind me, ready for a ride.
“Mrs. Alice!”
I hear someone call me. Not my husband. Another voice. Familiar.
“It’s Mr. Jittery. Our neighbor!” Lily says. “He designed the garden.”
I turn and watch the March Hare stepping toward me. He is in his pajamas and wears a nightcap on his head. He looks much older now.
The kids greet him and play with him for a moment. This is the first of my friends that I’ve seen in this fabulous future. I have so many questions for him.
“Good morning, Mrs. Alice,” the March Hare says.
“Mrs. Alice?” I squint.
He dismisses my inquiry and hands me an envelope. “I thought I’d give you this back.”
I take the envelope. It has pictures of six keys on a chain on the back. It doesn’t look like there are keys inside.
“Thank you.” I lean forward and whisper, “So we won the war?”