by Lotus Rose
“Good story!” Sleepy B proclaims, and claps her hands.
The Cat says, “So what’s the moral? Don’t look in mirrors too much?”
“I can’t relate,” Malice says.
“It is a message of anti-vanity!” Hatter proclaims overly loud and dramatic, whilst holding his pointing finger up. “He pursued excessive self adoration. And what did it lead to? All for naught, for at the end of it all, he only searched...” He looks around dramatically, briefly locking eyes with everyone on the team. “...in vain!”
Groans issue from many of the team members.
“Great pun,” Malice says blandly. “Well, story time’s over. Time to move on to the poppy dust...”
“Pardon me,” Humpty says, and Malice shoots him an irritated glance, whereupon he continues, “It’s just that there are some troublesome details about the tale that are vexing me. For example, when he became a reflection, you say he looked in the mirror...but would he see another reflection of himself in the mirror, and if so, how could that be?”
“Oh no no, Humpty,” Malice says. “It’s just a silly fairytale, and fairytales can’t be expected to make a lot of sense, right Sleepy B?”
“Righto,”
Malice, doing her best to appear in command, straightens her posture. “Now let me help you up, girl, and then we’ll discuss the poppy dust. I’ll allow no more talk of the fairy tale.” She offers her hand to Sleepy B.
After helping the girl up, Malice says to the munchkins, “I’d like the poppy dust now, please.” She holds her hands out expectantly to Rick.
She almost groans in frustration when Rick gives a slight shake of his head, and nods at Ada, who begins speaking: “The yellow brick road is the road you must travel on to meet the Wizard, but the road is magical—its entrance is not in any one place, but in a way, it is everywhere...using the poppy dust.”
Rick shakes the bag, causing a sound like the shifting of sand to issue forth. “In order to cause the road entrance to appear to you, you must each inhale some of the poppy dust at midnight when the moon is full.” With his finger and thumb, he indicates the amount to inhale—it’s a smidgen. “The dust will put you into a state of mind where you may seek and find the road’s beginning. You shall most likely need to sleep off the dust’s effects, but the next morning, you may begin your trek to see the Wizard.”
“We wish you the best of luck,” Ada says.
Humpty says, “How long is the road? Is it dangerous to travel it? Dorothy might have sent someone after us.”
Rick says, “The yellow road is as long as it takes to reach its end. It is full of challenges, but for someone to accost you upon it, they must gain access to the entrance as well. How likely that is, we cannot say.”
“You say there’s challenges,” Hatter says. “What kind?”
Ada says, “We cannot say. The challenges shift each time. But they are specially tailored for its particular travelers.”
“What do you mean?” Sleepy B says.
Rick says, “You shall see. But please, we’ve spoken long enough. We must get back to our mirrors.”
“Yes, goodbye, and good luck,” Ada says.
Rick hands the bag to Malice, and says, “Fare thee well, Dark Clad Queen. And may the Wizard grant you your heart’s desire.” He turns toward the stairs.
Malice arches her brow, but doesn’t ask him if his wordplay is intentional. Instead, she says, “You say this works like a drug? What are its effects?”
He walks toward the stairs—Ada is presently descending them. “It’s a hallucinogen,” he says.
“Are the effects pleasurable?” Malice shouts at him, as he is pulling on the rope on the trapdoor to close it.
“Couldn’t say,” he says. “I’ve never partaken of it.” The trapdoor closes shut, followed by the clank of what Malice assumes is a lock of some sort.
Malice grinds her teeth as she looks down at the silken seductive bag, staring at it. She would like to see what the dust looks like...
As the Jabberwock says, “Well the full moon isn’t for another two days. I suppose we should head toward the village and see if we can acquire a new heart for you. Okay?”
“Yes, yes. New heart,” Malice says vacantly. She’s distracted by the craving that’s overwhelming her thoughts. She’s still staring at the bag in her hands, which are shaking now.
I wonder how good the experience of the poppy dust is, and how similar it is to my wonderful black rose? Perhaps the poppy dust might prove some sort of substitute, might alleviate some of this horrible craving.
Sleepy B says, “Maly? Are you okay?”
“Uh huh,” Malice mutters without looking up. She pulls at the ribbon knot with her hand that is shaking overly much, causing her to fumble with the ribbon. “Just want to see what it looks like.”
Hatter says, “Of course, you remember that we must save the poppy dust to use two days from now?” He takes a couple of steps toward her.
“Of course,” she says, her voice quivering. Oh, I don’t trust myself. I’ll just take one look and hand it over to Hatty for safekeeping.
She opens the top of the bag. The dust inside is a pale yellow powder.
Hatter is standing quite close to her now, and says, “There, now you’re looking at it. But you shan’t get any of it, correct?”
“Pish posh. Perish the thought.” She stares into the dust—the craving is increasing inside like a horrible hunger. “Take the bag, Hatty, and hold it until—” Must have it! Before she can stop herself, her hand plunges into the dust. She scoops some of it onto her fingertips, lifts the small pile to her right nostril and inhales forcefully.
Hatter snatches the bag from her hand, as Malice feels a tingling sensation coming over her face and head.
To Malice’s left, Sleepy B is yelling, “Keeyaaa!”
Malice watches the girl running toward her with a determined look on her face and her blankey within her grasp, and Sleepy B jumps, launching in the air, slamming into Malice’s side in a flying tackle that sends Malice toppling over.
Malice lets out an oof as she slams into the ground, with Sleepy B ferociously hugging her.
“Ow!” Malice exclaims. “What are you doing?”
“Had to stop you!” Sleepy B scurries off of Malice. “You must be contained!”
Sleepy B comes up on Malice’s side, and now she pushes on Malice’s body, trying to roll her up inside the blanket.
Malice finds herself being wrapped, as the world around her spins, both from her physical motions and the increasing effects of the dust. She offers little resistance, because she is still dazed from her tumble, and the drug’s effects have thrown her for a loop. The motion causes her to giggle.
She lies now, wrapped in the blanket, her arms pinned against her side.
The Jabberwock says, “Crikey, Sleepy B, that was a bit much, wasn’t it?”
Through laughter, Malice says, “Do you have mustard for the Maly sandwich wrap?” She feels euphoric, and swirling colors of sparkling light fill her vision.
“Wraps, are not sandwiches!” Sleepy B says, while panting.
“Confound it, Malice!” Hatter says. “Why’d you go and do that? Luckily, there seems to be enough still left.”
Malice says. “I’m so sowwy, Grumpy Wumpy.” She puts on a pouty face, whilst trying to gesture, but she’s still wrapped up tightly.
“I’m Hatter.”
“That’s what I mean, Maddy-at-me-Hatty. I’m so sowwy. I admit, I acted quite a bit impulsively. I thought the effects of the poppy dust might take the bite out of my craving for black rose...and it turns out I was absolutely right! I’m totally tripping right now!”
Hatter groans. “I hope you understand I must keep the dust away from you until the appropriate time.”
“Quite so,” Malice says. “I wouldn’t trust me either. Excellent tackle wrap, by the way,” she says to Sleepy B.
The Jabberwock says, “Let’s get you unbound and on your feet, My Quee
n. We must make as much distance as we can toward the village, despite your condition.”
“But of course,” Malice says, through her giggling. “Onward and tally ho.”
So Malice is freed from her blankey cocoon, and they make their way toward that distant town they still can’t see, though the team’s progress is slowed considerably by the giggling Malice. She feels bad for impeding them, and does her best to walk, but sometimes she veers, or has to stop and stare at a thrilling hallucination. She has a lot of fun, though. She wishes the others could share in it.
But nonetheless, they make quite a bit of progress, before nightfall.
They make camp and prepare for sleep (all except Sleepy B)—the hope of her teammates is that Malice’s intoxication shall cease during the night. Though, to be honest, Malice wouldn’t mind if she were to stay high forever.
But despite her desire to stay awake all night to bear witness to the enthralling hallucinations, she succumbs to sleep rather quickly after intending to merely lie down for a brief moment to “rest her eyes”.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
AFTER A NIGHT OF STRANGE, vivid dreams, Malice awakens sober, with a headache and a dry mouth. They continue trekking for another day—the next day, they see the small village comprised of wooden buildings and huts, in an area of red hills and rock formations.
As they approach, they see some munchkins walking about.
Upon entering the village, they approach a munchkin hanging clothes out to dry on a laundry line behind one of the huts. The munchkin herself is wearing a plain light green cotton dress and a big-brimmed straw hat.
The team approaches her from behind.
Malice says, “Excuse me, madam. Hate to be a bother...”
“Yes, young lady?” the munchkin turns around, looks up at Malice. “Blimey! You’re a tall bugger, aint’cha? Wait...” She crinkles her eyes. “You’re a human girl, isn’t ya?” She looks around, “Alls humans, you is. Ah!” She points. “You’s got no head, you woeful lad!”
“Yes I do, down here,” answers the Jabberwock.
“Oi!” the munchkin exclaims. “That’s a bit odd! No, quite a bit odd!”
“He’s using magic,” the Cat explains, floating next to her, out of her sight. “And before you look, I’m using it too.”
She looks at him, and stares at him a bit—the Cat’s creepy large grin can be a bit disconcerting at first. She blinks. “Ah, I see. Magic. So what brings you lot of non-munchkins to our village?”
Sleepy B says, “We’re looking for a woman who is known as a stealer of hearts, because Maly, I mean, Malice, needs a new one.”
“Hush!” Malice says. “I apologize on her behalf. She’s young and can be a bit uncouth at times.”
“Young ones!” the munchkin exclaims in sympathy. “Your name is Malice? Did I hear that correctly? It’s not Alice?”
Malice’s eyes shift from side to side. “Of course not. Why?”
“Because we are all under orders from Dorothy to be on the lookout for a human girl named Alice, with black hair and always wearing a black dress. Hey! That’s what you’re wearing!”
“Fancy that,” Malice says. “But alas, I’m completely not her.” She pinches and pulls at her dress. “And this just happens to be the fashion of us humans these days—all the girls wear these.”
“She’s not,” the munchkin says, whilst pointing at Sleepy B in her chainmail dress.
Sleepy B places her hand to the side of her mouth and stage whispers, “I’m actually a jabberwock.”
The munchkin’s jaw drops. “You are? But you’re so short!”
Malice rolls her eyes. “Anyhoo. About that heart-stealing lady...”
“Oh, yes,” the munchkin says, and gnaws her lip for a moment. “There are rumors of a lady—some say she’s a witch—who lives somewhere amongst the crags and rocks near the village. But no one who seeks her domicile may find it, because it’s enchanted like, at least that’s what they say. But I think the real reason she can’t be found is that she doesn’t exist.”
Hatter says, “Can you point us in the direction of this lady’s domicile?”
She points. “Well, the hills and such is over there. But there’s an awful lot of ‘em. But I wouldn’t waste me time. If you ask me, it’s all rubbish—a spooky fireside story.”
“I like stories,” Sleepy B says.
The munchkin looks at Malice and narrows her eyes. “What do you want with the witch, anyway? And where are you from? And why does your name sound an awful lot like Alice?”
Malice shrugs her shoulders sheepishly. “Coincidence?”
The munchkin says, “It’s just that we are under instruction to capture Alice, and me little brain grows confused by you and your coincidences. I should like you to accompany me to visit some of me friends, who are admittedly smarter than me.”
“Oh, bugger!” Hatter exclaims. “Look at the time!” He looks at his wrist, even though he doesn’t wear a wristwatch. “We must be going, and news of our arrival and conversation, shall be such a short story that it’s not worthy of mentioning to anyone at all.” He takes some steps toward Malice. “And the lass was mistaken. Her name’s not ‘Malice’, it’s Maggie, I mean Margaret, right Maly?” He grabs her arm.
“Uh, quite,” Malice says.
He whispers in her ear, “Just walk.” He guides her to turn away from the munchkin.
“Cheerio!” Hatter calls, whilst lifting his hand in the air.
“Ta ta!” comes the munchkin’s reply. “Best of luck to you, and if you should run across Alice, make sure to capture her. Dorothy wants her alive. You can bring her here, if you like, and we’ll take care of her.”
The team doesn’t respond as they walk away, intending to get a safe distance away.
Malice is wondering if she should don a disguise or hide out outside the village, perhaps.
While passing the adjacent hut, they hear someone say “Pssst.”
They stop and see another female munchkin in the window. “I can help you,” she says in a quiet voice, and looks to the other munchkin, who has gone back to her laundry-hanging, and is paying them no mind.
“Come on then,” the munchkin in the window says. She makes a beckoning gesture and points toward the front door. She disappears from sight and reappears behind the opening door, beckoning at them again, and showing a friendly smile.
Malice looks around at all her teammates.
No one seems particularly opposed, so she shrugs and rushes at the open door, hoping her team can all quickly get inside without arousing the suspicion of the laundry-hanging munchkin.
Thankfully, the team all scurry inside the short munchkin-sized doorway without the laundry-hanging munchkin noticing (or if she did notice, she doesn’t much care).
Meanwhile, inside this hut, the female munchkin closes the door.
Malice and her team find themselves in a modest drawing room, a fireplace on one end, with no fire lit. Couches and chairs are gathered around a coffee table, which the munchkin gestures at. “Won’t you please have a seat? I apologize for the furniture size.”
“No need to apologize, madam,” the Jabberwock says as the team gets seated on the munchkin-sized couch and surrounding chairs.
The munchkin girl seats herself in a chair. “I’m Neva and I know you’re Alice. But don’t worry. I have no intention of turning you in, or trying to capture you. Because if that horrid Dorothy wants you, then I say, you should be free.”
Malice smirks. “Agreed.”
“I overheard you saying you seek the heart-stealing witch.”
Malice says, “Yes. We seek to regain a heart she had stolen.” It wasn’t an entirely accurate statement, but Malice doesn’t want to get bogged down by the details.
“Mmmm,” Neva says, in thought. “I wish to regain a heart myself, or more accurately, to save a heart before it is snatched away—the heart of my brother Dalten.”
“She stole his heart?” Humpty says.
“No, not yet. But she will, unless she’s stopped. My brother, he is smitten by her, he is actually enchanted by her, and I fear that, soon, the witch shall snatch his heart away. And the tragedy of it, is that my enchanted brother actually yearns for her to do so! He aches for it, he pleads the witch for it, he has told me!” Her composure breaks, and she covers her face with her hands.
“I’m sorry,” Malice says. “Perhaps we can help somehow. But the other lady said that no one knows the location of her abode?”
“It is enchanted, so that those who seek it shall always lose their way—no matter what maps they carry, or even if they’ve been there before. It’s one of the many enchantments the witch employs—she’s also cast a spell that causes most villagers to not even believe she’s real, unless you happen to be one of her current boy toys, that is, like my poor brother.”
“So how come you believe she’s real?” Humpty says.
“I am not from this village. I came here to check on my brother, because I suspected bad things, and I was right. I believe the witch’s enchantments take time. The longer munchkins are exposed, the more powerful they become, much like the enchantment she’s cast upon my brother to make him think he loves her.”
Hatter says, “So you came to rescue him, like a knightess in shining armoress?”
The munchkin looks at him for a moment. “Err, I reckon so?”
The Jabberwock says, “Please excuse my friend. He’s a bit mad. What steps have you taken against this witch? Perhaps we can help.”
“When I first came here four days ago, I thought I might gain the aid of the villagers, but they refuse to believe the witch is real. I have tried to reason with my brother, but he refuses to listen. He is absolutely smitten with her, and he visits her daily and hopes she shall take his heart!”
“Oh, dear,” Malice says. “Then he would become heartless, a condition that leads to atrocious behaviour, that I know from personal experience.”
“Yes, it is terrible!” the munchkin says. “My poor, sweet little brother! To think he would willingly give up his heart to a wicked witch who is using upon him magic most foul!”