Nursery Rhymes for the Mentally Ill

The Underworld

A dark room, the sounds of rushed breathing and the smell of burning pine. I was flat on my back, a plush cushion underneath me. As my blurry vision cleared, I realized there was a fire in the center of the room; I was on a raised bed.

The firery orange cast dancing shadows on the white and black speckled floor. There were no windows in here--the walls and ceiling were all the speckled marble. The duvet on my bed was a dark maroon, a swirl of red purple and black.

As I thought, I realized that I had no clue where I was. I remembered Jonathan, and the castle--I remembered Jonathan and I kissing; at that thought I licked my lips. His mint chapstick was still there, and my eyes watered with joy. I smiled at my creepiness: licking a boy's chapstick off my lips. Shame on me!

For some reason, my mind was slipping away at every random thought, much like when you're about to fall asleep. But I was very aware, and still puzzling over where I could be. Oh, thats right. I was at the castle...then knights came--then blank.

I knew I should be panicking, but for some odd reason this room was more comforting and dark as opposed to menacing.

I jumped and nearly screamed as I realized there was someone in here--the breathing had become part of the room, and over the crackling of the fire it was barely audible.

"Hello?" I said, my voice quivering with fear. It was coming from the dark, shadowy corner where the firelight didn't shine. My body relaxed as I realized it was Jonathan.

"Alice! I didn't know you were awake, I'm sorry," he said, getting up from the chair and walking up to my bed. The firelight cast shadows on his face--but something was different. Much different.

Instead of the ice blue eyes that Johnathan had when I was kissing him, they were dark, dark ocean storm blue. His flawless skin was gone--a long, gruesome scar went from his left ear all the way down to his jawbone, where I noticed he had snake bite piercings on either side of his plush lips. As he was about to touch my face, I grabbed his hand.

"What...what happened to you?" I whispered. He looked taken aback, then realized that he was different from the last time I had seen him--which was only a few hours ago. Right?

"I am so sorry, Alice. I really am," he said, looking deep into his eyes. I didn't know what he meant. Sorry for changing? I think it looked sexy.

"You look sexy--" I started.

"No, Alice," he said my name like I was a pitiful, dyinig kitten. I sat up straighter and scowled.

"We're in the Underworld."

I made a strange noise like a snort, laugh and a cough all at the same time. "What? The UNDERWORLD?" I said, feeling surprise. But frankly, I wasn't shocked. My supply of surprise had been gone since I fell into a mirror.

Jonathan just nodded, a guilty look on his face.

"Before, Alice, I was pretending. I am not the Prince up there," he said, motioning to the ceiling. "I belong here, this place. And so do you."

Sure, I had done bad things in my life, but I never thought I deserved the Underworld.

"I can't stay here, Jonathan! I don't even know how I got here, for goodness sake! I--I--I--"

He clutched my face and pulled me in for a kiss, my wild hair brushing in between us as our noses and lips met in harmony. Fireworks exploded behind my eyes as the anger melted into passion. His snake bites were cold against my lips, and I decided I liked them. As we pulled away, he helped me out of bed and I realized I was wearing a dark black sleeveless dress with my Converse back. Jonathan spun me around.

"You are perfect, Alice. Perfect for Queen of the Underworld,"