Alice's Choice

One

     Not a day went by when Alice didn't question her decision to stay in Underland. The Hatter would watch her from a distance as she wandered slowly around her home, always pausing to finger the small vial of Jabberwocky blood the White Queen had given to her after she slayed the beast on the Frabjous Day. She never really regretted the decision, as there was no real future for her topside. Marriage, children, grandchildren, and darning socks. Down here there was a lifetime of adventures with people who genuinely cared for her. She could have anything her heart desired. 

     One of her favorite things to look back on was Hamish. She could picture him standing under the white gazebo with that stupid smile plastered on his face, face as red as his hair, with no girl and a whole crowd of stiffs there to judge him. It had been more than precisely ten minutes, she was sure. It made her laugh to think about his reaction to her sudden disappearance. He was almost certainly more concerned for his reputation than for her safety. Alice could actually see him melting away of embarrassment when she didn't show, his entire being literally seeping through the floorboards, with that awkwardly constipated grin still stuck to his face. It would have been a beautiful sight. 

     She had shared this vision with the Hatter before, and he found it just as entertaining as she, if not more so. She loved making him laugh because there was always the chance he wouldn't stop for the rest of the day. The best was when she repeated her thoughts of women in trousers and men in dresses over breakfast one day. She could hear his laughter drifting in her open windows late into the night. And to think Hamish had simply told her to keep such things to herself. Now that was laughable.