Wonderland

Visiting Day During the Night

Awaking in Wonderland is strange. I always seem to find myself in the border forest, which lies directly between the night and day. The trees on one side of the forest bare purple origami leaves and neon lightbulbs while the trees that reside under the sun glow orange like the fall, growing delicious iced pastries instead of fruit.

The sky has to be my favourite thing about Wonderland. It is constantly in a state of either twilight or dawn, with stars filling the skies in both the night and day. Time never changes here. The sun and the moon never move and the people here don't need to sleep.

Although, yes, technically this place is part of my imagination, ever since the incident it has become almost independent from me. People work, play and ponder without having to give a second thought to what I might be up to. They simply exist and so do I.

Most of the time Wonderland feels more real than reality, or as I call it, the Bleach. Here I matter, there I am controlled. For every ounce of colour here, the Bleach is covered in cold, sterile, whites greys and blacks that haunt me as if they were the nightmare to my existence.

Despite the fact my memory is not the most reliable I tend to remember more about Wonderland than the Bleach. After all, everything here comes from my own imagination, my subconscious. There are of course surprises, things I have buried deep within myself making unexpected appearances but that's all part of the adventure.

As I stood staring up at the ocean in the sky I felt a sharp tap on my shoulder, it was Mama. She smiled widely down at me, glaring with delight. Of course she was expecting me. She knew everything about this world, well the day side of it at least. "Darling! I'm so glad your here." As she embraced me in her long arms I nestled into her warm slender form.

Mama was the ruler of Day and the manifestation of what I perceived to be the perfect mother. She was watchful and protective but most importantly stern, able to provide structure in a world where lightbulbs grew on trees and birds could be made of sugar.

The best thing about Mama was most defiantly her hair, if you could even call it hair. On top of her head was thick caramel covered in sprinkles that dripped steadily down her shoulders. If I was lucky enough I could sneak a quick taste, if I was unlucky she would catch me and give me one of her stern looks. She was exceptionally good at those.

"How was the Bleach honey, are they treating you well?" One quick glance at my unsure expression told her all she needed to know. "Oh dear, you've been getting forgetful again haven't you?"
I grimly nodded.
"Never mind, you'll be right as rain soon enough. Besides. You won't have to go back to the Bleach for too much longer."
Suddenly I became dizzy with confusion.
"Wait Mama, what do you mean?"
"Sweetie, don't tell me you've forgotten about our little plan?" Her smile dropped. "Oh, you have haven't you. Well, I suppose I'll give your mind a rest for tonight. We'll talk about it another day." And at that, the conversation was over, there was no arguing with her. "Now, how about we get you away from the border and back to the dolls house?"

The dolls house was my second home in Wonderland and I loved every inch of it. It's walls were made of smooth pine that unhinged at the sides, allowing the structure to open up like any other traditional dolls house, except mine was the size of a mansion. Each of the inside walls were hand painted with elaborate wallpapers that pictured anything from otherworldly underwater creatures to rainbows of iced cakes. Most things in the dolls house were made out of wood, the furniture, the utensils and even the people glowed golden brown, smelling like freshly cut trees.

As Mama led me inside, gripping my hand tightly we passed the kitchen, which was full of gingerbread men who were all gathered around each other. Mama paused, abruptly turning to the biscuit people and giving them one of her questioning looks. Alarmed by her sudden appearance, one of them gestured to the kitchen counter where a gingerbread man was laying. As we walked over it became clear that the gingerbread man had broken his leg and the others were trying to fix it by icing it back together.

Mama sighed, "honestly you lot. Your far too clumsy. You need to be more careful with yourselves."
The men bowed nervously before getting back to work, piping icing decoratively around the broken leg.

I stared in wonder for a moment, fascinated by there skills but also incapacitated by the aroma of ginger. It wasn't until I noticed Mama walking off down the corridor did I pull myself away from the kitchen to catch up with her.

After that the day was quite ordinary, well ordinary by Wonderland standards. First we had a tea party with Rabbit before going into the garden and collecting pastries from the tree for dessert. Then Mama left to help prepare dinner while I sat in the dining room, playfully doodling the gingerbread men in my notebook.

By the time food was finally served everyone in the dolls house was furiously hungry, quickly sitting down and helping themselves to the feast they had created. Everything looked divine, bursting with colour, smelling sweet and warm. The presentation was of course immaculate, with anything from apple swans to chocolate rabbits adorning the table.

In that moment I couldn't of been happier. Surrounded by friends I sat stuffing my face with the delights in front of me, not a care in the world. Even when Mama declared it was time for bed I wasn't upset, knowing full well that the best part of the day was yet to come, her stories.

Once upstairs I ran strait into my room, leaping onto the bed, letting the blankets consume me in a bundle of multi coloured wool and furs. Mama strolled in moments later, carrying a large leather bound book, followed by several tiny wooden marionettes whose strings dragged lazily behind them.
"They've come to help with the story," she exclaimed as they took their places on a small stage that sat neatly on a chest of draws in front of the bed.

As she recounted her tale the puppets danced behind the curtain, using their shadows to create silhouettes that mimicked the scene Mama was describing. It was magical.

My eyes were just starting to grow heavy when a loud thud resonated down the hall, shattering the illusion of sleepiness. Immediately I sat up, intrigued by the unfamiliar disruption.
Mama was obviously equally intrigued as she placed the book down and headed towards the corridor, into a small room at the end.

Usually this door was locked. I remembered trying to get in there once or twice but the handle just wouldn't budge, as if someone was gripping it.

Inside the room was sparse. If it wasn't for a leather, star covered chest in the centre it would have been completely empty. The chest itself looked worn, as if it had been loved by many generations but still appeared well kept. Another interesting feature was a large golden lock in the shape of a crescent moon on the front of the case that was left unlocked as if someone had forgotten to close it.

Mama stared at the lock, tapping her foot impatiently. "If your going to make a racket you might as well come down."
The case creaked in reply.
"No? Your not even going to say hello to Doll?"
At the sound of my name the lid of the case opened slightly, obviously curious.
Mama smiled, "Ah, so you are interested."
She waisted no time in swiftly opening up the case, taking advantage of its sudden enthusiasm and pulling out a ladder that was far to long to fit inside. As she lifted it out a hatch in the ceiling opened up and the ladder rested itself neatly on the entranceway of the attic.

"Up you go dear, he's just a bit shy. He won't bite, I promise!" Mama chuckled as she guided me up the rungs of the ladder, which were a lot more stable than I had previously anticipated.

It wasn't until I poked my head up into the dimly lit space above me did I lock eyes with the cause of the disruption; a seven foot high, top hat wearing, wooden magician.