Page 10 of Madness

Opening the wooden door that leads out of my room, I expect to be greeted by the guard who woke me, but the hall is empty.

A flutter of paper draws my eye, and I see a scribbled mess taped to my door. My handinstinctively reaches for it, intent on tearing it off, but a voice stops me, “No!”

“No?” I ask, turning to see who doesn’t want me to remove a silly piece of paper.

A boy no older than seventeen stands just a few steps away. His amber eyes are wide and glistening like he’s only a moment away from letting the tears fall, “It’s a name!”

“A name?” I wonder.

“Uh-huh. All for you,” he says.

I look back to the paper and see a name that is indeed written on it - my name.

It's the only word I know how to spell, and it’s staring back at me in bright pink with a blue and green caterpillar on it.

“It’s pink.”

“Are you not a girl?”

“I am not. I am a boy.”

“Alice did not think you were a boy.”

“Shut up.” I hiss at the voice.

The boy visibly flinches, and I want to curse myself, “I did not say anything,” he mumbles, his lower lip wobbling.

“I know,” I try to say soothingly, but I have not interacted with many people since I was a child. “Thank you for my name. What’s yours?”

“Hare!”

I nod. The final rule making some sense now.

Hare seems younger than he is, and with how he clutches his stuffed toy to his chest and the drawing that is now on my door, I wonder howhe ended up in Wonderland at all. It does not seem like a good place for a boy.

“Hare? Are you ok?” A woman emerges from her room, and I suck in a breath because I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.

Long red locks cascade down her back, and bright blue eyes swing between Hare and where my hand still hovers near the name.

“I’m okay!” Hare chirps, his face breaking out into a huge smile revealing wonky teeth with two missing from each side.

The air around him shimmers, and when I blink, he has two big grey rabbit ears on his head and a twitchy blue nose.

“Hare is now a hare.”the male voice in my head pushes forward.

I knock my fist against the side of my forehead, not liking how pronounced he is in the last few days.

“Mad… I’m utterly mad.”

Before, he would only appear every few weeks, with a small comment here or there.

Have I somehow got madder?

The beautiful woman and Hare stare at me, and I can feel my cheeks flush crimson from embarrassment, so I mumble an apology and make a hasty escape.

I do not need to show anyone else how mad I am.

As I rush away, the hallways seem to stretch, their shadows twisting and turning like spirals. They warp with ticking clocks and eyes that seem to peer through the dark corners – watching me.

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