Down the Rabbit Hole

Chapter 5- Alice

The first few hours of my shift passed quietly enough. The little town of Willows Heart was always busy with tourists in the winter, but we only had a few regulars who visited during the spring and summer months. Today was quieter than usual due to the rain so I got to spend my time drawing that strange mouse in the suit I saw from my dream last night.
It was around noon when I heard the front door chimes go off.
"Welcome to the Labyrinths Garden bookshop! Feel free to get lost in our selections." I don't look up from my sketch book, but I try to sound as enthusiastic as I can. I hear the footsteps come towards the back and I keep drawing, waiting to see if they say anything.
"Wow. Can't even look up from your sketchbook for your own brother?" My head snaps up and I grin as I see my little brother coming towards the counter. He's wearing the faded and torn jeans our mom always complains about and a shirt from his senior year of high school. His black hair is still hanging in his eyes because he never has the patience to grow it out fully before chopping it all off again. He lets it grow out a few inches then gets frustrated. We always joke that one of us was adopted because we look so different. He looks like our mothers side of the family, tall with dark hair and brown eyes, while I look more like my fathers side. I was born with honey blonde hair and blue eyes. Dad said that Lorraine and I were the first girls to be born to the family in 5 or 6 generations. He clears his throat as he opens his arms expectantly. I chuckle.
"What can I say, Jack. The book hasn't been annoying me since I was 3. And the book doesn't look like it rummaged through the back of its closest to avoid doing the laundry." I set my pencil down and go to embrace my brother. He laughs as he bends to hug me back. I always hated that he was taller than me. I stood at a measly 5'5" compared to his 6'2" frame. A fact he loved commenting on since he hit puberty and started to grow.
"I don't look that bad, Alice. Besides, Mom said the washing machine wouldn't get fixed for a few more days. Dads waiting for a piece to come through the mail and then he can finally fix it. And that laundromat just eats up all my money and does a horrible job." He grabs a random book off the classic literature shelf as I sit back down on the stool behind the register.
"Still haven't found your own place yet huh? How long are you going to mooch off Mom and Dad?" I laugh as I realize he grabbed a copy of Peter Pan.
"Fitting you'd grab the book about the boy who never wanted to grow up." He rolls his eyes and places the book back on its shelf.
"Hey we can't all get lucky like you did. And I'm looking for my own place, but you know how hard that can be to find a decent place for a good price." I just nod as I grab the colored pencils I keep here and start to color in the mouse's suit. Jack looks at the page and then looks at me.
"He's new. When did you start drawing new characters?" He's studying the suit's design as I debate if I should tell him or not.
"I had a new dream last night. This mouse was asleep on a sandwich." He barks out a laugh at that imagery of that mouse asleep on food. I figured just telling him half of the dream would be best. Last thing I needed was him telling our mother about it. I knew she worried about me, but I didn't need her to get overprotective again. She still didn't like that I moved out to live by myself, but I had to get out of that house. I stayed close enough, I was only an hour away from them, but she still had reservations about me leaving.
"So what brings you to my job today? Hot date in town?" I wiggle my eyebrows at him and he rolls his eyes at me.
"No. Mom sent me out here to see if you'd be interested in taking a family vacation." He sighs. I know he expects me to say no because I have work and because the last family vacation we took was before I moved out and that ended up a disaster.
"Where would we be going? I refuse to go back to the beach. That sunburn didn't heal for over a week." He laughs before he says
"You looked like an angry lobster for the rest of the trip! Oh fuck, that was priceless. I still have that picture as your contact picture on my phone!" He's still laughing as he pulls up the evidence. I still remember when he took that picture. He had patted the worst part of my back and I threw the bottle of aloe vera at him. The picture has my angry face and the bottle in mid air. I laugh as I look at it.
"You really should pick another picture of me for your phone."
"Why? That one was so perfectly timed! It's staying. I refuse to have my mind changed from the former angry lobster." He laughs as he looks at the picture again.
"Well, the angry lobster says she'll go, but nowhere near a beach. I refuse to relive that torment." He looks up at me shocked.
"What? No fight? Don't you need to at least look at your work schedule to see if you can get the time off?" I snort. Still a bit pissed I wasn't told sooner about the shop.
"The store is closing for a month or month and a half so I was going to be free anyways. Besides that means I can save my money while I vacation with you guys. Where are we going anyways?" He looks at me shocked a moment before he says
"I never knew the owner would want to close up for that long. And Mom said Aunt Tilly's been asking all of us to come out and visit. So we're going to the farm." We're both quiet as we think back to the last time we were out there. It was 3 years ago for Uncle Damions funeral. It was going to be hard going back there and he's not there waiting for us. He was the one who taught us how to pull a good prank on each other and our parents. He was more like us kids than the adults. I can feel tears prick at my eyes at the memories of him.
"I know. I miss him too, but Mom said Aunt Tilly needs some family time with all of us." He placed his hand over mine and we're silent for a few more moments. I wipe my eyes before I get too emotional.
"When does she want to leave? Knowing mom she wouldn't send you all the way out here without a full plan and dates laid out and ready." He laughs as he pulls out a piece of paper with mom's handwriting.
"Mom said you should read this." He hands it to me and I read her message.

Alice,
I know you may fight this, but we need to spend some family time with Aunt Tilly and Lorraine. She will never admit it, but Tilly is having a hard time with Damion being gone this year. It's been a tough year for the farm. Your Father and I have taken 3 weeks off of work to be there for her. You may not be able to stay the full time, but please try for a few days off. Don't worry about driving, I've got Jack to agree to drive you out to the farm with him. I've given him money for meals and snacks for you both. Please try for a few days with us.

Love,
Mom

Folding the paper I look at Jack.
"So, Mom was able to bribe you to drive me out to the farm? What'd she offer you?" He just looks at me before he sighs and confesses.
"She offered to forgo my rent for 3 months if I was able to convince you to come for more than a few days. So I'd say I win either way! We can leave early tomorrow morning if you'd like. I know you need to finish your shift today." He looks around at the books as he waits for my response.
"I guess you're staying at my place tonight then." I grab my keys from my jacket pocket and take off my apartment keys.
"You remember where I live right? Which apartment number I'm in? If you promise not to trash my home you can wait for me to finish my shift there, then I'll take you out for pizza once I'm done." He looks at me excited. Like a kid who got told they could have dessert before dinner.
"Can we go to that one place? I can never remember the name, but they have the best pizza." I chuckle.
"Yes we can go to Romeo's Pizzeria. I'll have to explain to the owners why I'm not gonna be ordering take out for a few weeks. Knowing them, they'd head their own search party for me." He takes the keys from my hand and asks.
"The purple one is to get inside the building and the yellow is for your front door right?"
"Yeah. And be close to the call box so I don't have to wait forever in the rain." He nods as he starts to walk out of the store. Once he's gone I'm left with the memories of days on the farm with Uncle Damion.