Alice on the Outside-in

Part 3

Seeing as it didn't matter which way I went, I decided to close my eyes, spin, and stop after the count of three.

"One...two..."

Something prodded my arm. I opened one eye to see a strange-looking creature sitting on a cushion of shrink wrap. Its head was a cube and eight limbs protruded from its main body. Using the first pair as arms, it wrote on a notepad with a pencil.

"Oh, you surprised me. Hello. Did you happen to see my Bunny? Did he run this way? I seem to be lost..."

The creature smiled and shuffled its legs to turn to me, still sitting and scribbling. It ripped off the top sheet of its notepad and passed it to me. I read it.

"'Hell low'. What?" The creature waved at me. "What?" It scribbled again frantically and passed me another sheet.

"Hell low. Hat dish mow meant, eye yam un ehh bell two speak...Hat? What hat? You're not wearing a hat."

This place was beginning to get on my nerves. First the voices in the box, that horrible worm and now a strange thing that scribbled nonsense. It passed me yet another piece of paper with the same words.

"Hell low?" The creature waved. "Hello...oh...!" It dawned on me. This 'thing' was writing down what it wanted to say but with bad spelling.

"I see now! Wait, what was the rest...'Hat dish mow meant...hat...mow meant? Moment? Oh, 'at this moment'! Wait, wait..."

It sighed and slumped its limbs together.

"...At this moment, eye yam...I am, well, you are...un ehh bell...unable...to speak! Right! Yes! I can see that, you're writing notes on paper."

It handed over another piece.

"Ewe see?....Yes, I see! You're also unable to spell but now I understand..."

It smiled and scribbled a longer note. I waited as there was nothing else to do in this place. It finally finished and looked quite happy with itself.

"Ewe may knor bee ahh wear of dish fact...you may not be aware of this fact...what fact? No, I guess I'm not...butt ewe argh act chew all Lee cleave fir....but you are, sorry, I am actually...cleave fir? Sorry, you lost me there. I'm some kind of tree?"

It scrunched up its face and wrote a short note.

"Know!...no."

And another longer note. Reading them hurt my head.

"Eye yam sore rei dat eye can knot speak prop err Lee butt ewe argh cleave fir, real Lee...oh...clever! Now I've got it!"

It nodded and smiled.

"Good. Thanks. I always thought I was. So, I was wondering, maybe you can tell me where my Bunny went?"

It thought for a moment and gave me one more note.

"Know. Eye yam sore rei."

And yet another note. I hoped it was the last.

"Well, Two bee maw presize....to be more precise...know....no. How is that more precise?"

And another. When would this end? Perhaps if I walked away...

"Butt pea lease bee shore two say Hell Oh when ewe see bun knee...of course. Thank you for your help...or hinderance, whichever."

I scurried away, in the direction furthest from the creature, only to be hit in the back of the head by a paper ball. I opened it up and read.

"Yaw well come. Buy!"

I was lost. In the pitch black I ran around, looking for anything, a light, an object, listening for a sound, but there was nothing.