The Wonderland Effect

Chapter Three

She was almost unrecognisable. Almost. For the first time since their original encounter, Alister took a good look at the girl. Her once untamed hair flowed gracefully down her back, shining in the sunlight. What Alister remembered to be a pasty complexion was now lightly sun-kissed and held no flaws but the small crescent shaped scar on her left cheekbone. She smiled once more and he caught a glimpse of her pearly white teeth.

Alister sat up slowly to avoid bumping heads with the girl and stared in shock at the scenery in front of him.

They were in a field-no- a meadow, that had ankle-high Eden green grass and flowers of all different colours and varieties scattered around. The sun shone brightly in the endless blue sky as the wind raked through the grass and surrounding trees.

That's when he noticed them. Small child like creatures with pointed ears and sets of wings wearing gossamer dresses and tunics. If it hadn't been for the tinge of green in their skin and their wings, Alister would've dismissed the pointed features and considered them human.

"Curiouser and curiouser!" He murmured as he stared at the little fairy children that ran about on the grass.

Where was he?

"Where am I?" Alister queried out loud.

He heard the girl laugh behind him. "Wonderland of course."

Alister's head snapped back to the girl who didn't seem bothered that there was a small mushroom looking creature perched on her shoulder. "Is that somewhere in the asylum?"

Again, the girl laughed. "I don't know about that."

"What do you know then?" Alister asked, hoping he didn't sound rude.

"A lot of things." She replied, toying with the small creature on her shoulder.

Alister sat back down in front of her. "Do you know how I got here?"

The girl frowned. "Through one of Mister Rabbit's rabbit holes, I suppose. No one has reformed in The Meadow for a while, though. Or a couple of minutes. Time here is hard to track."

"You're not making any sense to me right now." Alister groaned.

"That's Wonderland for you," The girl remarked, "nothing ever stays the same long enough to make sense."

"What's your name?" He asked, trying hard to not get frustrated.

"Valentine." She answered.

"I'm Alister." He stated, followed by "What am I doing here?"

"I told you." Valentine replied, "You came through one of the rabbit holes."

Alister frowned. Before he could say anything, though, Valentine stood up and yelled: "That better not be a fire you're playing with Timmy!"

One of the little children looked up and blushed before snuffing out the small flames beside him. The boy looks awfully familiar with those big brown eyes and caramel curls. He wore a white tunic, brown pants and no shoes. In the end, it was his round cherubic face that gave him away.

"Is that Timothy?" Alister wondered aloud as the little boy came running down the hill towards them.

"Hello!" he greeted brightly. No, it couldn't be Timothy. This boy was much too happy. The short run in with Timothy was enough to tell Alister that he was a sobbing mess 90% of the time.

"He's the boy I met under the table." He told Valentine eagerly, "the new boy."

Valentine ruffled the little boy's hair affectionately. "I know Timmy."

"Hi, New Boy." The little boy greeted, smiling up at Alister. "I'm Timothy. But every calls me Timmy."

"Hello Timmy," Alister said, returning the smile. "nice to meet you."

Just then, one of the creatures spoke and called out to Timmy.

"Well, adventure calls!" Timmy said before sprinting off to his friends.

"La La Children," Valentine sighed, "if night had not existed they would play games for eternity."

"La La Children?" Alister queried.

"Yes, the small sprites over there," Valentine explained, "we call them La La Children. Everything's all fun and games for those lot. They live in La La Land. Refuse to face reality. Hence the name 'La La Children'."

Alister watched as the small creatures began rolling down the hill and get up in fits of laughter before climbing back up again. Timmy fit right in with them; carefree smile painted on his lips, mischievous glint in his eye.

"We need to get going," Valentine stated, "the banquet will be starting soon."

Alister frowned. "What banquet?"

"The one to celebrate your arrival," She answered, "it's going to be at the Hatter house.Everyone's invited."

"What about Timothy?"

Valentine scoffed. "If there's a party, you can count on the La La Children to be there."

She took a hold of Alister's arm and dragged him into the forest.

"Next stop: Uncle Hatter's!"