Wonderland Syndrome

Chapter Five - The Bookpainters

Jay lost track of how long he walked for. He tried to watch the sky for signs of time passing, for the first time noticing the lack of a sun in the sky, and count his paces to measure how far he'd walked, but he soon found himself once again lost.

He took in the trees around him as he walked, taking note of how they were all hollowed out, and how the shapes of books had been carved to fill the space as if the trees themselves were bookcases.

"It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done; it is a far far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." The words rang out through the dark forest, echoing slightly, with a little melodic ring to them. Like a bell in the wind. Jay shivered.

It was familiar- both the words and the voice- but Jay couldn't figure out where he'd heard either before.

There was a clap of sorts, laced with a sense of finality, and Jay looked to the treetops above him, searching for its source. He had heard that sound a thousand times. Cookie- his Cookie- did it every time she finished a book.

Cheshire-Cookie Cat was hidden in the trees above him like a swooning maiden in a Renaissance painting, her tail just visible, swaying back and forth in the air.

"Oh, Cheshire-Cookie Cat, it's you!" he exclaimed, doing his best to forget his frustrations and focus on what was happening now, in front of him. Experience had taught him that nothing good ever came from dwelling on the past.

"Whom did you expect?" Cheshire-Cookie Cat purred, appearing on a low hanging branch in the tree next to Jay, "The Fanta rabbit, perchance?" She was holding a book, but it didn't look like those carved into the trees, and Jay recalled the words she had said faintly.

Jay shook his head, "Oh, no, no. I- I'm not sure who I was expecting..." he trailed off, swallowing any further words, unsure of why he was suddenly stuttering. "I would like to find them, though." he paused, unsure if he should go on, before adding, "I'm through playing games."

Cheshire-Cookie Cat looked delighted at his word choice, and agreed, "Naturally. That's because you haven't played with the queen. All to play here, you see, are the queen's games; and her's are the very best."

Jay felt his eyebrows draw together on his face. Cheshire-Cookie Cat had mentioned the queen before, right? Who exactly was it? He tried to recall who all he'd met so far, but thinking too hard about the impossible feats of logic he'd been through in the last few hours hurt his head. Still, he reasoned with himself, just to prove he still could, if the queen was in charge, maybe they could order the Fanta rabbit to show him the staircase.

"But I've never met the queen," Jay said sadly, biting his lip and hoping Cheshire-Cookie Cat would take the bait.

Just as he'd hoped, she perked up, leaning so close to him she nearly fell out of the tree, "You haven't? You haven't? Oh, but you must!" Cheshire-Cookie Cat's words were interrupted by giggles more and more as she went on, "She'll be absolutely mad about you!" and then her words dissolved into nothing more than cackles.

"How can I find her?" Jay asked when her laughter was something he could speak over.

Cheshire-Cookie Cat cleared her throat loudly, then peered around the darkness, as if confirming they were really alone.

"Well," she started slowly, "some go this way," she gestured to one side, "some go that way." she gestured again, only this time straight upwards, "But me, myself, personally," she chuckled again, briefly, her face twisted into an expression Jay didn't know Cookie could make and couldn't describe, "I prefer the shortcut."

She reached to the nearest branch and pulled it down. Rather than breaking, it moved like a lever and the carved books of the tree fell in, as if pushed off the shelf. The more books fell, the more Jay could see something on the other side. Soon it became clear that he was peering into a hedge maze, the hedges swaying as if dancing to the rhythm of the wind and making the whole sight blurry and distracting. He wandered into the space in a daze, stepping over the books lying in the soft grass, completely forgetting about Cheshire-Cookie Cat, as if beckoned.