Wonderland 

By Deargodwhyamihere

With a hiss of steam and a whir of gears, I raised my head and took my first look at the world. I was in some sort of workshop, crouched on top of a tool-covered table. A man with a wide smile and a white mustache looked down at me. He wore a brown waistcoat, and on his head was a tall black hat with a clock in the center and a ribbon around it.

"Perfect!" he said, beaming. "Why, you're just perfect!"

I opened my mouth to reply. All that came out was a series of beeps and chirps, but the man seemed to understand my question.

"Where are you, you ask?" he said, raising one bushy eyebrow. "You're in my workshop, of course! I'm an inventor, and you, my young friend, have the honor of being my latest invention: the world's first fully mechanical bunny rabbit! Hop around for me, won't you? Let's see how you move."

I raised my paws, testing them. I hopped once. Then twice. Soon, I was leaping around in circles on the inventor's desk, kicking my back feet in joy.

"Marvelous!" cried the inventor. "I daresay, Alice will be thrilled. Wait here!"

With that, he ran out of the workshop and returned a moment later. At his side was a small girl, her blonde hair braided and tied with a leather cord. Her dress was baby blue, and her apron was grimy and filled with tools. Goggles covered her eyes, but she flipped them up to look at me.

"Grandfather, he's wonderful!" she said, clapping her hands. "How have you managed it?"

"Quite simple, my dear Alice. Once you've got the body, it's all a matter of breathing life into the thing."

"And how did you do that?" asked Alice.

He smiled. Then he frowned. "You know, I really haven't the faintest idea."

"Does he speak?" asked Alice, seeming unbothered by her grandfather's odd answer.

"Of course he speaks, if you know what he's saying! His words won't tell you anything, but don't listen to them and you'll understand."

I found this answer rather confusing, but Alice only nodded. "Thank you, Grandfather. I love him."

"You're very welcome," said the old man. He removed his hat and placed it on a rack, choosing an identical hat to replace it. "Now, I've got to go into town for a while. Run along and play with your new toy."

Alice obeyed and picked me up. "You're going to be my White Rabbit," she said as we left the workshop. "I realize you're a bit closer to gold than to white, but we can pretend, can't we?"

What's pretend? I chirped, but Alice didn't seem to understand me as well as her grandfather had.

"That's the spirit!" she said. "Now, in case you're not familiar with the story, I'll explain it to you: I'm Alice and you're the White Rabbit, and you're very late for the Queen's croquet game. I follow you down the rabbit hole and into Wonderland. Ready?" She set me down. "Go!"

I stared up at her, failing to understand just what she expected me to do. I'm not going to any croquet game, I said.

Alice frowned. She opened a small door in the wall and declared, "This is the rabbit hole!" She pushed me through it, came in after me, and said, "And this is Wonderland!"

Whatever "Wonderland" was, it was most certainly not this room full of junk. Here, there were piles of old gears missing teeth and featureless, half-formed statues. I saw old bicycles, an old harmonica, broken tables, strange heaps of metal, cameras with broken flashbulbs, umbrellas with holes, long bits of pipe, old toys, balls of string, and countless other abandoned objects.

"Look!" said Alice. "I'm shrinking!" She did not shrink, but sank down onto her hands and knees and crawled over to a gap in one of the junk piles. "Why, this little door is locked! I need the little key on top of the table to open it."

I don't see any key, I said. Are you alright, Alice?

Alice crawled over to me. "What's the matter with you, White Rabbit? You aren't playing along. Haven't you got any imagination at all?"

I shook my head. This, at least, she understood. She picked me up once again, carried me out of the room full of junk, and brought me all the way back to the workroom where I had been born.

"Grandfather, this toy isn't working," she said, and the man who was supposed to be in town sat up in bed, his hat still somehow on his head.

How queer everything is here, I remarked to myself.

"Whatever do you mean?" asked the inventor.

The question seemed to be directed at me, but Alice replied, "He doesn't work right. He's got no imagination at all. Can you fix him?"

"He's got plenty of imagination," said the old man. "I imagined him myself!"

"Then why won't he play Wonderland?" demanded Alice.

"I don't think he understands it. I'll simply have to teach him what it means."

Alice scowled and left.

"Wait here," the inventor said. "Fancy a bit of tea?"

I shook my head.

"Ah, well, it's for the best. I haven't got any tea." He laughed and went to the bookshelf. "Here we are," he said, pulling out a thin book. The cover said Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

I was terribly confused, and wondered for a moment whether the whole world was as odd as this.

"Now, shut your eyes and see if you can't see."

Of course I can't see, I said, closing my eyes.

"Listen! Then you'll see." And the man in the hat began to read.

As he read, and as I listened, I began to see. I could see the White Rabbit check his pocket watch, and Alice grow and shrink in that strange room. I saw the Duchess and her Cheshire Cat. I saw the Hatter's tea party and the Queen's croquet match and the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle, and I began to understand.

Nothing was really there before my eyes, and yet I saw it all. The story made pictures in my head, just as it must've made pictures in Alice's head. She used those pictures to play pretend. Suddenly, I understood that that room full of junk really could be Wonderland if I used the pictures in my mind–if I used my imagination. Really, anywhere could be Wonderland. Anyone could be Alice.

The story ended. I opened my eyes.

"Do you see, my friend?"

I do, I chirped happily. I see!

The old man put down the book and set me on the floor. I followed him back to Alice's room full of junk, where she sat with her knees on her chin, pouting.

"Is he fixed?" asked Alice when she saw us coming.

"How can he be fixed? He was never broken," said her grandfather. "I think he's got something to tell you."

Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late! I yelled, just as the White Rabbit in the story had.

Alice merely gave me a funny look.

Alice, can't you hear me? I'm late!

"You can't understand him, can you?" asked the old man.

Alice looked down. "No. It's all just clicks and beeps!"

"That's because you're listening to what he says and not what he means." The inventor shook his head. "My, you two have failed spectacularly at understanding one another."

Alice stared at me. "White Rabbit," she said, "will you play with me?"

Nothing would please me more, I replied. I tried to mean it, if it would help her understand.

Alice gasped. "I see now! Why, you're as well-spoken as any rabbit I've ever met. Not that I've met many rabbits, of course, but I'll bet they all wish they could speak like you can!"

"I don't believe there's any more to tell you," said the inventor, "so I'll head off to town again." He strolled back into his workshop and shut the door.

Alice opened a door of her own. "After you," she said.

I dashed into Wonderland, Alice on my heels. This time, it really did seem like Wonderland. The pile of junk before us was really a table, on top of which there was surely a tiny golden key. The umbrella littered with holes was really a mushroom, and it would make Alice grow and shrink. Up ahead, the pipes were really croquet mallets, the balls of string hedgehogs. That old harmonica was a Cheshire Cat smile. The misshapen statues were the King and Queen of Hearts and the Duchess. There was even a table with a broken tea set on top of it.

Perhaps, I thought to myself, the inventor will join us for the Mad Hatter's tea party.

Alice led me through Wonderland with a smile on her face. We understood each other now. I saw Wonderland the way she did, and I found her vision delightful. She could look at a junkyard and see Wonderland, and thanks to her, I could as well.