Conscious Moments (The Sleeping Mouse Part 2)
 

It all went into slow motion after that. She had thrown the dagger straight at herself with pristine precision and she knew that it was going to hit perfectly on target. Looking at her own face in that hideous monster was an enlightening experience to say the least; all these years she had been this monster and it was time to let it all go and begin life anew. But that twisted face with its malicious smile shocked her to the core and she could only begin to imagine what others must have felt when they had laid eyes on her in that state.

The metal blade flew through the air spinning certain razor death and with a satisfying crunch embedded itself in the face’s forehead. The ‘other’ Alice’s eyes rolled upwards as she screamed in pain – the head was suspended inside the head of a disfigured Mad Hatter, which also looked down in horror. These two heads were the center of the ‘hulk’ that resembled Alice’s madness and she watches the mass shudder in pain. She felt the platform beneath her shake a little as the monster roared; the deafening sound seemed to envelope her and the last she remembered was it slowly sinking into the blackness before she herself plunged into that same abyss.
 

* * *

It was a golden glow and could have come from the very gates of Heaven. It was warm and so very comforting and Alice took a moment to realize the source of the light before instinctively opening her eyes. The orange yellow rays bathed her body and her with her first intake of air; the sweet fragrance of the summer flooded her.

It seemed like the right moment to examine her surroundings and Alice glances around her room. It was very uninviting resembling a prison cell and even the window has bars attached to it. It was then that she noticed a small mouse sitting in the corner of her bed. It was a dormouse and had a large belly; it was sleeping on its back with its paws sitting comfortably on its stomach.

Leaning down, she looked closely at the mouse – for some reason she felt she ‘knew’ the mouse and she was surprised to hear it muttering to itself in its sleep. She decided to give it a little poke in the stomach.

‘W-w-w’ it seemed to squeak before resuming its heavy slumber. One quick poke solved that though.

Blinking lazily, the little ball of fur looked around and then at Alice.

‘Oh .. h-h-hello there!’ it said in a surprised manner. ‘Thank you so much!’

Alice scratched her head. ‘For what?’ she asked the little mouse.

‘Oh you don’t… oh excuse me’ it squeaked before succumbing to a huge yawn. ‘You don’t remember it then? It’ll come to you soon’.

Alice stood up, stretching her muscles and brushed down her dress, which seemed absolutely filthy. ‘Goodness, I apologize for my appearance little mouse – I look a mess!’

‘Don’t w-worry about that’ the little mouse said with a grin. ‘As I was saying before, when you r-remember, you need to know that you can come and visit anytime. We have a huge celebration planned and obviously we can’t do it without you being th…’

Alice looked back at the mouse, which had stopped in mid sentence. He was fast asleep again and it rolled over with a contented snore.
 

* * *

‘How peculiar’ Alice said to herself and then a new sound suddenly met her ears - distinctively metallic, much like the sound of iron scraping against another hard surface. Turning her head to her left, she glanced towards the sound and focussed on the door that led to her room. A figure entered quietly and slowly carrying a tray. Blinking a few times, it became clear that the figure was a young female but she seemed very anxious and was making a huge effort to creep across the room without making a sound.

Her body seemed to way a ton but the smells and light exhilarated Alice and with concentrated effort, she quickly sat upright, swinging her feet off the bed to the floor.

The female jumped ten feet in the air it seemed; the tray went flying across the room spraying its contents everywhere and she fled for her life. Straight into the metal door.

Alice glanced down at the unconscious figure and rubbed her eyes a few times, trying to shake off the feeling of drowsiness. There seemed to be a lot of activity outside and more figured emerged in the doorway. Noticing Alice, they started shouting at each other and it took a moment to decipher the words but it seemed to be more or less ‘She’s finally awake!’ and ‘Someone fetch one of the doctors quickly!’

‘I am so sorry – she ran into the door and she seemed quite upset about something. Is she okay?’ asked Alice.

The figures glanced at her in amazement. They were wearing white uniforms and Alice realized that they were most likely nurses. Was she a patient – had she been ill? She really couldn’t remember.

A man emerged from the crowd and motioned for the others to leave – which they did, carrying the unconscious nurse away. Closing the door behind him he stood there looking closely at Alice.

‘That must be a doctor’ Alice thought to herself, ‘but he is looking at me in the most odd way!’

‘I’m Doctor Jones, how are you feeling Alice’ he asked, now with a warm smile on his face.

‘I am not sure… I don’t remember why I am here. And I do apologize for my appearance; I’m not sure how I got into this frightful state!’

 

* * *

She pressed her head next to her fur and closed her eyes. The purrs were music to her ears and she had tears in her eyes. The orange shimmering light was falling back on her bathing her again and her cat was busy licking her face. Hugging her cat close to her, she picked up her little bag and stood at the gate of the asylum. All she had been told; it was hard to take in and her memories were slowly returning but they were hard to understand but she would sooner or later. Right now, she could only live in the present and what a beautiful moment it was. A warm summer breeze brushed against her skin and she could see the brightly coloured flowers on either side of the path.

A car pulled in at the front of the gate and a figure emerged from the driver’s seat. Alice looked at the figure’s face and she started crying as her big sister’s arms enveloped her body. Her cat began to protest with a loud miaow and for that moment, Alice felt that she was truly in heaven.

Looking out of the car window as they drove away from the asylum walls, the outside world seemed to be moving in slow motion. Her life began now and she would make the best of it; the world was definitely her oyster! And it was then that her thought was rudely disturbed by the loud snoring of what sounded like a little mouse in the glove compartment.

~END~