March 2018
Midnight Writers
Table of Contents
Cover: “Lets all just have a nice cup of tea,” an illustra- “Wonder,” an illustration by Caboose tion by The Masked Lady Page 11: Much I Hate Alice,” continued This Page: “Twisted Hat,” an illustration by Wilted “How “Down the Rabbit Hole,” a photograph by Incadescence Rose
Page 3:
Page 12:
•
The King of hearts asks for help
•
A mother asks for advice on finding her daughter
“Cheshire Eyes,” an illustration by Celia Bowen “Falling Alice,” an illustration by Celia Bowen “The Rabbit Hole,” a poem by Andromeda “Cheshire Stare,” a poem by Eos
•
The Masked Lady shares her words of wisdom
Page 13:
brand
Page 14:
Ask Aphro & Dite Unmasked Lady
“The Soul Sucker part 1,” a story by Andromeda” “Madness Within,” an illustration by Purple Nights • Incandescence reviews the book Unbroken by Laura Hillen-
Incandescence’s Literary Investigation
Page 4:
“Thrice Upon A Then,” a story by Blue Serendipity “Can’t Forgive,” a poem by Eos “Watch Your Step!” a photograph by Incadescence
Page 5:
“Destiny Decider,” a story by Incadescence “Destiny,” a photograph by Calico Cat “Destiny,” a poem by Hmscorpio “I Miss Fall,” a photograph by Purple Nights
Page 6:
“Sprinkles Café,” a story by The Masked Lady “Haunted,” a photograph by Eos
Page 7:
“Sprinkles Café,” continued “House Of Cards,” a story by Stella
Page 8:
“House Of Cards,” continued “We are all mad here,” an illustration by the Masked Lady “Falling Snow,” a poem by Tom Nguyen “Mystery,” a photograph by the Calico Cat
Page 9:
“A Red Queen’s Legacy,” a story by Eos “Smile for the Camera,” an illustration by Dragonryder
Page 10:
“A Red Queen’s Legacy,” continued “How Much I Hate Alice,” a rant by Hmscorpio
“The Soul Sucker part 1,” continued “Madness,” a manga by Aya Hatashima
Page 15:
“Santa, Not Satan Part 6,” a story by Incandescence
Page 16
“Santa, Not Satan Part 6,” continued “Satan’s Sixth Gift,” an illustration by The Masked Lady
Oh dear! Someone stole the Vorpal Sword from Wonderland! The suspects are the Midnightwriters officers and the Wonderland characters. It is up to you Midnight Writers to figure out who stole the sword. There are clues through out the magazine. I wish you all good luck and find the theif !
Sra. Steele: No two liars on same page.
issuu.com/midnightwriters midnightwriters2018@gmail.com
Ask Aphro & Dite
Dear Aphro, I am the lovely spouse of The Queen of Hearts. She is very loyal to me, but she tends to lose her temper very quickly. I don’t know what to do. She goes on and off like a light switch. At first she is nice, cuddly, and kind. Then, she turns into something like a demon from hell. Can you tell me how to deal with my wife without getting her angry? Thank you so much. Yours, Afraid King Dear Afraid King, Family is hard to deal with, I know, but you have got to stop being a pushover. I really don’t want your wife to take advantage of you just because of her temper. When your wife is in a good mood, sit down and have a chat with her in private. Hopefully, she will show her true colors and try to calm her temper down. If not, I believe you should have divorce papers ready to file. I hope this is good advice. With love, Aphro Dear Dite, I am the lovely mother of my daughter named Alice. Alice always says she is going somewhere and I can never find her. She is all over the place and I can’t keep up with her. I considered putting a microchip on her, but I am afraid she will hate me. What should I do? I can’t keep on losing Alice. Yours, Mother Patrol Dear Mother Patrol, I understand your concern. If I had a daughter that was running all over the place unattended, I would get scared out, too. You are the mother though. So, you are the one that makes the rules for your daughter, especially if she is a minor. I believe you should punish your daughter if she keeps on running around unattended. Get creative. Take something away she doesn’t like away, or ground her. You should do anything that will teach your daughter a lesson to not run around unattended. I hope this helps. With love, Dite
Unmasked Lady
March: the month of Saint Patrick’s Day and March Madness. But something else happens during this lovely month: my birthday! That’s right Midnight Writers, I have officially turned 18! I’m no longer a disgruntled teen but instead a “mature” adult. Now some of you may be wondering, do I feel any different? And the answer is no, no I do not! Like many of my previous birthdays I do not feel any change in myself whatsoever. But I like to think I gained some sort of wisdom from my childhood, so let me share some with you. First off, I learned that high school isn’t everything. Now you may be thinking,“Hey Masked Lady, you already talked about this in the January column!” Well hold your horses, because it’s story time. I did a bunch of pre-college programs during my high school summers. Some were pretty good and others was meh. But when I went to these programs I realized that soon my life would no longer be about high school. That this seemingly never-ending chain dragging me back to the hellish hole that is high school will soon come to an end. Thinking about what will happen in the future is scary because it’s full of uncertainty. But I think a lot of times I thought everything was pointless because high school really beats you down and makes you think there is no escape. But life isn’t just about high school; it’s so much more. It’s a big world out there Midnight Writers, and don’t give up because soon you all will get to see it. Next, let’s talk about friendships. I have had friends throughout my life. Some I still have now, while others ended terribly. But I just want to say if anyone here has a friend who makes him or her feel bad or anything like that, break it off. Like any bad relationship, you shouldn’t stick to someone who makes you feel bad about yourself, uncomfortable, or even depressed. When I cut off ties with those people it was like this giant weight fell off my shoulders. I know it might seem hard, especially if you have been friends with them for years, but sometimes you just need to take a stand and do what’s best for you. Anyways, I’m running out of space so that’s it for this month! See you next month!
Incandescence’s Literary Investigations Hello and welcome to my fifth book review! Today I’m going to be discussing Laura Hillenbrand’s nonfiction book Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, which details the life of Louis Zamperini. Louis Silvie Zamperini was born in 1917, a son of Italian immigrant parents in Torrance, California. He was a wild and wilful child, and not until he was 14 did anyone find an activity that would focus him. It was his elder brother, Pete, who thought of it: athletics. Zamperini junior roared out of the blocks and almost immediately began smashing collegiate, state and finally national records for the mile. At 19 he earned a spot on the US Olympic team. When Pearl Harbor happened, Zamperini was drafted into the air force. One day, his plane crashed and sank. So began a 47 day story of survival in which three men drifted 2,000 miles on a liferaft of dubious quality, fought off sharks and survived Japanese air attacks. He was then picked up by the Japanese and incarcerated as a prisoner of war, or POW. He and other POWs were kept in miserable conditions and beaten regularly. One particularly cruel guard, Mitsuhiro Watanabe, took delight in tormenting Zamperini. Eventually, the war ends, and he makes his way home. This was an extremely well-written and entertaining work, which I highly recommend. In addition, this fulfills the requirements for a book report for AP US History (or at least it did when I was a freshman), which is why I decided to read it. The general consensus among my classmates was that this was an excellent book that really taught us a lot. And with that, I leave you for this month. Read on!
Special thanks to Sra. Steele, The Masked Lady, Incadencence, Eos, HMscorpio, Celia Bowen, and Andromeda 3
Thrice Upon A Then
feet. Rapunzel let out a breath of relief. “That is alright,” she said falling back onto the couch. “Alright?” Alieus asked incredulously. He quickly ran to the kitchen and found his phone lying on a damp napkin. “My phone!” Alieus wasn’t used to working at all. “Is something wrong?” Ella asked After all, he lived as a Prince, and then poking her head in. Rapunzel walked as a frog, for most of his life. Now, he in and put the phone in a box full of actually had to get up early and then uncooked rice. travel almost half an hour to get to a “Your phone is fine. You can use it crowded little shop surrounded by more tomorrow,” she said putting the box of crowded little shops. He was happy rice on the kitchen counter. Alieus sat in though, as Mr. Panesly was nice to him, front of the box unhappily. He looked unlike people back at his home. like a giant baby just sitting in front of Rapunzel didn’t agree. She was the the kitchen counter, pouting at the box. first person Alieus bought a phone for. The sound of glass breaking made them He hoped that she would end up liking all run to the bathroom. A man with being in this new land and stay there. dark ruffled brown hair laid on their Instead, she used it to read and learn. bathroom floor with a pool of blood “I am trying to learn from these… around him. Presidents..? And from the Kings and “Flynn?” Rapunzel gasped, running Queens of this land to become a better to the man. Alieus hid Rose behind him, ruler when I get back home,” she would eyeing the blood warily. He didn’t want claim. She had to admit, the place was the youngest child to see something so impressive and she would definitely horrible. Ella quickly pulled Rose into miss these strange gadgets when she another room. went home. “R-Rapunzel!” the man, ‘Flynn,’ Ella spent her days cooking, cleangasped, grabbing her arm. He held out ing, and singing. Every other day, she two flasks filled with green liquid. “I made dresses and sold them to people. Both Alieus and Rapunzel were amazed went e-everywhere… to find… sorcerer who would… b-bring you home.” when she created a gorgeous blue ball “You were stabbed!” Rapunzel cried, gown. Ella told them they were meant noticing the wound. Alieus pulled up to be worn with slippers made of glass, his sleeves and held a towel against the but Rapunzel quickly pointed out how wound. impractical that was. “M-Mother Gothel. I pushed her… Rose loved to play all day and she’d off the tower. You need to-to cut your complain every time Rapunzel tried hair,” said Flynn grimacing. His voice to teach her math or science. After all, grew quieter as his life started to slip. what kid wants to learn things when she “Y-your home is at w-war. Go home.” could just play with the movie portrait “Flynn?!” Rapunzel exclaimed as called a TV? Flynn let out a breath of air and didn’t “Alieus!” Rose shouted, running breath again. Alieus quickly tried to into the living room where Alieus and feel for a heartbeat but didn’t find one. Rapunzel were. Rapunzel was in charge Flynn’s body started to glow a dull yelof handling their money and Alieus low before it slowly disintegrated into a just wanted to know when he’d have enough money to buy something called pile of gold ash. “Who was he?” Alieus asked quietly. Netflix. He noticed how Rapunzel sat there in “Yes, Rose?” Alieus asked, frowning. a daze. His heart nearly stopped when Rose looked guilty and panicked. he saw a tear. She was always strong “I dropped the phone in the sink and stern. He has never seen her let her where you were soaking the dirty dishes,” she said in a small voice. Both guard down before. “I loved him,” she said quietly, before Rapunzel and Alieus jumped up with taking the two flasks out of the pile of wide eyes. ash and standing up. “Which phone?!” Rapunzel asked. “What are you doing?” Alieus asked, “Alieus’s,” said the girl. Her voice grabbing her arm. got smaller as she guiltily stared at her
By Blue Serendipity
4
Can’t Forgive By Eos
I should have been prepared for this. But every time you begin to speak A torrent of memories swarm my brain Filling my eyes with unrequited, stupid tears almost instantaneously Clouding every single rational thought in my mind That tries desperately to remind me That I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. Your eyes plead and command me, Staring through my hollow exterior And tugging at my heart within. Your arms wave frantically as you speak, Slicing violently at the space between us. Your voice silences the constant buzzing Of the rational thoughts inside my head Screaming I can’t. But how, how could I not when You’ve taken over every part of me? Hesitantly, horridly, Like a puppet being walked on a string I look straight into your expectant eyes And watch the resolve within me burn. “I forgive you.”
Jabberwocky: I heard the queen was upset that Alice had the sword.
“Watch Your Step!” Photograph by Incadescence
“Destiny,” Photograph by Calico Cat
Destiny Decider By Incadescence
To say that people were disappointed with my destiny was an understatement. I was a descendant of the Argo dynasty. The Argo family line was renowned for its extraordinary talent and spectacular Destiny Deciders. You see, since the beginning of mankind, everyone was born with one object at birth which foreshadowed one’s future. No one was quite sure why this occurred; scientists speculated that this was an evolutionary characteristic developed to help nudge people down his or her so-called,“rightful path.” But there were several things that were known: one, that every single person, no matter what, had a Destiny Decider. Second, the objects developed in the womb, inside the fetus’s left hand. Third, the objects were often miniaturized versions, so as to fit within the baby’s grasp. Today, in the 21st century, it Destiny Deciders were a Big Deal. Families gathered at every birth, anxiously waiting to see what the newest member would become. Meanwhile, others would frequently gossip about what so and so’s kid came out holding, and what that would mean. My grandfather, Jason V, burst into the world holding a paintbrush; he would become one of the most influential artists of the Dada movement. My father had a hockey mask; he would go on to play in the National Hockey League for 16 seasons, revolutionizing the goaltending position in the process and becoming part of the Hockey Hall of Fame at his retirement. My mother had an ink pen grasped firmly in her grip when she was born; she would become a legendary human rights lawyer. Meanwhile, my older brother held a golden emblem with an eagle and trident; as predicted, he passed his tests with flying colors and is currently serving as a US Navy SEAL in the military. Even my younger sister, Thalia, is sure to become a great actress; she came out clutching a laughing mask frequently used to symbolize thespianism. Then there was me. I was the black sheep of the family. When I came out, wailing, my left fist loosened enough for my expectant family to lean in and see what it was: a toy parrot. It was a cheaply made thing, made of shiny plastic. Its back held a hand crank, that, when spun, would croak out a gibberish phrase. My family, and in particular my father, was aghast - Jason VII Argo would become a toymaker. And quite a bad one at that. Growing up, I would hear others whispering about me: “It’s such a shame about that Jason boy, really. And he’s an Argo, too. I can only imagine how sad his parents must be.” The strange thing was, I was not interested in toys or their making at all. Maybe I was the only one in the history of mankind to have a faulty Destiny Decider. Several years passed. A catastrophe happened - aliens invaded and used some sort of advanced radar to stop all of our technology. All of our power sources were rendered useless, and we were forced to resort to old fashioned ways, like candles, wooden boats, and horse-drawn carriages. Now I knew what my Destiny was. Grabbing a hastily packed bag and my toy parrot, I slipped out of the Argo Manor at midnight, and hitched a ride to Boston Harbor. There - the imposing ship with black sails. The wind whirled through the harbor; the flag at the top of the ship unfurled. There lay a skull above two crossed bones. My mind made up, I set off to meet the ship. From here on out, it was a pirate’s life for me.
Eos: Mad Hatter did it!
Destiny By Hmscorpio Go and get it now It is a feeling inside Why sit there and wait
“I Miss Fall,” Photograph by Purple Nights
Cheshire: The queen definitely did it. 5
Sprinkles Café
By The Masked Lady “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!” I chanted as I eagerly peered out behind the front door. Right on cue, my butterfly watch alarm went off, and with the snap of my fingers, the locks on the door quickly fell off. I burst through the door into the busy streets of Glitter City. “We are officially open!” I cheered at the top of my lungs. I began dancing around our front door as passerby glanced at me, disturbed. “Crystal, stop that! You’re scaring the customers away!” Sky snapped at me from inside. “Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself!” I giggled as I tap danced my way back into the café. I scurried over to Sky, who was busy flipping through our financial documents behind the counter. She aggressively tugged at her curls as she skimmed through the never-ending pages of numbers. “Come on, Sky, don’t be such a gloomy cloud!” I entreated. Sky gave me a cold stare as she slumped backwards into the cloud seat. “Crystal, we need to talk about our budget,” Sky stated.
6
Now, before we go any further, let’s have some introductions! Hi! I’m Crystal, and I’m a Witch! I used to go to a prestigious college in order to study magic, but then I dropped out when I realized my true calling: baking! So I packed up my things and moved to Glitter City, where I opened my first café, Sprinkles Café! Here we serve magical goodies and drinks! Now, you may be thinking, what is so great about magical treats? Well, I’ll have you know that my treats are not just some ordinary pieces of sliced bread! Instead, I have brownies that have a hint of pixie dust that give you a boost in charisma that can get you through any presentation. And you can’t forget about the coffee here! You should definitely try out the unicorn cappuccino (no unicorns were harmed in the making of this drink!) Here, we use real unicorn hair that helps you stay up working on that late midterm paper with no caffeine crashes! Opening the café has been fun and all, but I wouldn’t have been to keep it afloat without the help from Sky. Now, Sky is an
angel. No, she is literally an Angel. Two years ago, I went to study cloud sweeteners in Feather Palace. Unlike Glitter City, Feather Palace is home to just Angels, and not just anyone can live there. Anyway, I ended up getting in trouble for “accidently” taking some Pegasus hairs. Luckily, I was saved by Sky, who helped reduce my sentence to just a ban from the Palace. After that, I convinced her with my great charm and personality to come join me in my café. Sky might seem like a cold person, but she is a total sweetheart under all those layers of ice. And that’s how I met my best friend and my future girlfriend. She just doesn’t know about the girlfriend part. “Crystal!” Sky snapped at me, “I have literally have been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes!” “Oops, sorry!” I giggled. “Crystal, this is serious; we need to talk about your spending habits,” Sky sighed. “What about them?” I asked curiously. “You have been spending too much money on unnecessary items for the store,” Sky stated. “What? No I haven’t!” I cried. “Seriously? Let’s see. You spent 200 fairy bucks on a glitter floor, 500 fairy bucks on chairs made from rainbows, and more!” Sky groaned. “What? Those are totally necessary! They make the café all cute and everything!” I whined. Sky let out a loud groan as she yanked her fingers through her hair in frustration. “Look, Crystal. If you keep this up, we
will be out of business in a year,” Sky announced. “No! It can’t be!” I cried. “Sky, what are we going to do?” In despair, I grabbed Sky’s shoulders and began shaking her vigorously. “Okay, calm down. All we need to do is cut back on your spending and we should be fine,” Sky reassured me. “Really?” I perked up. “Yes, now please stop hugging me. Your tears are staining my dress.” “Yay! Thank you, Sky!” I joyfully yelled. I began to squeeze Sky tighter. “Can you please let go? Customers are staring,” Sky reminded. “Oh, oops! Talk to you later Sky, I have to start taking orders.” “Wait, don’t forget! We have a new coffee bean seller coming in. And this meeting needs to go well especially since our last seller quit,” Sky warned. “You can count on me!” I giggled as I gave her a playful wink and skipped over to the cash register. “Hello and welcome to Sprinkles Café! May I take your order?” Several hours later, a guy wearing deep red shades sauntered through the door. He was wearing a black leather jacket with the words “Martz Coffee Beanz” plastered on it. He approached the cash register and leaned against the counter. “Hi, cutie, I’m looking for a Witch named Crystal Wonderella,” he said, smirking. “That’s me! How may I help you?” I
Door Mouse: Incadescence stole the sword.
“Haunted,” Photograph by Eos
grinned. “I’m here to talk about coffee beans, but maybe we can talk a little about you instead?” he chuckled. “We should stick to business,” I nervously chuckled as I took out my sales notebook. The coffee bean seller (whom I had decided to call Sleazy Guy), Sky, and I all pulled a chair around one of doughnut tables as one of the fairy workers brought out little treats for us to munch on. “How much is a bag for your regular coffee beans?” Sky inquired. “We sell them for 25 fairy bucks each,” Sleazy Guy replied. “25? That’s insane!” I cried. “Hey, take it or leave it, sugar. But I recommend you take it because there aren’t a lot of coffee beans producers out there,” he smirked. “No way! These prices are outrageous,” Sky snarled. “Sorry sweetheart, the price isn’t changing, unless Crystal over here is willing to
House Of Cards By Stella
“Who the hell are you?” The blonde haired girl dropped her phone on the silky red bed and turned around. Her icy blue eyes were piercing and she had a cruel smile on her lips. The boy in question laughed, his long white hair flowing in the wind of the open window. His figure fit perfectly on the edge of the window and he wore a dark mask that revealed only his piercing red eyes and amused smirk. “No one in particular,” he juggled a ring of keys in his hands. “Just someone who’s going to steal this kingdom.” The girl’s eyes flashed. “How dare you?” With one swift motion, she threw a thin silver knife at the boy. “Heh.” He fell backwards, just barely avoiding the knife, and out the window, into the night. “Princess Dia,” a voice called. “You have to…” The blonde haired girl sat up “Spade! I know!” she snapped. The dark haired lowered his emerald eyes and bowed. “How’s Heart?”
go on a date with me,” he leered. “No way! The only person I’m going to date is Sky!” I declared. “Excuse me?” Sky said. “Awkward,” he mumbled. “You know what? We aren’t to accept a deal with a jerk like you!” I yelled at him. “Aw, that hurts me you know.” He brushed away a mock tear. “Yeah, well you can take your sad, soggy beans and leave!” I yelled. “You’re going to regret this sweetheart!” he snarled. “Oh yeah? Well take this!” I grinned. I swiftly pulled out my wand out of my cloak and pointed at the jerks face. “Elbellamozo!” A bright light flashed from my wand and a giant gust of wind shoved the Sleazy Guy onto the floor and out through the door. “I’ll be back!” His screams echoed from the distance. After the dust had settled down, everybody continued like nothing had hap“Her condition is presently stable.” Spade looked up. “Dia. Today is that day.” The princess looked away. “Yes. I know.” She quickly changed into a bright red dress and made her way to the throne room. After a few turns and a long walk, Dia opened the doors of the lavishly decorated throne room. Two boys, around her age were waiting inside. The taller one had long white hair and an elegance to him. The other had jet black hair and annoyed on his face. The taller one stood up and introduced himself. “A pleasure to meet you, Princess Dia. My name is Jack, of the Signum Kingdom.” He gestured to the boy next to him. “This is my younger brother, Clover.” “Can we just start?” Clover opened his notebook. “Back again? It’s been a week already,” the princess glared at the figure kneeling on her window. The mysterious boy had his hair in a ponytail tonight. He slid the keys across the floor. “I don’t have any use for these.” “Joker…” Dia’s eyes flamed with hatred. “Are you with Signum? I have no intention of handing Alae over to you.” The boy laughed and walked towards
pened. “Well… that was interesting.” Sky mumbled. “Don’t worry Sky! We will find someone else to sell us coffee beans!” I cheerfully said. I danced around Sky as she began collecting the leftover paperwork on the table. “I guess I’ll go look for more coffee bean businesses,” Sky sighed, as she began walking back to the counter. Then, she stopped and turned around to face me. “By the way, were you serious about only dating me?” “Of course!” I said with conviction. “…Okay, I’m just going… you… know,” Sky mumbled as she stumbled away. For the first time Sky seemed didn’t make eye contact to me, and I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure Sky was blushing!
Dia, his beautiful red eyes glowing. The princess backed into a wall and shut her eyes. “Look at me,” Joker tilted her head up and forced eye contact. “Princess...you don’t even know.” His eyes were a beautiful shade of scarlet and Dia lost herself in them. She felt herself heating up from the intensity in the beautiful boy’s face. He smirked and left through the decorated window, leaving the princess staring after the white haired boy. “Princess,” the mysterious boy was back again. Dia avoided looking up at him “Why’d you come back?” From the folds of his clothing, Joker pulled out a single red rose. “For you.” He smiled, his eyes dancing with light. “You…” Dia accepted it, her cheeks a warm pink. She shyly hugged him, letting her fingers run through his long white hair. The boy laughed and pulled Dia closer. “Dia…” he leaned into her and their lips touched, as silently as the moonlit night. Caught up in the kiss, the princess pushed the boy onto the red bed. Joker, caught off guard, stumbled and his dark mask flew off his face. Underneath his mask was a face Dia knew well. 7
“Jack?” “Dia,” Jack was sitting on her window again. The princess looked away. “Jack. If you’re Signum’s prince, I...I can’t…” The white haired boy closed the space between himself and his princess. “I don’t care about that. I didn’t come to Alae for that.” “Then why?” “The Black Hats,” Jack responded solemnly. At that name, Dia stood up. “They’re back? But Father…” “That’s why Clover and I came to Alae. The Black Hats are moving again. There’s a rumor that their leader is in Alae. Signum wants an alliance with Alae.” “I see,” Dia nodded. “Besides, Clover has a thing for Heart.” Dia whipped her head in Jack’s direction so fast that her blonde hair settled in front of her face. “My cousin??” The emerald eyed knight was sitting with Dia in the courtyard. “Spade, have
you heard? The Black Hats are on the move again.” The black haired knight looked cautiously at the princess. “No...I have not. I shall report this to the Town Hall.” Ding. Dia’s phone vibrated. “Spade. I must attend to business with the Signum princes. Keep me updated.” “I understand.” At that, Dia turned and rushed off. The knight sighed and made a call. “Princess Dia knows. If she finds out the truth, the war won’t happen as planned.” Spade leaned back. “Yes. Our usual meeting place, 8 PM, tonight.” The knight hung up and walked away, unaware that a white haired boy was watching. “Stay away from Spade,” Jack warned Dia. “He’s with the Black Hats.” Shock was written all over the blonde haired girl’s face. “What? Spade would never. We grew up together.” “Princess, trust me,” the white haired boy responded. “He plans to start war
Alice: I was with Hatter at the time of the crime so he definitely didn’t do it!
8 are all mad here,” Illustration by the Masked Lady “We
between Alae and Signum. When our kingdoms are in the midst of war, he plans to take this land for the Black Hats.” “What do we do?” the princess worriedly asked. “Pretend you do not know anything of him and his plans. Then…” Jack whispered in Dia’s ear. The princess, no, queen, looked Jack in his ruby red eyes. “I remember that like it was yesterday. How has it been 10 years already?” Dia shook her head and leaned her head on Jack’s shoulder. The plan had worked out perfectly and Spade was exiled for leading the Black Hats and manipulation of the princess. Heart’s condition got better and she ended up marrying Clover the same day Jack and Dia were married. They looked over their combined kingdom, the lands of Signum and Alae, united under Jack and Dia, the king and queen of the House of Cards.
Falling Snow By Tom Nguyen
This morning I woke To the sight of falling snow It was beautiful
HMscorpio: I saw something shiny in Incadescence’s backpack.
“Mystery,” Photograph by the Calico Cat
A Red Queen’s Legacy By Eos
“And here, y’all will find the Red Queen’s Castle. It’s a pretty nice loft if I say so myself; It went up on the market for a nice price, but then it was snatched up by the Red Queen, and shortly afterward all the other potential buyers were found mysteriously beheaded. Shame…” I begin to roll my eyes, but restrain myself with all my inner might. Just grit your teeth and play along, Matilda, I think to myself, This is what Mother would have wanted. Well, to be clear, she would have wanted me to enact my carefully calculated plan of events for today. Not to register for an all-day, expansive tour of Wonderland led by the resident yuppie/borderline creepy tour guide, Tweedledee (which is his actual name. I kid you not). But what she would not have understood is that this excruciating tour will be worth it in my plan. After all, Mother always did act impulsively. So that is how I find myself standing in front of the life-size chess board in the Red Queen’s courtyard with a gaggle of over-eager tourists, momentarily regretting every decision I previously made. In front of me, a middle-aged rabbit couple tries to take a picture with their smart watches, their restless and frantic movements ruining my view of the chess board. To my right, a girl who looks to be a relative of the White Queen takes a selfie with the monument marking where Alice once stood and battled the Red Queen. Alice. In my opinion, the girl is quite literally the definition of over-idolized, over-popularized, and just over-hyped here
in Wonderland, but the people here love her anyways, loyal as ever. That’s the thing about this place. People are always searching for someone to love, and someone to hate. Unfortunately for me, they chose someone to hate rather easily. Tweedledee abruptly interrupts my thoughts by waving a fleshy hand in my face. “Hey, Redhead! What planet are you on right now?” I proceed to exhale extremely slowly. Do not punch him, Matilda. Remain calm. This will be over in approximately 30 minutes. “So,” Tweedledee begins, “We are standing on the chess board where Alice knocked over the Red Queen’s card army. Shortly afterward, Alice left Wonderland, the Red Queen was beheaded, and the people of Wonderland celebrated with joy that the villainous dictator was slain!” “Um,” I say, breaking my promise to myself to remain silent, “I’ve done some, erm, research, and the Red Queen actually had an undiagnosed mental illness, which was why she had a violent streak. Instead of beheading her and parading her head around, what about establishing modern medical institutions in Wonderland? Hm?”
The rest of the touring group has paused to stare at me, and one of the rabbit’s smart watches slid off, sending the couple into a frantic tizzy. This is why I don’t talk in public. Tweedledee plays with his thumbs, avoiding eye contact. “Well, um, so about that, y’see, hm, yeah--” All of a sudden, the chess board begins to rumble. I check my watch. Approximately 12:00 P.M. Perfect. The tourists around me begin to scream as the rumbles grow louder, and I’m pretty sure Tweedledee is hiding behind a bush. With this distraction, I’ll be able to get to the castle easily. As I make my way to to the path that lies beyond the board, the White Queen girl who was in my group steps in front of me. “Where are you going?” Excellent. Just excellent. I put on a hopefully convincing look of fright and say, “Oh, I’m trying to look for an exit--I get really panicked in situations like this.” White Queen girl nods, with a hint of what I sense as skepticism. “Let me come with you then-I get rather panicky as well.” Cue the internal groans. This girl already senses something suspicious, so if I don’t take
her, she’ll probably tell the authorities I’m up to something. But if I do take her, will eight years of calculated planning ever since that fateful day all go down the drain? In situations like this, I do precisely the opposite of what Mother would have done. “Come on,” I say, “If we’re going to look for an exit, we should go now.” One part of meeting new people that I absolutely hate is the immediate awkward silence that follows as you attempt to search for a common ground. Add in a rumbling chess board, screaming tourists, and eight years of planning on the line and you have yourself an introvert’s worst nightmare. After five minutes that feel like years of awkwardly pushing through the tangled roots of the Red Queen’s unkempt back forest, White Queen girl speaks up. “So,” she says, smacking down a root in the way, “I wasn’t expecting to see anyone else on the tour alone. Just out of curiosity, why are you here?” I should have thought of a reliable white lie earlier in case a situation like this occurred. No matter how hard I try to shrug it off, Mother’s impulsive path will always
The Queen of Hearts: I don’t even care about the stupid sword! Why would I take it?
9 “Smile for the Camera,” Illustration by Dragonryder
follow me. “Um...I wanted to see the... apple trees?” Nice one, Matilda. That is quite possibly the best excuse you could have come up with. Spectacular. White Queen girl stops abruptly, coming face to face with me. “But...there aren’t any apple trees in the Red Queen’s castle?”
How Much I Hate Alice By Hmscorpio
Alice is such a sissy. She is spoilt rotten and only cares for herself in the entire story. How, you may ask? Well, she starts out being a very bored little girl who doesn’t do anything proactive to cure her boredom. Then, she trusts some sort of strange rabbit to go somewhere when she should have run away and avoided the talking rabbit as much as possible, but what do you know her impulsiveness makes her follow the rabbit down a strange, mysterious,
Before I can respond, I hear hurried footsteps behind me, followed by familiar yells, and my stomach drops. “Hey Ginger!” The remainder of the Red Queen’s card army yells, stumbling over roots, “We caused the diversion like you said. Sent the tourists into a frenzy, we tell ya!” I glance over at White Queen
girl quickly enough to see her slight suspicion turn into knowing disgust. The card army takes no notice, talking on. “So now that we did what you said, where’s our pay? You’re the Red Queen’s daughter after all, so where’s the big bucks?” I back into the roots, surrounded by the fruition of my
plan falling to pieces. Suddenly, a figure emerges from the bushes, a figure I know all too well. Blue dress, black shoes, and blonde, blonde hair. “People in this world are always searching for someone to love, and to hate. Fortunately for me, they chose to love me. But I can certainly help you...”
plus creepy hole. When she ends up in Wonderland, she decides to keep following the strange rabbit and ends up at a tea party. She trusts another creepy character to give her some tea (that might possibly be poison) and drinks it. She shrunk to itty bitty size. She eats a cake to that also might be poison and guess what she turns into a giant little girl. Bratty Alice cries and cries after the stupid decision she has made. Somehow, lucky her, a little fan causes her to shrink back down to her original size. The tears she created due to being so big caused a flood in Wonderland and she doesn’t care that the animal and birds
are suffering because of her tear flood. Congratulations Alice, you have frightened all the animals away because of your tears. Now the animals hate her (no wonder), and they throw pebbles at her that turn into small cakes. The punishment she was suppose to get turned out as a reward and again, the cakes turn her into a different size. She then confronts a caterpillar that tells her to eat mushrooms. Which, again that caterpillar looks like a guy she shouldn’t trust. She listens to the caterpillar anyway and eats the mushrooms. Alice ate the one that is miniscule and the other one that turns her into a giraffe. She uses math to eat
the mushrooms to get back to her normal height, which is the most sensible action she used in the story so far. Alice then happens to have a conversation with some sort of frog that lets her just go into another stranger’s house. The Duchess’ cook is a bad cook and gives them food with too much pepper in it. It causes Alice, The Duchess, and her baby to sneeze violently. The baby somehow turns into a piglet for some reason. A cartoonish and creepy cat tells her to go to The Mad Hatter’s house and then turns invisible with just the mouth floating in midair. I am still surprised that Alice did not think that it was all a night-
The Masked Lady: Why would Incadescence even need a sword? It makes no sense!
Caterpillar: Cheshire is a liar; don’t trust him. 10 “Wonder,” Illustration by Caboose
mare inside her brain. Alice shows up at the tea party and the whole scenario is pretty much turns out to be a gay couple just fighting for the sake of fighting. The couple just fights about nonsense and Alice gets tired of visiting Riddle World and again impulsively insults them. She doesn’t think about the chance that she might be beaten up if she insults their “family” dinner. Alice travels to a normal looking garden; she sees anthropomorphic poker cards that are doing something that plain doesn’t make any sense. The cards are turning white roses red. Why? Because the inflexible Queen of Hearts has an aversion to white roses for some random reason. More poker cards appear along with the White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts, and The King. The Queen of Hearts automatically doesn’t like something she sees and wants to behead it. Alice is then invited by the royal court to play a croquet game with animal abuse. Real life flamingos are used as mallats and hedgehogs are the balls. While playing the game Alice once again see the creepy Cheshire Cat. The Queen of Hearts then wants someone to chop the cat’s head off and then The Queen’s executioner confronts her to say that if he chops off the cat’s head nothing will be seen. Huh? Since the cat belongs to the Duchess, the Queen of Hearts has to release the Duchess from prison to make the whole situation go away. So, there is such thing as a Magna Carta in Wonderland. Alice demands that the Duchess shall be brought to the croquet game and asks the Duchess annoying questions about her life. Soon after The Queen of Hearts automatically dismisses Alice on the
threat of execution. Yeah, Alice someone finally wanted to kill you because of the fact that you are so obnoxious and irritating. The Queen then introduces her to another animal character that has little to no relevance. The character takes Alice to a creature called The Mock Turtle. The Mock Turtle is sad and contemplates on his life how he used to be a “real” turtle in school, which the irrelevant character interrupts to play another stupid or silly game. The game isn’t really a game as in it is more of a performance where the Mock Turtle and irrelevant character dances to some sort of stupid animal dance, while Alice chants incorrectly a song that has to go with the dance. The Mock Turtle, then sings a boring song, while the irrelevant character takes Alice to some sort of court trial. Alice arrives with some sort of judge that accuses her of stealing something precious from the Queen that most people won’t care about. The Jury, which is some sort of zoo, makes the obvious judgement to tell Alice that she is guilty or not guilty. During the proceedings, Alice mysteriously starts growing again for some apparent reason, but with no explanation like the beginning of the story. An animal scolds Alice that it is illegal to grow cartoonishly at at inappropriate time. Which her know-it-all personality tells the animal to shut up because every living thing grows. Well, this is obviously an absurd fantasy story after all. Alice is called up as a witness and accidently knocks over the jury box with tiny animals trapped inside. The King orders the animals to get back in the box quickly before the trial continues.
Alice suddenly breaks a law that pretty much says that she is too tall to be inside of this court and is ordered to leave. Alice fights with both the monarchs and keeps on doing it until the Queen of Hearts is to behead Alice (which she loves to do). Alice, the too brave and egotistical, insults the court as just playing cards and they start to swarm over her. Alice wakes up from a nightmare, which pretty much any little girl could have. The leaves are metaphorically the
playing cards and it was all just a dream. The End. All in all from this wellknown story is the cliche ending that it is all just a dream just like many stories or episodes in a tv series such as the Wizard of Oz, Phineas and Ferb, Spongebob Squarepants, and a not well-known tv movie called the Devil’s Arithmetic which maybe I’ll do a rant about in the May issue of the magazine. So just a nightmare and that’s the end of the story. Bye-bye.
Andromeda: I saw Alice at a cafe the day of the crime and Hatter was not with her!
Mad Hatter: The Queen was not in her castle the day of the crime. So she has no alibi! “Down the Rabbit Hole,” Photograph by Incadescence 11
“Cheshire Eyes,” Illustration by Celia Bowen
Celia Bowen: It was not any of the Midnight Writers.
Incadescence: I heard the Mad Hatter’s hat business wasn’t doing very well. And the sword could be sold for a good price to repay his debt.
The Rabbit Hole By Andromeda
The wide opening Swallows girl and rabbit whole Everything changes
Cheshire Stare By Eos
White Rabbit: I saw Incadescence near the scene of the crime before the sword was stolen. “Falling Alice,” Illustration by Celia Bowen 12
I could feel their eyes Boring into my back Ever since I arrived at this school That has greeted me like a foreign planet With its cold, alien stares I understood that being the new kid would be hard. But not this hard. Confined in friendless territory, Stranded in the laser stare of Those who know me, but do not really know me Only through careless glances Do they ever make an attempt to see me. I feel like Alice, in a Wonderland That hinges on a lonely nightmare, Followed by Cheshire eyes.
The Soul Sucker part 1 By Andromeda
Henry is on his way home from school, his hands clenched tightly around the backpack slung over his shoulders. He tries to walk quickly, his feet tapping speedily across the dry pavement. Today he had left school a little earlier than usual, managing to sneak out fifteen minutes before class ended. His head feels heavy thinking of the consequences of his actions. If he didn’t take the beating today, it would be way worse tomorrow. But he just couldn’t take the physical punishment he knew was waiting just around the corner. Not today. “Hey, trash boy, wait up!” Henry jumps and begins walking faster, his heart rate skyrocketing. He hadn’t left early enough. Billy and the rest of his buddies were already here. Crap, crap crap crap. Suddenly a hand yanks his shirt from behind, and Henry chokes when his collar is jerked tightly against his throat. His feet skid to a stop as he’s turned around and pulled up by his collar. His face is forced upward to look into the cold eyes of Billy Murray. “Hey didn’t you hear? I was calling you,” Billy snaps. “S-sorry” Henry stutters, and tugs lightly on one of the earbuds still in his ears, pasting a placating smile on his face “I couldn’t hear you….” Billy stares at him, and there’s a dangerous pause of silence before, his face breaks into a wide blinding grin. “Well why didn’t you just say so?” Henry breathes a sigh of relief knowing that Billy had bought his lie, or, at the very least didn’t care enough to make a big deal about it. Billy’s mood swings tend to be unpredictable. One moment he could act like your best friend, the next you’d find your face smashed against the pavement. “Hey, Billy! You found trash boy?” Henry doesn’t have to turn his head to recognize the loud footsteps of the rest of his tormentors, and Billy’s friends, Eric and Michael. “Yeah I got him,” Billy laughs, and slings a tight arm around Henry’s shoulder, making him stiffen and squirm
uncomfortably. Billy’s hand squeezes only play with Henry when his mom tightly on his shoulder, “He almost ran off brought him around, because to get along without us!” with Henry, the school pariah, was social “What? But we’re his best friends,” suicide. Although Michael may have hung smirks Eric “Why’d he wanna go home out with him out of convenience and borewithout us?” dom, it still stung knowing he too thought “Sorry, I just really needed to go home so little of him. Michael didn’t have to be early today, my mom needs help around friends with Billy, no one forced him into the house. She’s sick.” it, he just didn’t care. Not about Henry. “Ah, come on, I’ll think she’ll underNot about their friendship. stand if you make a little time for your He hated Michael most of all. best friends don’t you think?” “S-sorry, I forgot it.” Billy gives him an“I mean, I guess.. B-But---” other hard kick, mercilessly knocking the Billy uses his arm to steer Henry in the wind out of Henry. He gasps and clutches direction he wants to move in, “Great, his abdomen, shrinking into himself. let’s go!” “Forgot or didn’t want to?” Henry’s head smacks against the hard “Forgot…” stone wall, hard enough to cause a bruise. Billy leans down and looks him straight He’s forced to catch his breath as his in the eye, his blue eyes clashing with stomach is kicked in, and he slumps onto Henrys, Henry dares not look down. the dirty alleyway floor. This always “Liar.” happened. Everyday they’d pretend he Henry holds his breath as he waits for was their friend in public, but as soon as the beating he knows is about to come. they could find a secluded place, an empty “Hey you think we could wrap this up? hallway, a bathroom, an alley, they’d beat I got to get home soon.” him. Billy and Henry both turn their heads to Every. Single. Day. look at Michael, he’s looking at Billy with Bastards. an impatient expression on his face. “I thought I told you to bring money “Then go, no one’s stopping you,” Trash Boy? You gonna pretend you didn’t responds Eric. hear me that time too?” “Nah,” says Billy, standing up. “I gotta Henry looks up to meet the eyes of his get home too, I need to get started early tormentors. Billy loomes over him, a tall on homework.” and ominous figure. Billy was the stronEric sighs, “Alright, fine, but I’m comgest of the group, standing at 6’2, blonde ing to your house to study.” haired and blue eyed. He excelled both “That’s cool man. Oh, and Trash boy? academically and physically, and could Don’t forget next time, or I’ll really make have been pretty popular, if it wasn’t for “Madness Within,” Illustration by Purple Nights his erratic and violent behavior. “Look at him, he’s all dirty now. He really is a trash boy!” laughs Eric. Eric is standing closely behind Billy, smirking as he watches him beat Henry. Eric was neither smart nor good looking, and outside of Billy there was nothing special about him. That’s why he was always sticking around Billy, like a parasite, hoping if he hangs around the golden boy long enough, maybe one day he might also become remarkable. Michael is standing the farthest behind, watching impassively. His back is leaning against the far wall and his hands are positioned casually in his pockets. When they were in elementary school, Michael and Henry had been friends. Their moms were extremely close, often spending time together as neighbors. Michael would 13
you regret it.” In the next, second Billy’s fist strikes violently against Henry’s face. Henry’s fingers hover around the angry black and blue mass of swollen flesh gracing his left eye. It was so swollen he can barely make out the blurry outlines of people walking past him on the street, staring curiously at his face. It throbbed too painfully for Henry to really want to touch it. Billy must have hit him as hard as he could this time. What do I tell mom? He could tell her the truth. He needed her. He needed her to understand, to comfort him. To tell him it was okay, that he wasn’t ugly, that he wasn’t stupid, or retarded, or trash. And she would hug him, and act completely distraught. Then she would cry. Then she would cry, and could no longer pretend she didn’t see how Henry limped in through the doorway sometimes. She couldn’t pretend she hadn’t accidentally seen the bruises marring his chest. She couldn’t look away everytime he ‘took a fall down the stairs’ or ‘tripped
14
in the hallway.’ She couldn’t just tell him to ‘be more careful.’ And then Henry’s mom would have one more thing to worry about after coming home late everyday, to no husband, and a son who was now being bullied at school…. He would just tell her he caught his eye on the cupboard door handle. It just so happens that at this time, that on the opposite street, Michael is crossing the a short ways behind Henry. He is on his phone, engrossed in whatever. A game, a conversation, It doesn’t really matter. What does matter is the car swerving unsteadily behind him, coming in at top speed. Henry turns to look behind him as he hears the car approaching. He can see Michael, standing right there as the car gets closer and closer. He opens his mouth to cry out, to warn Michael, and suddenly he remembers the uncaring, impatient expression on Michaels face when Billy beat him. Henry doesn’t call out. Michael looks up just in time to feel the car connect with his body. He goes flying, and tumbles roughly against the
front of the car, rolling across the front window. The screeching of braking tires is simultaneous against the sound of broken glass and shattered bones. Michael’s body continues over the car and lands on the black pavement with a splat! The car speeds away. Henry is momentarily stunned as he stares open mouthed at Michaels unmoving body. It’s not until he hears the scream of the woman next to him, that he moves into action. He rushes to Michaels body, getting a better look at the mangled and bloody mess left behind in the cars wake. Henry collapses to the ground on Michaels side. “SOMEBODY CALL THE COPS! SOMEBODY-” Henry’s phrase is cut short. Suddenly he’s overtook with the most exhilarating and euphoric feeling. He can’t describe it. He can’t even understand it as he’s absolutely flooded with energy, and thoughts, and memories. Michael’s memories. Henry will never be the same.
“Madness,” Manga by Aya Hatashima (Read from right to left)
Santa, Not Satan Part 6 By Incandescence Ever since Hell had frozen over on Valentine’s Day, Ulhua, thanks to Serafina’s generosity and powers bestowed upon her at birth due to her father being Satan, had been magically whisked away from her home planet Oecury to Earth. There, she met Patches and gave him chocolates. They spent that day together, talking until the early morning. Patches was already smitten, but he could feel himself fall further and further with each blindingly pretty smile Ulhua entrusted him with. He was pretty sure very few other beings on planet Earth had this honor. To him, Ulhua was so far out of his league that they didn’t even exist in the same galaxy (they literally didn’t, as Earth was in the Milky Way galaxy and Oecury was in the Messier 601 galaxy). It would be kind of like a rock getting together with Mount Everest, you know? But despite all of Patches’s insecurities, and the fact that he had acted like a complete fool the first time they had met, Ulhua seemed to like him. And now, after an entire month where Patches had ample opportunity to spend time with Ulhua, they had grown closer. So close, in fact, that the day before Ulhua was scheduled to depart to Oecury, she invited him with her, wanting to show him around her planet. Ecstatic at the thought of being with Ulhua longer and of delaying their inevitable goodbye, Patches jumped at this chance. Now, he was dashing around his room, hastily trying to pack his bag. Rummaging through his closet, he came upon the tuxedo he had worn exactly once, at the annual Heaven
and Hell Holiday Party. Would he need this? Better to be safe than sorry. He yanked the suit off the hanger and rolled it into a ball before stuffing it in his bag. That should be enough for the trip. Just then, Steve, his demon mentor, appeared in his room. Patches definitely did not jump in surprise. “Hey man, remember how we made a mutual agreement to knock and not to just appear randomly in each other’s rooms?” Taking the snapback off his head, Steve ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Patches, we have an emergency.” Immediately, Patches straightened up. The last time he had heard Steve use this serious tone was decades ago, during The Great Flood. And with Steve normally being unflappable, well, this really was serious. “Princess Serafina is missing.” Patches was stunned. “What do you mean missing?” Steve, in his agitation, starting pacing around the room. “I mean, she’s gone. Disappeared.” “Well, what do we do? How could the Princess of Hell just disappear? Was she kidnapped?” Patches demanded. Steve shook his head. “Apparently, she had a huge argument with her dad several days ago. The next day, she couldn’t be found. And now she’s been gone for 3 days. It seems like she’s not coming back anytime soon.” He turned around and looked Patches in the eye. “We can’t let anyone else know about this. Otherwise, Satan’s ex will be really angry. And, well, we all know what happened the last time that happened. And we especially can’t let the angels know either. They’ll use this as evidence that Hell is so bad that even the Princess hates it here.”
“So! I need your help. Satan has pretty sure Serafina’s gone to Wonderland, since that’s where her aunt is. And we all know that her aunt doesn’t really like Satan, and won’t tell Satan anything. Also, it’s the one place where she knows she’s welcome and where Satan can’t go. Satan has tasked me with finding her and bringing her back.” Patches nodded. “Of course!” But what about Ulhua? He had been so excited to go to Oecury. He couldn’t just abandon her, especially when their relationship was still so new. Still, his job as a demon and his loyalty towards Satan came first. “But, thing is, I was going to visit Oecury with Ulhua. What am I supposed to tell her?” Patches said, forlorn. Steve looked at Patches’s disappointed face. “I guess she can come with us,” he said, shrugging. “After all, she did help find the tree topper at the Heaven and Hell party; we could probably use her help.” “Really? Thanks!” whooped Patches, diving in to hug Steve. Then, he teleported to Ulhua’s room in her host family’s house. Ulhua was sitting on the bed, meditating. Hearing Patches come in, she opened her eyes. Patches strode towards the bed. “Look, something came up. Princess Serafina has gone missing, and we have to find her and bring her back to Hell. I know we were supposed to go to Oecury, but this is really important.” Ulhua tilted her head to one side, thinking. “It would be acceptable to postpone our trip to my planet, as this is your duty. In addition, as she was the one to bring me to Earth on the fourteenth day of February, I shall repay the favor by helping with this request.” The next morning, Ulhua,
Patches, and Steve all met at the local café. While the barista, Mitch, made Steve a macchiato, Steve explained what they were going to do. “As we all know, Satan can’t go to Wonderland. But demons can. The way the realms are set up is Heaven sits at the top, which is the First Realm. The Second Realm is the Human world. Wonderland is the Third Realm, and Hell is the Fourth. So we’re going to go to the nearest portal, which is off one of the nearby hiking trails, and enter through there. I’ve never been there before, so we’ll just try to make our way to the castle from there. I don’t really know what to expect, but I’ve heard crazy things.” Then, grabbing the finished drink and stuffing a generous tip into the jar beside the cash register, Steve put his sunglasses on and stepped out of the cafe. After riding the hoverbus to the trail, they set off. About half an hour into the trail, Steve broke away from the path to where an abandoned cottage stood. In the cottage’s garden stood a well. “Well, guess this is it.” Steve jumped in. Ulhua and Patches peered in. There was nothing but darkness. Then, Ulhua climbed on top of the well and stepped forward, dropping in. Patches did the same. Instead of cupboard, bookshelves, and pianos that were found in the original Alice in Wonderland story, there were signs. Since they were falling quite fast, there were hard to read. But Patches was able to make out one sign saying Please be ready to show your travel documents and identification, while another read Liquids must be in travel sized containers that are 3.4 ouncContinued on Next Page
15
es (100 milliliters) or less. Yet another declared Playing cards, flamingo mallets, and hedgehog croquet balls are prohibited. Other than the signs were countless papers swirling in the air. Patches reached out his hand to snag one, and found that it was a document he had to fill out for a Wonderland visa. He then caught a pen and began filling it out. They fell for quite a long time. Patches had the time to finish the travel papers, despite the fact that it ran onto 6 other pieces of paper, front and back. At last, he smacked into a bed and sprung up in the air to land on his feet well, kinda. He would’ve fallen over had Steve not grabbed him right before his face high fived the white marble floor. As Steve hauled him upright, Patches scanned the room. They had landed in an expansive room that was completely white. The imposing columns seemed to go on for eternity, and as Patches tilted his head back, he discovered that the ceiling was so high that at first glance there didn’t appear to be one. There was a very long line of travelers waiting to go through the entrance to Wonderland. But before that, they had to go through multiple security checkpoints, turn in their paperwork, and go through questioning. Guards were everywhere; they wore silver suits of armour and had chess piece heads. Steve, Ulhua, and Patches joined the line. It moved torturously slowly. Most of those in line were returning to Wonderland. As Patches scanned the line, he found that Ulhua was the only one not from the First, Third, or Fourth Realms. Oh! That’s right! Other than a select few, Humans were forbidden from Wonderland. Then what would they think of Ulhua? She wasn’t really 16
part of the Second Realm, but that was the closest equivalent of what Ulhua was on Oecury. Would they let her in? When they had to show their travel documents and ID, the guard (who had a rook head) seemed confused. Patches and Steve passed without question, but as Ulhua was the first person from Oecury to ever visit Wonderland, he wasn’t quite sure what to make of her ID. Plus, she had filled out the form Oecurian, not English. Then shrugging, and he waved her on. The guard knew what Humans looked like, and Ulhua, with her golden skin and golden hair, was definitely not. Then, they each had to step up to one of the numerous kiosks, which was manned by a variety of beings, and be questioned about their stay. Patches was directed to a kiosk. The frog sitting inside the cubicle didn’t even bother lifting his head to look at him, too busy looking over Patches’s papers and passport. “What is the purpose of your visit?” the frog demanded. “Oh, uh, vacation?” Patches said. “How long will you be staying in Wonderland?” Patches considered. “About a week?” That should give them plenty of time to track down Serafina and bring her back. “Are you carrying any poisons, playing cards, mallets, or croquet balls?” Patches stared at the frog. Why in Hell would he have any of that? “Um, no.” “Okay, look at the camera please.” The camera took a picture, and Patches was finally done with the tedious security process. But he was worried about Ulhua. He went to the kiosk that Ulhua was at, close enough that he could hear what the fish doing the questioning was saying to her. Ulhua had already answered
the same questions that Patches had previously. But the fish took his time looking at her documents. Like the guard from before, he seemed nonplussed and unsure of what to make of Ulhua. The fish pursed his lips. “Are you from the Second Realm?” “No,” answered Ulhua honestly. “Hmmm…” the fish was still trying to decide what to do. Then, assuming that she was just some type of angel with some dialect Enochian that he’d never seen before, he brought down his fin to stamp her passport. “Alright then, enjoy your vacation in Wonderland.”
Ulhua joined Steve and Patches on the other side. Just a little further down was an imposing set of gates. Like the ceiling in the waiting room, it was as tall as the eye could see. This was the entrance to Wonderland. Just then, the rook guard from before burst through the crowd. “She’s not from this planet! Stop them!” Steve pushed Ulhua and Patches in the direction of the gates, which were beginning to close. “Run!”
To Be Concluded...
“Satan’s Sixth Gift,” Illustration by The Masked Lady