! BOOK III.
! ! ! !
By Mackenzie Keenan
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BOOK III. ALICES EVIDENCE By Mackenzie Keenan
! ! Contents ! CHAPTER I. The Tea parties Testimony ! CHAPTER II. Through the Looking Glass CHAPTER III. The Rabbits first Visit CHAPTER IV. The Caterpillars Rules i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. ix. x.
Entry Hallway Lobby Movement Filing Conference calls Printing Relaxation Meetings Emails
CHAPER V. I'm late, I'm late for the next important date.
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CHAPTER I. The Tea parties Testimony She was distracted by the sharp clank of her shoes on the pavement; she kicked off them off and felt her footsteps fade away, sliding her toes between the blades of grass and melting into oblivion. Wonderland felt closer then ever, she thought back to her childhood and the book her mother once read her “Alice and Mackenzie visit Wonderland,” its illustrations stirred her creative spirit and the obsession only grew. She thought back to the downtown rabbit-hole and all the possibilities, how curious it was that she visited thousands of times before even a spark ignited. Then, how all at once she discovered the characters of her books at the site. The mad hatter, with his long grey plaits and a prominent moko on his face, he carried a walking stick and wore a long black coat and hat, the cheshire cat, staunch but sly as he walked to a nearby bus, the red umbrella with matching pursed lips belonging to the rather prude Queen of hearts, tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum waddling around and drinking their bowls of cold cappuccino, the two white rabbits scurrying across the city, dressed in crisp black suits and lastly the languid, sleepy caterpillar that asked much to many questions. These questions lingered with her and gave cause for her very own downtown wonderland.. ‘Who are you?’ 'I — I hardly know, sir, just at present — at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.’ What do you mean by that?' said the Caterpillar sternly. 'Explain yourself!’ I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, sir' said Alice, 'because I'm not myself, you see…’ In a world of reality and rules why can’t we bring a sense of illusion, distortion and madness to our city? Why can’t the reality of mundane office tasks become the center of our day, the most extraordinary parts of life that make us never want to leave at night. Why can’t office life be as magical as a parallel world like wonderland?
CHAPER II. Through the Looking Glass
CHAPER III. The Rabbits first visit
I.
ENTRY
Crisp, quiet mornings wait patiently to be inhabited by chaos; a single soul makes his way through the silence, lost in the patchwork pavement, splotched with last night’s showers. Cold coffee and faded dreams wandering towards the chance of something new. The silence didn’t last and he took one last swig from the coffee flask, distorted reflections stared back at him, he made his move. Before the mouth of the entranceway sees you, he hears you. The scrape of the sole of your shoe on the concrete reverberates softly up the linear panels, it becomes muffled as it reaches the angles which sharply swallow its vibrations, just enough to draw you in further. The wide space gives a confronting yet esoteric view of what lays in front, with the doors made for giants in a time before such cites existed. 11-‐19 Customs Street West is what reads on the front entrance as you walk up the polished dark steps and enter you go, into a word much more unfamiliar than your own…
II.
HALLWAY
Trigonometry engulfs you as you enter the hallway, the rough angled wall will leave you claustrophobic if you are not familiar with the unexpected. Shadows strike the floor as light forces its way through a crack in the ceiling. As the pathway narrows, mouths open on your left that lead to degustation, while on your right security is restored with simplicity in the form of a single wall to guide you along.
III.
LOBBY
You walk into a cracked diamond. Shards of space litter this dark and empty space and the sound of your heels reflect off the surrounding ornaments. If you’re head isn’t clear of thought, a migraine will take you over, as the unknown causes you to grit your teeth. The obscure structures create shadows that remind you of a nightmare you had when you were seven though still manage to hold an aspect of such beauty while the oddly placed staircase is the only solitude that can take you out of this diamond in the rough.
IV. MOVEMENT
V. FILING As they reached what the man called an office he was again struck with delight. Loud, busy, movement a long room, which seemed never ending it had no chairs or desks just materials folded seamlessly creating curves and crevices for people to sit in, paperwork had never looked so appealing Not so much a room, as a space of absolute volumetric infinity. You fail to categorise an end or beginning to this haven of visionary expenditure. So suddenly, so effortlessly, the creative trickle becomes a cascading tidal wave. You feel the warmth of paper cuts and people and fluttering expectations, and quotas and names and vehement ambition -‐ a tonic to societies downtrodden. But there are no outcasts here. Only a curving, falling, undulating stream of walls the envelops all within the same wave.
VI. CONFERENCE CALLS
VIII. RELAXATION
IX. MEETINGS
VII. PRINTING A man collected him and summoned him upstairs, he took one of the puzzling sets of stairs. Felt like he was walking upside down, walked past what seemed to be a printer, looked up above the printer, the most beautiful array of tinted glass glistened as a slit of light penetrated the neighboring wall. He could see that where the sun moved it reflected of different panes of glass creating different colours as the day proceeded blue, yellow, red, purple, and pink it was unlike anything he had seen before As we climb you feel like you are inside time itself. With no need to look down at your wrist due to the different colours that shine through the tints your mood is affected accordingly. Should you try to step inside? No, for you shall tumble, christened by a holy shower of hues that will expel a rainbow and reflect in its shards some ecclesiastical splendour. It shall throw your reflection back, for you are still a secular entity in a divine body, rejected, not yet belonging to this paradox of crystal, but not entirely separate. You do not understand this infrastructure, and should you? Within this labyrinth of glass, you feel the pressing of paper only oppressing your shoulders and thoughts. Every facet you face in this space, faces you back, as if to exclaim “tell me sir, is it me you seek to understand? For first you must understand the creator, to know the creation first-‐hand.”
X.
EMAILS
They moved to a room vertical in height, it was darker more relaxing, the flicker of laptop screens in the background, quiet, soft concrete walls. One foot inside the door and you feel a softness drizzling into your joints like honey. Second foot and your heart is slowing. One arm, one leg, your blood is warming. Second arm, another step, your thoughts are fading. You shift from virtual to real, real to virtual in a motion that both dizzies and dazzles you. An extended state of sedation and meditation, and a ceiling that only promises oblivion. How your mind zigzags and pauses with the notions of your surroundings, but oh, how pleasant it is to feel this rolling sensation illuminated by blue light and graphite.
CHAPER IV. The Caterpillars Rules
CHAPER V. I’m late, I’m late for the next important date.