"Alice"

I felt a cool breeze travel down the hairs that complimented my spine. Tiny goose bumps raced over my scalp and onto the surface of my arms. I curled my toes that lay hidden in my floral sneakers. I propped up my backpack up and slip my fingers between school books to find one of my favorite books, “Alice in Wonderland.” As I flip the pages, I feed my imagination endless imagery that plays a movie in my brain. I thought of the sassy caterpillar that spoke to Alice in the tree and yet how polite she remained. The poor rabbit that always seemed to be in some sort of hurry, my mother would use a voice that made her out of breath as she would read all the sentences that belonged to him. I stopped to admire the scenery outside the small boxed window and remembered she promised me a rabbit after my trip. A man with a cart stopped near my seat and turned to offer me pretzels and soda. Taking the items and smiling politely I notice he was awkwardly shaped as if he may have been a fictional character from my book. If I was unaware of how diverse the human species could be, I may have mistaken him for half man and half cat. He had long finger nails that reminded me of claws and facial hair unevenly placed on his cheeks that had me question if they were whiskers. I turned the cap on my bottled soda and notice the fizz creates almost a hissing noise into my ear drums. The man smiled and I noticed his teeth were slightly sharpened as cats may have been. He continued down the aisle with his cart to offer the other guests snacks as well. I looked at my watch and realized how late it was. I dug into my back pack for the jacket my mother gifted me for one of my many birthdays. I started to make myself comfortable and made a bed onto the row of seats that were empty in front of me. I gently placed the book into my back pack and tucked it under my seat. As I began to lie down I heard the gentleman with the cart come back down the aisle. He offered me a blanket and a pillow to rest with. I took the items from his hands, “I can’t remember ever receiving this type of hospitality, thank you.” He smiled and replied “it’s a special occasion.” I found myself asking for his name. “Grimm.” I shook his hand “Alice.” He looked over at my book “ah. Like the girl in the story.” Nodding my head, “yes just like the book, but I’ve never been to any sort of wonderland.” He smiled at me and politely stated “I’m not sure about that.” He pushed his cart through the aisle and passed onto the other part of the train. His words bounced back and forth in my brain. I started to think about all the places I’ve explored through trains. I’ve always had a more enjoyable trip on the train than the actual trips themselves, mostly because I couldn’t remember my trips. I looked around and noticed a boy sitting by himself a few rows ahead of me. I’m not sure why I didn’t notice him before. He is also sitting by the window and he has sadness curled into his face. I wasn’t sure when I would ride the train again, since it was my eighteenth birthday. I found myself walking towards the seat next to him, “is this seat taken?” he didn’t move his eyes from the window “yes.” My eyes wandered over the empty seats that surrounded him. I turned around to go back to my seat when I heard his voice “I don’t bother making friends with strangers.” Without turning my head I replied “I wouldn’t be a stranger if we became friends.” My feet didn’t move from their spot as I awaited his reply. “You don’t know, do you?” I felt an uncertainty creep into my existence, “know what?” I heard him let out a large sigh and then a small chuckle. I felt that breeze from before slither through my flesh and my heart started to race. His words left a disgusting fear in my ears that created a panic in my being. This type of fear reminded me of my mother. My mother lived in fear constantly, but we read books to cope with her anxiety. Time machines with pages would take us on countless adventures. The first time I had to ride the train she stayed on the phone with me the whole time and she kept crying. I wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone or get up for any reason, even to use the restroom. In that moment I felt uncertain, the most uncertain I had ever been in my life. Why had I been riding this train in the first place and why couldn’t I remember my trips. Questions started to fester in my being and I didn’t feel calm at all. I turned around so fast I tripped onto the floor; I scrambled to get myself up when I saw a hand reach out in front of me. “Let me help you miss.” I recognized the voice and it belonged to Grimm. “Thank you” I said as he lifted me up I noticed the boy was gone. “Excuse me Grimm, but was there a passenger in that seat over there?” He looked at me and shook his head. “Perhaps you’re tired Alice, let’s get you back to your seat so you can rest.” I began to lie down; I hadn’t realized how tired I was. My eyelids became heavy and I began to drift to sleep when I felt Grimm cover me up with a blanket and whisper “sleep tight Alice, don’t let the souls from purgatory bite.” The fear inside my heart spread to the core of my existence and I felt it consume my soul.