A Wonderlandish Corner/32

Alice was confused—rather like someone had pressed Copy, hovered over Paste, and misplaced her into her-e, t-her-e, and somew-her-e—a glitch so thoroughly Wonderlandish, even the letters couldn’t resist joining the chaos and scattering her everywhere.

She probably no longer held a charge after the rock concert, yet a faint disappointment still managed to cling to her soul at once.

“Ah—what a little quiet garden,” she sighed. “How exceedingly tiresome.”

Adrift in that Wonderlandish corner, her thoughts  drifted to another: one where the King still rocked, denim-clad and splendidly anomaly. So curious.

Soon she found herself among mushrooms—dozens upon dozens—some upright, some bowing politely, some lying flat, and many gossiping. The air was cool and sweetly mossy, laced with the earthy scent of petrichor.

Amid the calm, the garden blinked once, unfolding its array of compound eyes, recording her every step—live and alert, like a swarm of flying cameras.

A little mushroom popped up suddenly, shuddered, lifted its cap, and emitted a tiny test ping—immediately chased by a kinetic notification rippling across the garden.

Then—pop, pop, pop—a dozen mushrooms lifted their caps in reply, each sending out its own tiny echo-ping.

Something grand for Alice was on the way—gloriously grand, and doomed the instant the Caterpillar began with his first move.

Alice’s mind hummed along on minimal resources, calm—or perhaps merely bored—much like the garden itself.

Somewhere behind the scene, the garden pinged the flying cameras:

“Wrong recording date. Revert to today. Do not film the crochet game—though you might find it entertaining—and stop sending heart-shaped reactions.” 

So hilariously busy. 

Pop, Pop, Pop,

Echo-Ping.

Coming up next--

A Smoky Start 

Thick Hookah Smoke 

Corrupted His Face

A surreal chapter in Alice’s digital dreamscape.