💯 STORY CHALLENGE
Alice in Harm’s Way
No 2 — Tales from Underland
“Harm’s Way, Forbidden County,” daddy read the half-rotten sign. “Here we finally are.”
“Duh!” Alice’s sister replied sarcastically. ”Home sweet home!”
“I like your spirit! This will be a major tourist attraction, casino, and theme park in no time!”
Alice felt happy that her father was so excited. But why wasn’t mommy happy? She stared empty-eyed at the half-rotten buildings as the car rolled slowly into the ghost town.
Daddy stopped in front of a large building. An old sign hung over the double wing door. Most of the colours had long flaked off, but Alice could still recognise the flourishing letters advertising the abandoned “Harm’s Way Saloon”.
“There we are, girls!” daddy announced. “Why don’t you two explore the town while mommy and I check out the rooms?”
“Adventure!” Alice shouted excitedly.
“Duh!” was all her sister managed to dignify Alice’s excitement.
“But remember, girls,” daddy said and winked, “stay out of harm’s way!”
“This place is amazing!”
Alice’s eyes widened in disbelief. She had just discovered a worn cowboy hat and a cavalry sabre in an old chest in the Sheriff’s Office. She posed in front of an old mirror speckled with rust and dirt.
“I am the awesome General Alice!”
Then, she saw a movement in the mirror, a white blur leaving the building. She stormed out waving the antique weapon, chasing imaginary train robbers.
A few houses down to her right, she saw mommy unloading a box from their van. Alice imagined it to be very heavy because her mother folded under the weight.
She saw the white blur disappearing behind a building to her left, leaving town. Undecisive, she paused. Should she follow the mystery or show mommy her treasure? “Stay out of Harm’s Way!” her father had said. It was a riddle! He wanted her to explore the surrounding area.
When Alice reached a massive tree outside the settlement, she felt exhausted and frustrated. Her mystery had disappeared. She was ready to return to mommy and daddy.
“Dammit, I am running out of time!”
There it was again, but now it appeared like an insubstantial man dressed in white pelts.
“This really is a ghost town,” Alice whispered.
Her tiredness all but forgotten, she set after the ghost until it stopped in front of an old mine. It pulled an antique oil lamp out of a large sack, and with a snap of its fingers, a silvery light appeared. It was one of the most beautiful things Alice had ever seen. The ghost seemed more substantial in the mysterious light.
“Hey! Please wait for me!”
The ghost turned around and looked at her, surprised and slightly annoyed like her sister always did.
“What do you want, girl? I am running out of time!”
“I thought you were a ghost, but now you look like a man.”
“I am a ghost in your world, the spirit of endeavour that existed when this town was built,” the man said, “I died like the spirits of so many things in your world. But here, at the threshold to Underland, I am a trapper in white rabbit pelts again.”
“Underland?”
“Forget what I said, girl. Forget what you saw. Nothing good will come from this.”
He looked up at the sun, his expression serious.
“I must hurry and bring what she desires. Else the price will be too high.”
He turned and walked into the mine.
“Forget everything. Nothing good will come from this!”
“But …,” Alice shouted, “Who are you talking about?”
“The Queen of Hearts. She wants her sacrifice.” his voice was nothing but a whisper now.
“Sacrifice?”
He didn’t answer. The only way to satisfy that nagging feeling inside her was to follow him.
“Wait for me!”
Alice took a deep breath and stepped into the mine. It was dark and cold as if an invisible force kept the warm sunlight out. The world outside seemed hidden behind a veil.
She followed the faint silvery light of the ghost’s lamp, roughly outlining the tunnel ahead. The distance to the light grew with every second until she was alone in the dark. Alice drifted forward until panic grabbed her like a cold hand from a grave.
She sat down and hugged her legs, ready to give up, when a cold air draft made the hair on her arms stand up. If she followed it, she might find a way out. Alice stumbled along, falling and cutting her legs, using her hands to steady herself.
She could feel the tunnel opening into a bigger space. The draft was strong here. “Only a few more steps,” she thought before stepping into the empty air and falling.
When Alice woke, she remembered the strangest dream. She was falling surrounded by ghosts carrying the oddest trinkets: porcelain, small furniture, watches, and sacks spotted with red.
“Mommy?” she asked into the darkness.
“Your mother isn’t here,” a pained voice answered, “who you lost is in the Aboveworld. And who they lost is here, in Underland.”
“Who’s there?”
A faint silvery light appeared and brightened the cavern. In front of her feet lay a broken door with a carved face. It had a sad, agonised expression when it spoke.
“I was … the guardian … of the gate … between the worlds.”
“Who did that to you?”
“It was the ….”
But the door fell silent, its eyes closing slowly. Alice felt sad, alone and full of regrets.
“What have you done?” a harsh voice asked.
Alice looked up. Two armoured men with bleeding roses stitched onto their tunics towered over her.
“I had nothing to do with this,” Alice pleaded.
“Really? Then what’s in your hand?”
Alice looked down at the sabre in her hand. Even at her young age, she knew this did not look good.
“The Queen of Hearts will be pleased with this sacrifice,” the second man said.
“Sacrifice?”
Fear stabbed Alice like a sharp knife.
“She isn’t called the Queen of Hearts for nothing.”
💯 Story Challenge (2/100)
Thank you for supporting my creative journey. Sadly, I kept my writing in the closet — or rather my drawer — for too long. Creativity flows freely now, and I am happy to serve you fresh fiction and humour as often as possible.
Please check out my other fiction stories on Medium if you enjoyed this tale. Support my writing journey by subscribing to my email list or joining as a medium member with my referral link.
Zane Dickens is responsible for my plan to deliver (at least) one story daily for a hundred days. Do you want to join the 💯 Story Challenge?
