The Incredible Shrinking Alice

It was another warm Sunday in the English countryside. Alice was sitting next to the rabbit hole that led to Wonderland. But before she could she was writing something down in what seemed to be a book. She was doing math homework and she had promised herself that she would complete. But she had skipped lunch and she was feeling a little hungry at this moment in time.
“Now let’s see,” she thought. “What is the area of the rectangle if one side is ten inches and the other is seven?” She began to think a little in her head and she soon came up with the answer. “Seventy inches squared.” She then wrote it down in her book with a couple of workings out and then she put the book down. “There all done.”
She then put the book into a bag and she left it by the hole. She then climbed into the rabbit hole. It only took her seconds to start falling. She was amazed that it was able to get her by surprise again. She expected it a lot further along.
Alice began to fall down near the strange items and she soon reached the bottom. She then went back into the room and she saw the door there. He seemed to be asleep this time and she walked towards the table.
“Who’s there?” asked the Doorknob. He then opened his eyes more and saw Alice. This cheered him up. “Good day Alice. And how are you?”
“I’m fine thank you,” replied Alice. She then felt her stomach. “I am a little hungry though.”
“Don’t worry about that. Just have a little something when you get to Wonderland. As long as it isn’t your mushrooms.”
“I’ll make sure that I won’t. Unless I need to of course.”
Alice then took a couple of drops of the shrinking juice and she shrank down to Wonderland height. She took the key with her and she opened the door and went inside. There she saw Wonderland.
Wonderland was as sunny as the real world right now. She gave out a sigh of relief and she walked into the beautiful field. There was a small wood there and Alice couldn’t help but go to it. There she saw a tree with strange purple apples. She picked one from a tree and she looked at it.
“This looks delicious,” said Alice. “But could it be poisonous? But the Mad Hatter says that no one can die in Wonderland.” She then felt her stomach growling. “That‘s the decider.”
Alice then began to take huge bites out of the apple and she could taste it. It was the most delicious apple she had ever eaten. And strange enough it was filling her up. It only took one to make her feel full.
“That was delicious,” she said. “Best not eat anymore or else I’ll feel sick.”
She then began to hear voices coming from the wood. She carefully walked towards where she could hear the voices until she came to a small clearing. There didn’t seem to be anyone there and she went to walk away.
But when she turned around she saw Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum standing right in front of her. This made her jump a little and they both shook her hands.
“How do you do and shake hands,” they both said.
Alice noticed that she was still head and shoulders above them. But she tried to greet them back. But she couldn’t seem to get a word in. She was quickly sat down on a fallen tree.
“Hi Tweedle,” she said.
“Which one?” replied Tweedle Dee.
“The both of you.”
“Oh good killing two birds with one stone.”
“It’s nice seeing you but I just wanted to see what was happening in Wonderland.” She was about to stand up but she was quickly sat back down.
“No need Alice,” said Tweedle Dum.
“And now presenting the news of Wonderland,” replied Tweedle Dee.
Suddenly a strange box appeared in front of Alice. It was around six feet tall and had what seemed to be a screen. Both the Tweedles appeared inside the box and Dee was holding something that seemed to be papers.
“Good afternoon,” said Tweedle Dee. “And today we start off on the report of the Queen of Hearts and how her tarts were stolen. For the full report we go to Tweedle Dum.”
Just then Tweedle Dee jumped out of the box and Tweedle Dum inside. He also had some papers in his hand and he began to read from the paper.
“The Queen of Hearts she made some tarts all on a summer's day,” said Tweedle Dum. “The Knave of Hearts he stole the tarts and took them clean away. The King of Hearts called for the tarts and beat the Knave full sore. The Knave of Hearts brought back the tarts and vowed he'd steal no more.”
“That’s a nursery rhyme,” replied Alice.
“But it really did happen,” replied Tweedle Dum.
“When?”
“About a decade ago.”
“I’m not really that interested in things that have happened a decade ago. I prefer to know things that has happened recently.”
“Well recently you were just sitting there telling me that you wanted to hear something recent.”
“Not that recent.”
“Make up your mind will you.”
“No need to be rude.”
“Well you should be more specific.”
“Ok let’s try this. What has happened since between this visit to Wonderland to my last visit.”
“Well nothing much except the Mad Hatter keeps losing his head.”
“I already know about that.”
“Oh then there’s been nothing of interest.”
“Then why go all through that.”
Tweedle Dee then also jumped into the box and he stood right next to his brother. They both smiled a little.
“Well we don’t get many visitors so we had to do something to keep you here,” said Tweedle Dee.
“And I wonder why,” replied Alice.
The two Tweedles jumped out of the box and it disappeared. Alice stood up to her full height and went to walk away. She was forced to shake hands with the Tweedles. But one thing she didn’t notice was that now they came up to her nose. She had been head and shoulders above them.
As Alice walked away she could still hear the Tweedles talking to themselves. She didn’t want to listen to what she was saying and she was hoping that she could see someone who could make some sense of a few things. But she knew around here that was very unlikely.
But then she began to hear a sound. At first she didn’t know what it was. But eventually she could tell that it was coughing. She began to walk towards what seemed to be an old man fishing in a small puddle. He was coughing hysterically and Alice went to see if he was alright.
“Are you alright sir?” she asked.
“I’m perfectly fine,” replied the Old man. He was standing up and they were looking eye to eye.
“If you don’t mind me asking what are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” he then sat down on a stool. “I’m trying to catch a fish.”
“But you can’t possible catch a fish in a puddle.”
“Of course I can.”
“How long have you been fishing here?”
“Twenty years.”
“And exactly how many fish have you caught?”
“Well I’ve…” he stopped dead in his tracks and Alice gave him a little smile. “I’ll catch one you’ll see.”
“Well it’s normally better to go to a river, lake, the ocean or even a canal to catch a fish. You would get anything from a puddle.”
“Who told you that?”
“No one.”
“Then how do you know it’s true?”
“Because it’s basic common sense.”
“That’s something I’m lacking.”
“Well there’s a lake not too far from there I’m sure you’ll catch plenty of fish.” She gave him a smile.
“Yeah you’re probably right.”
He then got up to his feet. But Alice noticed something strange. Where they had been at eye level she was now looking up at him. She wasn’t quite sure what to say but she was eventually able to get something out.
“Hey you’re taller,” said Alice.
“I’m not taller,” replied the Fisher. “I haven’t grown an inch in thirty-five years. You must be shrinking my dear.”
“I doubt it.”
“Oh well.”
Alice then saw the old Fisher walk away. And she began to think a little. She saw one of her footprints on the ground from when she first saw the Fisher. She put her foot right next to it and it was noticeable smaller. She looked at it in some disbelief and she looked at herself.
“I am getting smaller,” said Alice. “But why?”
“That’s easy,” replied a Voice.
She then looked towards a tree and she saw the Cheshire Cat appear. She was a little happy to see him.
“Cheshire Cat,” said Alice.
“The one and only,” replied the Cheshire Cat. “And now it seems that you have a little problem that’s getting smaller and smaller.”
“Yes I don’t know why but I seem to be shrinking. But I haven’t eaten any of the mushrooms.”
“The question isn’t why are you shrinking? The question is what have you been eating young lady?”
“I only had an apple when I was here.”
“Did this apple happen to be purple?”
“Yes but how did you know?”
“Because there are two very special kinds of apples in Wonderland. The blue one makes things grow infinitely and the purple one makes them shrink infinitely.”
“Infinitely?”
“Yes you’re going to shrink to nothingness if you don’t find the cure.”
“I can just use the growing mushroom to keep my size up.” She then took the growing mushroom out of her pocket and she took a tiny bite out of it. She waited to grow. But nothing seemed to happen. “Why isn’t it working?”
“The only way to return you to normal is to eat the blue apple. Thankfully for you its not too far away. But with your shrinking problem it might be more difficult then you might think.”
“Where is the apple?”
“The blue one is that way.” He then pointed to a particular direction. “But I must warn you. You better find it before you shrink to nothingness.”
“I’ll try and remember that thanks.”
“And also this note came for you.” A note of paper then appeared in his hand. It is very important.”
It then appeared in Alice’s hand and the Cheshire Cat disappeared. She took a look at it and she began to read it out loud.
“If you notice this notice you will notice that this notice is not worth noticing,” she said. She then thought for a moment. “Of all the stupid jocks.”
She then began to walk in the direction that the Cheshire Cat had pointed out. She looked around a little to see if she could see the apple. But while she was doing that she saw the world grow around her. She realized that she must have had some kind of shrink spurt.
“If I don’t find that apple soon I’ll shrink to nothingness before I know it. But it can’t be too far can it?”
Now that Alice was roughly the size of a toddler it would make her journey a little longer. She realized that the smaller she would get the longer it would seem to the apple. To try and compensate this she began to run.
But on the way she tripped over something. She fell hard onto the ground but thankfully there didn’t seem to be any permanent damage done to her body. She looked to see what she had tripped over.
It seemed to be a small mole hole peeping out of the ground. She slowly brought herself up and she tried to shake the dust off her.
“Who could have left this here?” asked Alice. But then behind her a mole popped of the ground. She turned around to him and she jumped a little. She hadn’t expected to see it there. “Goodness.”
“What was that?” replied the mole. He then got out his big thick glasses and put them on. “That’s better.” He then looked at Alice a little. “A little girl. A very little girl in deed.”
“Please don’t remind me.”
“What’s wrong with being small?”
“Nothing besides I’m still getting smaller. So I’m sorry I really don’t have time to talk to you.”
“Oh don’t be like that.”
“I’m not trying to be rude. But if I don’t stop shrinking soon there’ll be nothing left of me.”
“Shame.”
“Now I must get to the blue apple.”
“Did you say the blue apple?”
“Yes I did.” Alice stopped for a moment in hope that the Mole knew something that could help her. “Do you know anything about it?”
“Well it’s an apple and its blue.”
“I already know that. I mean can you tell me anything that’ll be any use to me?” She stood there for a moment.
“No can’t say I do. Now I mustn’t keep you waiting. I’ll pop up some other time. But for now I’ll go back to my favourite past time.”
“Digging tunnels?”
“No knitting.”
The Mole then went back down under ground and Alice kept walking. She didn’t really think much of the Mole. She just hoped that she could reach the blue apple before it was too late and return herself to normal.
But as she walked along she could see the world around her growing larger and larger. It was a pretty scary feeling but she tried to put it into the back of her mind. It was the only way of stopping herself from crying.”
When she reached a bed of flowers she had shrunk to the size of a baby. But she still towered over the flowers. She was getting a little scared since every time she shrank the blue apple seemed to get further and further away.
“I’ll never get there,” said Alice.
“What kind of attitude is that?” asked a Voice.
Alice then looked towards one of the flowers. She knew that they could talk but there didn’t seem to be anything talking to her right now. She thought that she had just heard it in her head.
“Must have been my imagination,” said Alice.
“Down here,” replied the Voice.
Alice looked down and saw an ant. Although now it seemed larger then a normal ant she was still a giant compared to him. She picked him up and brought her up to her level. She could see that he had a small grin.
“Why should a such a pretty girl like you have to be upset?” asked the Ant.
“Well I’m just feeling a little lost,” replied Alice.
“Well where are you trying to get to?”
“The blue apple. I accidentally ate the purple and now I’m shrinking. I need the blue one to stop my shrinking and return me to normal.”
“Well I know the way from here. But it might take a while to get there with my short legs.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to carry you for as far as I can take you.”
“That sounds good to me. By the way I’m Anthony. Or like most people in Wonderland call me Ant the ant.”
“I guess you can call me Alice. Or what most people call me now the Incredible Shrinking Alice.”
“Ok then Alice to get to the apple first off you need to keep walking forwards for a while.”
“Ok.”
Alice then continued to walk towards where Anthony had told her. She held him safely in her hand. He had never been this high up. But he just didn’t think of it and just tried to point Alice in the right direction.
But eventually they reached the Wonderland river. Alice looked at it and she saw the strong current.
“Not this again,” said Alice.
“Not what?” replied Anthony.
“Another river. Except this time I can’t grow to get across.”
“You don’t have to all you need to do is make a bridge.”
“But I don’t know how to make a bridge.”
“It’s easy. Now is there a red and green stripped rock near here?”
“Well.” She then looked around and she eventually saw a red and greens stripped rock. “There is one there.
“Good now go to it.”
Alice quickly went to the rock. She made sure that there weren’t any mole holes for her to trip over on. But thankfully there weren’t.
“Now what?” she asked.
“Now you must answer the riddle it asks,” replied Anthony.
“That’s silly.”
“SILENCE!” shouted the Rock. This made Alice jump a little. “Here bridge a wanting be you?”
“What did it say?”
“Here bridge a wanting be you?”
“It talks backwards so you have to answer backwards. Unless it’s a one word sentence.” He then chuckled a little.
“Yes.”
“Question this answer then.”
“Alright.”
“Years four in get you do un-birthdays many how?”
The first thing Alice had to do was work out what he asked for forwards and then try and answer the question. It was difficult but she then began to do the math in her head. She then smiled a little.
“Days seven fifty and hundred for thousand one.”
“Correct that is. Year leap the remembered you.”
“Yeah oh.”
Then a bridge made of stone appeared in front of Alice she was more then happy to walk across it. She hurried a little because she knew that she didn’t have much time to do it in.
“Nice going Alice,” said Anthony.
“Thanks unlike some of my other classmates I actually paid attention in math.”
“And here’s me thinking that all blondes were dumb.”
“What did you say?”
“Oh nothing just forget I said anything.”
Alice then looked at Anthony a little. He looked a little different and she instantly addressed it.
“You look bigger,” said Alice.
“Nope you must have shrunk again,” replied Anthony.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.”
“Sorry just saying the truth.”
“Fair enough. But I really don’t like being reminded that I’m shrinking.”
“I don’t need to you keep reminding yourself.”
Alice put her foot down and it went into some mud. She tried to step out but it seemed that her foot was stuck. She tried with all of her might but she couldn’t get out. She was losing some of her energy trying to do this.
“I’m stuck,” said Alice.
“Oh it’s the Wonderland stuck mud,” replied Anthony.
“How do I get out?”
“Well it releases you anyway in a day.”
“I don’t have that long.”
“In that case you need to just twist your ankle a little and it should come right out. In think.”
Alice then twisted her ankle in hopes that it would get her out of the mud. But at first nothing seemed to be happening.
“It’s not working,” said Alice.
“Just try it a couple of more times,” replied Anthony.
“Ok.” She then twisted her ankle several more times. But eventually her foot gout out of the mud. “I did it.”
“Now do the other one.”
“But I can’t.”
Alice had her right foot in the air and only her left was in the mud. With Anthony in her she was having some difficulties keeping her balance. She felt like falling over once or twice.
“Throw me aside,” said Anthony.
“But won’t that hurt you?” replied Alice.
“Not really no. I’m an ant I can take high falls.”
“Right.”
Alice then threw Anthony to one side. This helped her with her balance a little. But her situation wasn’t getting much better either. She just tried her best. But she was tempted to eat a growing mushroom even though it wouldn’t work.
Alice decided that she had to put her free foot further in front of her. Then she could release the other one. It was like walking in the biggest strides she could. It would also take a while and lose Alice precious time.
She started her little routine she very slowly made her way out of the Wonderland mud. Anthony was constantly watching her in case se got into any trouble. He could also see her shrink a little more. She was now roughly the size of her dolls at home and it was scary to think. Although she had been this size and smaller before back then she knew that she could return to normal. Now she knew that she couldn’t grow to her normal size without the apple.
“Go on Alice you’re almost there,” said Anthony.
“I’m almost there,” replied Alice.
“Just a few more steps.”
Alice felt happy when both her feet were on solid ground and not Wonderland mud. She didn’t want to look at her shoes since she thought that they would be muddy. But to her surprise they were clean. In fact it looked like they had just been washed.
“That’s odd,” said Alice.
“What is?” replied Anthony.
“My shoes and stockings should be muddy. But instead they’re cleaner then when I came here.”
“Oh Wonderland mud does that. If it wasn’t so difficult to get out it be the perfect place to have a bath.”
“Bathing in mud to clean yourself? That’s just silly.”
“No it makes a lot of sense.” He then cleared his throat. “Now if you don’t mind could you pick me up again?”
“Ok.”
Alice then picked up Anthony. But she noticed that he seemed even bigger now. But she knew that it was her that was shrinking. She felt a little hopeless and she looked towards Anthony.
“How far is it?” asked Alice. She decided to walk and talk at the same time so to save some time.
“To what?” replied Anthony.
“The blue apple.”
“Oh that don’t worry its not too far.”
“How’s far is not far?”
“To you its about the size of a football pitch.”
“But at this size that’s a long way away. And I’m still shrinking. Soon even you’ll be bigger then me. I don’t even want to think what’ll happen to me after that.”
“You’ll shrink as small as microbe.”
Alice then began to cry. Anthony had seen that he had upset her and tried to think of a way to make her feel better.
“Don’t cry Alice,” he said.
“I can’t help it,” replied Alice.
“I’m sorry that I said you’d shrink as small as a microbe.”
“But it’s true I will. But I’ll keep shrinking after that until I’m nothing.”
“That won’t happen.”
“But it will.”
“No it won’t because you’re gonna find that apple and grow back to normal. I know you will Alice.”
“I hope I can.”
“You will as long s I’m with you I promise I’ll get you there. Even if I have to carry you.”
“Oh that’s sweet.”
“Well I did win sweetest ant of the year three times over.”
“I’m not surprised.”
Alice with her now renewed confidence continued to walk. But this time she went faster. But then she felt a strange feeling through her body. She looked at the world around her and it grew a little more. The grass was up to her hips and Anthony had now become too big to put on her hand. She had no choice but to put him back on the ground and continue the journey.
“Sorry Anthony but I can’t carry you anymore,” said Alice.
“Don’t worry I’m a fast walker,” replied Anthony. “I participated in the Ant athletic games.”
“How did you get on?”
“I came second.”
“That’s good.”
“From last.”
“Oh well a least you beat someone.”
“He was disqualified.”
“But you can always get up and try again. Practice makes perfect. That’s what my mother always told me.”
“You’re mother is a smart woman.”
Alice had to walk through the seemingly long grass. She hoped that she would get to the apple soon. She didn’t want to get any smaller then she was now. But she accepted that she probably would.
Eventually she ran into an open patch that had no grass. There was mud but thankfully it was ordinary and she just walked across it. But then she saw something flying above her. It seemed to be a bird but to her it was the size of an elephant. She had to duck down and make sure Anthony was alright.
“What do we do now?” asked Alice.
“There’s only one slightly sane thing to do now?” replied Anthony.
“What’s that?”
“We get a slingshot and then hurl rocks at it until it goes away. But since we don’t have one I suggest we RUN!”
Alice and Anthony then began to run for their lives. The bird came back down and grabbed Alice. It then took her up to a tree and landed in a nest. There were eggs in there and the bird stared at her.
“I remember you,” said the bird. “You’re that serpent that tried to steal my eggs.” She then grunted a little.
“For the last time I’m not a serpent I’m just a little girl.”
“I can see that now. But I guess you’re dinner.”
“I assure you I’m not very tasty. I’m just skin and bones really.”
“Good I’m on a diet.”
“I could diseases.”
“I’m immune to most.”
Alice had to think fast before she was eaten. She did the only thing she could think of doing. She got up and tried to run. The bird tried to get her back. But she accidentally knocked Alice out of the nest. She began to fall to the ground and she was screaming all the way. Although she knew that no one in Wonderland actually dies but they could still feel pain.
Thankfully for Alice she landed on a bed of leaves that broke her fall. She gave out a sigh of relief but then she saw that the bird was coming back down. Alice tried to hide herself under the leaves.
The bird began to look though the leaves for the tiny Alice. But she couldn’t find her no matter how hard she tried. Eventually she gave up and she began to fly away and she gave out a sigh of annoyance.
“Darn kids,” she said.
Eventually Alice did come out of the leaves. But she had shrunk even smaller then before. She was barely over half an inch tall and she felt like she was alone. She began to look around for Anthony.
“Anthony where are you!” she shouted.
“Over here,” replied a Voice.
Alice ran towards where the voice came from and she eventually met back up with Anthony. He looked up at her but he definitely noticed Alice’s little change. He wasn’t sure what to say.
“Hey Alice have you lost weight?” asked Anthony.
“Yes I have. But unfortunately at the same time I’ve lost a lot of my height.” She then sighed. “Now it’ll take us even longer to get to the blue apple.”
“It’s not far. We just have to pass home.”
“When you say home I don’t think you mean England?”
“No my anthill where I was born by our queen.”
“If you don’t mind me asking she’s not as vile as the Queen of Hearts right?” She smiled a little.
“No she’s a lot better then that big bully.”
Alice and Anthony continued to walk. But for Alice now it seemed she was in a forest. But what seemed to be trees were merely blades of grass. But to her they were mighty trees.
They eventually came across the anthill. Anthony was happy to see it once again and he smiled a little.
“Home sweet home,” said Anthony.
But when they went to walk past it two other ants came. They were both bigger then Anthony and they seemed mean. Although they were still smaller then Alice they still felt aggressive.
“Why if it isn’t little Antie,” said one ant.
“The little weakling,” replied the other.
“Wanna go for a ride.”
“No,” replied Anthony.
“Believe me you do.”
The two ants then began to get closer to the pair. But Alice put herself in front of Anthony to protect him.
“Hey you leave him alone,” said Alice.
“What are you going to do?” replied the other ant.
“I’ll, I’ll.” Alice then felt funny and she watched the ants grow. She saw that it was her shrinking again. This time she stopped when she was a little shorter then the ants. She was lost for words.
“You’ll what?”
Now seeing that she was smaller and weaker then the ants she didn’t know exactly what to do. She then pulled the growing mushroom from her pocket and she put it near her mouth.
“I’ll eat this growing mushroom and step on you,” said Alice.
“You’re bluffing,” replied the Ant.
“I’m not. You’ve heard about me. The little girl who can be both a doll and a giant. This is what makes me a giant. Now do you want to risk it or not.”
The ants then began to think about it. The began to slowly back and they gave out a bit of a grunt. Anthony in turn looked at Alice in amazement. He also gave out one more sigh of relief.
“Thanks Alice,” said Anthony. “I didn’t know you could use that thing to grow right now.”
“I can’t,” replied Alice. “I was only bluffing. Although normally it can make me grow until I eat the blue apple it won’t work. And now I’m even smaller then you. I can’t have too much longer left.”
“Then we better hurry.”
“But I can’t get there at this size.”
“Then I’ll carry you.”
“Thank you.”
Alice then climbed onto his back and Anthony began to walk towards the blue apple. Alice didn’t know that the blue apple was only a yard away from them. But it still seemed like a long way compared to them.
Alice herself was terrified. In Wonderland she had never been below three inches tall. Now she was smaller then an ant and the world around her was unfamiliar. She was just hoping that this was all a bad dream. But each time she pinched herself she could feel pain. She knew that she wasn’t dreaming.
“How far are we?” asked Alice.
“Not far,” replied Anthony. “You’ll be there in no time.”
“You keep saying that.”
“But this time I really mean it.”
“So all the other times you lied.”
“I like to call them white lies.”
“Well you better hurry. I don’t know how long I’ve got before I shrink away to nothingness.”
“Don’t worry I’ll get you there one way or the other.”
Anthony began to run as fast as he could. It was still a relatively long distance for him but he tried nonetheless. He was quickly running out of steam but to save Alice he was more then willing to go the distance.
Alice could hear Anthony panting and she could also see that he was struggling to go forwards. She tried to make him feel better by rubbing the top of his head. It did work to a certain degree.
“Are you aright?” asked Alice.
“A little tired but other then that I’m fine,” replied Anthony. “I’m almost there. You’ll be normal before you know it.”
“Hopefully.”
“Now let’s just hope nothing bad happens.” They then heard a clash of thunder and it began to rain. “Like that.”
Normally rain wouldn’t be that much of a problem. But at their size the rain drops seemed huge. A single drop could have drowned them. Anthony tried to hurry but he was too tired.
“I can make it,” he said.
“Don’t strain yourself too much,” replied Alice. She then looked forward and she saw something that she would remember for the rest of her days. She could see a blue apple on the ground only a couple of inches away from them. “There it is.”
“Where?”
“Right in front of you.”
“Oh yeah.”
He then began to go as fast as he could towards it. But Alice felt strange again. She looked at everything around her and she saw that it was growing again. She gave out a scream.
“I’m shrinking again,” said Alice.
“What?” replied Anthony.
“I’m shrinking again.”
“Oh no.”
“She seemed to be shrinking faster then before. Within seconds she was only half her size. But she wasn’t stopping. Anthony looked huge now compared to her but she didn’t stop. Anthony just looked at her and he was powerless to help her. Another couple of seconds past and Alice had shrank so small that even Anthony couldn’t see her. He began to panic a little.
“Alice,” he said. “ALICE!”
In a world only visible throw a microscope Alice had stopped shrinking. But she was so small that the world around her was alien. She was terrified and she stood up. She was on something rough and she looked around.
“This must be what being microscopic is like,” said Alice. “But how can I eat the blue apple now?”
Alice then saw something coming towards her. She wasn’t sure what they were at first. But as they got closer she could see that they were microbes. She didn’t know what to do. She tried to run but she just ran into more.
“Please don’t,” said Alice.
“Don’t what?” replied the microbe.
“You talk?”
“Of course I can talk silly girl.”
“I didn’t know microbes could talk.”
“And I didn’t know girls came in your size.”
“Normally they don’t. I just have a little problem.”
“And that is?”
“I’m shrinking. I don’t think I’ve stopped yet.”
“Well you can always stay here.”
“I can’t. How can you stand being so small?”
“It’s easy. You might think things are bad down here. But really it’s not all that bad. Ok we might have people spraying things on us to fizz us up. But food is plentiful here. And its fun because we can fight all day and not get hurt.”
“How’s that?”
“Well we’re only single cell organisms so we can’t actually feel the pain that much. Plus we’ve got no bones so we can’t break them.”
“I guess that is helpful.”
“And everyday seems to be a perfect day. And right now I’m so glad I’m spending it with you.”
“That’s actually a very nice thing to say.”
“Well we microbes were the first living creatures in Wonderland so we’re a little more advanced then the others.”
“But I thought everyone else would be since they were better developed.”
“Yes but we have been around longer and we know much.” He then looked over to another microbe. “Hey Butch recite some Shakespeare.”
“Fair is fowl and Fowl is Fair. Hover through the filthy air,” replied Butch.
“I know that one,” replied Alice. “That’s Macbeth.”
“Now is the Winter of our Discontent.”
“Richard the III.”
“We'll be the ultimate family. A family of three, joined together in one body...more human than I am alone.”
“I don’t know that one.”
“Strange neither do I.”
Just then the ground began to shake and Alice fell over. She slowly got back up to her feet and she began to look around.
“What was that?” asked Alice.
“That darn Ant is moving again,” said the first microbes. “He never stays still for a minute.”
“What is he doing?”
“I don’t know.”
Alice then felt the weird feeling throughout her body. She began to shrink again until she was only half her size. The microbes now seemed to be giants and she had some fear inside her.
“See I’m still shrinking,” said Alice.
“Oh yeah you did say didn’t you,” replied the Microbe. “I didn’t believe you at first. But now I can see you’re telling the truth.” He then looked towards another microbe. “Hey Al I owe you two pounds.”
“This isn’t the time for games. Soon I’ll be so small that even you guys won’t be able to see me.”
“Sorry can’t help you there.”
“I thought you said that you microbes were very advanced.”
“We are but we’re still small nonetheless.”
“Then if you can’t help me then I’ll have to find a way that I can help myself.” She then went to storm off.
“Wait maybe there is something that can help.”
“And that is?”
“I’m not too sure.”
“Stop wasting what little time I have left.”
Alice then stormed off in the opposite direction. But deep down she knew that there wasn’t much she could do. There was no where for her to go and she was just getting smaller and smaller. Eventually not even the microbes would be able to see her. She panicked a little.
But eventually all Alice could down as sit down on the ground. She looked at everything around and she began to cry a little.
“I may as well accept it,” said Alice. “At this size I can never get to the blue apple never mind eat it. I’m just going to keep shrinking smaller and smaller until I’m nothing.” By now she had really started to cry. “There were so many things I wanted to do.” She then put the water works on even more. “I’m doomed.”
Some of the microbes went to Alice. They felt sympathy for her. She was still crying when they saw her.
“Cheer up,” said a Microbe.
“I’m sorry but I just can’t,” replied Alice.
“Well there’s a bright side to everything.”
“What’s the bright side of shrinking to nothingness?”
“Well you’re the first person to ever see us this close.”
“I guess so.”
“And you’ve also seen everything from down here. No one else has ever done that. Well not to my knowledge.”
“Yeah you’re right.”
“And although you’ll shrink to nothingness you have had some fun with being tiny.”
“Well it has been an experience.”
“There you go. My father always told me that some things in life are bad. They can really make you mad. Other things just make you swear and curse. But when you’re chewing on life’s gristle don’t grumble and give a whistle. And this’ll help things turn out for the best. And always look on the bright side of life.” The other microbes began to whistle. “Always look on the bright side of life.” They whistled again.
Alice could see what they were saying. She really needed to look on the bright side of life. If she didn’t do that she would probably just end up being a depressed adult. She began to smile a little.
“Always look on the bright side of life,” she said.
“There you go,” replied the Microbe. “Do this and things will turn out for the best. If you know what I mean.”
“I think I do.” She then shrank a little more. “I have to look on the bright side no matter how bad things are.”
“Good.”
“Right now I can see things on the ground I couldn’t see before.”
“Like what?”
“Well I can see very tiny round objects.”
“Interesting. They must be atoms.”
“Atoms? What are atoms?”
“They make up everything.”
“You mean the ground?”
“Yes the ground, the air, the trees, heck even the fruit.”
“Am I the first person to see these atoms?”
“Yes you are. That’s something to be proud about. I would give you a banana but I’m fresh out right now.”
Just then Alice felt something hit her. It hit the other bacteria as well and at first nothing happened. But she saw the bacteria seemingly shrinking. She looked at them a little and was curious.
“Hey you’re all shrinking,” said Alice.
“We’re not shrinking,” replied a microbe. “You’re growing.”
“I am?” She then looked around a little. “I’m growing I’m growing.” She then began to jump around as if she was as mad as the other inhabitants of Wonderland. She was happy then she could ever remember.
It took a minute for the microbes to disappear from her view. She could see Anthony and he was right next to the blue apple. She was very happy to see him. But she realized that soon she would be so big she would accidentally crush him. She jumped off his back and she really began to grow. Within seconds she was back to her normal and she looked around everywhere.
“I’m normal again,” said Alice. “Well normal in Wonderland at least.” She then looked down at Anthony. She went down and picked him up and put him on her finger tip. “And I have you to thank.” Anthony began to talk to her. But she couldn’t hear him. “Wait a minute.” She then put him close to her ear. “Ok.”
“You’re welcome,” said Anthony.
“What did you do?”
“Well I was able to get a piece of the blue fruit and I squeezed the juice on my back. I knew you’d grow.”
“But why didn’t you grow.”
“I forgot to tell you. It only works on people from the real world. I guess that kind of slipped my mind.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m just thankful I’m not still shrinking. I would hug you if I wasn’t so big.”
“Well you do have the mushroom.”
“Oh yeah.”
Alice then took the shrinking mushroom from her pocket and she took a bite out of it. She then shrank until she was small enough to safely hug Anthony. This lasted a couple of seconds.
“If there’s anything I can do to repay you,” said Alice.
“Well there is one thing you can do,” replied Anthony. He then had a smile on his face and Alice became a little worried.
“Go on.”
Anthony began to whisper to Alice what she wanted. When he had finished she smiled back at him.
Not too far away the two ants who Alice and Anthony had run into earlier were still laughing with each other. They felt proud of what they had done and they were going to get a little bite to eat.
But then they felt the ground shake. They began to panic a little as they saw a huge shadow appear over them. They looked above and saw the now normal size Alice. She picked them up easily and brought them up to her level. She gave them an evil smile at them both.
“Looks like the tables are turned,” said Alice. “Now I’m the big one. And what can I do with you pair?”
“We were just joking around,” replied one of the Ants. “Weren’t we?”
“Yeah no hard feelings,” answered the other ant.
“You weren’t very nice to either me or my friend,” replied Alice. “You know I could take you to the Queen of Hearts and see what she thinks.”
“No she’ll cut our heads off for sure.”
“I think I might do that myself.” She then looked at Anthony on her shoulder. “Ant get the axe.”
“No wait we’re sorry. Please don’t hurt us.”
“We’ll do anything,” replied the Other ant.
“Anything you say?”
A few minutes later Anthony was lying on the back of the other ants. They were carrying him and they were a little tired. Anthony seemed happy and he looked up at the normal size Alice.
“Thanks again Alice,” said Anthony.
“Just give me a shout if they misbehave again,” replied Alice.
“Don’t worry I will.”
“Goodbye Anthony.”
“Bye Alice. You’ll have to tell me a little more about your world next time.” He then laughed a little.
Alice waved goodbye to her friend as the other ants carried him away. She was kind of sad to see him leave. But she accepted that it was time for her to go back home. It was late evening here and she was still feeling hungry.
“I must be quite far from the door,” she said to herself. “I better make myself bigger to make up for it.” She then took the growing mushroom out of her pocket and she took a bite. Alice grew to the size of a house and she began to walk. “I shouldn’t take too long to get there.”
Alice only walked for two minutes before reaching it. It was a lot faster then she had expected.
“That was very fast,” she said. “Guess when I was small what seemed to be a mile could have only been a couple of yards.”
Alice quickly ate the piece of the shrinking mushroom and she shrank until she was small enough to fit through the door. She was greeted by the doorknob once again he smiled at her.
“So how did it go?” he asked.
“It could have gone better,” replied Alice.
“Everything could have gone better. But at the same time everything could have gotten worse.”
“I guess so.”
Alice then grabbed the biscuit and she took a bite out of it. This caused her to grow to a little below her normal height. She then ate a tiny piece again and it made her grow until she was a couple of feet taller then she should. She took a drop of the shrinking juice and she shrank down to normal.
“That’s perfect,” said Alice.
“Send my regards to everyone in the real world,” replied the Doorknob.
“Ok see you later.”
Alice then left the room and she went back up to the real world. She came out of the rabbit hole and she gave out a sigh.
“At least here I don’t have to worry about shrinking.”
She smiled a little to herself as she left the rabbit hole. She would have to write about her experience. But people would probably just put it down to her imagination. That would probably be for the best.

The End.