When Alice Met...

Alice hadn't gotten very far on her trek through the forest when she came upon something curious. 'Oh! What a quaint little brick path!' she thought to herself. It was a cheerful golden yellow and appeared to go on for miles in either direction.

"I wonder where it goes," she mused aloud.

"It doesn't go anywhere," remarked a familiar voice above her head.

Alice looked up and saw the Cheshire-Cat grinning down at her. He was laying contentedly on a stout bough of an oak tree. She frowned at him.

"I was only asking where this path would take me," she said to him, irritation creeping into her voice.

He rolled his eyes and replied, "It just stays there on the ground. You would be the one going somewhere."

The young girl sighed impatiently. "All right then, where would I go if I were to follow this brick road?" she asked the impertinent feline.

The Cheshire-Cat's grin grew even more. "Why don't you ask her?" With a flick and a swish, he pointed his striped tail to the left. Someone was coming down the path.

Alice turned to see a young girl not much older than herself skipping in her direction. She had long chestnut hair bound neatly into two plaits and she wore a tidy blue gingham dress. A little black terrier followed close by her heels. She stopped skipping abruptly when she spied Alice staring at her.

"Hello," the newcomer said cheerfully, "Is this the way to the Emerald City?"

Alice blinked. "Emerald City?" she repeated in confusion.

"Yes, are you going there, too? I'm Dorothy, by the way. This is my dog Toto," she said and bobbed a little curtsy. She seemed friendly enough to Alice.

"I'm Alice. Pleased to meet you!" she responded kindly as she bobbed a curtsy of her own.

"Well, Alice, could you at least tell me where I am?" Dorothy asked. She gazed around the forest with bewilderment and soon spotted the Cheshire-Cat on his perch in the tree.

"Well... I don't really know. I haven't quite been myself since I followed the white rabbit this morning. There's so many curious places that I've been and strange creatures that I've met. I hardly know exactly where I am, to be honest!" Alice replied, watching the other girl stare in disbelief at the cat.

He was fading away except for his toothy smile.

"What is that animal doing?" Dorothy asked. Toto also took notice and began to bark shrilly.

Alice shrugged. "His behaviour is peculiar, I'll admit- I think he enjoys being contrary!"

Dorothy gathered up her dog and hugged him close to calm him down. After a moment, Toto stopped his barking. The Cheshire-Cat had finally faded for good.

"Why don't you join me on my journey to the Emerald City? I'm going there to meet the Wizard of Oz. I've been told he can help me find my way back home to Kansas," Dorothy suggested. She looked at Alice hopefully.

"Oh, all right. I suppose he's not any worse than the March Hare or the Mad Hatter. Maybe he can help me find my way home, too," agreed Alice.

With that, the two young girls set off down the Yellow Brick Road. They became so engrossed in their conversation, they failed to notice that the Cheshire-Cat had reappeared on the tree branch. He watched them go.

Still grinning, he remarked to himself, "Well... it should be interesting when they meet up with the Queen of Hearts. I do hope she invites them for a game of croquet!"

He chuckled softly as he disappeared once more.

Alice and Dorothy had quite forgotten him as they made their way down the quaint little path. They were busy discussing the strange and curious creatures they'd already encountered.

"I was following a white rabbit that wore a waistcoat. He kept remarking about the time. Very odd little fellow, if you ask me," Alice said with a tiny frown.

"Goodness! You should have seen all the weird small people I saw when I first came here! They kept babbling about how I'd killed a witch and that I was their saviour!" Dorothy remarked.

Her new found friend's eyes widened in amazement. "They didn't start singing and dancing did they?"

Startled, Dorothy asked, "How did you know?"

"I just got the impression they might have. There seems to be quite a bit of that sort of nonsense around here. Why, I met a caterpillar that could quote poetry! Not very good poetry mind you, but all the same-"

Then Alice abruptly noticed that they'd come to an intersection in the Yellow Brick Road. She looked at her companion who, in turn, looked back at her in confusion.

"Which way do we go now?" Dorothy asked hesitantly. Her blue eyes clouded with concern.

A cheerful voice answered her. "You could go that way!"

Alice caught a movement from the edge of her vision. She grabbed Dorothy's sleeve in alarm. "That scarecrow just moved!" she whispered. She thought he looked a bit unfriendly with his burlap head and straw-stuffed body.

Dorothy looked in the direction her friend had pointed. "You're right! He seems to be... waving at us. Do you think we should go over and talk to him?"

"Well, I don't suppose he could be any worse than the Cheshire Cat," conceded Alice.

It turned out that the Scarecrow was a friendly sort of fellow after all. He even convinced the girls to let him join them on their journay to the Emerald City. But that tale is best saved for another time....