#lookforthesecondstar

[grumblygardensarchive]

Peter's heart dropped. He was the one that wanted to go back. He really was asking for himself, though he couldn't say it now. "Oh, thanks." He said with a small smile.

"Peter, you stopped asking about those beans awfully quickly... There aren't anymore, but I'm certain there are ways to get back. Why would you want to go back? It would probably change you to the way you were. Or it might do things to you..." Cherise wrinkled her nose in question.

[itssuchalonglongwaytofall]

To a World of Pure Imagination – Peter & Alice

Alice lays awake in her bed, looking at the stars outside her open window, letting out a small sigh. Today had been a rather trying day, to say the least. At least they had gotten a lot of the details worked out with Edith's upcoming nuptials, but Alice couldn't dread her own wedding day even more if she tried. Alice was frankly getting rather tired of talking about her own wedding. 

The reason being, is that it would be absolutely unthinkable to answer the true thought which rested deep in her heart. Marriage deeply frightened her, and she's quite certain that she's nowhere near ready to get married, if ever. She finally understands why so many bachelors feared the subject so fervently, even though they had far less to lose in marriage than women did. It isn't that she fears committing to someone else, oh no, quite the contrary: She just wishes that her fiancé shared her sense of wonder and adventure, and she fears losing that freedom to explore and to dream. She only fears the life of duty that would be expected of her; of being a caged bird. 

"How do you do it?" 

Alice finally voices her thoughts aloud to her younger sister who is sleeping in the bed next to her. 

"Do what? What on earth is on your mind, dear Alice?" 

Edith asks sleepily, turning her head to blink over at Alice with bleary eyes. Immediately, Alice feels slightly guilty. 

I must have woken her up. But come now, she's awake now: at the very least, you can talk about what's on your mind.

"How are you able to talk about marriage, to think about giving your life away at such a young age, after all we've seen and done? Don't you think there's anything more?" 

Edith lets out a small sigh of irritation, but smiles at her older sister anyway, stretching out on the bed for a moment, before responding to Alice's question.

"Because I love him, besides, what other wonderful way is there to spend the rest of your life? To have a family, and to see them grow up and have all the same joys that you do? What on earth could be more rewarding than that?" 

"Traveling, Edith. Wouldn't you want to see more of the world than just the Cheshire tree in the garden? Don't you ever think that there is a world out there filled with such wonders beyond anything you could ever imagine?" 

Alice sits up a little bit, looking out at the sky again, a note of longing in her voice as she speaks, unable to help but imagine her own strange dreamworld. 

If only such a place really existed. Wouldn't that be marvelous?

"I'm not ready to get married. I don't even know if I..." 

She glances over at her sister, who is fast asleep, and sighs again in resignation, letting her hands fold down in her lap. When she speaks again, she glances at her hands, talking more to herself than to anyone else.

"I don't even know if I want to get married. I feel like my life is being taken away before I can even truly live it." 

Biting her lower lip, she tucks some of her light blonde hair behind her ear, shaking her head at herself. 

I am being a foolish dreamer again, aren't I? Rabbits in waistcoats with pocket watches don't lead girls to underground worlds in reality. That's just silly, yet– How I wish it really could happen, just once.