Page 15 of Madness Becomes Her

Staring at the woods, I wonder if I could find my way back to the place I fell through. So much so that I’m anxiously chewing the side of my thumb with a burning anxiety in my stomach as my heart races.

I contemplate my options for another moment. On one hand, while this place is absolutely fantastical and full of mad whimsy, it’s also notmyreality. It’s theirs.

While my life might be headed nowhere but toward horrific misery, it’s stillmine.

It’s where I belong.

Even if I came here as a child to escape the hurt and pain that went hand in hand with my childhood, it doesn’t mean I can do the same as an adult, not that I know how I got here before or this time.

A decision is made, and stones sink to the bottom of my stomach like heavy dread as I march toward the woods.

Swallowing, I stride past the berry bushes and use the path to walk deeper and deeper until I’m utterly lost. The only sound I can hear is that of my heart running away behind my ribs.

The surrounding signs are just as confusing to the mind and offer no help at all.

My feet stop when my gaze rakes over a patch of mushrooms that seem to glow. Crouching, I narrow my eyes to get a closer look. A faint flickering casts through a tiny window on the mushroom as if a creature lives inside.

Everything about this place is befuddling, yet breathtaking.

A scream gets caught in my throat when a face drops from above, the smile twisting as a voice says. “Well, hello again. Here for some fun?”

The naked man!

No, Hatter said he’s a cat… Stepping back, I take him in. He’s hanging upside down from a branch, stark nude, and his eerie smile taunting me.

No, definitely a man, not a cat.

“No. I’m trying to get somewhere. Leave me be!”

“Where are you trying to go? Maybe I can be of assistance.”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re going in the right direction. You’ll find it soon enough.”

“What? That makes no sense.”

“Mm. Did you make any sense, though?”

I swallow. “Just leave me be! I don’t have time for this!”

“If you don’t know where you’re going, how do you know you’re going to be late?”

I’m exasperated, so I sigh and step back. “Can you help me find the place I fell through?”

The man laughs, the sound sinister, and it grates my nerves.

“You know what, never mind. I’m not taking directions from a naked man!”

“I’m no man! I’m a cat! The utter stupidity of you small-minded humans.”

Humans.

The word stares me in the face, forcing me to realize the oddness of this place where its people aren’t human. Not even a little.

Unwinding from the tree branch, he flips through the air, landing before me as a massive cat.

His fur is striped with varying shades of blue, his face flat, and his smile is more menacing on his feline face. His yellow eyes glow as they gleam.