Alice’s Adventures 2

Inspiration: Artwork by Jacob Yikes

The afternoon sun has made Alice sleepy. She follows White Rabbit down a different dark, mossy hole and emerges into what appears to be a theatre. There are two rows of cushy seats, in violet and black and small creatures sitting in these two rows, eyes transfixed on a film. In the front row on the end, Alice recognises the Cheshire Cat, now in his full-figured form again, complete with suit and black bow tie. In the back row, Batman in all his black finery sits next to an astronaut in full, golden, silvery spacesuit, complete with a globe for his head. All is quiet in the theatre, the only sound comes from the eerie music from the screen. The scene of a dark forest of pine trees frames the full moon, which dominates the dark blue night sky. There is a silhouette of an unidentifiable creature riding a bicycle across the sky, dwarfed by the moon; the moon is a round, white dinner plate behind it. Alice feels for the creature riding aimlessly with no end in sight. Suddenly overwhelmed by how lonely she also feels in this world, she beings to cry again. She cries and cries, and her tears soak the fabric of the carpet in the cinema, creating a pool of purple. Seeing that the film equipment is about to get submerged, Alice takes the fragile reel and puts in on her head so that the creatures can continue to enjoy the film. They don’t seem to notice and continue watching, rapt. The Queen’s army of playing cards begin to get submerged, and feeling pity for their muffled cries, Alice plucks them out of the water.

All of a sudden, the earth begins to shake. The lights go out in the cinema. One section of the cave collapses, and the light blue sky is revealed through the crack in the concrete. Alice recognises the hole as concrete from the carpark next to the cinema on the corner of Manchester and Tuam Streets. She ushers the patrons out through the crack into the fresh air above, while the cave and tunnel collapses around them. Just as Alice brings herself up through the hole, the rest of the ceiling gives way.

The Commuting Book Paint n’ Pen Creative Writing Programme is a collaboration between Christchurch City Libraries, The School For Young Writers, Watch This Space, Evans Taylor Digital and supported by Christchurch City Council’s Enliven Places Projects Fund and Publica