Post by Dreamchild on Jun 15, 2011 23:38:27 GMT -8
Alice was beginning to feel overwhelmed as she stared at the center tower of her new school. She stood before the entrance of St. Blair Academy, Epcot City's proud boarding school for children grades seven through twelve. The boarding school resembled an old, small Buckingham Palace in Epcot City more than anything. Of course, Alice wasn't frightened, nor was the boarding school's exteriors disturbing: this was just all too sudden, and this would be Alice's first night away from her family, on a different continent.
The Liddell family remained with Alice up until the English shipyard. Before Alice boarded the vessel that would take her to the American coast, Mrs. Liddell tearfully bid her daughter good-bye. Alice, fighting back tears of her own, corrected her mother with a shaking voice: it would only be temporary, not forever! They would see each other again, and Alice even promised to write and mail letters home often.
And now here she was, standing in front of St. Blair Academy, with little more than a suitcase and the clothes on her back. But she wouldn’t give up or admit fear so soon, because she was wise little Alice, the imaginative twelve-year-old girl whose cleverness and intellect were overpowered only by her imagination and curiosity.
Alice stood like a statue and stared at the academy’s elegant designs. She had remained that way for so long that she rested the suitcase by her feet.
“Goodness,” she said to herself. As clever as she was, she wasn’t normal like average girls in many different ways. For example, she had a habit of talking to herself. Of course, in comparison with a big secret of hers self-conversation seemed trivial.
“I know I will see my family again, but… Do you suppose it will feel like forever? And poor Dinah—won’t she miss me!” After a moment of worrying and self-pity, Alice forced a determined facial expression and looked straight to the entrance doors. “There’s no use thinking like that!” She picked up her suitcase and triumphantly walked to the door. “I will miss my family very much, and Dinah, but I can always write to them, and they could write to me. This is for the best, for my education.”
As she opened the door and entered, she said in a lower tone, “I just wish history books weren’t so boring!”
Inside the boarding school was similarly impressive. The interiors had a perfect mix of school and curriculum-related items, and decorations in general. Alice seemed to have taken in the sights to a fault, because she finally bumped into an American girl not far from her age.
“Oh! I beg your pardon,” Alice apologized meekly.
The girl , who was clearly waiting in a line that trailed into the registration office, faced Alice. The American girl was several inches taller than Alice. She had shoulder-length brown hair, freckles, and brown eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” replied Alice. “But I’m sorry.”
“It’s cool.” At that moment, the American girl noticed Alice’s archaic Victorian dress that was heavy in white and blue, complete with white stockings and black Mary-Janes. “You’re not from around here… are you?”
Alice shook her head and curtsied with her left hand, as her right hand continued to hold the suitcase. “No, I’m not. My name is Alice, and I’m from England.”
“Why do you dress so weird?”
“This dress was a present to me!” Alice replied indignantly.
“I’m sorry! No offense. I’ve just never seen clothes like that before, but I like it.”
Alice was calmed by the apology and compliment. “I forgive you.”
“Nice to meet you, Alice. I’m—”
“Next in line!” called a voice from the registration office. The next in line happened to be Alice’s new acquaintance.
The girl spun and hurried into the office. Alice held onto her suitcase and waited patiently for confirmation and being shown to her dormitory.
Eventually, a supervisor unlocked what would be Alice’s room. She would share the room with a roommate, but for now Alice was all alone.
“Your roommate hasn’t checked in yet,” said the supervisor as she unlocked the room. The older woman offered to carry Alice’s suitcase, but the girl insisted she carry it on her own. “So you’ll be alone until your roommate shows up. At any rate, here is your key.” She dropped the key onto Alice’s open palm.
“Thank you, Mrs… Klemp?” Alice wasn’t sure if she got the pronunciation right, but a smile and nod from the supervisor confirmed it. Alice entered the room she rested the suitcase on her bed (at least she chose the bed: first come, first served after all!), but didn’t hear the door close. She looked back at Mrs. Klemp.
“Do you need help unpacking?”
“No, thank you! I can handle this on my own.” Alice’s initial tone was serious, but she soon disguised it with forced sweetness.
“Sure thing. Please let any staff know if you have any questions.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Klemp. Good-bye!” Alice smiled until she watched the supervisor close the door behind her. Now alone, Alice sighed in relief and dropped the keys on the bed. She opened the suitcase to see what no one must ever associate with Alice Liddell.
Alice pulled up her Dreamchild costume and examined it.
“I don’t know why I brought this along. Maybe it’s because I didn’t want this to be found at home, or possibly because I feel better with it close to me.” She neatly folded the costume again and placed it back into the suitcase, next to her mask.
Alice sat on her bed next to the suitcase and thought. “Do I still want to be Dreamchild? I mean, in Oxford I was safe, but I don’t know about Epcot City. If the people here are dangerous, I would have to be very careful. But what if I could help?” Alice sighed again and twiddled her fingers. All she could do was watch her fiddling hands, before she heard a loud person from the hall outside.
“Curious.” Alice closed the suitcase and walked to the door, her long blond hair bouncing with each step. Before she reached for the handle she remembered that she didn’t have the key with her. She turned, opened her palm, and used her mental powers to levitate the key and float it straight to her hand. She smiled proudly as she opened her door to step out into the hall. But she didn’t need to, because two girls were talking loud enough for Alice to hear.
“Did you hear the news?” one of the gossiping students explained noisily to her friend. “A house was robbed, and there was a weird puddle at the crime scene. But a sink wasn’t anywhere close to the puddle, and it’s been sunny all week!”
“Whoa, really?” replied the other girl. “That’s odd.”
Alice quickly retreated into her room and closed the door behind her. She nervously twiddled her fingers together and bit her lip. “Goodness! Maybe there isn’t a peaceful country in the world?” She folded her left arm on her chest and brought her right hands thumb and index finger to her chin. She raised her right eyebrow and tilted her head, her eyes reaching for the sky, as she thought deeply. This was imaginative, clever Alice at work.
“But why would a burglar leave a puddle? And if the scene of the crime didn't happen near a sink, and if the weather has been good all week... Hmm. Why would the burglar be wet? This is odd. I don't think Alice would be able to conclude this mystery, but maybe...”
The costume.
Alice walked to her suitcase, opened it, and pulled up the costume once more. After staring at it and thinking for ten seconds, a smile crossed her face.
“Well…”
She stuffed the costume and mask into the simple bag she also brought along via the suitcase, made sure she had the key, and started for the door with the bag in hand.
“I suppose just one more night as Dreamchild will do.” She said this to herself just before she opened the door, closed it, and began her leave from St. Blair Academy’s premises. Her journey would take her to Highfeather Heights.
The Liddell family remained with Alice up until the English shipyard. Before Alice boarded the vessel that would take her to the American coast, Mrs. Liddell tearfully bid her daughter good-bye. Alice, fighting back tears of her own, corrected her mother with a shaking voice: it would only be temporary, not forever! They would see each other again, and Alice even promised to write and mail letters home often.
And now here she was, standing in front of St. Blair Academy, with little more than a suitcase and the clothes on her back. But she wouldn’t give up or admit fear so soon, because she was wise little Alice, the imaginative twelve-year-old girl whose cleverness and intellect were overpowered only by her imagination and curiosity.
Alice stood like a statue and stared at the academy’s elegant designs. She had remained that way for so long that she rested the suitcase by her feet.
“Goodness,” she said to herself. As clever as she was, she wasn’t normal like average girls in many different ways. For example, she had a habit of talking to herself. Of course, in comparison with a big secret of hers self-conversation seemed trivial.
“I know I will see my family again, but… Do you suppose it will feel like forever? And poor Dinah—won’t she miss me!” After a moment of worrying and self-pity, Alice forced a determined facial expression and looked straight to the entrance doors. “There’s no use thinking like that!” She picked up her suitcase and triumphantly walked to the door. “I will miss my family very much, and Dinah, but I can always write to them, and they could write to me. This is for the best, for my education.”
As she opened the door and entered, she said in a lower tone, “I just wish history books weren’t so boring!”
Inside the boarding school was similarly impressive. The interiors had a perfect mix of school and curriculum-related items, and decorations in general. Alice seemed to have taken in the sights to a fault, because she finally bumped into an American girl not far from her age.
“Oh! I beg your pardon,” Alice apologized meekly.
The girl , who was clearly waiting in a line that trailed into the registration office, faced Alice. The American girl was several inches taller than Alice. She had shoulder-length brown hair, freckles, and brown eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” replied Alice. “But I’m sorry.”
“It’s cool.” At that moment, the American girl noticed Alice’s archaic Victorian dress that was heavy in white and blue, complete with white stockings and black Mary-Janes. “You’re not from around here… are you?”
Alice shook her head and curtsied with her left hand, as her right hand continued to hold the suitcase. “No, I’m not. My name is Alice, and I’m from England.”
“Why do you dress so weird?”
“This dress was a present to me!” Alice replied indignantly.
“I’m sorry! No offense. I’ve just never seen clothes like that before, but I like it.”
Alice was calmed by the apology and compliment. “I forgive you.”
“Nice to meet you, Alice. I’m—”
“Next in line!” called a voice from the registration office. The next in line happened to be Alice’s new acquaintance.
The girl spun and hurried into the office. Alice held onto her suitcase and waited patiently for confirmation and being shown to her dormitory.
Eventually, a supervisor unlocked what would be Alice’s room. She would share the room with a roommate, but for now Alice was all alone.
“Your roommate hasn’t checked in yet,” said the supervisor as she unlocked the room. The older woman offered to carry Alice’s suitcase, but the girl insisted she carry it on her own. “So you’ll be alone until your roommate shows up. At any rate, here is your key.” She dropped the key onto Alice’s open palm.
“Thank you, Mrs… Klemp?” Alice wasn’t sure if she got the pronunciation right, but a smile and nod from the supervisor confirmed it. Alice entered the room she rested the suitcase on her bed (at least she chose the bed: first come, first served after all!), but didn’t hear the door close. She looked back at Mrs. Klemp.
“Do you need help unpacking?”
“No, thank you! I can handle this on my own.” Alice’s initial tone was serious, but she soon disguised it with forced sweetness.
“Sure thing. Please let any staff know if you have any questions.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Klemp. Good-bye!” Alice smiled until she watched the supervisor close the door behind her. Now alone, Alice sighed in relief and dropped the keys on the bed. She opened the suitcase to see what no one must ever associate with Alice Liddell.
Alice pulled up her Dreamchild costume and examined it.
“I don’t know why I brought this along. Maybe it’s because I didn’t want this to be found at home, or possibly because I feel better with it close to me.” She neatly folded the costume again and placed it back into the suitcase, next to her mask.
Alice sat on her bed next to the suitcase and thought. “Do I still want to be Dreamchild? I mean, in Oxford I was safe, but I don’t know about Epcot City. If the people here are dangerous, I would have to be very careful. But what if I could help?” Alice sighed again and twiddled her fingers. All she could do was watch her fiddling hands, before she heard a loud person from the hall outside.
“Curious.” Alice closed the suitcase and walked to the door, her long blond hair bouncing with each step. Before she reached for the handle she remembered that she didn’t have the key with her. She turned, opened her palm, and used her mental powers to levitate the key and float it straight to her hand. She smiled proudly as she opened her door to step out into the hall. But she didn’t need to, because two girls were talking loud enough for Alice to hear.
“Did you hear the news?” one of the gossiping students explained noisily to her friend. “A house was robbed, and there was a weird puddle at the crime scene. But a sink wasn’t anywhere close to the puddle, and it’s been sunny all week!”
“Whoa, really?” replied the other girl. “That’s odd.”
Alice quickly retreated into her room and closed the door behind her. She nervously twiddled her fingers together and bit her lip. “Goodness! Maybe there isn’t a peaceful country in the world?” She folded her left arm on her chest and brought her right hands thumb and index finger to her chin. She raised her right eyebrow and tilted her head, her eyes reaching for the sky, as she thought deeply. This was imaginative, clever Alice at work.
“But why would a burglar leave a puddle? And if the scene of the crime didn't happen near a sink, and if the weather has been good all week... Hmm. Why would the burglar be wet? This is odd. I don't think Alice would be able to conclude this mystery, but maybe...”
The costume.
Alice walked to her suitcase, opened it, and pulled up the costume once more. After staring at it and thinking for ten seconds, a smile crossed her face.
“Well…”
She stuffed the costume and mask into the simple bag she also brought along via the suitcase, made sure she had the key, and started for the door with the bag in hand.
“I suppose just one more night as Dreamchild will do.” She said this to herself just before she opened the door, closed it, and began her leave from St. Blair Academy’s premises. Her journey would take her to Highfeather Heights.
