Challenge 2 Entry~Spooky

  A walk in the woods help me relax and release tension. The fact that I’m dragging a body behind me should be irrelevant.

 As I walk past the tall, looming trees, I talk to the body behind me. “So then I asked my mom ‘why should I not?’ and she said to go to h-” I stop talking when I see a flash of red deeper in the forest. I freeze, holding my breath. I try to duck behind a tree, but the body is too heavy. Instead, I crouch in the shouts made by the pale moonlight. Then I hear the shouts round me. The Queen warned me about this.

 “Halt!” A soldier yells, demand in his voice. A deck of playing cards, all diamonds, surrounded me. Two of them grabbed my arms and another two grabbed the dead body. “By order of Her Majesty we command you to come with us.” They lead me out of the forest and into a garden where Her Majesty waits.

~

 The Queen of Hearts sits upon a ruby red throne decked out in gold and black lace. Hearts are pronounced in every piece of furniture from each chair to table in her palace. All you can see of the queen is her scarlet dress, complete with a bustle. Her face is hidden behind a large mask.

 Next to her stands her most trusted servant. With an elegant wave of her hand, she motions for him to hand her a tube.

 “Her Majesty the Queen wishes to know what you intend to do here in Wonderland,” The servant shouted out to me after he listened to what Her Majesty said into the tube.

 Trying to sound brave, I reply, “I have come to speak to Eleni Dotson.”

  Her Majesty removes her mask and tosses it to one of her ladies in waiting. Without speaking into the tube, she says “Leave us!”

 The cards and ladies in waiting leave quickly, as if they weren’t ever there.

  “I am the Eleni you speak of.” She peers at me with her robin egg blue eyes. “Who are you?”

 “My name is Natalie. And I have come bearing gifts from The Queen in another realm.” I pull out a necklace from my pocket.

  “I AM THE ONLY QUEEN” She shouts, her voice like thunder. After a moment, she calms down. “I do so like gifts. Bring it here!”

 I walk up to the thrown and began to tie the necklace around her neck.

 “So, Natalie, why have you come with… a dead body? You’re smart enough to realize the same number of people who enter can leave. So who is leaving Wonderland with you?”

I face her once again. “YOU!” I reach through her chest to find her heart. But it isn’t there. I retract my hand cooly, like I touched a snake.

  She laughed, a cruel laugh. “I am The Queen of Hearts! Why would you think I would keep my heart where everyone else does?” The queen looks at me. Before I realize what she’s pushes her hand into my chest and pulls. “Now this is how it’s done.” I see my red, pumping heart in her pale hands. I gasp but can’t find my breath.

  “Please,” I whisper begging her.

  “First, TELL ME WHO SENT YOU HERE.”

  “Your…. Daughter, Anaiki,” I say weekly. Abruptly, she pushes her hand into my chest. I can breath again.

  “My…. Daughter?” Her face twists into sadness then anger. “you know she put me here.”

  “What?” I ask confused.

  “Your Queen.” She sneered. “Put me in Wonderland many years ago.” A look of melancholy passed over her face. Then a look of happiness. “Now I’ll do the same to you. GUARDS!”

  Next thing I know, a deck of cards attack me and put me in a cell. I’m stuck in Wonderland now. 

~

I AM DONE WITH SCHOOL!

Emily