This story was written for school (for an exam), but I thought it might be interesting. ^^

The task was to write a story where Alice, after some years' time, comes to Wonderland again and meets the Queen of Hearts.

Since this was done with only a limited amount of time and words it isn't too long...

Hope you enjoy!

ALICE IN WONDERLAND – REVISITED

“Looks like I won”, the Queen of Hearts said and smiled triumphantly, “you know what that means!”

Alice went pale. How had she been so blind to believe that the Queen would lose a poker game? All of her followers were cards!

She wondered whether begging for mercy would help, but decided against it. Even after all these years, the Queen’s heart was still as hard as marble. “But I like myself the way I am!”, she protested.

“My dear Alice”, the Queen replied, her smile widening, “you can’t step back now. That would be cheating”. She gave the girl a cunning look, “… and you know what we do with cheaters here!”

The cards cheered as their queen took a pair of handcuffs and put them around Alice’s wrists. “You agreed to it, remember? There’s no way out.”

A brutal-looking guard stepped forward and out a hand on Alice’s shoulder. The girl was led through the Queen’s castle, through endless dark corridors, past portraits of former Kings and Queens, and many, many cards. Then they got to the door. It was made of dark wood, and there was an iron heart pinned onto it. And somehow the door seemed… alive.

Alice’s heart was pounding hard as the guard opened the door and pushed her through. There, in the middle of the gigantic hall stood a machine. At least it looked like one. It was made from the same wood that had been used for the door.

There was also a table with several brushes and a pot full of red paint.

“This, my dear, is the press!, the Queen said to Alice. Here, in this room, she seemed to glow with crimson light. And for the first time the Queen of Hearts seemed to be happy.

All of a sudden she grabbed a brush, dipped it into the red paint, and painted a little heart onto Alice’s cheek. “You’re mine now” she murmured gleefully.

The Queen and the guard led Alice to the heart of the machine and chained the girl onto it. She was lying on her back, arms and legs stretched out to the sides. The guard pulled a lever, and the ceiling slowly began to move closer and closer. Alice stared in horror.

“Don’t worry, my dear”, the Queen whispered into her ear, “you’ll make a lovely card.”