Chapter 10

 "We need to go due east to get to the Jabberwalk," March Hare says. I turn on my heel and go in the way that March Hare said. "We will go through the Mind Maze." I turn to him.
   "March Hare, we don't have time for games!" I scold.
   "It's not a game. Its a place we must go through if we are to reach Hatter. There is no choice." My heart sinks.
   "There isn't a way around it?"
   "No." I take a deep breath.
   "Ok, then. To the Mind Maze we go." I am not looking forward to it.
   "The thing about the Mind Maze is that you must keep your thoughts firmly set on where you want to go and what you need to do."
   "That is crazy," I say.
   "No, its quite true. For every thought you have, there is a different path. If it is easy for you to get lost in thought, you will have an extreamly hard time getting out of the Mind Maze. Your feet take you where you think, weather or not you like it."
   "Please don't tell me that. I can't bear the thought of never getting back to Trea!"
   "Chances are, you'll have to reach the end of the Mind Maze by yourself." I look at him in despair.
   "How could I ever manage that?!"
   "You will just have to keep your thoughts focused on getting to the Jabberwalk and slaying it. We all will have to fight our own way out of the Mind Maze."
   "How can I get there if you aren't there?!"
   "All you have to do is think of where you need to go and what you need to do."
   "You make it sound simple enough. But what about when I reach the end and you are not there?"
   "You must go on your own, then. Do not wait for us. We will probably catch up to you."
   "And what about the guidance that Mr. Dodo said that you all are supposed to give me? How can you give it to me if you aren't there?"
   "Alyssa," March Hare says with kindness, "if you were in the Mind Maze now, you would be very lost indeed. Pretend you never had us along on your journey. You must forget about us. Think of only what you must do." I nod my head, not agreeing with him. I don't think that I can imagine having ever been in wonderland without this odd clan. "Don't worry. You will not be the same, frightened and timid girl you were going in as will be when going out. No one ever is." He smiles as though that were a good thing.
   "What if I don't want to change?" I ask.
   "Then you will never get out."
   "But I have a time limit! So does Trea! I don't have time for wandering around!"
   "Then that's what you need to think about as you go through the Mind Maze." I can't help it. The Mind Maze is going to be the most excruciating thing I will have ever gone through in my life. He did say that I will never be the same... I guess that something excrutiating would change a person and their view of life. Wouldn't it? I shake my head. I will not get far if I wonder about such things.
   "How far away is the Mind Maze?"
   "Not far."
 Something hits me. "March Hare, Where are Tweedles and Chess?" I look around. No wonder March Hare and I have been talking so much together. No one was there to interrupt us.
   "The Tweedles left us somtime during the attack of the-"
   "Shh. Shun the frumious Bandersnatch. So what about Chess?" I don't want to have to shoo that thing away again.
   "After we found you, he took off to find the boys. Then they were going to head straight to the Jabberwalk. They will meet us at the other side of the Mind Maze. I know my way around Underland quite well, so don't wait for me. I believe I have told you everything you will need to know." He couldn't have possibly have told me all that I need to know. And yet, he smiles so kindly at me that I can't possibly contradict him. We keep putting one foot in front of the other.
   "March Hare..."
   "Yes, Alyssa?"
   "Why does everything have to be so complicated?"
   "The longer we live, the more difficult the now will seem to be and the simpler the past appears." Like everytime Mom would yell at me for pretending I was people that I wasn't. If I had simply known that it doesn't matter what she told me and that I could keep on pretending in my head. That she would never know the difference. And now I find out that I'm as good as Queen, which I still can't wrap my brain around, and that I live in a place that everyone thinks is nothing more than a dream, and I fall in love with a man named Trea, whom I'm trying to rescue, yet Time and the Mind and the Sword keeps getting in the way. All of which delays me and hastens the death of Trea. Wow, am I in a mess. I had no idea that life could ever be this difficult or dangerous. And to think, it all started from one sleepless night and careless wonder. But would I ever change it?
   "See you on the other side," March Hare says, startling me out of my thoughts. I look up and see a hedge, very wide and tall, with only two visible openings. Which way is the right one? Think about Trea, I command myself. My feet take me to the one on the right. I was looking at the one on the left.
 I look at the inside of the maze critically. I don't see a thing infront of me. Maybe I should go back. I turn around. And see nothing. Oh, no. I'm trapped! I get down on my knees and search for some opening, some light, some promise. I look up from despair. The sky hasn't changed. The sky never changes! My feet take me to the bush in front of me. And a vine comes up out of the ground. I grab hold of it and I climb. I gotta get out of here. The tops of the bush walls are closer. Still out of reach. I climb higher. The wall seems further away. Thats not possible! It must be getting closer! I'm just more impatient the closer I get, is all. I climb steadily, trying not to think of how close-yet-so-far the wall is. A flower is on the bush. It looks like it's smiling. I give a half grin back and pluck it from the bush. I tumble off the vine and through the bush wall. Why didn't I just walk through the walls in the first place? I ask myself in bewilderment. To think of all that time wasted climbing a vine! Think? Oh, goodness I've let my mind trail off from getting Trea!
 A straight pathway opens up. Oh, thank goodness. It isn't such a maze when I think only of Trea. Althought, I will say that the pathway out does seem rather long. And narrow. And... narrower? I briefly close my eyes and take a deep breath. I'm just over reacting. I'm sure of it. I keep walking down the pathway, looking only at the opening to the way out of the Mind Maze. The opening dissappeared. No, it can't be. I'm imagining it. The pathway is overgrown with the walls of bushes. No! Its too small! Its going to crowd me! Its-! a bush. I am such an idiot. I walk through the bushes, getting scratched and what not, but I am going through it, nevertheless. The only problem I have with it is this: I am walking the wrong way. I pull my compass out. North east. no. southwest. no. south? North? this compass isn't working! The sky above me is spinning. How can I ever get out of this place? Is it even possible? Oh, I wish that March Hare told me how long it takes to get out of here.
 "Dum... Dum... Dum dee dum... dum... dum... dum dee dum..." What is that? Its like a mealody. A strange one, but still. A somewhat pleasant sound, quite constant, repeating itself over and over again. Oh. Its getting close. I look down and realize that my feet really are taking me places on their own. And they are carrying me to that sound. I am curious as to what it is... I shake my head. Alyssa, get out of here and away from the noise. My feet don't listen. I come upon a clearing and see what looks like platypuses playing on a set of drums of sorts, making the music. Beautiful constantness in this insane place. Flowers and grass sprout, cradeling me... ever so soft... how long have I been walking? What time is it? Is it getting dark? It is getting dark. It must be- I yawn- getting very late.