Lilly in Wonderland

I gaze down at my watch: 8:45. It's time to put Lilly to bed. I take off my glasses, put down my book, and stand. I hear mumbling and a low growling noise. Recently, Lilly has taking a liking to playing pretend. She can spend hours playing in her room with imaginary animals. Elizabeth thinks she will be a zoologist or veterinarian when she grows up. 

I walk towards her room and hear a cat-like purr. Leaning my ear against her door, I listen. Thunk! 

"Lilly!" I yell as I open the door. "Are you okay?" I glance around the room looking for her. She's sitting on her toy trunk with her legs folded beneath her. Her lips are parted in a pout. 

"Daddy! You scared off Cheshy!" she screams. Lilly stands and places her hands on her hips. I begin to walk over to her checking her for injuries. It sounded like she fell.

"Lilly. Are you okay? Did you fall?" I ask her. She shakes her head quickly side to side. "Use your words, Lilly," I prod. Elizabeth thinks she needs to speak more instead of making gestures.

"No. I didn't fall Daddy. I was playing with Cheshy and when you came to the door, he ran under my bed. You scared him Daddy. You scared him. Now we can't play anymore."

"Lilly, who's Cheshy? Is he one of your make believe friends?" I ask.

"No Daddy! He's real! He's a kitty cat and he's real! He's real! He's real! He's real! He's real, Daddy, he is! Mommy and Teacher say he isn't too! Why don't you believe me?"

"Oh, honey! I believe you. I really do! "

"Promise?" she asks. "I promise, Lilly. Tell me about Cheshy. Please, I want to know more about your friend. Do you play with him a lot?"

"Yes Daddy! We play lots! Cheshy likes me to pet him but you can't touch his tail! If you touch his tail, he gets nervous and goes away. But sometimes his head stays! Then you just pet his head."

"Oh, okay. What kind of animal is Cheshy?" I ask, worried about her playing with an imaginary decapitated animal. Although, she does seem to really like this Cheshy thing.

"He's a cat! And he's purple and pink! The best colors, Daddy! And he has really big eyes too," she says enthusiastically. "I'll show you Daddy!" She stand up and starts toward her bed. "Cheshy! Come out Cheshy," she yells into the tiny space between her bed and the carpeted floor.

I lean down to play along and look under the bed. Pwat! I jerk my head backwards in surprise. Something just tried to hit me!

"Cheshy! Don't hurt Daddy! He won't hurt you! I promise, Cheshy! Be nice!" Lilly says as I pick her up and place her back on her toy trunk. I don't know what's under her bed but it will not hurt her.

I peer back under the bed and see two glowing green eyes staring back at me. "Cheshy!" Lilly yells and runs back over to the bed. When she slides partly under into the dark space, a white smile appears below the eyes. I'm frozen in disbelief as she reaches towards the face and it begins to purr. Like an actual cat.

She pets the cat thing and it wraps it's pink and purple striped tail around her shoulders like a hug. It's yellow, slitted eyes glare back at me. My vision goes spotty and I fade into oblivion.

Author's Note

Sorry I couldn't come up with a better ending. If you didn't realize it, the cat is the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. I plan to make a "Book" of short scenes where people meet fairy tale characters but I'm not sure if I'll stick with it.

Reviews

[matrixmark]

Lilly in wonderland....pretty cool title. What I really liked at this piece was that you kept the sentences short and punchy - it's always a pleasure to read work when it is presented in this way. The dialogue skills were pulled off really, really well and again a pleasure to read.

The way in which the daughter talks to her dad is perfectly executed.

Then edning was pretty darn cool - how the cat comes to life is really cool and funny too when the dad faints.

Excellent short piece.

Kudos to you.

Mark.

[Quinn W]

Aaaw! Thank you so much! Since you like horror, I really recommend my friend moonlit_cove.

[matrixmark]

Thanks for the heads up..

I have always like alice in wonderland for some reason - maybe because ther are some dark undertones to it.

You are welcome with the review - really enjoyed it a lot.

Mark.