alices_nightmare

by Jonathan Green

  Alice’s nightmare is over and she is home again… Isn’t she?

  Take an Insanity test. If Alice passes the test, turn to 159. If she fails the test, turn to 139.

  126

  Alice must fight the fire-sparking insects (which have the initiative) at the same time.

  COMBAT ENDURANCE

  First SNAP-DRAGON-FLY 7 5

  Second SNAP-DRAGON-FLY 6 5

  If Alice kills the insects, like a toddler plucking the wings from a Daddy-Long-Legs, she can continue on her way at last, no longer bothered by the bothersome insects – turn to 146.

  127

  The path enters a grotto, yew hedges giving way to rock walls glistening with moisture. The ground underfoot becomes wet and muddy as Alice enters the dank gloom of the artificial cave.

  If Alice has been to the Grotto before, turn to 208. If not, turn to 218.

  128

  Hearing a ghostly wailing, Alice stares in amazement as the Ghost she freed from the book in the library rises from the chessboard in front of the monster. Its discomforting wail becomes a dreadful, soul-chilling howl, and then the phantasm launches itself at the Alice-Jabberwock, tearing the monster’s soft underbelly with its spectral talons.

  The Jabberwock responds with a sweep of a claw and with a final unearthly moan, the Ghost is snuffed out.

  Make a note of the fact that the Alice-Jabberwock has suffered one attack and turn to 153.

  129

  “You must come back, Alice,” comes the Caterpillar’s distant desperate voice again. “We are losing you…”

  “Now I am hearing things,” says Alice, dismissing the Caterpillar’s voice as being unreal, rather than the vision of the ivory tower she is walking through now. She is struggling to distinguish the difference between what is real and what isn’t.

  Take a Logic test, and if Alice passes, turn to 149; but if she fails, turn to 165.

  130

  First she has a conversation with a talking, clockwork rabbit, then she finds herself falling down an impossibly deep well, and now she finds herself being threatened by two skeletal clockwork men. “Curiouser and curiouser,” says Alice.

  But just when she thinks things cannot possibly get any stranger, before her very eyes one of the Tick-Tock Men starts to transform. As she watches it jerks and twitches and appears to divide itself in two down the middle. More limbs unfold from the bifurcated body parts and Alice finds herself now facing three of the curious clockwork creations rather than just two!

  The three horrors scrape their gleaming metal claws together, sending sparks flying from the keenly-honed blades, leaving Alice with no doubt in her mind as to what they intend for her.

  If you think Alice should now make use of The Pen is Mightier ability, turn to 189. If not, she will have to prepare to fight them – turn to 150.

  131

  Alice makes her way safely to the ground. Turn to 488.

  132

  Most of the pieces have already been removed from the board. Those that are left are arranged like this:

  A note scribbled on a piece of jotting paper and tucked under one corner of the chessboard reads, ‘White to move.’

  “If white is to play,” says Alice, “I wonder how many moves it would take to win.”

  Do you know how many moves it would take for White to win? If so, turn to the paragraph with the same number as the number of moves required.

  If not, Alice has spent enough hiding in the library and should be on her way again – turn to 454.

  133

  Alice manages to open the cupboard door with one hand and reach inside with the other, pulling out a large pair of scissors.

  Add the Scissors to Alice’s Adventure Sheet. If she ever finds herself in combat with one of the strange denizens that inhabit Wonderland she may use the Scissors as a weapon, causing 3 points of damage to her opponent’s Endurance score with every successful strike, rather than the usual 2.

  Now turn to 156.

  134

  Following the path east, Alice comes to a dead-end. Before her stands a full-length mirror in a polished wood frame. Alice can see the gravel path behind her reflected in the looking-glass.

  “Imagine if there was a way of getting through it,” Alice says, putting a hand to the mirror. “Imagine if the glass got all soft like gauze, so that I can get through. Why, it’s turning into a sort of mist now, I declare! It’ll be easy enough to get through.”

  And certainly the glass is beginning to melt away, just like a bright silvery mist.

  If you want Alice to push on through the mirror, turn to 154. If not, she will have to go back the way she has come (turn to 490).

  135

  “You never were very good at time-keeping,” the White Rabbit goes on, regarding Alice through lifeless glass eyes.

  “Yes, here I am,” says Alice and then, annoyed by the Rabbit’s slight, adds, “but where is here, exactly?”

  “Why, my home, of course,” replies the Rabbit. “What a strange question,” he says, addressing this last remark to the Lizard and the Mouse.

  “And where is that? Exactly?”

  The animals stare at Alice in dumbfounded amazement, as if she is a monkey that has just learned to walk and talk, although such a thing is probably commonplace here – wherever here is!

  “Why, Wonderland, of course!” the White Rabbit exclaims with growing irritation. “Don’t you remember?”

  “Remember what?” asks Alice.

  “This. Wonderland.” – Alice shakes her head – “The Hall of Doors?” – Alice shakes her head again – “The beautiful garden?”

  “I am very sorry, Mr Rabbit, but I’m afraid I don’t. Some things seem familiar, like you for example, but as if I dreamt it all once upon a time.”

  “That’s because you did dream it,” the White Rabbit says, regarding her with dead glass eyes. “You’ll be wanting some answers then. And tea too, probably. Tea first, I should think.”

  The White Rabbit picks up a little silver bell from the desk and rings it.

  “Then none of this is real,” says Alice, taking in the room around her, as well as the animals within it.

  “Why does that make it any less real?” the White Rabbit challenges her. “Just because this is your dream, doesn’t mean we all fade into nothingness the moment you wake up. Life goes on here, whether you’re here to observe it or not.”

  Alice suddenly feels rather light-headed. “This is all rather a lot to take in,” she says, her legs giving way and a padded leather armchair catching her.

  “Yes, I can see,” the Rabbit says, his tone more sympathetic now. “Where is that tea? Mary Ann! Where is she, useless girl? Would you go and see what she’s up to, there’s a good chap?” the Rabbit asks the Mouse. With a curt nod, the Mouse exits the study.

  Recalling her encounter with the Rabbit beside the river bank, Alice’s mind is a-whirl with questions again. Questions such as, who is the Queen of Hearts? Who turned the White Rabbit into a walking timepiece? And how does he expect her to kill anyone?

  But which question is the most pressing?

  “Who is the Queen of Hearts?”Turn to 116.

  “Who turned you into a walking

  timepiece?” Turn to 105.

  “How do expect me to kill anyone? Turn to 94.

  136

  Excitedly, Alice runs down the passageway and into the beautiful, sunlit garden. As she leaves the rat-hole she starts to grow again, until she has returned to her normal size. There will be no going back down the tunnel into the Hall of Doors now. But no matter, the bright, sunlit garden is far more appealing than the gloomy, underground hall.

  The garden is boxed in on all sides by tall, dense hedges. Gravel paths lead away to left and right among the flower beds that are fit to bursting with a profusion of brightl
y-coloured plants. Ahead of Alice, at the centre of the garden, there is a magnificent fountain. It is in the form of a gallant knight on horseback, battling a monstrous winged beast. Water spouts from the monster’s mouth as well as the tip of the knight’s spear.

  To explore the garden further, would you like Alice to head left (turn to 371), head right (turn to 310) or make for the fountain at the centre of the garden (turn to 51)?

  137

  Its eyes seeming to burn with the fires of Hell itself, the snorting beast tries to gore Alice with its sickle-like tusks. She has no choice but to defend herself against the Black Swine (which has the initiative).

  BLACK SWINECOMBAT 7 ENDURANCE 7

  If Alice bests the beast, turn to 148.

  138

  Picking her way carefully over the rocks, Alice finds herself on a stony beach covered with myriad pebbles of every different hue of white, grey, brown and black she could possibly imagine.

  “I wonder if there might be some interesting fossils to be found here,” she says, but before she can locate a single ammonite the shingle shifts and the entire beach rises up before her.

  Alice suddenly finds herself face to face with a monstrous lobster, stones cascading from its rocky carapace. As big as a horse, each of its claws as large as Alice, the Rock Lobster scuttles towards her with all the power of a locomotive. There is no way she can outrun the overgrown crustacean so should Alice prepare to defend herself against the angry shellfish (turn to 158), or do you want her to use The Pen is Mightier ability to alter the story and save herself (turn to 212)?

  139

  “You really shouldn’t purr so loud,” Alice says, rubbing her eyes, and addressing the kitten, respectfully, yet with some severity. “You woke me out of – oh! – such a dream! I dreamed I was far from here, and had such adventures, and then I dreamed that I woke up and found myself at home…”

  Alice’s words falter and she gets up out of the arm-chair, placing the purring kitten carefully back on the cushion, and approaches the large looking-glass that dominates the room.

  “Now, Kitty, let’s consider who it was that dreamed it all. This is a serious question, my dear, and you should not go on licking your paw like that – as if Dinah hadn’t washed you this morning! You see, Kitty, it must have been either me or… Me… Alice… She was part of my dream, of course – but then I was part of her dream, too! Was it Alice? Or was it me? But if it was me, then who am I?”

  And so the nightmare goes on, without ending, while in the waking world, at home, Alice wakes, her body home to another entity altogether; one that might look like Alice but who is Alice no more…

  Still she haunts me, phantomwise,

  Alice moving under skies

  Never seen by waking eyes…

  THE END

  140

  A white rose bush has been planted at the next junction in the path. Now which way should Alice go?

  North? Turn to 220.

  South? Turn to 160.

  West?Turn to 110.

  141

  “Curiouser and curiouser, and curiouser!” declares Alice. “One moment I am shrinking and shrinking, wondering if I might go out altogether, like a candle; the next I’ll probably start opening out again, wondering whether I’ll stop before my head hits the ceiling.”

  And then, sure enough, Alice starts to grow again, only stopping when she is her normal size. Turn to 164.

  142

  Face to face with the monstrous Basilisk, Alice feels paralysed with fear by the reptile’s terrible red-eyed stare.

  Take an Insanity test. If Alice passes the test, turn to 190. If she fails, turn to 202.

  143

  “That is not the password. Off with her head!” shouts the guard. Make a note that the guards have the initiative and turn to 163.

  144

  The coin lands with a plop in the pool where it proceeds to sink to the bottom, and Alice’s wish is granted. Add 1 point to her Agility score, and then turn to 241.

  145

  Alice is standing at the heart of a tangled forest. The grey-black trunks of the trees are contorted into shapes that speak of torment and pain, their branches clung with moss and snaking creepers. The air is redolent with the aroma of a compost heap and a sour yellow mist hangs in the air. Beads of moisture condense on Alice’s skin, sucking the warmth from her body. Strange animal hoots and shrieks echo between the trees and have Alice looking all about her, wondering from where the next threat to her life might come.

  “Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!” Alice mutters under her breath. “Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch!”

  And then the strange sounds of the forest are silenced by a blood-curdling howl that cuts through the tulgey wood, threatening to send an already anxious Alice over the edge.

  Take an Insanity test and if Alice passes, turn to 367. If she fails the test, turn to 347.

  146

  As Alice makes her way along the path through the garden, she hears a loud rustling sound behind her and can’t help but look round. The hedges of the garden are closing in behind her, encroaching on the path and forcing her onwards, in fear of her life once again.

  And then she sees a way out – an arch of red brick, smothered with swags of ivy, and beyond it the shadowed depths of a sinister forest. But Alice has no choice, she eithers enters the forest or stays and is swallowed by the hungry hedges. Turn to 397.

  147

  Something else that Alice remembers from her Governess’s attempts to educate her about the Ancient Greeks was the legend of Perseus and the Gorgon Medusa.

  “I might not have snakes for hair,” Alice addresses the advancing Stone Satyr, “but I am jolly cross that you would take it upon yourself to threaten a young girl, and my fearsome scowl has got the better of both my Governess and Nurse in the past, not to mention both my sisters!”

  With that Alice fixes her furious gaze on the statue as it stalks towards her and, thanks to the dream-like logic of this Wonderland, the Satyr’s steps slow and, as they do, cracks start to appear across its marble body. With a sound like a thunderbolt striking the earth, the statue explodes into a thousand stony shards.

  Turn to 188.

  148

  Alice is trapped in the kitchen with the crazed Cook. The bony old hag strides towards her, the massive cleaver gripped tight in one bloody hand, its keen edge dripping with gore.

  If you want Alice to use The Pen is Mightier ability at this time, turn to 205. If not, turn to 222.

  149

  “Where am I?” Alice challenges herself. “And how did I get here? I do not recall travelling to this dismal wood or this crumbling ruin. “Why it must just be some curious dream!”

  And with that, she opens her eyes…

  Turn to 185.

  150

  The three Tick-Tock Men converge on Alice, but at least she is ready for them (and so has the initiative in the battle to come).

  COMBAT ENDURANCE

  First TICK-TOCK MAN 7 7

  Second TICK-TOCK MAN 6 6

  Third TICK-TOCK MAN 6 6

  If Alice manages to defeat all of her aggressors, turn to 314.

  151

  Falling from such a great height is not without its dangers and although Alice’s descent is slowed when she bounces off the cap of another mushroom, when she does hit the ground it is still hard enough to cause her to twist her ankle. (Lose 3 Endurance points and deduct 2 from Alice’s Agility score.)

  If Alice is able to continue her journey, she picks herself up, dusts herself down, and sets off again at a hobbling limp – turn to 488.

  152

  Alice surveys the scene before her, splintered wood and broken clockwork lying amidst the carnage that greeted her young eyes upon entering the study.

>   It is quite clear to Alice that someone wants her dead. But who? And just as importantly, why?

  She certainly doesn’t feel safe staying in the White Rabbit’s House a moment longer. But it is as she is making for the door that the sudden realisation comes over her that the White Rabbit was already dead when they first met beside the river bank, nothing but stuffing and clockwork. Although that could be considered a life of sorts, and, if so, is the Rabbit still alive even now, after having had his head removed from his body?

  If you want Alice to find out, turn to 168. If you would rather get her out of there as quickly as possible, turn to 179.

  153

  If the word ‘Bonkers’ is recorded on Alice’s Adventure Sheet, turn to 99. If not, turn to 119.

  154

  In another moment Alice is through the glass, her feet alighting on the gravel path on the other side.

  She finds herself at another dead-end in the maze, another mirror in a polished wood frame at her back. Judging by the position of the sun overhead, the path she is on now leads away east into the labyrinth.