"Life gets more irksome as one gets older," sighed Alice over her raised tea cup.
"You're telling me!" complained Rabbit, stroking his white furry brow. "Five sons and four daughters to worry about. And birthdays for all the grandchildren are nearly making me bankrupt, I tell you."
"By the way," he enquired. "How are your brood?"
"Tom's in California, still working in movies, divorced again. His two sons are into travelling and exotic board games. Mary's now a Mathematics professor, working on octonions, whatever they are. She's married to Agatha, can you believe it? They keep cats."
She asked Rabbit, "How are the others?"
Rabbit sighed, fussing over a muffin.
"March Hare's back on Lithium, now he just shuffles around staring. We all preferred him mad, tiresome though he was. Hatter is in a nursing home. Severe dementia." - Rabbit shed a tear - "Last I saw him, he didn't know who I was. So terribly sad."
He brightened up. "But, our friend the Dormouse has taken up running and power yoga, and he wants to stand for Parliament. Wonderland's experiments with democracy are becoming very curious indeed."
"It would be nice to visit you all again", mused Alice, "but I don't get out much on these legs. I'm prone to falling. Plus, I'm too big for rabbit holes."
"I still find it odd when I look at mirrors," she chuckled.
Other diners in the café smiled indulgently, or rolled their eyes, watching the elderly woman converse with an empty chair.
"You're telling me!" complained Rabbit, stroking his white furry brow. "Five sons and four daughters to worry about. And birthdays for all the grandchildren are nearly making me bankrupt, I tell you."
"By the way," he enquired. "How are your brood?"
"Tom's in California, still working in movies, divorced again. His two sons are into travelling and exotic board games. Mary's now a Mathematics professor, working on octonions, whatever they are. She's married to Agatha, can you believe it? They keep cats."
She asked Rabbit, "How are the others?"
Rabbit sighed, fussing over a muffin.
"March Hare's back on Lithium, now he just shuffles around staring. We all preferred him mad, tiresome though he was. Hatter is in a nursing home. Severe dementia." - Rabbit shed a tear - "Last I saw him, he didn't know who I was. So terribly sad."
He brightened up. "But, our friend the Dormouse has taken up running and power yoga, and he wants to stand for Parliament. Wonderland's experiments with democracy are becoming very curious indeed."
"It would be nice to visit you all again", mused Alice, "but I don't get out much on these legs. I'm prone to falling. Plus, I'm too big for rabbit holes."
"I still find it odd when I look at mirrors," she chuckled.
Other diners in the café smiled indulgently, or rolled their eyes, watching the elderly woman converse with an empty chair.
