Subway

One step down one escalator; double the crowd.  Two steps, two escalators and my personal bubble’s already been popped. I smelt the musky unworn floor as I looked down at the green pasted trail on the glossy tiles. “Must be going down,” I muttered, pausing in front of the escalator. Bad idea. So much for leaving them in the dust–I was met in the back. Lurching forward I staggered for balance, leaning against the brick wall of the vibrant underpass. Visionless from the overwhelming colours, clashed together, in paintings by many local artists. The simultaneously flowing crowd, without warning, was pulled in by a current. Caught in the array, I was flushed out the foyer, feeling like I’d lost my yellow brick road.  I was drowned in the school of unknown souls, extending into the dank subway tunnel.

Wondering how I would escape; all exits were obstructed by tree-top tall strangers. My sole shelter was a single marble pillar; I tottered, cramped at the side of its structure, shielding me from the hubbub and unnerving contiguity. At that moment an air splitting, “Whoosshhh,” that swirled like a contained tornado coming to a close, resounded as the train settled. Peering out from behind the cylinder, I watched as the swarm of people strained to fit in the train all at once. Their departure refreshed the gloomy, tensioned room like a lullaby’s serene melody. I took one step, swiveling around in a fluid motion, “FRRrrreeee!” My dirty blonde locks, laced with white streaks whipped the nearest field of vision. Gazing soon was met with eye contact from a left over captor.  Skeptical, my pupils dilated. I turned stiffly, calmly backing out of the platform, all the while sensing his viewpoint of me. Anxiety rose, composure plummeted, heaving a sigh, I exhaled, “I need coffee.”

The afternoon’s haze was pierced by twisting streams of fluorescent lights that flowed over the clean spacious path ahead, casting shadows and blankets over the sides. The stale air’s frigid breath whispered at me, doubting my attire of denim ripped jeans, a white ‘14’ jersey and checkered Canterbury scarf.

After retracing my steps back to the foyer, I noticed a tangy aroma wafting through the area. Pacing a few metres to the corner I found a conveniently placed, small franchise café. Before long, I was eagerly sipping the irresistible brew, as the soothing solution sunk into my belly. I sat on a stool facing the lobby gawking through glass walls.  Behind me, the seats were relatively full, decorated by flower pots and a dwarf palm tree underneath the hanging television. On my third mouthful of coffee, my watch’s alarm began to beep. As anticipated, most of the customers glared at me, probably thinking along the lines, “do you mind?” Being the youngest in the shop didn’t positively contribute to that. Embarrassed, I tried to hide myself in the cup, drinking the last drops after switching the alarm off. “The train home, ETA is in 45 mins,” I told myself, while deciding to wait at the café until then.

Soon after, the continuous soft, voluble talk took me into a brooding daydream.  My mind began to wander…

(DAYDREAM)

“One sugar cube for you, here have another for goodwill,” said a raspy voice, but he spoke again obtrusively,”MALLYMKUN! Wake up! How many sugar cubes would you like?”  

“Can you pass the hot water?” yet another accent entered the fray. For a moment, I thought I was just watching the daydream play before me like on screen. But when I realized that I was actually part of it, my body started to numb. For before me was a long, rectangle table, seated by three irregular persons. A hare, mouse and a crazy looking top hatted man. Worse, they seemed to have noticed me. “Hello, dear,” the man spoke. “Would you like some tea?” He wore an old suit jacket under a high collared shirt with a wide bowtie.

“How many sugar cubes do you take?” The Hare added.

“Um, one will do, thank you,” I replied. Seeing that this was unavoidable, I sat furthest away from them. The oak table’s white cloth was stained all over.  The worst was where it was closest to them. “Is the tea ready yet?” said the recently woken dormouse gesturing toward me, “Oh, how rude of me for not noticing. But who do we have here?”

“The tea’s here.  Talk about that later Mallymkun,” the hare said, cutting off my chance to reply, as he put the cup on a plate and positioned himself to slide it to my seat. The Hare’s striped shorts and navy jacket twirled in the air, as he tried to fling it like a frisbee. It curved, spilling its contents on the Hatter, whilst flying past my head. Spluttering, the man was speechless. Mallymkun considerately patted most of the liquid out, as the March Hare sent another one my way, this time crashing on the table, shattering and splashing all of us. The Hare did this several times, building up pressure in the Hatter’s kettle until he ran out of tea cups, just as we could vividly see the steam-like geyser, red hot and flaming from the man’s ears. The Hatter immediately got up, grabbed a few biscuits and pummeled the Hare with them. I sat there dewy-eyed, wet and scared, as the tea party turned into a food fight.

“Dive for cover!” Mallymkuns muffled voice tried to say, but was drowned out by reality.

“Train 106 is going to be delayed, we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. For more details please speak to the trainmaster.” The supervisor spoke over the intercom, unknitting the wall between the real world and imagination. Yawning, I checked the number of my train, trying to adjust my eyes from being out of it. “What a bummer, that’s my train,” I thought, glancing up as a new stranger entered the café.  I couldn’t take my eyes off him, “He has a hare for a head??” Then, one of the waitresses came to collect my cup, I conversed with her for a bit and went back to staring at the new dude as he was ordering. But it was just a normal human.  

Racking my head in confusion, I surveyed the place. To my left there was another waitress routinely mopping the floor, until she gazed up at me with a top hat and crooked teeth…

Fidgeting in my nervousness, I heard a squelch under my heel.  I took a quick look under the bench to see crumbs of a biscuit. The same waitress walked next to me and started to clean under my feet, and I saw that she was just a regular, nice lady. “Where did the Hatter go?” I mumbled, “I think I’m seeing things.” Instantly, a majestic flap of wings rose to eye level, a silver butterfly reflecting the dim light with sparks or confetti descending in its wake. Following it with my eyelids, I went cross-eyed until the world started spinning and the lights went out. I was in a dead sleep.

            

“Sccttrrtttcchh!” A sound could be heard, pattering footsteps echoed by the wind.

“Ugghhhh,” I groaned. Pushing myself up off the bench, with the clicking of creaky bones. Slowly opening my eyes and tuning to the darkness, I recognized that I was still in the cafe and all the lights were off in the absence of people. Piecing together memories in a jigsaw puzzle, accounts of a few hours ago painted together a bewildering canvas. “What’s the time?” I asked myself, while getting ready to answer it by checking my watch; 7:02pm.

All of a sudden a reverberating cry that felt like a knife slicing down my back, held me frozen in fear. Then it repeated again, more distinctly “MEEeeOOoooWW,” I should’ve been relieved that it was a cat, but for one reason or another I didn’t believe it for a second. The Television was still on in the café, and I went to check the train schedule, fortunately there was one last train for home, leaving at 7:30pm. Sadly, that meant taking my squeamish self down the bowels of the waiting platform, in the black of the night.

Taking deep breaths in the act to muster courage, I walked out of the café, jumpy and unprepared as I could be. Whereas, back at the television, the screen rebooted and was replaced with blue snake-like eyes and a rigid, sharp toothed smile, stretching from ear to ear. “ALIiCCcce...”

My goose bumps perked up and I ran, hearing the meowing stalking me all the way. ‘How could I be scared of a cat? I’m losing all sanity here.” So in an attempt to prove myself, I stopped and turned to face the chaser. All I saw was a shadow the size of big cat lunging at me, and that was all I needed. I screamed and sprinted, listening to the falling footsteps, readying myself for the attack. That never came. “You used to be much more… ‘Muchier.’ You’ve lost your muchness.” A slurred voice spoke a breath away. I suppressed a shriek, just as blinding lights screeched and the platform was full of white. That’s when I felt the presence behind the voice leave.

The train couldn’t have arrived at a better time, except for the fluffy white rabbit coming out of it. He wore a blue vested jacket and was holding a pocket watch as he spoke, “Oh, my ears and whiskers! You’re late!”

“I know right?” I chuckled feeling more insane by the second, “As long as this takes me home, I don’t care if I’m riding with a talking rabbit.”

He winked, “Oh you’re going home alright.” I followed him into the train and sat near the exit, exhausted as I watched the train tracks lead into “a dollhouse sized door?”

Breaking the silence, he uttered, “Welcome, back to Wonderland. Alice.”