A Christmas Present For Alice - A Short Story Of Fantasy

(Image source: pxhere.com)

- Alice, wake up! Alice! We have to leave soon. Come on, we're gonna miss the bus.

It was her mother's voice, but Alice didn't want to get out of bed. It was Christmas Eve. She wished for a few more hours of sleep. Instead she had to get up, get dressed and leave on the early bus to get to the city center. The hospital was a one-hour drive and her mother didn't want to be late. They had to be there before he wakes up.

It's been almost three weeks now. Her father had a stroke and he had to stay in the ICU. He could not move, he could not talk, but his eyes... They had never lost their sparkle! Alice could not stand watching him like that, trapped in his own body, unable to tell them that he is still there, he was not gone yet. The doctors said they could do nothing but wait.

There she was now, on the early bus, in her heavy coat, drowsy, with a blank look gazing out the window. The sky was grey, it was going to be a cloudy Christmas Eve this one. Her mum's voice disturbed her thoughts for a moment,

- Here, sweetie, have a drink, and she passed her travel mug to Alice.

Alice held it for a while before bringing it to her mouth, "Drink Me" it said on it, how stupid should someone be to need instructions on a travel mug, Alice thought and then took a sip of hot coffee as she turned to the window again. While she was rocking on her seat she felt something strange. All of a sudden she started to shrink! What was happening?! She was turning to a germ, that small did she feel. She kept shrinking and shrinking until she fell off her seat when the driver pulled the brake suddenly.

- This is all wrong! she shouted. I need to fix this, I need to get back! Mum will be looking for me, she said and started to look around.

And just as abruptly the driver had stopped the bus, he got it moving again so Alice was dragged far away from her seat, in the middle of the corridor. Passengers were walking, some just got on, others were getting ready to get off; and she had to be careful not to find herself under anyone's shoe. She would stick like a gum, an awful way to die on a Christmas Eve (not that it would be a splendid way to go on any other day). Alice had to think fast and get back to normal before her mum finds out and panics.

As she was walking, careful to avoid getting stepped on, she stumbled onto a package. She picked it up, it was a small cookie box (compared to her of course, it was the size of a single-cell oganism) that had something written on it "Eat Me". More stupid instructions, had she not followed them in the first place, she'd probably still be in her seat, gazing out the window next to her mother.

- Oh, what the hell. What's the worst that could happen to me?

So she opened the box, took one cookie out and had a bite. Then something weird (yes, weirdness does not end yet in this story) happened. She heard someone calling her name.

- Alice! Alice?

It was a soft voice accompanied by a purring sound. She looked around.

- Oh boy, I must be wasted. Was it Irish coffee Mum gave me? she said as she could not believe what was in front of her eyes.

- Alice! the voice insisted.

It was coming from an animal travel bag on the floor. A black and white cat with green eyes was talking to her. She got closer.

- Are you real?

- What do you mean if I'm real? I'm as real as you, dear, and everything we see or hear is as real as we let it be.

- I'm sorry, I d...don't understand, Alice almost stuttered.

- That's ok, honey, you must not be the sharpest person on that bus, I guess.

- Excuse me! Did you just brought me here to insult me?

- No, no! My apologies, I only want to help you. I know all about your father.

- My father? How do you know? I mean, how... and...er... to start with, why can you talk?

- Those are irrelevant details, my dear. What's important is that I have a way to bring your father back. Just tell me, would you be willing to stay like this for the rest of your life and save your father instead?

Alice froze for a while. Her face pulled back, her breathing stopped.

- What should I do? she said.

- All you need to do is take those magic words from me and whisper them to his left ear, the one closer to his heart.

- And what do you get in return? If I save my father and stay like this for ever?

- Me? Nothing, I just have the ability to fix only one of your problems, so you have to choose. I can always give you the words to turn back to the way you were before.

She took a deep breath, she closed her eyes and brought her father's image lying on that hateful hospital bed. Her eyes opened again.

- I'll do it, she said.

- Pretty well, dear. Come closer now, I need to whisper the words in your ear.

Alice got closer to the cat.

- Not this one, the left, I told you we need the one closer to the heart.

- Ok, ok! Don't be a bitch about it.

She leaned towards the cat and the moment he was just finishing his words the bus finally reached the bus stop outside the hospital.

- Thank you, I got to go now!

- Take care! the green-eyed cat shouted.

Alice headed to the door and hopped off the bus hurriedly. The road was wet, now she had to find a way to get quickly into the hospital and into her father's ward. She could not see her mother, did she realise that Alice was missing? What if she thought that Alice got away? Well, there was no time for this, once her father was better, she would explain everything to her mother. Luckily for her, she spotted a nurse getting out of the bus. She knew her, she worked in the ward where her father was. Alice grabbed on her shoe laces and held them tight. This nurse was her only chance to save her father.

They got inside the building, took the elevator. Her excitement and determination were indescribable. She was going to save her father! The nurse finally got in the ward, as she was walking past the room where her dad was, Alice jumped off the nurse's shoe.

- Ouch! she said as she rubbed her butt, this will leave a bruise damn it!

She crawled under the door into the room with all the equipment, the tubes and the machines that were connected to her father. She had to find a way to get on his bed. Alice started climbing the table next to it. She got to the top but the bed was still too far. Her father's pillow was too far for this tiny version of hers. She should think of something clever.

Alice looked at the tube ending in her father's arm. If she could grab that, she would easily slide down to him. She took a few steps back and then started running in order to take the big jump.

- Aah!

This tube was so slippery that she didn't manage to hold on to it, but she grabbed the bedsheet.

- Oh man! Those useless rock-climbing lessons were not so useless after all, she said.

She struggled to get on the bed but she finally made it! There she was now, stepping on her father's pillow, next to his left ear, the one closer to his heart. Alice leaned and whispered the magic words and a bright yellow light flooded the room!

-Alice, wake up! Alice!

It was her father's voice. She had fallen asleep next to his bed.

- Dad! Dad you can talk!

- I can, he said although he could only move his head.

- I'm so happy right now! Alice said as tears of joy ran down her eyes.

- Me too my love, now go get your mother.

It was the moment when her mother was about to enter the room with two cups of coffee in her hands.

- Tom?! Oh my God, you can talk!

The cups landed on the floor and she fell all over her husband and daughter.

It was the best Christmas present they could ever ask for.

This story is my Christmas present for our dearest @mariandavp, who has been going through a lot. I know this is just a fantasy, but miracles do happen! Never give up on your faith and even when things go wrong, they happen for a reason beyond us, because it's part of a greater plan for us.

Thank you for all the support you've been showing me all this time. May you all have a blessed Christmas full of love!

(Image source: pixabay.com)

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