The Third Night:

A Mad Tea-Party

As Grandma Alice entered Tyler and Jane's room, she was bombarded with questions.

"Which way did you decide to go after seeing the cat?" asked Tyler.

"You did go see the bunny, didn't you?" quizzed Jane.

"Settle down, and I'll start your story for tonight," Grandma Alice replied.

The two children fell silent immediately, in anticipation of their story.

Grandma Alice started, "Now after I met the Cheshire Cat, I decided that since I had never seen a March Hare before, I would go the direction that the Cheshire Cat had indicated."

"See, I knew it!!!" yelled Jane.

Grandma Alice began again, "After I had gone a little ways, I noticed a table. It was huge and had lots of chairs, but there were only three people sitting there. Technically, it was one person and two animals. As I got closer, I could see that the Hatter was visiting the March Hare. I was glad I hadn't chosen to see the Hatter, in the other direction. The third guest was a Dormouse, who was fast asleep. The March Hare and the Hatter were both using him as an arm rest. When I finally reached the table, I sat in one of the chairs."

"What's a Dormouse?" asked Tyler.

"A Dormouse is like a mouse, only its tail is covered in fur and hibernate," replied Grandma Alice.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" snapped the Hatter.

"Well, I was just following the path that the Cheshire Cat suggested. I saw you having tea and wanted to join you," I replied.

"Won't you have an espresso?" asked the March Hare.

Looking around I said, "I don't see any espressos."

"Well of course not, this is a tea-party, after all," he replied.

"Then why did you offer in the first place?" I asked.

"Why did you join us in the first place?" he asked.

A little taken back by his bluntness, I sat quietly for a moment. Then all of a sudden, the Hatter spoke, "What walks all day on its head?"

"I love riddles! Let me think," I said.

After pondering a spell I gave up and asked the Hatter to tell me the answer.

"I have no idea," he replied.

"Why did you ask me a riddle you don't know the answer to?" I asked.

"Let's hear a story, Dormouse," was all that the Hatter said.

The Dormouse actually woke up, and decided that he would tell us a story.

He started, "Once there was a bird living in a box."

"Why did he live in a box?" I asked.

"Everyone lives in a box," he answered.

"No, I live in a house," I said.

"Which is in the shape of a box," he pointed out.

"Well, it's not the same thing," I replied.

"But it is the same. Would you like to tell the story?" he snorted.

"No, go on please," I told him.

"Alright then. There once was a bird that lived in a 'house,' and he had tea and cookies every morning," he continued. "Until the day that the hippo moved in next door."

"Why would that stop him?" I inquired.

"Why wouldn't it stop him?" asked the March Hare.

"I didn't quite understand, so I just kept to myself. The Dormouse was back asleep now. The March Hare and the Hatter were both poking him with no results. They kept doing that, and I was tired of watching them. I got up and started to walk in a new direction. I came across a door floating in front of me and went in. After all, what else could happen to me now? The door led back to the same hallway I had been in before. This time I was going to get it right. I went to the table and got the key first. Then I put it in my pocket and grabbed the bottle. This time I only took a little sip. It worked. I was just the right size! I could now fit though the door that led to the garden."

Grandma Alice looked out the window and could have sworn that she had seen a flash of white. She shook her head, and smiled. She was sure that it was just her imagination. After all, she hadn't found her way back to Wonderland in many years.

"What next, Grandma?" Jane asked.

"That's all for tonight, dears. Sleep well," said Grandma Alice, and she left the children to wonder. What would happen in their last story?

The Last Night...

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Author's Note:

This is my favorite part of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I like that there is really no rhyme or reason to the ramblings of the Hatter and March Hare. They just say whatever they want, whether it makes any sense to anyone else or not. The Dormouse is also an interesting character, even though he sleeps through most of the story. In the original story Alice is offered wine. I thought she needed something else to tell her grandchildren, so I came up with espressos. My nephew is now in the first grade and hears all kinds of riddles and things at school. He was telling me some and I liked the one I used the most. In the story, the answer to the riddle is never revealed. That is the reason I tried to find one that wasn't easy to guess. The answer is a nail in a horseshoe. The Hatter's riddle is "Why is a raven like a writing-desk?" The Dormouse's original story was about three sister living at the bottom of a well. We have two parrots that were screaming while I was working on this part of the story, so I made his story about a bird. In my story, Alice left the party because the three weren't paying attention to her, but in the original, she left because they were being rude to her. Although my cliffhanger was not as mysterious as in my previous stories, I still left the children wanting to know more. After all Alice finally made it to the garden...

(Image Information: The Hatter's Hat - Icon Vs. Icon)                                                               Wikipedia - Dormouse                                            Story Source: Alice's Adventures In Wonderland - Chapter 7
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Story: A Mad Tea-Party
                                                                                                                                                          Author: Lewis Carroll
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Book: Alice's Adventures In Wonderland
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Year Published: 1865