Unlike how Carroll writes it, Alice wasn't plagued by curiosity. There was no white rabbit with a waist coat or a pocket watch. Alice merely took a walk and stumbled into that hole due to her stupidity of not watching where she was going, and not really caring about that fact either.
She didn't float down either. She fell fast and hard slamming into the sides of the hole as she made her decent. Dirty, battered, bloody, and bruised, Alice hit the bottom losing consciousness from her agonizing trip.
She groaned in pain as she slowly staggered up to her feet and took in her surroundings. Dead trees, shriveled shrubs, and a dusty trail lay before her. A mist cloaked the ground two feet high and made it nearly impossible for her to see farther than five feet in front of her. A full dreary moon hung halfway up the starless sky and mocked her.
Alice continued her journey...
Not too far along the path lay The Fool tarot card. She picked it up, examined the front and the back and tossed it back on the floor. It spoke of her adventure into the unknown. Making a choice without fear of the consequences. Alice's right foot ground it into the loose earth as she carried on.
Up ahead, Alice came to a fork in the road. Both the left path and the right looked identical especially due to the fact that the mist was cloaking any clues that make offer an opinion.
Along came the cat, grin as wide as a cresent moon. "Follow me! I know the way! Look what I have to offer!"
And without skipping a beat, Alice chose to follow the stray down one path and further into the unknown. The two spoke of many things. Of life. Of death. Of what-if's and could-be's and other such nonsense. Their pace quicked with the conversation.
Mesmerized by that grin, Alice didn't notice the thorns that lay ahead, where the cat had led her till it was far too late and she was quite tangled. Struggling with every movement to free herself only made things worse.
"Do this. Do that. Try this. Try that." The cat would just carry on. Yet, with every twist, pull, and shove, a new scar would form. Her collection grew and grew and painted her such a pallid crimson.
Only when Alice no longer amused the cat did he finally leave. She didn't weep, didn't panic, but she gave in, gave up. She dropped to her knees bringing down the thorny vines with her.
Straining her neck upwards, Alice looked to the moon and let loose a rage that had never before been unleashed by anyone. The moon did not fulfill what it had been created to do. It did not guide her. A cat did that, and look where it got her. There was no need in wishes, in hopes, in fear. She raged and screamed, and with her vengence, the earth shook. The vines trembled and released her and Alice drew her bloody knees into her chest.
Sure, she had had quite a few scars at the beginning of her journey, but that grinning stray had gift wrapped her latest and greatest. It was her own fault for trusting a four legged walking lie. Her trust had layed with the moon.
And with one final glare, she turned her back to the moon, and wherever the cat could be lurking, and left the path for all the death on the side of the road deciding that she needed no map. Only her instincts. And her life.
Alice tore at her garments ripping open several clotted wounds and removed that which was weighing her down. She openly brandished her scars, a survivor, daring any who may try and alter her path any further.
Her bare foot landed on something smooth. She bent down, clutching a card and brought it to her hardened eyes. The Death tarot card. A smile curled at the corners of her lips till her mouth outgrew the cat's. The card she held in her hand was one misinterpreted so often just like herself.
Death did not await her. Only change... A new beginning.
