RADCLIFFE ASYLUM, OXFORD
T he Cheshire, in Todd’s body now, grinned at his sister.
“You look awkward,” she retorted. “Go find Dad and make fun of him.”
“So you’re not Tweedledee?” the Cheshire said.
“What? You’ve read those Alice in Wonderland books now? Aren’t you too old for that?”
“No one’s too old for those books, don’t you think?” the Cheshire said. “So you’re not Tweedledum, either?”
“I’m not,” she says. “What’s wrong with you today?”
“I guess it’s the Alice in Wonderland books.” The Cheshire cocked his head.
“You know what happened to me the first time my teacher read the book to us in class when I was younger?”
“No. What happened?”
“She kept reading it to the class, so fascinated by it,” she said. “And I was like eleven or so. I couldn’t fathom the books. My mind was reeling, truly.”
“And then what happened?”
“I raised my hand after she finished and said, ‘Teacher, is this Lewis Carroll mad, or is he mad?’”
The Cheshire laughed aloud.
“My teacher was mad at me when I said that and spent the rest of the day explaining how this book was the pinnacle of literature and that the author was never mad and never took any drugs.”
“And we all know what that means, of course.”
“That he was mad and took drugs.” She snickered.
“You know what’s madder? That we love this book so much.”
“I guess we’re mad too,” Tania said.
“We’re all mad here.” The Cheshire grinned.
“Oh, my God, Todd,” Tania said. “Do that again.”
“What? We’re all mad here?”
“That’s bombastically amazing. You look just like the Cheshire.”
“Oh, come on. Who could match the Cheshire’s creepy grin in that Disney movie?”
“No, seriously. Yours is even better,” Tania said. “Please do it again.”
“You know what I can do better? I can make my head disappear, too.”
“Haha. Don’t get carried away.”
The Cheshire grinned. “Wanna see? Look.”
But of course, his head didn’t disappear because sometimes he was still bound by the body of the one he possessed. It seemed that not only was Todd not one of the Tweedles, but he also wasn’t a good sport. His head wouldn’t budge.
“You made me laugh, anyway,” Tania said. “You should do that grin a lot. I think girls will like it. Girls like all kinds of weirds things, trust me.”
“Are you having fun, children?” Dr. Truckle entered the cell.
“Lotsa fun and grins.” The Cheshire put his hands around his father’s arm in hopes of possessing the man’s body to find his way out of the asylum.
To his surprise, he couldn’t get into Tom’s body.
The Cheshire, still trapped inside the teenager, stared suspiciously at Dr. Tom Truckle. To his knowledge, it was only Wonderlanders he could not possess. Who are you, Dr. Truckle?