THE PRESENT: OXFORD
T he Cheshire had been roaming the street in Jack’s body for some time. And boy was it fun.
First of all, Jack was young and allowed the Cheshire to mingle with young people, which excited him. Yesterday he’d played a game of football. Gone to a movie with a few youngsters he befriended at the game.
Even better was how girls liked Jack. They always complimented him and flirted with him. They thought he was funny and easygoing, though the Cheshire hardly talked. He didn’t want to expose himself as being a very old creature.
Usually, he only smirked, laughed, and used Jack’s attractive facial expressions to push a conversation.
The best thing about him was his dimples, the girls said.
Thankfully, he knew enough about Jack to sustain believable short conversations when he was forced to say something.
At the movies, everyone wanted to see the latest Star Wars movie. But the Cheshire persuaded them to see Puss in Boots.
That was some experience for him.
Seeing a kick-ass cat, subtly evil, loved and cherished by the audience, made the Cheshire’s day. Maybe humans weren’t that bad after all — but soon, he changed his mind and convinced himself that Puss in Boots must be a Wonderlander he hadn’t heard of. One with expanded influence in this world. He should tell the Queen about him later.
Then he went to dinner with a girl. She kept holding his hand all night, showing him she liked him. She made him drive her home and spent a significant amount of time at her doorstep, talking to him. At first, he didn’t understand until she neared and kissed him.
“Meow.” He moaned.
The girl backed off immediately, pretending she had school tomorrow and disappeared into her house.
“She’s definitely not a cat person ,” he told himself.
Walking away, the Cheshire wondered about those strange human emotions. Holding hands, going to movies, kissing. Those humans sure knew how to enjoy themselves. They didn’t spend their days hunting for a rat to feed themselves and their families. And they didn’t spend much time evading imminent threats of predators, dogs, and passing cars.
Holy furs, grins, and purrs.
They didn’t even have fleas sticking to the backs of their necks, driving them crazy all day and night.
And most important, each and every one of them had a place to go home to at night. It was just silly.
Suddenly, the Cheshire heard someone call behind him, “Alice!”
The Cheshire turned and saw no one. But the voice continued, “Alice. I love you.”
The Cheshire’s eyes rolled. Was he getting madder than he already was?
“I need to tell you why I came back for you, Alice.”
Enough , the Cheshire thought. What was going on?
Then the headache started. He clapped his hands over his ears, but the voice persisted. He finally realized whose voice this really was.
It was Jack’s. The Cheshire was listening to Jack’s thoughts. About none other than Alice.
The Cheshire grinned. A big grin. It was time to listen to why Jack had really come back for Alice.