NESTLED BETWEEN THE EPIC PEAKS, the jabberwocky flexed its wings. It was delighted to be free of its tiny glass prison, and doubly delighted to have found delicious bears to eat on its way up the mountain.

But things were wrong in this slithy, little land. The sun moved in a straight line, and things remained a certain size and shape no matter how the jabberwock looked or screamed at them. Its intention had been to find a spot or a clime, an angle or a time where rabbit holes were large and the jabberwock could be made small. It would have burrowed inside, eaten the rabbits, and slept, unnoticed, until it felt right again. But for all it spun and ducked and searched and clucked, it remained fearsomely large. For all it dug and flapped and poked and slapped, the mountains did not become molehills and the trees of the forest did not become broccoli.

Clearly, this was not Wonderland.

What a wretched and mimsy place the Great Manxome Jabberwocky had been released into, and it did not like it at all. Its foods of choice were misplaced and every Rule of Nothing was broken. Things would need to be done. Iron, tree, and stone would need to be torn and rent and broken and bent until this place became home or until home became this place.

Lights flashed in the valley below, and the jabberwock snaked its long neck around to look. This was a land of creatures of skin and fur. But no other wocks or jubjub birds or even a single tove. And so many two-legs that walked like Alice and Hatterfolk.

Yes. There had been Hatterkin spied at its escape from the Uni Cairn. And the scent of The Cat and sounds of the Card Queen, too. There were pieces of Wonderland here. Pieces it would move, poke, and prod until the Dull Wrongness of this place transformed into the Splendid Wrongness of Wonderland.

The jabberwocky yawned with a mouth the size of a castle gate. First, it would have a nap. Then it would find the Hatterkin. What had it been called?

The beast twitched and then closed its eyes with a smile. “Maddie,” it whispered, and began to snore.

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