Ch. 1: Sleepy-Eyed Boy
In the Land of Wonder, Wondermare, Sleep Valley…-.
The bright light faded, and once more a prince awakened before my eyes…
Or at least should have.
However this cute prince with curly hair…
Dormouse: “Fwaaa… is it… morning…? I’m still sleepy… zzz.”
He gave a great yawn and rubbed at his eyes before falling back asleep.
OO: “W-wait…! Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”
Dormouse: “No… just sleepy…yeah, good… night…zzz.”
OO: “Eh? Wait, wake up! At least tell me your name…-“
I didn’t know what to do and tried at least asking a question.
Dormouse: “Mmm…I’m Dor…mouse… of Sleep Valley…zzz.”
The prince called himself Dormouse, and after that no amount of shaking or calling his name could get him to open his eyes.
OO: “Dor…Dormouse! Wake up! You can’t sleep here…-“
Dormouse: “Mmm… sleepy…”
He opened his eyes for a moment, then shut them again as I shook him…
But I was somehow able to manage getting him back to Sleep Valley…-.
Several months later…-.
I had received an invitation from Sleep Valley and arrived at the castle.
(I wonder… if Dormouse is doing well.)
I remembered the vacant look in his eyes…-.
Dormouse: “Huh? Alice, you came back…?”
Dormouse came out of his bedroom, looking as sleepy as ever as he rubbed his eyes.
(Alice…? Did he mistake me for someone else? But more importantly, his complexion looks a lot worse compared to when we met before…)
Dormouse narrowed his large eyes at me and his voice sounded unsettled.
Ch. 2: The One Called Alice
Dormouse: “Huh? Alice, you came back…?”
(Alice…?)
Dormouse stared at me and opened his sleepy eyes a little wider.
Dormouse: “What…? You aren’t… Alice…?”
Looking at me, I could see the small, rounded ears on his head twitching.
But then as soon as it began…
Dormouse: “…!”
In surprise, his hands flew to the top of his soft-looking head and covered them.
Dormouse: “Then, who… are you…?”
OO: “I’m OO. I woke you up in the grasslands near here…-.”
Dormouse: “OO… yeah, you’re different than Alice…”
I slowly explained the details of what had happened, and we somewhat came to an understanding.
But Dormouse was still looking unwell, and he’d sometimes sway back and forth or groan.
I…
OO: “D-Dormouse… don’t fall asleep!”
Dormouse: “It’s okay… I won’t… because I can’t sleep…”
OO: “You can’t sleep?”
OO: “Could you have insomnia?”
Dormouse: “…yeah, I can’t sleep at all… even though I love sleep the most…”
OO: “I’m sorry, is it because I woke you up?”
Dormouse: “…”
Dormouse pursed his lips as he thought, then shook his head.
Dormouse: “Yeah… when Alice… ah… wait… um… after you woke me up, I got insomnia? Or something…”
He cast his head down, gripping the hem of his clothes with fingertips that peaked out of long sleeves.
Seeing him looking like a small, dejected animal, I couldn’t help but feel depressed…
OO: “So that’s what happened…”
Dormouse: “…?”
I instinctively reached out my hand and patted his angelic head of soft, curly hair, trying to console him.
Dormouse: “Are you worried…? Hehe… you’re nice, like Alice…”
(There’s that name again… I wonder who she is?)
His large eyes were outlined with thin lines as he smiled innocently.
It was so pure and cute that it warmed my heart…
Dormouse: “Huh? But if you aren’t Alice… where is Alice?”
OO: “I don’t know but… who is Alice?”
(Is it a friend of his?)
Dormouse: “Before, at the tea party with my friends Marchia and Mad Hatter, they were really teasing me. But then Alice stood up for me… That’s why I have to thank her but… what should I do?”
(Mad Hatter… he couldn’t mean THAT Alice right? The one from Alice in Wonderland…)
I remembered having read Alice in Wonderland.
OO: “Where is this Alice’s house? Do you know where she lives?”
But no matter what I asked, Dormouse just shook his head side to side in a sleepy manner.
Dormouse: “…what to do… I’m… always sleeping, so I can’t remember anything…”
Gradually, he started to doze off again, and seeing that…
OO: “Do you want me to help you look?”
I offered, though I wasn’t sure if it was out of curiosity or something else.
Dormouse: “Really…? OO… you really are nice.”
And so Dormouse and I went off in search of Alice.
Ch. 3: Alice's Whereabouts
In order to look for Alice, we first went into the town of Sleep Valley.
Contrary to the fact that the town was in a place called ‘Wondermare’, it was surprisingly modern with large buildings clustered together.
Dormouse : “…fwa.”
Due to his insomnia and lack of sleep, Dormouse wasn’t thinking clearly.
OO: “Hey Dormouse, did Alice have any other friends?”
Dormouse: “…I don’t know.”
OO: “Then do you know what shops or places she liked to visit?”
Dormouse: “Hmm…ah…”
OO: “You know?”
Dormouse: “Um, no… I was just thinking, if I counted sheep, could I fall asleep… fwaaa.”
He opened his mouth wide in a yawn, so much so that tears formed at the corners of his half-closed eyes.
(At this rate, I’m dubious about whether we can find anything out in the town…)
Looking at Dormouse…
OO: “It must be tough not being able to sleep; you can close your eyes. You might at least be able to remember something that way.”
Dormouse: “…yeah, I’ll…do that…zzz.”
Dormouse grabbed on to the bottom of my shirt and closed his eyes.
(He’s so cute… he really does look like he’s asleep but… why does he have insomnia?)
OO: “Can you keep going for just a little longer?”
Dormouse: “…um… okay OO. But…I’m so sleepy… sleepy…”
His head nodded forward and his eyes snapped open again.
(Why does he have insomnia… when he’s so tired?)
(Anyway, this is a problem… I can’t look for Alice by myself.)
I thought for a little while, then asked Dormouse questions about Alice in more detail.
OO: “Do you remember the last place you saw Alice?”
Dormouse: “Um… probably… the big tree, in the middle of town…?”
OO: “A big tree…”
I still wasn’t sure if his eyes were actually open, but I brought Dormouse along as my feet carried me to the center of town.
But the only thing there was an enormous building…
(If he was still half asleep, maybe I misunderstood?)
OO: “Dormouse, the big tree isn’t here… do you know where else we could be?”
Dormouse: “Um, I’m pretty sure we used to go to the park in the forest outside of town…”
OO: “Alright, then let’s try there.”
And so we set off this time for the park.
But when we got there…-.
(This isn’t really a park, just an empty lot between the buildings…)
After that, we went all around following Dormouse’s hints, but there seemed to be a discrepancy in what he described and reality.
(What does this mean…?)
My head was in a state of confusion, and as I looked at the seemingly asleep Dormouse…
OO: “Dormouse… everything is somehow different than what you’re telling me.”
Dormouse: “…?”
I was honest with him and explained how everything was different from what he had described.
Dormouse: “Hmmm…I’m always asleep… so maybe I can’t remember right?”
Neither of us knew, but the one thing that was for certain was that time was still passing.
OO: “Were you actually half asleep?”
Dormouse: “…umm… sorry, my friends always tell me that…”
His ears and tailed drooped in a dejected way.
(If we keep looking like this, we’ll never find Alice…)
I left Dormouse on a bench and went to ask the people around town.
I saw a flower shop not too far away, and greeted the worker at the front.
OO: “Um, do you know someone named Alice? She should live in this town but…”
Female Shopkeeper: “What are you talking about? Alice disappeared a long time ago.”
OO: “Eh?”
(She disappeared…?)
Female Shopkeeper: “Are you an outsider? If you want to know about Alice, ask the queen in the castle.”
Somehow, Dormouse’s mother and the queen of this country was the most well-informed person.
(The differences in Dormouse’s stories, and Alice disappearing… what on earth happened here?)
I was at my wits end with all the confusion, so I headed back to where Dormouse was, and the two of us went back to the castle.
Ch. 4: His Unknown Reality
Female Shopkeeper: “What are you talking about? Alice disappeared a long time ago.”
Female Shopkeeper: “Are you an outsider? If you want to know about Alice, ask the queen in the castle.”
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(What on earth is going on?)
We returned to the castle, and when Dormouse lifted his head, his tail flicked.
Dormouse: “Huh? When did we come back to the castle?”
OO: “Are you alright? I know you probably won’t be able to sleep, but do you want to go lay down?”
Dormouse: “Hmm… yeah… fwaa…”
On unsteady feet, Dormouse made his way back to his room.
(He must be looking so bad because of the lack of sleep…)
I clasped my hands in front of my chest.
(First I’ll ask the queen about Alice. And maybe… she’ll know something about Dormouse’s insomnia.)
And so I went to the office and requested an audience with the queen.
The lights flickered inside the dimly lit room.
And in the middle of the room was a single massive bed.
(There’s a bed… in the office?)
Baby: “Fueeee…zzz.”
There, looking barely a day old, were 10 little babies curled up asleep.
(Aww… they’re so cute!)
Queen: “Welcome. You’re the young lady who woke Dormouse. I apologize for you having to see me in this state.”
The queen was holding a fussy baby in her arms while she addressed me.
OO: “Oh no, it’s alright. I’m sorry for calling on you in the evening. There was something I wanted to ask of you, Your Majesty…-“
Queen: “Ask me anything, and I will answer if it is within my ability.”
I told the queen about what happened in town with Dormouse.
Then…
Queen: “…he really doesn’t know then that he has lost Alice.”
The queen’s expression was sad as she momentarily closed her eyes.
OO: “Alice is lost…?”
The queen turned to face me and bit by bit, told me the story.
Queen: “Wondermare, the Land of Wonder, is a manifestation created from Alice.”
This kingdom was formed from the sudden appearance of a girl named Alice.
Everything was made with Alice at its core, and then the people started to gather, forming the kingdom that came to be called Wondermare…-.
Queen: “Mad Hatter and Marchia, whom Dormouse told you about, were the same. Everyone loved Alice. Of course, Dormouse did too. And Alice loved all of them. However…-.”
One day, Alice suddenly disappeared, completely vanished from the world, and the world itself changed.
The deep verdant forests became gray buildings, covered in glaringly bright neon lights…
OO: “So when you say Alice is lost…?”
Queen: “Yes, Dormouse does nothing but sleep with his younger brothers here, see? That is, until the Dream Eaters came… So even though Alice was lost from this world a long time ago, and the world has changed, he still is unaware of it. If he were to learn the truth, I can only imagine how sad it would make him.”
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Dormouse: “But then, Alice stood up for me…”
————————
(If he were to learn that Alice was gone…)
I gave my thanks to the queen, then left her office to return to Dormouse.
Dormouse was lying in his bed, a book in one hand as he rubbed at his red eyes.
Then he noticed me and…
Dormouse: “Aah, it’s OO. Come read a book with me.”
OO: “Alright, what kind of book would you like?”
Dormouse: “Um, I think, this one. It looks just like Alice on the front.”
OO: “Shouldn’t you be resting?”
Dormouse: “I’m okay… but if OO reads to me, I might fall asleep.”
He smiled innocently, and it cut straight to my heart.
I sat near his bedside and began to read the book to him.
The book, Alice in Wonderland, was a children’s fairy tale telling about how the kingdom came to be.
Dormouse: “Huee…I feel like… I’ve heard this story before… but… I don’t know where… …But you know, I know about Alice… she was reeeeeally nice. And, and she would always pat my head and tell me it was going to be okay. I wonder where she went… I miss her.”
(Dormouse…)
Seeing his happy expression, I remembered what the queen had said.
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Queen: “If he were to learn the truth, I can only imagine how sad it would make him.”
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Dormouse didn’t know anything about how the world had changed, or about how Alice had disappeared…
(I really wonder… if telling him the truth would be the right thing to do.)
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come to an answer.