The bells over the door jingles as I walk in. The waiting room is a busy mess of people. A man in tattered clothing, a girl about 16 wearing a summer dress, an old woman, a business man, a lot of people, all reading the worn out magazines from four years ago. I walk over to the desk where a young woman is sitting just out of view from the door.

“Welcome to Valley Therapeutic, One Pill, yadda yadda yadda, ask Alice, and all that. You’re new aren’t you miss” she says quickly, “Fill these papers out, we'll be not reading them while you are in.”

“In where?” I ask.

She just waves me off calls someone’s name. I walk over and sit down in an empty spot by a woman holding a young child, who is singing quietly. I look down at the papers and begin to fill them out.

Name: Nora Witkins

Age: 21

Gender: Female

All pretty general questions, until the last one.

“Write 50 words on the person next to you:”

“Really?” I ask myself silently “What is this all about! Oh well….”

I begin to write my 50 words.

- The child is about three years old. He has blonde hair and brown eyes. He is wearing blue jeans and a grey striped shirt that has a train on it. He is singing a song about ships, and a king, but the words are mumbled quietly. He plays with a…

“Just fifty words miss,” the receptionist says as she grabs me paper out of my hands and scans it.

“What?, how did you?” I begin.

“You can go in now, it’s your turn.” she replies as she points at the hallway by her desk, “Smallest door on the Right.” she says as she returns to her chair.

I look quizzically at her, but I walk down the hall. Where yes, the doors did indeed seem to shrink. The last door on the right was about three feet tall. I have to get on my hands and knees to open it. I slip into a normal sized doctor room.

“This is getting a bit silly!” I say loudly, when the doctor crawls in.

“Oh dear, are we really? Getting silly that is.” He rasps out, breathing heavily as he stands up.

He is an old man, at least 65, but he has a warm kind face. He smiles at me, and glances at a sheet of paper.

“Is that the form I just filled out?” I ask and see him nod yes. “So you are reading them.”

“What?! Oh no, I’m not reading what you wrote, this is what the child wrote about you. Would you like to hear it?” he doesn’t wait for any answer but begins to read it. “Blue shirt, funny faces, taller than mommy, she laughs a lot to herself. ‘Ships coming sailing in from the old kings home, he laughs at them and lets them go, The ships sail over the sea , the ships can‘t sail to the old king‘s home.’ She is pretty too” well, the mother wrote down what he said to her. Well do you think that is an accurate description?”

I stare blankly at him for a moment before I answer.

“An accurate description of what?!….”I sputter, “ I mean,… it is true I am wearing a blue shirt, and I am taller than his mother, I guess…..that I am pretty, and….I was laughing a little, maybe that did cause some funny faces…” I finish lamely.

“Yes, so it is accurate. Well don’t worry, we’ve had worse cases here before.” He says clinically.

I look at him with a perplexed expression fixed on my face, as he looks in my ears and listens to my heartbeat, and checks out my tongue and throat, hemming and A-ha-ing as he worked.

“Well, it’s a simple case of too much curiosity, and that’s why the ships can’t come back to the old King’s home, by the way. It’s a wonderful song. I taught it to him. His name is Gilbert” He rambles off. “You’re going to be alright. You’re just like the ships is all. He’s very good, Gilbert that is, I think he pegged you right.”

“You know, all I really came in here for was to find out what this place is” I start.

“And you still can’t figure it out.” He interrupts, “Don’t worry, It’s not that hard to understand. You followed the white rabbit in, and you’re not sure how to get out, and everything in-between is nonsense. Haven’t you ever read ‘Alice in Wonderland’?”

“Yes, in fact I have, but you can’t base a medical facility on a novel!” I shout.

“Nora, this is not a doctor’s office, or any office really, we’re just here to help each other out. Gilbert saw you were curious, and you saw that he sings songs. We just discover what we can about the people around us, and go on our ways, hoping what we have seen helps us out. Hopefully, you will find your way out of here, and into your own wonderland in the real world. And I truly hope that Gilbert will always sing, but I hope he won’t mumble anymore.” He says warmly.

“Oh” I say weakly.

I crawl out after the old man and walk back towards the waiting room. I see Gilbert still mumbling and singing happily away, and the receptionist greeting another new-comer. I walk towards the door, knowing that I will come back soon.

“Remember” the receptionist calls after me “Feed your Head!”