A/N: Just something that came to me. I'm probably going to keep up with the "Alice" theme for a while. R&R me, I'll R&R you.

Wonderland

We would hide together
while the other kid counted.
Everyone else ran off,
determined to find a secluded corner
from which they could defend themselves.
You never wanted that.

I considered you my base,
my safety net, even as
you directed everyone to chase me
while you ran to the real thing.
I ran over plastic bridges
and knee-high fences
and went down the rabbit-hole
I was so afraid of.

Your Cheshire-cat smile led the way,
disappearing as I brought the enemy closer,
and reappearing when I thought I'd been left behind.
You were smoke and mirrors
and showed me distorted versions of myself
any way I looked.

Still, you were safety,
because when no one was looking,
you'd give me unbirthday presents
and make me feel important.
You held tea parties and sword-fights
and after making me walk the plank,
you'd catch me.

We walked, older, into Wonderland together.
Your hookah and potions and knowledge
kept me enraptured, until the day
I knew I needed something else.

You played your very best cards,
painted the town red,
plastered it with warnings.
The casualties mounted,
the white rabbit was hunted,
time was running out.

That Red Queen I had never seen
did everything she could,
but she couldn't make me stay.