labyrinthum Inbox

[madcuriosity]

INBOX Text / Voice / Video / Action "Hello and how do you do? This is Alice Liddell! I'm terribly sorry, but I'm afraid you just missed me. Please leave your message and I'll be as quick as I can, even as quick as a white rabbit, to get back to you!" code credit

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Letter

[madcuriosity]

[Alice blinks when she receives the gift and after asking the mailmice, she responds with a letter of her own.]

Thank you so much for the letter and the flower seeds, your writing is simply beautiful!
May ask, though, why you sent it?

Kindest regards,
Alice Liddell

[doctor_uhh]

[It seems that bribing asking the mail mice not to reveal the sender upon delivery of these little letters had been at least partially successful, considering there's no greeting by name in her response. An anonymous exchange of letters should be fine, so a few days later the mice bring her another letter, this time on normal parchment paper.]

Young Miss Alice Liddell,

many thanks for your kind words.

It's a funny story, actually! You see, I was out walking in the woods when I met a little old crone with her foot stuck in a rotten tree trunk. Of course I helped her get free and walked her home, as anyone should, and in thanks she said this: If I send some seeds and well wishes to a young girl, I would be blessed with good luck for as many days as there are seeds! But only if I kept my identity a secret.

I thought eight seemed like a sensible number, don't you? So you see, we are both benefiting from this. Though I fear you'll have to be a little patient with them. They are chrysanthemum seeds and won't bloom until the fall.

Gratefully,
Huahua Caocao

[madcuriosity]

[Alice is not only seven and, well, gullible, but this is also Somnius, people are quite literally gods, princesses, aliens, and superheroes, and so much more. Why shouldn't a crone have gotten her foot stuck in a tree trunk?]

Dear Caocao,

Do you happen to know what color the chrysanthemum seeds will yield? You see, I like to keep my garden in a certain way. If they are yellow, I would want them near my daffodils, but if they're red or pink, I would wish for them to be near my roses.

And I suppose eight is as sensible as any other number. I've not grown chrysanthemums before.

Now, a little girl the size of my thumb won't be in any of the blossoms, will they?

Kindest of regards,
Alice Liddell

[doctor_uhh]

[Indeed she is only acting based on her previous experience, which makes her quite sensible, and not at fault at all for Li Lianhua being the way he is. But she is very prim and particular about her garden at such young an age, isn't she? Li Lianhua is delighted.]

Young Miss Alice,

forgive my ignorance, but won't you run the risk of these flowers getting into a fierce argument with one another, should their robes match? I know great beauties rarely tolerate competition... At least leave it up to fate, so you won't be blamed if there's trouble, don't you agree?

What a curious question, young miss! Is that a concern or a hope?

Left wondering,
Huahua Caocao

[madcuriosity]

Dear Caocao, [Alice had not yet opted for a "Mister," or "Miss," or even more proper titles as she did not know how to discern anything from the name Li Lianhua gave her.]

I think that, were the robes the same in shape and color and smell, then yes, an argument may occur amongst my flower bed, but no one would mistake a chrysanthemum of any color for a rose of any color. I think they're different enough to keep the peace. Besides, the chrysanthemum is known as a flower of friendship! And furthermore well-wishes.

My roses may have thorns but even they couldn't argue with a flower meant to be friendly.

If gardening was meant to be left up to fate, they would be wildflowers, not a garden.

It's in all the stories. A magical being giving someone in want of a child a seed to plant, and within it is a person no bigger than your thumb. I am not in want of a child. Though, perhaps a little rabbit no bigger than my thumb might be lovely.

I hope I was able to answer your wonderings.

Sincerely,
Alice Liddell

[doctor_uhh]

[The next letter comes after a delay of a few days, but he returns to his little pen pal as soon as he's able.]

Young Miss Alice,

what you say makes a lot of sense. Naturally, the friendlier the flower the harder it would be for anything to trouble it, so the roses would find it quite difficult to start an argument. I'm reassured to learn that these little seeds will have such a knowledgeable warden.

[Her polite yet firm exclusion of fate from her garden can't fail to make him laugh. There should be an idiom somewhere in that. But being rebutted with such simple confidence proves too hard to resist being contrary.]

Not everything that grows wild and free does so due to fate, and not everything someone tries to keep all in order will be safe from fate, you know. Which plants thrive and which fall prey to mice or insects, which new seeds the wind brings and which it destroys, are those not fate as well?

How interesting! Then it sounds like any magical being worth their reputation would not make the mistake of giving you a child the size of your thumb, as neither of us are in want of one. I think that's quite reassuring to know. Of course, a little rabbit the size of your thumb would be very charming indeed, but wouldn't you worry about losing it in the folds of your gown or between tall blades of grass? I think if the young miss were to plant carrots and lettuce in a corner of her garden, she might attract some rabbits of a more practical size.

In want of carrots now,
Huahua Caocao

[madcuriosity]

Dear Huahua Caocao,

There might be mice and bugs, but there's still care in the whole matter. Wildflowers learned to grow with no help at all from a human hand. The same cannot be said for a garden. That's why gardens may have much more delicate flowers. Though, I do know all the flowers had to have grown SOMEWHERE before being brought into a garden. The calla lily came from South Africa, I believe, but now they're such a staple in many a bouquets all over the world. Isn't it just as much fate that they were brought to other lands, even lands as far away as England from South Africa to be in my garden? Never mind that things like chrysanthemums and roses and calla lilies even grow in this world in the first place! Unless they had a wish Mr. Vaeros is granting.

Yes, but the magical being didn't give the seeds to ME, they gave the seeds to YOU. I wouldn't have known you didn't want a child unless you told me, which you did, so thankfully I think we'll be quite safe from growing a Thumbelina or Tom Thumb.

And I wouldn't worry about a rabbit being lost in the folds of my dress any more than a teacup mouse being lost in them. And I wouldn't have to feed the rabbit quite so much. Only one head of lettuce or a single carrot instead of many. But goodness, you worry so, flowers arguing and rabbits going missing.

Do you often worry so?

Concerned for your worrywarts,
Alice Liddell