• Thousands of feet above sea level, fifteen miles across, sitting on top of a tall staircase that was only fifty to eighty feet in diameter sat Clockwork Island. In the middle of the landmass was the island's key. If it was removed, the island would fall. There was a massive gear around the out edge of the island. It turned along with the key and would turn for eternity, or until the key is removed. From the outskirts of town, one could see the large key on the top of the hill. Alice wondered why she had never seen it before.

    Eugene and Roberta gave her a tour around town and even hiked up the hill to the base of the key. Alice thought it was a wonder that this magical island of such extraordinary mechanics could still exist without being taken over by another country or supreme power. Eugene told her that the island has few resources and not enough arable land to satisfy anyone. They relied on their ability to fix, build clocks and the island's trading priviledges.

    When they had toured most of the island, they headed back towards town because they were quickly approaching ten o'clock. Alice felt the warmth of the sun on her fair skin and smiled. She had never been this close to the sun before. The wind through her hair even felt different. The grass was greener up here and the dirt was as clean as it was when it was put there. Her head felt light and her ears popped occasionally. She was still adjusting to the air pressure. It was than that she realized how high she was.

    Alice stopped and held her head in her hands. It was too much to comprehend and the pressure tingled in her head, through her ears. Roberta turned and patted Alice's back to comfort her.

    "Oh, you must still be adjusting to the air pressure up here. Eat this, Alice," Roberta pulled something out of her lab coat pocket and handed it to Alice.

    She took it and stared at it curiously. A pink crumb of something supposedly left over. She had seen this color on the island before. "What is it?" Alice asked her.

    "It's a piece of the Cone Mushroom, it will help you with your pains," Eugene explained to her.

    She remembered now! They grew in the hills around the island's key. Little pink mushrooms shaped like the windmills that appeared everywhere in the hills. She supposed it was safe to eat, she trusted the Cadys. Alice popped it in her mouth and began to chew. It tasted sweet like the iced tea Roberta had served earlier. The mushroom left a vegetable after-taste and it didn't work right away. On the way through town, she began to feel normal again.

    Eugene sat Alice down at the end of a long table inside the main building where the town discussed important matters. There were only a few people despite the amount of chairs at the table. Eugene and Roberta joined the few poeople at the opposite end, leaving Alice alone and frightened.

    She looked into the distant faces of the people at the table. The leader who sat at the other end of the table had deep blue eyes like her's and his hair curled up into a white soft serve, decorated with jewels and gold. There was no doubt that he was the leader. Beside him sat a woman with light brown hair and keen eyes. She had a notepad and a pen in her hand, ready to take notes. Across from her was a man that stared down at his books through his small spectacles as he dug his hands into his black hair. He seemed to be studying intensely, not even paying attention to the sounds of clocks ticking around him. As Alice sat in this room of total silence, she began to hear the many clocks for the first time. Up on the walls, there were clocks of every kind! Grandfather clocks, quartz clocks, cukoo clocks and custom made clocks that represented many different animals and plants. It was brain-racking, all the ticking of the hands on the clocks, the chiming and the loud sounds of little wooden birds. Suddenly, a familiar voice broke the loud silence.

    "Alice, remember what I taught you."

    Her eyes widened. She hadn't heard that voice for months! She looked around wildly, looking for him. He was using his magic again, as he was nowhere to be found.

    "What is your name, young lady?" the leader asked her from across the room.

    "Alice. My name is Alice," she replied, sitting up straight with her hands at her lap. She wanted to prove to the smiling man that he had succeeded in teaching her how to be lady-like.

    "You don't have a surname?" He rested his chin in his clasped hands as he put his elbows up on the table. Alice shook her head. "Then where are you from?"

    "I don't know, sir," Alice replied quickly. She couldn't remember anything past the sea and the white rabbit flag.

    "What ship or ships were you on? Were you in a ship wreck?"

    "No, I own a raft. It is located at the bottom of the stairs."

    "So that is how you got here," he sat back in his chair and stroked his beard. "Arthur, you may ask her your questions now."

    The man who was intensely reading closed his book and took up his suitcase at his feet. He walked up beside Alice and laid the suitcase out before her. Opening it up, he pulled out several maps of foreign countries.

    "Do you recognize any of these lands?" Arthur asked her, spreading the maps out before her. Alice sadly shook her head. This was the first time she had seen a map.

    "She does not remember where she came from, whether she was on a ship or not and she doesn't know what her surname is." Arthur put the maps back in his suitcase and carried it back to his seat.

    "Maybe she's mad," the woman with the notepad whispered to the leader. Alice stared angrily at the woman. Alice wasn't mad, she just couldn't remember.

    "We're all mad here," the smiling man whispered in the darkness.

    "Alice, please tell us all that you can remember," Roberta gave her a warm smile that made Alice feel more welcome in this intense room.