Alice couldn’t believe her eyes.
She found herself standing at a party with a glass of punch in her hand. Sounds not that extraordinary except for the fact that the last thing she remembered was watching her favorite TV show on the sofa in her bedroom. How the hell did she appear at the party? That was the question she kept asking herself while inspecting surroundings. And everything around her was really peculiar - it didn’t look like a typical party in her hometown. Everyone was wearing fancy dresses, some people were participating in a karaoke competition, hustle and bustle was everywhere.
While Jane was trying to find out where she was and how she got there, she noticed a couple of women who seemed rather familiar. Sudden realization hit her, ‘Oh my God. Is that Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman?’ She asked herself perhaps too loudly because one of the guests of this trivia night immediately responded to her, ‘No, don’t be silly. It’s just those crazy housewives - Celeste and Madeline’. Alice couldn’t hide her shock. It was unbelievable. How could this be — appearing in one of the episodes of her favorite TV show? But there she was - standing right next to the characters of the show, watching them do and say exactly what she remembered them doing in the series.
At some point, other ladies joined them and Alice recognized those women right away - it was Jane and Renata, another characters of the TV show. Alice couldn’t move a finger in astonishment until she saw another familiar face — Celeste’s husband Perry right behind the housewives. She remembered vividly which ending this night had in the series, and she knew exactly which role Perry had to play in it. Alice didn’t want to watch this happened because she strongly believed that that struggling couple deserved a chance for redemption. She hated the event that had to follow Perry’s arrival, and she didn’t hesitate even for a minute before going right up to him and starting a friendly conversation. The aim was to distract him from seeing Celeste and in such a way preventing the horrible accident that was destined to follow.
But Perry wasn’t up to talking, he was confidently moving towards his wife. Alice had to be more persistent. She touched him by the shoulder and turned him around softly to meet her gaze. ‘Mr Wright, you have to listen to me’, said Alice. ‘I’m not in chatting mood right now, I’m sorry, I have to talk to my wife’, replied Perry with poorly hidden irritation in his voice. ‘I know what you are up to’, Alice continued distracting him, ‘But listen - you have to let her go. It will be better for both of you. Your relations are toxic for yourselves and your children.’ Perry looked surprised. He grabbed her hard by the wrist, his eyes filled with anger, ‘I don’t know what Celeste told you about us but it’s none of your business! So back off and get out of my way’. He said it so aggressively that Alice got scared. Despite all the sympathy she had for this character, she knew all his past actions all too well. Alice’s urge to let it go and be as it was meant to become really strong. ‘No’, she said to herself, ‘I have the opportunity to make a change to this story, I won’t miss it’.
Perry was already away from her, searching for the women who, as Alice knew for sure, were talking atop the stairs at the back of the venue. She ran quickly after Perry, determined to change his mind at any cost. She caught him right before he reached the point where the stairs and women atop them became visible. ‘Perry, you shouldn’t do it. You’ll ... ’, Alice didn’t get the chance to finish her phrase because of the strong punch in her belly. ‘I said Back Off!’, Perry almost shouted at Alice and pushed her down on the ground so hard that all the world darkened for Alice as she lost consciousness.
When Alice came to her senses, an awfully familiar scene was awaiting her: the police everywhere, frightened and disoriented guests of the party were whispering and gossiping. ‘Gosh, I failed. Everything happened as it was in the script. I’m such a looser’. While she was trying to stand up, a police officer came up to her, kneeled and said quietly, ‘Alice, stand up’. ‘I’m trying, don’t you see?’, she replied with irritation. ‘Alice, our mum is here, stand up and open the door for her.’ ‘What? What mum?’
A sudden doorbell rang as Alice found herself lying - not on the cold ground but on her cozy sofa in the bedroom right in front of the TV with the first season of “Big Little Lies” on. Alice closed her eyes and laughed loudly. ‘Open the door, what are you laughing at?’ asked her sister, entering the room. ‘Well, for the first time in my life I feel like my name finally suits me’. ‘What? Why?’ ‘Because I’ve just been to Wonderland’, replied Alice, unable to stop laughing.
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