It is completely dark aside from the lights bouncing off the walls. Was it even there before, or did it only just appear? You enter through the side into a tunnel-like room. Once you exit the Castle, you notice a structure you have not yet investigated. As more people pack themselves into the space, you move on to the next attraction. How this is even possible you are not sure, and yet the sensation is authentic. A man in a wooden cart is giving out strange-looking candies you take one from him, and are surprised to find that it tastes of childhood and something else you cannot quite place. To your left is a trading post, where people are lined up to exchange what little they have for different trinkets and baubles. Friends and strangers are gathered on the floor of a large tent hosting a tea party, while a live band provides entertainment. Sprawling before you is the Mad Bazaar, and all around there are creatures smiling and celebrating with the people of Wonderland. Behind one of the doors you can hear the sounds of music and joyous laughter, so you turn the knob and step inside. You come across a corridor lined with doors, each one a portal to yet another new world. You wander through Wonderland, almost aimlessly but not quite, as though you are being beckoned by an invisible force. By this time the sun has almost vanished and this new world has begun to shift shapes, warping in unexpected ways, brightly colored lights dancing across the landscape of this mysterious so-called Wonderland. As you approach, you see it: a large sign with “Beyond Wonderland” painted in bright letters. The sun sinks as you walk, and looking around you notice some rather unusual characters among the throng of people marching forward… foxes and mice, rabbits in checkered suits, psychedelic dogs, and peculiar men with clocks for faces, all heading to the same unseen destination. Odd-sounding music floats toward you from an unknown source, and you decide to follow it. All around you are others who look just as confused as you are, and no one seems to have any idea of how you came to be here.

It is then that you realize you are in a strange, unfamiliar place. Confused, you slowly look around, taking in your surroundings. You find yourself gazing upward as the sun beats down overhead.

Beyond wonderland march 2022