Alice in Reality

Tick Tock Tick Tock

The clock clicks on and on

as Mr. Smith babbles on and on about

college,

the trophy gleaming at the end of the finish line,

the one that we all desperately race towards,

the thing we will fight for without reason,

the motivation that has no large value.

Why do we wish to go to a school because of the name,

instead of hoping to quench our thirst for learning?

Alice sits in class, pondering why she goes to school;

is it just for a GPA,

or maybe she just needs to have the college credits.

Either way, she imagines a world

without college.

A world without the pressure to “succeed.”

A world without the burden of classes, homework and studying.

A world without the constant fear of failure.

As the class continues, these thoughts rattle Alice’s mind.

Mr. Smith’s voice starts to fade into the background

as her eyelids begin to feel heavier

and heavier

blink blink

Alice opens her eyes to see a blue sky.

Clouds drift by

so soft and so near that she could almost reach up and touch them.

She sits up and looks around.

*gasp

How can this be?

She was no longer in the classroom

Instead, she sat there

in the middle of a large open plain of grass and flowers

looking onto a lake

crystal clear.

From that point,

you could see for miles into distance.

She laid back down onto the carpet of grass

and began to doze back into a drifting sleep.

“Hello?”

Startled she sat back up.

“Helloo?”

Franticallly she searched around for the source of the voice

“Hello! Down here!”

The flowers were

speaking.

But how?

Alice questioned her sanity and couldn’t comprehend.

But she realized she could only find her answers through conversation

And so it started,

the flowers spoke to her about the mysterious land

they told her about more magical creatures.

And so she thought of magical potions to make things smaller, like problems.

She thought of disappearing animals with bright smiles to accompany her in her most stressful moments.

And she thought of mysterious bugs that would enlighten her and tell her the answers to life's greatest questions.

But alas, it was not so.

There is no way to “poof” your problems away.

There are no talking animals to help you.

And there are definitely no answers to all the questions in life.

You simply

need to

live.

Problems exist, but so do solutions.

Don't run from your problems.

Deal with them head on

with a smile on you face.

Life is tough,

but so are you.

If you dream it, you can achieve it.

And so, the sound ring of the bell finally woke Alice.