Intro
Lana was analyzing the intriguing book. Lewis had, in fact, kept his promise in writing it.
"Don't worry," the writer promised, before leaving Wonderland. "I'll make caricatures of all of you. In my story, some of you will become animals, others, objects... I can even imagine it." He admitted, laughing.
'Oh...' she thought, upon hearing the statement. 'Is he going to invent even more fantastical beings? Wasn't the magic of Wonderland already surreal enough?'
"I suppose they correspond to the traits of our personalities," Lana suggested.
"Absolutely! Changing the essence of my characters would be a waste!" Lewis exclaimed. "The character who will represent me, for example, will be a curious little girl who fell down the hole by mistake... following a white rabbit."
"A rabbit?" Lana exclaimed, laughing. Ryan would be stunned when he found out. "Yes... I think it has a lot to do with him." The two stared at each other for a while, smiling.
"And me?" she finally asked. "What do you have in store for me?"
Lewis smiled. "I hope you won't be annoyed."
Lana raised an eyebrow, demanding that he continue.
"But you will be a caterpillar."
The girl was speechless for a moment. A caterpillar? With so many beings, both in Lewis's world and in Wonderland... And he had chosen a caterpillar?
"An extremely wise caterpillar... That has all the answers," he finished. "That taught Alice the price of size... That also taught her that being small is different from not being big, and that being big is different from not being small."
"I wonder why this choice," Lana declared thoughtfully. Lewis's eyes studied her intently.
"Because the caterpillar is a small being. Discreet, silent... It hides in the forest. Hardly found." Lewis says, winking. Lana had to agree. "It seems to have several little hands, which accomplish everything perfectly and simultaneously...
And also... Because it waits. It awaits the right moment and the right place to weave its cocoon." Lana felt her cheeks flush. Damn writer. Why had she let him know her soul so well? "And it has patience. A lot of patience. It only leaves when it feels safe... And with wings."
Lana tilts her head, teasingly. "Stop trying to be so poetic. It's my habit."
They both laugh, ending with a sigh. Neither wanted to admit it, but it was time to say goodbye.
"Alice would never have moved on without the caterpillar," she finally admitted.
"Lewis, silly," she teased. "There's no front in Wonderland."
"I noticed. Thanks for sending me ahead of me, anyway."
They hug. They knew they wouldn't meet in person again, but they didn't want to pronounce that fate aloud.
Finally, they exchanged a look full of gratitude. Lewis stepped towards her and entered the portal—returning, thus, to his world. The upper world. The human world. The normal world.
The boring world.
'Caterpillar, huh?' she concluded to herself. 'Not such a bad nickname after all.'
