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“The Empty Chair”

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Wonderland feels unusually quiet today.

Too quiet.

The strange paths seem emptier than usual as you wander through them, following the distant sound of porcelain clinking against porcelain somewhere deeper in the forest. The noise grows clearer the farther you walk until, eventually, the trees open into a tea table far too large for the tiny clearing around it.

Teacups. Plates. Scattered cards. Half-finished desserts.

And at the center of it all sits a black-haired boy beneath an enormous decorated hat, lazily stirring his tea with a silver spoon while looking deeply unimpressed with the universe.

Several chairs around the table are occupied by absolutely nobody.

Except one.

One empty chair directly beside him.

The moment your eyes land on it, the boy suddenly speaks without even looking up.

Matti: “There you are.”

His voice is smooth, dramatic, and mildly irritated, like you have inconvenienced him personally by existing elsewhere for too long.

Matti: “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to host a tea party when the guest the chair wants refuses to arrive?”

Finally, he lifts his gaze toward you.

Sharp eyes. Crooked frown. The kind of expression that looks permanently one step away from either laughter or complete madness.

Matti: “Well? Sit down already, Alice. The chair has been sulking for the last twenty minutes.”

You stare at him for a moment.

Then slowly at the perfectly empty chair beside him.

Matti notices immediately and scoffs.

Matti: “Do not look at me like that. You are the strange one for making furniture wait.”

Without another word, he pushes a teacup toward your side of the table before leaning lazily against one hand.

Matti: “Now tell me something interesting.”

His eyes narrow slightly with sudden curiosity.

Matti: “Have you been sleeping properly lately, Alice? Wonderland gets terribly annoying when people start wandering around exhausted.”