Saturday, September 5, 2026
Hello, all. Back in 2016 Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland got stuck in my mind. The world around me seemed to have gone topsy-turvy and down weird rabbit hole.
Allow me to digress. First let’s do a one-card reading, intended for grounding or centering. It’s from the Alice in Wonderland Oracle by Paolo Barbieri. The card I randomly drew is The Walrus and the Carpenter. For deeper meaning you can look up that part of Lewis Carroll’s story.
In short, this card means that things are not always what they seem. That old admonishment is usually taken in a negative way. However, it might just as likely be a good portend — especially if one is feeling overwhelmed with how much needs to be done, or goals unmet, or with unfortunate interpersonal issues. Take heart — things may not be what they seem. Look at the situation from different points of view. Examine it from outside yourself.
Back to the reason for this post. The topsy-turvy-Wonderlandy sense from ten years ago came and went every now and then. Then about 18 months ago, it came back. Hard. Jefferson Airplane’s old song, White Rabbit turned into my mental soundtrack.
So, to exorcise it, I wrote a short story inspired by it all — my own surreal, modernized, urban fantasy take on Wonderland and Alice. (See more about that at the very end of the post.) As it turned out, that wasn’t enough. With the help of Tim Price, I recorded a Grace Slick tribute of me singing White Rabbit. That wasn’t enough either, so I made a bunch of illustrations and turned it into a video for the song.
That seemed to exorcise it, for the most part, but a large part of me still feels like I never climbed out of that rabbit hole. When I recently stumbled upon some oracle cards with an Alice in Wonderland theme, I bought them. Which finally brings me to the reason for this post. 1) I’ve always wanted to write more on my Rabbit Hole story — it has a big story-verse inside my head. 2) We all had fun with my tarot inspired flash fiction last weekend, so I’m going to try the same thing with these Wonderland cards. (Just one disclaimer… I really can’t in good conscience recommend this deck of cards. The quality of the cardstock is good. They’re a good size. That’s my only positive comment.)
Now, here’s three cards worth of flash fiction… followed by my song.
The Paintbrush is in Your Hand
A Spontaneous Oracle Card Inspired Short Story
Tweedledee and Tweedledum
Liddie’s white sneakers made an embarrassingly loud squawk against the linoleum floor when she walked into the art therapy room. The Mirror Twins turned away from their side-by-side canvases to stare. One twin painted the still life display, while the other twin painted a reverse image of it.
“Mirror twins” was the term Blythe and Claudia had used when she first met them. They were identical except that odd things would be reversed. Such as the natural part of their hair — right side for Blythe, and left side for Claudia. Although they admitted, with self-satisfied smirks that they could easily switch the parting of their hair whenever they wanted to mess with the staff at the asylum. There was also a mole on their hip, but since that was a “tell” that couldn’t be easily changed, they kept it secret.
A Little Door to a New Land
The twins were painting scenes of an open door, beyond which was a strange land. Of course Claudia’s picture was the reverse of Blythe’s.
“We know you sneaked out the other night,” they said in harmony — one speaking high, the other using a low voice. “We know they brought you back,” they added on a flat note, switching high and low.
Queen Alice
With a sigh, Liddie plopped down on the empty stool next to the twins. She picked up a paintbrush, complaining that she wasn’t an artist, and couldn’t think of what to paint. The twins suggested a golden key. That seemed much easier to Liddie than what the girls were painting, so she grabbed the yellow paint.
“Yeah, they brought me back,” Liddie grumbled in a sardonic voice. “Queen Liddie, ruler of all I survey… in my hallucinations.”
“Poor Liddie… Cheer up,” said the twin who was probably Blythe. “Things aren’t always what they seem… Especially in this place.”
“You inspired us to make doors that lead away from here. You have to assume there’s a key,” added the one who was probably Claudia with a nod at Liddie’s blank canvas. “The paintbrush is in your hand.”
The end.
Now the song… My Grace Slick tribute cover of White Rabbit in the YouTube video below.
v=meIbyIm_dNE”>White Rabbit Cover Grace Slick Tribute 720p – YouTube
Happy September. Have a wonderful rest of the weekend. Friendly comments are welcome. Hugs!
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The flash fiction above is from the same story-verse as this obligatory shameless self-promotion. It’s a quick read/very short story, something my twisting mind saw as an additional, modern-day adventure in Wonderland.
Universal Purchase Link:
E-book/Kindle only: relinks.me/B0D61B41RL
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Copyright © 2026 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene
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