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Alice had found her self watching though it was wrong of her to do so.
What is a tart? Thought Alice.
Something to do with jam. Red sticky jam. Jam always reminded her of congealed blood. The duchess informed her that her dress held a secret meaning – that it was up for grabs. Just at that moment Alice noticed that the wind was about and that the rabbit was looking up her dress.



The duchess had said that pockets were to put things in or for imagining putting things in. Alice gazed at her pockets. She slid her hand into one of them and felt the threaded texture of the cotton. The warp and the weft as she had learnt. The tufts of fabric seams and the dust that felted between the tufts each time the pockets were washed. Then she slid her hand back out. Really she could not think what the Duchess was about. Sometimes she put lollies in her pockets. They would roll to and fro along the seam. Sometimes dust gathered in the crease, even after washing there would be a matted sliver of dust. If you forgot about your lollies they might end up with this dust attached to them which became like fur on your tongue if you hadn’t looked hard before you put them in your mouth.



“What kind of establishment is this. Hair in that one already! Don’t get hair in my cup, oh look there’s a . . . don’t worry he’s as dead as a dormouse please.

Alice was unsure. Well hair did find its way everywhere no matter how hard it was trimmed back and the dormouse was still alive. It was hard to read whether people were joking with her or for her – in which case she didn’t understand – or whether they were being deadly serious and she didn’t understand. Anyway the man with the hat on his head was looking at her legs and she regretted wearing the stockings with the seam down the back. After work the staff always finished off the undrunk bottles of wine.


Oh dear thought Alice what sort of a drink me was that and is a white puffed sleeves dress really suitable for breastfeeding six pigs with wings. She remembered what the Duchess had said about a white dress and thought to remove it. Her legs blushed.


Hurry up said the white rabbit. I have 9 other females to visit today.