Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty’s shaped like an egg, but he’s really a caterpillar. He sits on a wall and looks down on Alice. He demands answers but is never happy with her replies. Humpty Dumpty claims words bend to his will, but he still gets upset when Alice compares him to an egg.

He’s round, but still able to balance on that narrow wall. Alice holds out her arms just in case he falls. Always this feeling in her dreams that something’s about to happen. This feeling that this round thing will fall, or that he’ll smile too wide and cut himself in half. It’s kind of like looking at a glass of water placed on the edge of a table and worrying it will tip over. The sense that things aren’t stable, or only stable in the moment. The next moment, things will turn.

Alice tries to be polite, but it’s no use. Humpty Dumpty turns chatting into a game he has to win. He’s impossible to talk to. Only thing you can do with someone like that is stop talking. Just disengage.

Funny how Alice recognises him. Looking-Glass dreams aren’t like Rabbit Hole dreams. More touchstones.

“Alice didn’t know what to say to this: it wasn’t at all like conversation, she thought, as he never said anything to her; in fact, his last remark was evidently addressed to a tree — so she stood and softly repeated to herself:”