Living next door to Alice

LIVING NEXT DOOR TO ALICE

Sarah and her granddaughter Georgia were unpacking Sarah’s china. Sarah handed Georgia the last piece, and she unwrapped it carefully. The last of the bubble wrap came off and Georgia looked at the teapot in her hands. It was round on the edges and flat on both sides, and it had a landscape painted on it. An eerie little scene with a weird bubble-shaped tree and two sad little houses, smoke curling mournfully from their pointed chimneys. The bottom of the teapot was blue, a little stream between two tall hills, separating the tree from the houses forever.

“I’ve never seen this china before Nana.” Georgia said, placing the teapot carefully beside the other pieces they had unwrapped, that Sarah was placing on the shelf of the glass-fronted cabinet.

“It has been packed away for a long time.” Sarah said. “I never really had the space before to display it.”

Georgia picked up the teapot, turning it around to see it from both sides. “Wh...