☕️ Alice’s Mad Tea Party Presents:
🍵 Alice Spills the Tea: The Winter Wraith
Ohhh… my head.
And my teacup.
And apparently my moral compass, somewhere under a pile of parchment.
Good morning, darlings. Or afternoon. Or whatever it is. Time in the studio drifts like snow in a storm and, frankly, I stopped caring.
Today, I bring you a story about a visitor you do not want dropping by your doorstep this season. The kind that makes your goosebumps shiver and your fire crackle with nervous energy. The kind that… well, makes tea necessary. Strong tea. Possibly spiked tea.
Meet The Winter Wraith.
Not your cuddly snowman. Not your polite holiday ghost. This one comes for the unprepared, the reckless, the ones who laugh too loudly at the cold. Cloaked in frost, face hidden beneath a hood stitched from midnight itself, the Wraith drifts through towns and hamlets, unseen until it’s far too late.
It does not knock.
It does not ring.
It merely arrives, and the cold follows it like a shadow that whispers.
Legends say it carries memories of every winter past - the bitter frost, the forgotten promises, the coal-black nights - and weighs them against the living. It will check if your hearth is warm, if your generosity is real, and if your joy is honest or just performance. Fail its invisible test, and it leaves behind more than shivers: it leaves echoes. Ghostly footprints that creep into your dreams, soft sighs that freeze your breath, and a reminder that not all holiday cheer is safe.
Ahhh, but my dears… that’s the fun, isn’t it? The Wraith is a test. A tease. A shadowed cup of tea you didn’t realize you ordered. And those clever enough, brave enough, or maybe just lucky enough to survive its icy attentions, emerge… changed. A little sharper. A little wiser. A little more aware that winter is not a season to be trifled with.
Now, I see the panic in your eyes.
Calm yourself.
Yes, I might have had just enough spirits to make this story sound a little more terrifying than it is. Or maybe not. That’s for you to decide when you check the corners of your room tonight.
And, between you and me - and Pip, who is currently hiding behind a stack of papers - don’t let Rumple or Ivy see this. If they do, you’ll have a studio raid involving bells, cursed manuscripts, and enough holiday chaos to make the Yule Cat blush.
So sip. Steady. And remember: the Winter Wraith is patient. Very patient. And it loves a good audience.
Alice
Queen of Ink & Lore
Slightly Tipsy, Entirely Chaotic
Keeper of Frosty Secrets ☕️❄️👻
