(MATHILDA begins to read aloud from a history book, while ALICE sneaks up behind her.)

MATHILDA

And during the American Revolution, King George the Third, or Old Mad George, as some have so called him, was so angry at General George Washington that he made all his own royal soldiers dress in bright red uniforms that made them look just like giant walking lobsters that went...

(startled by ALICE)

Aaaah!!! Alice, honestly, when are you ever going to grow up?

(ALICE slinks through the grass, pretending to be a lion.)

ALICE

Look, Mathilda, I'm a lion! Roooarrrrr!!!

MATHILDA

Alice, you're not a lion. You're a girl pretending to be a lion. How will you ever make your mark in the world if you don't know who you are? Remember what the immortal Bard said: "To thine own self be true." You'd know that if you'd open a book once in a while-

ALICE

Books are boring! I would rather live my life exploring like Columbus - on a voyage through a world of my own!

MATHILDA

(pulls out Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days )
Nellie Bly read this book and then voyaged around the world - with purpose! What do you propose to explore, Alice, except more trouble?