Charlie in the middle of nowhere

Thousands of years went past since Alice travelled to the wonderland. What was the truth to her, became legend. With the turning of wheel of aeons, legend became myth. And that was too lost in time. Then, it was resurrected, reborn in a dream of a young man in his early thirties.

Charlie was a descendent of Alice. In his dream, he saw his great... great grandmother, Alice, as a brat, sliding on the grassy swirling path to the magical land. Upon awaking, he decided to find that place. In one frosty morning, he took off and made the road his bride, the destination his truth.

For years he travelled. He searched and searched all over the world, finding naught but dirt and ashes worth scant. When he was about to lose all hope, he came across a desert of rocks, far away from any locality, or anything remotely resembling growth. And in the middle of that desert, he saw a table. Reddish, fine veneered wood and on top of that, lush green moss, all cheering for the sun in perfect unison. Crowned by the moss, there was a shape, also covered in moss. Charlie didn't realize it was a rabbit.

"Hello, Charlie. Welcome to your destination." the rabbit spoke with a gentle vehemence that radiated all sorts of emotions.

Charlie wasn't surprised, he was, after all, searching for the place for so long.

"I've searched for you all over the world." Charlie marvelled.

"Yes, you did. But my gates are for those who are least suspecting it. You can only find them when are not looking. Now if you want to pass the gate, you have to answer three question." The rabbit told him.

"Okay. Where is the gate though?" Charlie looked around. There was nothing except the table.

"Oh why, it's here. See the table, silly?" The rabbit mused, "I will open the drawer and you'll pop in. That is, if you can answer the questions." it paused for a moment.
"Tell me charlie" it resumed.
"What burns hotter than the sun but doesn’t catch fire?
What feeds itself constantly but doesn’t get filled? and lastly,
what doesn’t have legs but stands firm? "

Charlie found himself in deep reverie. He pondered upon the questions and pondered some more. The rabbit waited patiently. Then the moment of truth came. Rabbit asked, "Well?"

Charlie took a long breath and his mouth began to slowly move,

"Defying the earthly love, divine plans, allure of safety—the passion of man thrives, ever so brightly. No metal, rocks or elements can match that fierce zeal. Passion burns hotter than anything.

Mountains of gold, the elixir of life or a dragon's breath, possessing all the world jewels cannot satiate desire. Desire is the true face of infinity. Feeding it only makes it hungrier."

He paused then, licked his dried lips and resumed,
"In the face of unmatchable adversary, inevitable fate and despair, shields may crumble, weapons may lose their edge, but the will prevails. The irrational, imprudent will to tear through it all, despite everything. Thus, will stands firm."

The rabbit looked at charlie for a few moments. Then it placidly said, "Yes, you may pass." Then it opened the drawer.
Charlie was bemused yet assured, glad. Before jumping in the drawer, he asked the rabbit, "What would happen if I got the answers wrong?"
"There are no wrong answers, Charlie." the rabbit replied.
"Then, what's the point of the test?" Charlie was baffled.
"The questions are never the test, Charlie. Go." Then the rabbit smiled at him.

Smiling back, Charlie, the great...great grandson of Alice, then jumped down to the wonderland.

The end

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The photo is a cgi image created by me in 3ds max and rendered with corona renderer two years ago. I was testing corona render engine at that time and wanted to do something fun. For this particular 3D scene, I was inspired by Carroll's book and also by the czech art film Neko Z Alenky.

Since I'm posting myself on the ove of contest, not sure whether tagging will make any difference. But for future reference I'm tagging to participate.

The contest details can be found here - @bdcommunity/bdcommunity-presents-a-picture-speaks-a-thousand-words-contest-week-2