November 28, 2022
Lying in a field of soft, green grass was Alice. She was a naturally beautiful girl who was kind and curious. Her blonde hair flowed on the ground, surrounding her. Her light blue dress matched the color of the sky. She looked up at the clouds, imagining all of the shapes and animals they formed. Triangles, circles, squirrels. The list went on. She was a simple girl at the age of 16 and didn’t imagine a life beyond her small town. Lifting her head, she saw a white little bunny hopping around nearby. Alice, being a curious person, took her blue bandana out that matched her dress perfectly, and she tied it to hold her hair back. She slowly started following the rabbit and sped up as it hopped faster.
Next thing Alice knew, she had lost herself in the woods. The rabbit sat quietly near a hole, and in a blink of an eye, it was gone. Alice looked down the hole only to realize that it became big enough for her to fit. She carefully slid herself through the hole and started falling. Spirals and colors filled around her for several minutes as she spun around in awe. Thump. She hit the ground. Quickly getting up and brushing the dust off of her dress, Alice examined her surroundings. It was a small room, but she could still fit. There was a small table with a cookie that said “Eat me” on it and a pink drink inside of a tiny glass bottle that said “Drink me.” She picked up the cookie, looking at it closely to see if it was ok. She took a bite and nothing happened. She waited. Then, the room started spinning just like it had when she was going down the rabbit hole. Suddenly, Alice grew so big, she could barely fit in the almost empty space. She thought she was hallucinating, but everything seemed so real. Then, she leaned down towards the table which now seemed tinier and took the drink in her now big hands. She examined that too, and then started to drink it. She waited once again and then shrunk to a small size, probably around 4 inches tall. The glass was falling from where she had been before and it nearly crushed her into a million pieces. She looked over to her right, then her left. A small, dark and wooden door with a gold frame stood out against the wall of dirt.
Through the door were colors. So many colors it was hard to focus on one thing at a time. The white rabbit popped out of nowhere.
“Hello miss,” he said. Alice stared at the rabbit in shock. He was perfectly white and had red beady little eyes.
“U-um hi? How are you-” Alice started.
“No time for questions. Follow,” he interrupted. Alice followed, but with caution. Why not trust a little bunny? It’s not a big deal. How much damage could it do? Alice’s mom always taught her not to talk to strangers. Alice hated thinking about her mom after she died last year. No one knows where she went, she just disappeared. The white rabbit stopped and so did Alice. She noticed him peering up at a house window, but she couldn’t see anything.
“Where are we?” Alice asked as they walked into a big building that was yellow on the outside. She looked around. There was a wooden table with a red cloth over it. It was a deep red. It looked like blood. Curdling, gross blood and she could almost smell it. The fancy chair and the walls were also red. Across the room sat a fish tank, but there was no water. The fish were just floating around like a bubble. Alice glanced over her shoulder to look at the white rabbit with a questioning look on her face. “Why is this place so weird?” Alice asked, knowing it was rude, but the white rabbit didn’t seem to mind.
“Who says it isn’t your world who is weird? This place could be perfectly ordinary,” he stated.
“If all people agreed,” A voice said behind the white rabbit.
December 19, 2022
“Ah, Mad Hatter. How have you been? It feels like forever. Where have you been?” The white rabbit asked the man.
“Oh that’s a story for another time,” The Mad Hatter said with a nervous glance at Alice. He walked over to her taking two very large steps. “You must be Alice,” she nodded, “Very well. I’m The Mad Hatter.” He bowed and straightened out quickly. Alice smiled a not-so-happy smile. She was nervous of course. She still didn’t know where she was.
Exiting the building, Alice noticed two tiny little boys who looked like eggs.
“Aye ‘ello there. Whatcha doin?” One said. The other said,
“Uh I don’ tink she belongs ‘ere.” Their accents made Alice giggle, but her face quickly straightened out. The white rabbit hopped out of the building and took one glance at the little egg shaped boys before turning to Alice and saying,
“Well, this way now. Follow me, follow me.” The rabbit hopped along; Alice followed him like how she had when he led her to the rabbit hole.
“White rabbit?” He nodded, “Who were they? Those round egg boys?”
“Tweedledee and Tweedledum. They are the fat boys, and they belong to the Queen of Hearts. Easy to say that no one likes her. She’s bad news, and you shouldn’t have anything to do with her.” He told her.
“Well, why am I still here?” Alice asked, but the rabbit did not answer. Alice’s mind merely wandered as she walked around; the green grass felt like needles as they rubbed up against her legs. She went past a waterfall, but instead of the water rushing down, it went up. There were fish in boats, breathing air just like every other being in the magical world. Alice made a weird face, and one of the fish mimicked her, its metallic eyebrows furrowed. Alice looked at her shoes and noticed the colorful stepping stones she was walking on. They were everywhere, on every road and path. Some had designs while others were plain colors, but they all blended beautifully.
Alice and the white rabbit came up to a normal-looking house, which Alice was sure wasn’t normal for this place, and it definitely stood out. The walls were made of dark oak wood, and the roof was made of black and brown stacked rocks. The path was an ordinary design of gray rocks, and the grass was green and bright, but there were no flowers to brighten the landscaping. Just a few bushes here and there, which had recently been trimmed into square shapes. Alice walked to the almost-black door. She turned the golden knob, which was almost a brassy color from how old it was. The door led to a living room. The black couch faced toward an old TV, sitting on a dark brown table. The coffee table was the same color and style of the table that the TV sat on, and it had three coffee coasters near each edge of the table, and a glass flower pot full of daisies in the middle. A big light hung above everything; the ceiling was white and the walls were a light gray. The floor was gray wood. The next room was the kitchen and dining room that was also gray and spacious. The bedroom was the most different room in the house. The walls were a deep yellow, almost the color of mustard. The bed frame was dark wood just like the door had been, and the bedspread was green. Alice did not like the design of the room, but didn’t make a fuss because she knew she was fortunate to even have a place to sleep. A lot of the furniture was dark wood but the dresser was sprayed white, which didn’t help the room aesthetic at all. Finally, the bathroom. It looked the same as the kitchen, dining room, and living room, which Alice thought was all bland. When the white rabbit left, Alice sat on the ugly green bed and played with the little string hanging from a lamp that sat next to her bed. She was excited for tomorrow because she knew she could experience the world more, but she was worried that maybe she would just wake up in her same bed, in the same room as she usually did. Alice loved her old grandma who just sat in a chair all day and always either crocheted or watched boring shows about selling antiques. Alice checked the clock above the door with a confused face. The time went by extra fast. An hour was only about a minute, a minute
was only a second, and the seconds went by so fast, you could barely count them aloud. Then, the clock went back an hour. Then forwards five minutes. The clock just kept bouncing back and forth, confusing Alice more than she could handle. This messed-up world was going to drive her insane. Alice whipped the door open and hit the wall so hard, it made a small hole no bigger than a penny. The kitchen’s gray color drained the energy right out of Alice, so she decided to cook her favorite meal, kielbasa, which wasn’t popular where she lived, but she cooked it for her grandma every Christmas Eve. After she ate the meal, she went to bed. The blankets were soft and smooth, and the pillows were made of silk. Alice fell asleep almost right away.
January 12, 2023
Darkness surrounded her, and she was the only one there. At first, Alice was confused, as things around her started fading in. There was her mom. They looked exactly alike but instead of having blue eyes like Alice, she had green eyes. They looked like emeralds when they hit the light. Alice remembered how her mom’s eyes would squint when she smiled or laughed, and her eyes were the most beautiful. They would just sparkle when she was happy, and Alice never saw her sad. Not until now. Tears now filled those emerald eyes and her cherry colored lips were frowning. Her hair was a tangled mess and some of it even looked cut off. Her dress was brown and ripped at the bottom. It looked like a dirty table cloth. Alice’s mom was surrounded by big, black bars. Alice ran for the cage her mom was stuck in. As her hands slammed against the bars that divided her and her mom, she felt the bar’s coldness that sent shivers down her spine and tears down her eyes.
Alice gasped and flew forward. There she was, sitting in her bed. Tears were still rolling down her face just like in the dream, and she let out a loud shriek. Alice wanted nothing but her mom back. She kept yelling and whaling, the sound ear splitting like a metal fork against glass. A loud, broken sob cut off the loud yell. The pain drowned her like rushing water. She couldn’t sleep until hours later when she cried herself to sleep.
The next morning, she slouched out of bed and into the bathroom. Her hair was a mess and there were tear stains on her cheeks. Alice splashed the cold water from the sink onto her face. After that, she went into the closet which had clothes on hangers and shoes on shelves. A to-do list.
Alice took out a cream colored dress with strawberry print scattered on it. It had a soft fabric that was a lot like silk. Alice threw the dress into the unmade bed and started to look for shoes. She
chose light pink converse sneakers. Slipping into the dress, she threw her yesterday’s dress in a corner. The dress and sneakers fit her perfectly. It was like they expected her presence and got everything ahead of time. Alice reached the steps just down the hall and as she went to step down the first stair, the staircase turned into a slide and Alice slipped. With a quick squeal escaping her mouth, she reached the bottom and almost hit her head against the walls opposite of the stairs. She got up, wiped any dust that got on her dress, and stared wide eyed at the staircase. It was back to normal. The dark wooden rail was now visible once again and the once purple and pink slide was back to a carpeted stairwell. Instead of worrying, Alice kept going on.
She skipped along the colored pathway until she reached the white rabbit. “Hello White Rabbit. How are you today?” Alice asked him; she crouched down to his height. He was tall for a rabbit, no doubt. Three feet tall, yet still shorter than Alice.
“Have you been calling me White Rabbit the whole time?” The bunny questioned. Alice gave a silent nod. “Well, my name is Azazel. Yes, I know it is confusing but don’t worry. It’s ok if you say it wrong.”
February 3, 2023
Azazel. That is an odd name. I guess it fits this place. Alice thought. She was skeptical about the weird acts and suspicious about the faint information she was given. Following the white rabbit—Azazel—Alice was led to a big park where the grass was spray painted pink and the long, stretched out table that looked as if it went for miles. On top of pastry trays were weird shaped treats. They didn’t even look edible! More like decoration. The tea cups had the weirdest color combinations: Green and neon pink, orange and purple, and yellow and brown. The designs were worse. They were just ugly scribbles and didn’t even look like anything. Some of them even looked like it had writing underneath. Alice snatched one of the cold, smooth cups in her hand and examined the indents on the cup.
Red and black was flashing in Alice’s face. It stopped. Blood boiled over the cup, making it hot. The blood-colored liquid trickled down the side of the cup which now had figures that looked like people, but they also looked like lions or—devils. They looked as if they were crying for help as they burned in fire. Alice suddenly felt the burn of fire touch her fingertips and down the side of her hand from the overflowed blood. She looked up to cry for help but the pink grass was gone. It was now brown and dead. The trees had no leaves and barely any branches. The clouds were gray and spinning slowly in circles. The table that was once decorated with fancy colors was now broken at the edges, as if they were bitten off by some huge creature. The table was all black and the nice chairs were torn apart, the fluff that was once in them to make them comfortable was now ripped out and torn apart. As Alice let the cup slip out of her hands, it hit with a shatter on the ground and Alice’s eyes snapped shut. She opened them once again and stood there in shock. All of the people and animals just stared at her. Alice’s cheeks burned and turned a bright red. She shamefully flopped into the nearest chair and tried to hide her head.
“Good day, Alice,” The Mad Hatter said, but it sounded more like a question.
“Good day,” Alice replied. She stared at the glistening plate in front of her with an agitated expression on her face.
“Alice,” said a soft voice. She looked up abruptly. To her left was a garden gnome holding a plate of biscuits. She took two and glanced around the table to see how many everyone else took. A purple mouse sat next to Alice and when she noticed, she let out a tiny screech. The mouse was a normal size but was purple and the insides of its ears were cherry red. The mouse lifted its black paw and waved. Alice just sat straight up once again and looked away.
“Are you feeling okay?” Asked the white rabbit. Alice didn’t like using his real name. She thought it sounded weird and messed up.
“Just peachy,” Alice replied with a forced smile. She noticed a glance from the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter but pushed the thought aside as she grabbed food from each platter and scattered it on her dish. For a tea party, there was a lot of food. Alice gazed out into the distance and the voices slowly turned into hums as she watched the big, colorful butterflies in the background. One particular voice grew louder.
“I…and…lost…six…Al…only…Alice…Alice…” Alice fixated her ears to the voice and it became clearer, “I’m lonely, and I’m lost. Six years. Alice, if only you were here. Alice. Alice.” Alice’s name grew louder in her ear until it reached a screaming point, knocking her out of her dreamlike state. Alice stood up abruptly and tripped over her feet to follow her name but the sound had no home. Not caring about the tea party, or anyone who was going to try and find her, she ran to her house.
Alice examined the walls of her bedroom. The bright colors in the room surprisingly went well together. Alice threw herself under the bedsheets and screamed, “LET ME OUT OF HERE! DO YOU HEAR ME? I WANT TO LEAVE!” She continued to sit there and cry, letting out loud sobs but they soon died down into silent cries.
Light filled Alice’s eyes, and for a second—just a second—she thought that maybe she was back home sleeping in her dark blue bed sheets. Just maybe her grandma was going to wake her up, and give her breakfast in bed. Maybe it was just a nightmare. When Alice was able to see past the light, all hope was lost. She didn’t have a bad dream this time, which was a relief. Bang. A noise echoed from downstairs, so Alice creeped downstairs, but no one was there. Nothing was broken or had fallen down. The only thing that Alice swore changed was that there was now no lock on the door. She walked to the bathroom to take a long bath. Maybe that would calm her down. Peering out the small window, Alice saw a girl that looked exactly like her. It was her. Alice slammed her hand against the small window and was yelling, “Get out! Turn around! You… Don’t…Want… To… Be… Here…” she was sobbing. She just wanted to leave. Through tears, she saw the white rabbit staring up at her. Past Alice glanced up at the window too. I remember this. I couldn’t see anyone. She thought. The windows were tinted, and if only she knew that earlier, she could do something. Alice skipped downstairs, but when she hit the first step, it turned into a slide. When she tried to use her feet to stop her, Alice flung forward into the door. She made a small crack in the door, so she grabbed onto a big spoon that was sitting on the table and hit it against the door over and over. The hole slowly became bigger, and finally was it big enough for her to fit through. Right as Alice went to climb through the hole, everything went backwards. The hole became smaller and everything around the room changed, the stairs becoming a slide and then stairs once again, the spoon, which was more of a shovel, flew back to the table. The only thing that didn’t change was Alice. She stayed in the same position and was only able to control herself. The hole in the door closed up once again and Alice was stuck inside still. Even after everything went back to normal, the house kept changing and going back. She couldn’t see her past self as time went back, just the house. The room colors changed from tan to orange, and from orange to green, and from green to purple. So on and so forth. At one point, the room stopped changing. The walls were stopped at a pink and green marble. Alice heard humming coming from upstairs. An older version of Alice with green eyes walked downstairs. Though it wasn’t Alice. It was her mom.
February 15, 2023
“Mom? Mom, is that you?” Alice asked quietly, but her mom couldn’t hear her. Alice just watched. That’s all she could do. She couldn’t move, or breathe. Her focus was fading, but she was
still conscious. Her mom looked happy. How? Was it all an act? The door opened behind Alice, and she turned her body to see the white rabbit. He walked right through her. Alice guessed that she went into the past.
“Quincy. Follow. It’s time for the tea party.” The white rabbit said shortly. Alice’s mom followed without a single word, and only a nod of her head. As she followed him, Quincy stared down at Alice with a warning look in her eyes as if she felt Alice’s presence. A small slam of a door was the last sound that echoed in Alice’s ears for the next five minutes. She slowly got up. This was where her mother was all along. Alice staggered to her feet and peered out the peephole on the door. All she could see was a bright red and a small black dot.
Like an eye. An eye?
“Oh my gosh!” Alice shrieked and fell back on the cold floor. The white rabbit opened the door suddenly.
“I am so sorry for that,” The white rabbit said and held out a paw to help Alice up. Alice glared at his hand and pushed herself up off of the floor. “I thought something was wrong, so I came to check in, but your door wouldn’t open, and I just looked through the window to make sure you were ok.”
Yeah, ok. Alice thought while rolling her eyes. She put on a fake smile and tried to look at the white rabbit’s face, but it felt impossible. Those red, beady eyes weren’t so trustworthy anymore. Alice’s hands swept behind her own back, and she looked down at her feet while swaying from side to side. She wanted to avoid the rabbit as much as possible now.
“Well, follow.” White rabbit said shortly, once again. The White Rabbit led Alice to another tea party. Alice was guessing that this was a constant tradition kind of thing. She tried to hide her red face of embarrassment from everyone. Memories from the last tea party flashed in her mind. Forget it. It doesn’t matter. Alice tried to convince herself, but when she took a deep breath and looked up at everyone, they just stared at her like some odd creature. She quietly took a seat in the closest chair.
“Alice!” The Mad Hatter shouted, making Alice jump, “How have you been?”
“Good,” Alice lied through her grinding teeth.
“Wonderful! Dewey, go pour Alice a glass of tea.” Only when Alice leaned forward did she realize that she was holding her breath. She was anxious and unwilling to be at a tea party, but she had to put on a face. Just until she found out what was happening with this world. She glanced at the clock, 10:47. After 2 hours and 5 breadsticks later , she checked the clock once again. 10:48. That’s not possible. It can’t be. Alice’s stomach did backflips. This world was so messed up.
“I have to go. I’m going to be sick,” Alice said, and it was true, but that’s not why she was leaving. She was going to find herself from before. The one she saw in the window. Once Alice was out of the white rabbit’s sight, she raced to the left instead of the right. Up the hill instead down the valley. Past the waterfall-water…up? Alice stopped to look at the fish in boats going upstream. One waved at her and Alice whipped her eyes back onto the road and continued along. She hopped on the stepping stones with letters while trying to fall. She stepped on the T. She fell over on the U, and got back up, landed on both feet on the R.
“Alice. You are going the wrong way,” The white rabbit said timidly, making Alice fall face first. The ground was surprisingly soft. The rocks felt like pillows when you fell on them, but they were hard when you stepped on them. Alice got back up and wobbled to the side, but caught herself in time.
“Well, I guess I am. Uh-how did you know where-“ But the white rabbit interrupted,
“I just know stuff.” Alice nodded and walked back to her house with her head down. She only looked up when she reached the door. The door creaked open and she rushed inside, locking the door behind her. Alice knew she had to come up with an idea on how to get out of there. She had to think about what she knew.
For starters, the white rabbit is up to something. Hiding something. Second, this place has something to do with my mom. I keep thinking about her, keep seeing visions, and keep having dreams of her. I also know that there are fish that float and breathe air. This house is ordinary, and that’s not ordinary. It should look weird. You can see your own past-I saw myself walking to the red house. The red house, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the queen of red? I can’t remember, but I can ask white rabbit. This place is obsessed with a lot of color, so if I’m looking for something, it has to be bland. Boring. Different, but ordinarily different. Alice wrote on a piece of bright green paper and she put it in her dress pocket. She didn’t feel hungry tonight. She only felt scared of everything around her. She knew she couldn’t trust anything. Anyone.
The cold water stung Alice’s face. She looked up at the mirror, making sure she wiped off all of the water. She brushed her hair back into a ponytail and slipped on her leggings and t-shirt. After hours of thinking, Alice came up with a plan on how to at least find out more stuff. Yes, she didn’t know a lot and she knew that she probably wouldn’t figure out everything in one night, but she didn’t think there would be any harm in trying. Alice was wearing neon green leggings and a neon pink shirt, hoping she’d blend in. Alice was going to go down the path from earlier today and find her past self. She triple checked her blue backpack for the last time. Rope? Check. Fork—the only weapon around? Got it. Duct tape? Yup. Water? Got that too. Wipes—just in case her fingerprints get on anything? Check. She was ready. Alice prepared for the stairs to turn into a slide and throw her into the door at the bottom, but they didn’t. Not until the third step, that is. After she pushed herself off the ground, she jiggled the doorknob, but it didn’t budge. Alice rummaged the backpack for the fork, “Found it,” she whispered. She whipped the backpack on her back, held the big fork high above the doorknob, looked away, and slammed the fork against the doorknob with all of her strength. To Alice’s surprise, the handle broke and clanged against the floor. She hit it perfectly between the door and the knob so that it broke right off. She knew it was weak, but not that weak. Alice kicked the wooden slab open and it swung to the right before deflecting against the wall and closed once again. She decided just to push it open at that point.
“What do y’know,” Alice said as she examined the complete dark. Nothing was colorful or bright. It was dark and creepy. Alice closed the door and marched upstairs. She had to plan a whole other outfit, and there was nothing too dark because this was Wonderland. Everything was bright during the day, and who would go out at night in the pitch black? Apparently no one. Alice slid on a new pair of dark blue leggings and a purple shirt. It was the only thing she could find, and it wasn’t a good outfit, but there really wasn’t a choice. Her backpack would just have to do though. Alice walked outside once again. Not only was it pitch black, but the stepping stones that are usually designed and colorful were now ruined. They were broken and covered in people. It looked as if it was telling a story. The first few stones were people all happy and cheery, surrounded with colors, magical animals, and different plants. As Alice continued, the stepping stones changed. The people now looked scared. Worried even. The background was still the same, except for a red-eyed bunny which then was painted in the front of everything. Then there was fire. People were running from the fire and the torture. It looked kind of like the design on the cup at the tea party. The rabbit was still slabbed on the front. The only thing that changed about him was his crooked smile that grew bigger and bigger. After the fire, people looked like puppets on strings. The whiter rabbit turned into the red queen. His white fur turned into red, curly hair that sat on top of a big, pale face. Her light skin made her red lips stick out. Her eyebrows were extremely high up and she had purple eyeshadow on. The white rabbit’s smile turned into the queen of heart’s frown. She didn’t look sad, but disgusted. Then the queen turned back into the rabbit. In the background, the people were locked behind big bars. One person stuck out. A lady that looked like Alice, but the eyes were green, and that was when Alice knew it was her mom. Alice lifted her now sore neck and creeped her way to the path she was going earlier.
March 10, 2023
As she finally found the path, she noticed how creepy it was. It didn’t look like a normal wonderland. The trees were full of green leaves, but the harsh winds that only existed on the path blew everything sideways. Under the stepping stones lay boiling lava seeping through the cracks. The stones were plain black and gray, but there were 11 covered in blood. Alice spelled out,
“T-U-R-N-B-A-C-K-N-O-W. Turn back now.” Alice rolled her eyes and hopped from stone to stone, trying to avoid the lava. If anything was going to stop her, it wasn’t a sign. Even though it was covered in blood and led to a dark forest. The white rabbit wanted me to think it’s dangerous. It probably is, but it’s worth it. Alice reassured herself. She leaped onto the stone with the wet, sticky blood and it started wobbling. The stone sank into the lava, but Alice was able to throw herself onto the dry stones in time. She kept going, making sure not to step on any of the bloody stones. She finally reached the near end. She made a big leap over three rows of large stones and stumbled into the dirt. Alice examined her surroundings, regretting it immediately. In the complete dark she saw big eyes staring into her soul. The sclera—the white part of the eye—was tinted yellow like someone spilled coffee on paper and let it dry. The veins were a bold red and so was the iris. Its pupils dilated. Alice felt as if she were going to throw up, but she couldn’t. Her throat was dry and constricted; her breaths were shallow and her vision became blurry. The eyes duplicated and surrounded her. As she became more conscious and more able to breath, the eyes came closer. Completely white faces came into view. The smiles were the most terrifying part. The sides of its mouth were slit by a knife and spread across the face. The head started spinning slowly, then faster, faster, faster until it popped off and rolled back into the woods like a basketball. Alice quickly shuffled against the dirt ground until she hit a tree, using that as her support to pull her up. She hooked her hand around a branch sticking out of the big tree and pushed off of the ground. Alice kept her back against the trees, scared of what might pop out at her. Every now and then, she would peek around her shoulder, but nothing was there. Alice slowly pushed her arms off of the tree, but a branch clawed onto her hand.
“Augh! What the-” she slowly turned her head up to face a tree with a face like a jack-o-lantern. The tree bent down and frowned, its leafy eyebrows furrowed. The tree stayed in silence for a few seconds before whispering,
“Run.” Alice pulled her arm out of the tree’s grasp and did as it had said. She ran until her legs faltered and her throat felt like a desert. Alice stumbled over her shoe lace and fell into the dirt, only slightly catching herself on the way down. She glanced behind herself, expecting to see more trees looking at her, but the only reason they were moving was because of the wind. Alice stood up and continued walking the rest of the way. She was scared, no doubt, but she missed her mom more than anything in the world, and she would do anything to get her back. If that meant having her nightmares become a reality, then so be it.
“Just a bad dream. It’s all just a bad dream. You’re going to be fine,” Alice told herself. She didn’t realize that she was crying until a cold tear reached her neck. She wiped it off with her sleeve and tried to put on her most fearless face, but failed miserably. “You’re okay. Calm down; freaking out will only make it worse.” Alice was extremely thirsty, so she opened up her backpack. There was no water. Alice paced back and forth, panicking. She had absolutely no water. She didn’t know how long she would be out here. What if she died of thirst! Alice told herself to breathe. It wasn’t a big deal. She would get water soon. As Alice kept walking, she noticed a table with bottled water. Alice thought about drinking it, but she knew it was probably poisoned. “Maybe it’s not though. Maybe that's the trick. They want me to think it’s poisoned so that I don’t drink it.” Alice told herself. She just wanted to drink it so bad. Alice knew that it could go one of two ways: either she drinks it and possibly gets poisoned, or she doesn’t drink the water and gets too dehydrated. She picked up one of the small bottles of water and held it in her cold hands. She popped open the small lid and held it to her lips, debating on whether she should drink it or not. Alice tipped the bottle back and consumed the disgustingly warm drink. She swallowed it with one big gulp, and immediately felt dizzy. She knew she should have just put the drink down. Alice leaned against a big tree trunk and slowly lowered to the ground. Her eyes closed, and she couldn’t stop it from happening, so she just hoped for the best.
About what felt like only seconds later to Alice, she woke up in a hospital with the white rabbit looking down at her. Alice gasped and backed up into the cold headboard of the hospital bed.
“Hello?” Creep. Alice thought.
“Hello. I found you in the woods this morning where you were sleeping,” The white rabbit said in an obviously faked concerned voice. Alice saw that on her right, there was a tall cat standing on its hind legs. It stood about six feet high. Alice assumed that was her nurse since the cat was putting paperwork and a drink on Alice’s table. The cat gave Alice a small smile, and showed its sharp teeth that made Alice cringe back. After the cat walked away, she turned to the white rabbit.
“I know you saw me. I know what you’re doing, and I know you have my mom. I want her back.” Alice’s face showed a serious and angry face. She expected to get the white rabbit angry too, but he just sat there with a mischievous grin on his face. This had only made Alice more mad.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Care to explain more?” The white rabbit tested her.
“You know exactly what I'm talking about. What was that drink? How did you know that I was thirsty? Why are you doing this?”
“Why am I doing what?” The rabbit’s grin grew slightly bigger. The two glared at each other for a few seconds before the rabbit continued, “Well, that drink was just to put you to sleep. We have to keep you alive, you know. Also, I would have to be stupid to not realize that you were thirsty.” Alice wasn’t content with what the rabbit was saying. He was being too vague, and wouldn't answer her last question. Why was he doing this? Alice felt like she was going to burst with rage and she didn’t know what to do. After the rabbit walked away, she sat there in silence; Alice finally understood that the rabbit was watching her every move. He noticed every detail: when you looked tired, thirsty, hungry, excited, sad, if you wanted to know more, he could notice curiosity. Alice caught on to his tricks, and she knew she had to resist. Any food that she was given, she ignored. Any person to socialize with was simply scoffed at. Alice was stubborn, and she wasn't going to let anyone get in her way. After a while for rest, Alice took off any wires that were connected to her, and got out of bed. They didn’t provide her with any new clothing, so she was still in her clothes from the day before–or whenever she was last awake. Alice stayed as close to the wall as she could get and snuck around. She saw a bottle that looked exactly like the stuff that she drank earlier. Alice put the liquid in a shot just in case anyone tried to get in her way. She filled up a few more the same exact way, and she put the shots in her pockets. Alice continued to the end of the hall. The big glass door felt like a million pounds as Alice pushed against it. The cool air blew
against her face. It was night out once again. When Alice examined her surroundings, she realized that she wasn’t near the regular town. The place was unnoticeable, and she didn’t know her surroundings at all. The one thing she did know was the path that said “Turn back now.” She followed it once again, making sure not to fall in the boiling lava underneath. She reached the woods, being wary about her surroundings. A cold wind blew against her back and she shivered. Her teeth chattered like marbles hitting one another. The woods weren't horrifying anymore. Nothing was chasing after her or bothering her. It gave Alice an eerie feeling. She felt like she wasn’t alone, but if there was something, it would have scared her already. Alice brushed off the feeling and kept walking. Alice saw a big, concrete wall with a small door and stopped walking. She looked for windows, but couldn’t find anything. The door was also made of concrete, and it was extremely hard to push. Alice walked down the halls, the lights flickering around her. The floor was also concrete and had a red path smeared on the ground. The red on the ground stopped at one door to her left. Door 47. Alice pushed open the door that was also heavy. In the corner of the room sat a woman with tangled blonde hair and clothes that looked like scraps. A quiet sob came from her mouth.
“Mom? Is…is that you?” Alice asked the woman. The woman lifted her head. Alice looked into her emerald eyes and started crying. Alice rushed over and hugged her mom. She helped her mom up from the cold ground. “We have to lea-“
“You’re not leaving. You are staying right here,” a voice behind them said. It was the white rabbit. He had an evil smile plastered on his face. Alice ran to grab the door before the rabbit could close it, but he shut it on her face. Alice fell onto the concrete ground and curled into a ball, crying.
“I was so close. I almost had the door. I almost got us out here,” Alice said through sobs. Her voice was leaving her and so was her hope.
“Alice. I don’t even know what to say. How did you find me?” Alice’s mother asked. She also had tears in her eyes because she knew that they would never make it out, but she would never say that aloud. Alice just gave up and sat in the corner. She stared at the bare walls, and the concrete floor. Alice and her mom were trapped inside a small, confined box. There were no windows and only a bed with weak, metal bars to hold up the dirty mattress with no blankets. In the corner was a small bathtub. It looked as if it hadn’t been washed in forever; there was dirt built up on the sides of the tub. Alice just looked away from the disgusting sight to stop herself from almost throwing up. She stared at the plain ceiling. In the corners of the room there were security cameras.
“I don’t know how I found you. I just kept searching. I had a feeling you were here,” Alice tried to explain, “Why did he do this?”
“He wants to create a huge world which he rules. He lured you in and used me to trap you here. I don’t know why he did it or how long it’ll take him to lure other people.”
“We can get back home. We can figure out a way.”
“There are cameras. He watches our every move. Azazel is a smart rabbit and he will do anything for power. He will watch your every move. He will study you and learn who you are. You can’t figure it out.”
“I can,” Alice thought. She looked around the room for anything she could find. When she shoved her hands in her pockets, she felt a little poke. The shot. After waiting in silence for hours, and avoiding conversation because of the cameras, the door finally opened.
“Come grab your food,” The white rabbit said. Alice walked up to him. Only now she noticed how much bigger he was compared to her. He was probably six feet tall, and his shadow completely covered Alice. She didn’t remember him looking like this before. His eyes were blazing red like a fire, and his teeth were sharper than daggers. They were dirty and yellow. He looked hungry. Yeah, hungry for power. Alice thought to herself. She grabbed the syringe out of her pocket and slid it up her sleeve so that the rabbit wouldn’t notice. As she went to grab the tray, Alice stabbed the rabbit in the arm with it. He screeched and the food clattered to the ground. Alice kicked the rabbit in the stomach, and he fell to the floor. She took the keys out of his pockets, and she ran out with her mom. The ground started to shake aggressively. Alice lost her balance and slammed against the wall. Photos and vases fell. They all shattered to dust. Alice helped pick her mom up and they kept running. When they went outside, they noticed the ground shaking and crumbling. They weren’t going to make it out alive. There were holes forming in the ground, and there were swirls of color. Kind of like when Alice came down the rabbit hole. She didn’t trust it though. The sky flashed. Night, day, dark, light. Alice and her mom skipped around the cracks in the ground, avoiding the possibility of falling through. Alice passed the house she had been staying at. She continued to run, stepping on the stones, but as she did, they would disappear. She ran faster and faster. Her mom was right behind. They reached the door where she came through to get into wonderland.
March 27, 2023
She opened the door, and everything was huge. Oh yeah. I shrunk. Alice remembered. There were crumbs on the ground from the cookie that made her grow. She gave a piece to her mom, and they ate it. Even when they were back to their normal size, the shaking still knocked them back and forth. The dirt started to break and fall, leaving Alice and her mom coughing. They covered their mouth and noses with their shirts to avoid getting dirt in their mouth. There were stones sticking out of the dirt where they could climb out. As soon as Alice got up, she looked down to her mom. Alice’s mom was weak and couldn’t make it to the top.
“Mom! No, I've got you. You’ll be fine,” Alice yelled. She reached to grab her mom’s hand, but they were barely out of each other’s reach. Alice kicked a hole in the ground with her foot to stabilize herself as she reached down further. She grasped her mom’s hand and pulled her up. They made it and just in time. As soon as they stood up, Alice hugged her mom, knocking her over. “Grandma will be so happy to see you!” Alice said through tears. She had to pinch herself. Alice stood up, and held out a hand for her mom. They walked back to her grandmother’s house together,a den knocked on the door. Alice didn’t know how her grandmother would react to seeing her allegedly dead daughter alive. Alice’s grandmother came to the door with a worried expression that washed away in a heartbeat. Now she looked confused.
“Alice? Martha? What are you-“ Alice’s grandmother started.
“It’s a lot to explain. Can we just come inside and get cleaned off first?” Alice asked. Her grandmother just nodded. She looked horrified. Who wouldn’t be scared if their supposed dead daughter and lost granddaughter just showed up at their doorstep? Alice told herself. Once out of the shower and changed into some clean clothes, she met her mom and grandmother in the living room. “So, I guess I should explain,” Alice glanced at her mom. They both looked just as worried. So basically I went down a rabbit hole where everything was magical, and there was a big talking bunny who wanted to take over the world and had hidden Mom in a jail place. I killed the rabbit, and we escaped while the whole world fell to pieces. “She got lost in the woods miles and miles away, and she had to survive on her own . I also got lost and happened to find her. Luckily I had a map in my backpack, so we were able to find our way back. We also almost got mauled by a grizzly bear,” Alice lied. She glanced over to her mom who was just nodding. Alice faked a smile.
“Then we’ll have to move,” Alice's grandmother said in a confident tone.
“A-are you sure?” Alice was teary-eyed, “Mom just got back. She probably wants to stay.”
“No. Everyone thinks Martha is dead. We can’t explain that to a whole town,” Her grandmother explained.
“Yeah we can,” Alice tried to persuade her.
“Your grandma is right,” Her mom said.
One Week Later
We finally found a house to stay at. I really don’t want to move, but mom said the cops could get involved. and it would be too troubling. It’s been hard to move because I’ve spent all of my life at this house. Grandma said it’s time to make new memories. Hopefully I’ll be able to go to an actual school once we move. I haven’t been to school since my mom ‘died’ because I would get taunted. Now we can start off new. I try to look on the positive side, and I know moving to a new place is what I need, but I don’t want to leave everything behind. Even though ‘everything’ isn’t that much. I’ve started packing, even though we won't move for another two months. I didn’t have to pack much. Just enough to fit in a few suitcases. I have never had that much stuff anyways. Just clothes, some stuff from when I was a kid, three boxes full of photos, and books. We’ve been hiding mom so that no one notices her, but I think the neighbors are getting suspicious because we haven’t had them over, and we haven’t been outside as much as before.
Two Months Later
“Mom, have you seen my stuffed lion anywhere? I swear I packed it,” Alice asked.
“Yes I think I threw it in with the sheets and blankets. I can give it to you later, but for now, go decorate your room,” Martha told her, “Oh school starts August 27th, so get ready.” Alice nodded, and headed to her room.
“Dear, here is your book. Thank you for letting me borrow it. It was good,” Alice’s grandmother said. She put it on the top of her box, and continued to walk up the stairs. The room was empty, and the walls were painted a boring gray, but Alice didn’t have the money or time to paint over it. She hung fake vines above her bed. There was a shelf for her to put her books on. She organized them by genre. Alice used whatever tape she could find to hang her photos on the wall across from her bed. Her grandmother was going to buy her a vanity to put in her room, but it wouldn’t come in for another week or two. After decorating with what she had, Alice hung up all of her shirts and dresses, and she put her jeans and skirts in a white colored dresser. She put her shoes on a shoe rack next to her bedroom door. Alice bought some posters of her favorite bands and movies that she hung up. After unpacking all of her stuff, she helped her mom and grandmother unpack and put up all of their stuff. Alice decided to cook dinner that night, and her mom helped as her grandmother watched TV. They made some soup because all they had in their pantry was vegetables and broth. They all ate dinner and laughed about good times they used to have. They also talked about Alice going to school. They talked about how Florida was going to be a good place to stay and about the warm weather. Alice washed the dishes while her mom and grandmother watched TV together and talked. Alice stood there with the soap and warm water covering her hands. She spaced out while cleaning, thinking about how it’s officially night. Alice had hated nighttime for the past two months or so. The thought of wonderland lingered in her mind. The bad dreams wouldn’t go away. She couldn’t talk to her mom about it because she didn’t want to concern her, and she certainly couldn’t tell her grandmother. It will be morning soon. You’ll be fine. She told herself.
The End