When people think of Alice in Wonderland, what do they think of? Perhaps cards and rabbits and an evil queen? Maybe weird beings and mad people? That was the tale Alice told but what if she was lying? What if she bent the truth?

Arirang Tsumora was always an average girl. She had average grades, average friends and average parents. She was basically an average fifteen year old. She may have been average but her sense of style was beyond average. She had a luminous, medium length, purple hair with stunning blue eyes. She always wore Lolita dresses filled with ribbons but she was in her school uniform most of the time. It consisted of an orange blazer which she always had buttoned up and a blue shirt underneath. Arirang also wore a red mini-skirt on going above her knees with long red socks on.

Arirang wasn't going to be the 'average' girl forever for you see, something happened to her and she was never the same person since then.

"Arirang, we're here!" Arirang was slumped in her chair on the coach. She was on a class field trip and fell asleep. Yuki Kim nudged Arirang awake.

"Five more minutes!" Arirang swung her body around making Yuki annoyed at her. Yuki rummaged through her bag until she pulled out a whistle. She blew into it hard awaking Arirang instantly. "I'M AWAKE! I'm awake!" Yuki chuckled and clipped her short brown hair out of her face. Yuki was the 'cool' girl. She was always in some kind of hood and jeans. She also had her iPod switched on to full blast too. Everybody on the coach was relieved when they arrived at the place as it meant they wouldn't have to listen to Yuki's music any more.

"Class, will you make an orderly line and exit the bus quietly please?" Mr Kumohira was the teacher of Arirang's class and one of the strictest teachers Arirang had come to terms with. He would always make Arirang attend 'night' school to catch up in class (it only finished at seven!). Arirang kicked up a fuss but ended up dragging her feet up from her chair and lining up with everybody else. The boys at the back were messing about that Arirang was so tempted to turn around and punch all of them in the face and get them to shut up. Instead of getting a week's detention, she decided to plug her ears and walk out the coach without hearing anybody.

"Mount Fuji is stunning!" Yuki stated. The view in front of the two girls was 'spectacular' (at least to Yuki). They could see everything from the frozen lake to the peak of the mountain.

"Seen it with my mum...about thirty thousand times!" Arirang had no interest in mountains at all. In fact, when she was older, she would just prefer to work in some kind of shop for all she could care. Yuki wanted her to achieve more though. Arirang was a talented piano player. Yuki wanted her to become something more in the music industry. Yuki wanted to be a heavy metal guitarist when she was older but Arirang found her guitar playing to sound as if it was the 'dying cat parade' so Yuki never picked up a guitar after Arirang made that speculation.

"Lighten up a little would you Arirang?" Yuki tried to turn her frown into a smile. Arirang just remained an emotionless zombie. She hated the trip. She had no interest in Geography at all; the only reason she was on the trip was because her mother thought it was a good idea for her to interact with other students. Arirang was terrible at making friends. She could act indifferent sometimes but other times, she was the strangest girl on planet Earth.

"Don't wanna." Arirang said. Yuki just sighed from frustration. Mr Kumohira began rambling about the history of Mount Fuji. Arirang wasn't interested one bit and was mimicking the way the teacher was talking. She then knew it was time to disappear from the group and return when they all had to go back to school. Anyway, besides Yuki, who would notice her missing? Arirang didn't have many friends. Not many people liked her as she had a very unique personality. She, Yuki and a couple of other people were her only friends. She was an outcast at school. Sure, she may have been an average girl but because she was quirky, not many people saw her as average.

When Arirang saw that nobody was looking, she tiptoed backwards then made a run for it. She ran as fast as she thought was necessary; until nobody was in view.

"Urgh, I hate running!" Arirang slumped herself on a nearby tree. She just ate on the bus so the food in her stomach wasn't settling. She put her hand on the tree and threw up the food she just ate. "SCREW THIS!" Once she finished, Arirang wiped her mouth and slouched down to the floor cradling her stomach. "I'm starving now!" Arirang gazed at the lake in front of her, which was frozen over with a sheet of crystal. Arirang slowly got up and walked over to the lake.

"Where's Arirang?" Yuki asked Mr Kumohira with a sense of panic in her voice.
"How the hell should I know?" He wasn't bothered about Arirang. He knew that she probably snuck of somewhere as it happened every class trip she went on. However, she always returned after about half an hour. Arirang was a strange child to him. Yuki crossed her arms and ran off to find her only friend.

"Pretty!" Arirang saw her reflection in the ice. Her 'average' reflection. Arirang always disliked the way she looked. Her hair was dyed for a starter. Everybody always told her to keep her natural colour which was black but she didn't like black hair. It made her look 'emo' so she had it different to everybody else's (plus, she resembled her brother with black hair and he was the last person she ever wanted to look like!).

"ARIRANG!" Arirang heard Yuki calling her. She knew she would notice her absence. She chose to ignore Yuki's call and continued to look at the ice. "ARIRANG, I FOUND YOU!" Yuki ran towards her and patted Arirang's shoulder giving Arirang a shock. The shock penetrated from the tap caused Arirang to fall forward and fall flat on her chest. Yuki froze to the spot.

"Ow, that hurt!" Arirang rubbed her chest before realising where she was. She was kneeling on the frozen lake. "Uh oh…Yuki…HELP ME!" Yuki nodded and went to the edge of the lake and reached her hand out. "Keep calm Arirang! Grab my hand and I will get you back!" Arirang didn't dare to move, it was amazing how she could even lean on the ice without it cracking or melting. Moving would only increase the chances of it cracking; the outcome, death.

"I'm so cold Yuki!" Yuki tried to put one foot on the ice to rescue Arirang but she couldn't do it. Yuki was too scared to rescue her.

"A- Arirang, wait here, I'll be right back! I'll go and get Mr Kumohira!" Arirang panicked again and screamed after Yuki as she ran off to get help. As soon as Yuki left her, the most horrifying sound bellowed through Arirang's head, the ice was cracking…with Arirang still on it.

"Oh damn it!" In a moment of panic, Arirang tried to edge her way back to shore but the ice only began to crack quicker. But the panic didn't last long, before Arirang had a chance to get up properly, the ice had cracked and Arirang fell into the freezing cold water, sinking instantly to the bottom.

"MR. KUMOHIRA! MR KUMOHIRA!" Yuki came fleeing back to the group, out of breath from running so fast at such a distance. "Mr Kumohira, Arirang is on ice, the ice could crack! Help her!" Mr Kumohira's eyes widened in disbelief. He pushed up his glasses and flicked his brown hair behind his ears. "Where is she Yuki?"
"Follow me!" Yuki grabbed hold of Mr Kumohira's arms and they ran back in the direction Arirang was in.

"She was meant to be here!" Yuki pointed to the lake where Arirang was. She ran to the edge and then noticed the crack. "Oh no..." Yuki couldn't think straight and ran onto the ice. "ARIRANG!" Yuki screeched. Mr Kumohira grabbed Yuki's sleeve before she went any further.
"YOU IDIOT!" He pulled her back to shore. "She must have fallen through! We'll get the police but don't go onto the ice!" Yuki was in tears. Arirang was her only friend. Her best friend. She didn't want to lose her because she was stupid enough to make Arirang jump. After all, Yuki already lost one of her friends the week before. She couldn't bear to lose another one.

"Arirang, be okay, please!" Yuki assured herself that Arirang was okay. She hoped for her survival. She hoped that she escaped before it cracked but the way the crack was shaped; it looked as if somebody fell through, somebody being Arirang. Mr Kumohira patted Yuki's shoulder in a comforting way and took her back to the group. After returning to the group, Mr Kumohira explained to the group what happened. Everybody was surprised. Some people were in tears. Everybody was shocked by the sudden news.

"Urgh my head!" Arirang got to her knees and cradled her throbbing head. "What happened?" Arirang tried to refresh her memory. "I was on ice….then it cracked…" Arirang shot up. "I DIED! I SWEAR I DIED!" Arirang looked at her hands. There was blood on both palms. She slowly put her right hand on her head which was now covered in blood. "The ice cracked, I fell, hit my head and drowned maybe?" But it wasn't Arirang's head which was bleeding. The blood was dripping from something above her. She felt a frosty drip on her head. She lifted her head up to the source of the drips. When she laid eyes on 'it', her eyes widened in horror. She gasped and moved backwards for there was a severed head sticking on a branch on the tree. The whole tree was coloured crimson and the blood dripped down onto the trembling girl. Arirang also noticed that there wasn't just a severed head on the tree; there were other severed limbs on it, limbs and organs. Some limbs were actually skinned, showing the bone beneath it.

"Is this someone's idea of a sick joke?" Arirang felt sick inside, the mangled body was making her sick. She tried shutting her eyes but it was no good, her mind was playing tricks on her, making her see severed limbs in her head. The only other way was to run deeper into the wood, deeper into the 'wonderland'. Arirang stood up slowly; her gaze was locked on the blooded tree. She then slowly drifted backwards and fled from the tree. She ran as fast as lightning, through the forest. She stopped after a few minutes of running to catch her breath by a nearby oak tree.

"Where the hell am I? I was by Mount Fuji last! Under ice should be water so how am I alive…in this place? It looks like a demented version of Alice's wonderland!"
"Did you say Alice?" Arirang heard a voice of a fifteen year old boy. She couldn't work out where it was coming from.

"W-who's there?" Arirang sounded shaky, she didn't know people could be alive…underwater. If she heard a voice, it meant that she wasn't actually alone. If she wasn't alone, it meant that maybe; just maybe, this person may be able to get her home.

"Isn't it polite to introduce yourself first?" A pair of eyes appeared from the tree. The eyes were bright blue and huge, bigger than her eyes. Arirang swallowed. She never saw a pair of floating, talking eyes before.

"I-I'm Tsumora Arirang. I got here after falling through a frozen lake, c-could you get me home?" The eyes rotated and a smile formed from the tree. This reminded Arirang of the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland.

"Hmm nah…I can't be bothered…" The smile and eyes transformed into a boy of fifteen. He looked like a complete punk. His hair was pink and purple striped, he had little cat ears and a tail which was also pink and purple striped. He was wearing a pink and purple striped hoodie with two random zips going horizontal. One was purple, one was pink. He was wearing short, pink and purple cargo shorts with long socks (she presumed) and purple and pink shoes.

"Who are you anyway?" Arirang asked. The cat-boy smiled again and disappeared then reappearing behind Arirang. "Hmm, I am the Cheshire cat. You can call me Chesh." He smirked and his eyes glowed up as he disappeared again.

"Where am I?" Chesh's eyes began rotating.
"You're in the waste. This place is called the waste but you may know it as 'wonderland.'"
"How was this place made?" Arirang was more than a little bit frightened. She didn't know the place, sure, she read Alice in Wonderland as a kid but she always thought it was fictional.

"People's imagination. People made this place purely by thought. One person would dream of the wood, then the people who live here and so on until this place is how it is today. Of course though, people did wonder here by accident too and then got trapped here." Chesh explained; it only made Arirang confused.

"Urm okay...did somebody imagine you up too?" Chesh's eyes suddenly turned pure black. His cat ears began transforming into what looked like devil horns his skin was also turning a dull grey colour making Arirang squeal.

"DON'T ASK PERSONAL QUESTIONS!" Chesh was beginning to look like a skeleton. Arirang took a step back and banged into the tree behind her. "I-I'm sorry!" Arirang had tears in her eyes. She only wanted to get back; to tell everybody she was alright. Chesh took deep breaths and he slowly regained his natural form.

"Sorry about that. I just don't usually like telling my story. I wasn't imagined, I came here to 'wonderland' by mistake. I'm just like you, looking for my way home. I've been here for over 300 years! My family and friends are dead. I have nobody left. Well, except from the March Hare." Arirang knew the March hare from the story.
"Is he mad?" Chesh eyed Arirang.
"Hmmm, childish but not mad, where did you hear that from?" Arirang looked down.
"The story of Alice in wonderland. The characters are described differently to how you actually look. Have you got some paper and a pen?" Chesh disappeared for a second then reappeared with a sketch pad and some colouring pencils. Arirang was very good at art as well as music. She was good at drawing manga especially. Arirang knelt down and drew the Cheshire cat as he was described in the story of Alice in Wonderland.

"I DON'T LOOK LIKE THAT! SCREW ALICE, JUST BECAUSE I TURNED HER DOWN!" Chesh spat his words at Arirang. He sighed angrily and turned his back on Arirang.
"What are you on about?" Arirang asked. She walked to the other side of the tree so she was facing Chesh.
"A girl named Alice Kingsley did enter wonderland years back. She had a huge crush on me, it was completely obvious! She asked if I could be her boyfriend, I said no and she got angry at me and stormed off. I am already loyal to one person anyway! I'm taken!" Arirang listened to every word that was spoken. "So Alice really entered the waste?"
"Yes, with her sister, Margaret Kingsley." Arirang couldn't make out last sentence. She knew Alice had a sister but didn't know that she came to the waste.
"What happened to her?" Arirang became as curious as a cat. She wanted to know every detail that was said by Chesh. Chesh disappeared once again.
"I don't feel like telling you!" Arirang was then completely and utterly alone once again. However it wasn't long until Chesh returned holding a dress.

"Put this on, your skirt seems torn." Chesh passed Arirang the dress. Arirang looked at it. The dress was a Lolita style dress. It was white but had a pink ribbon going around the middle. The bottom of the dress had a few frills but was mostly layered by three pieces of material.

"Well, put it on!" Chesh was staring at Arirang making her feel awkward.
"Err but you're watching me!"
"Shut up and do what I say!"
"BAKA, YOU'RE WATCHING ME!" Chesh looked confused.
"Oh right!" Chesh turned his back and gave Arirang the privacy she needed. Arirang quickly changed into the new dress and made some adjustments to her hair. She tied it into a side ponytail and clipped back her fringe into a side fringe with some clips she found in her pocket. She also slid some clips on her bangs just for decoration.

"What should I do with my uniform?" Chesh turned around and touched Arirang's uniform, making it disappear into thin air. "Poof, now, I'll take you to Rest and Peace." Arirang had no idea who Rest and Peace were. If they were the twins of 'wonderland' then surely they should have been called Tweedledum and Tweedledee?

"Rest and Peace?" Arirang asked, dumbfounded.
"They're the twins that live in the waste, they get on very well. Alice named them Tweedledum and Tweedledee because they always sung this really creepy song and the chorus was like a toddler singing it and it mentioned those names. Oh by the way, I heard that there was a book released about Alice's adventure in 'wonderland' most of it was Bull crap but her description of the twins were perfect." A small smirk appeared on Chesh's face making Arirang bright red. Chesh gradually reached for Arirang's hand and kissed it.

"C-Chesh...you d-don't have to do that!" Chesh grinned.
"My love told me I always had to this whenever I am in presence of a lady." Arirang blushed slightly. "Again, times have changed. Guys don't usually do this to girls' any-more." Chesh let of an adorable expression. "But Kit said I had too." Arirang shook her head.
"Forget I said anything!" Chesh then held onto Arirang's hand and dragged her away.

'Am I in a dream?' Arirang kept thinking about the place she was in over and over again. She couldn't tell if she was still asleep on the couch or if she really was in a place called 'the waste'. As Chesh dragged her along, Arirang could actually take a good look at her surroundings. It looked like a normal wood but there were odd looking mushrooms growing. And by the mushrooms were skeletons, people who ate the mushrooms and died. Arirang felt sick as she stared at them. She also noticed a river which was the colour of blood then noticing bits of skin was floating along in the river. Arirang's stomach churned at the sight of it. She never witnessed a thing like it...ever.

"We're here. Keep quiet, Rest and Peace don't like loud noises." With that said, Chesh disappeared.