At first I felt nothing. My body floated with a sea of rainbow colored clouds in a place somewhere between awake and asleep. It almost gave me the sensation of falling, reminding me of a story my mother use to tell me.

A girl named Alice fell down a hole while chasing a white rabbit; once she hit the bottom, her head slammed hard against a sharp rock at the bottom; splitting her head open, allowing blood to ooze steadily from the wound, causing her to eventually lose consciousness. From the mixture of blood and creativity spilling from the wound there bloomed a flower. This flower swelled larger and larger from the abundance of creativity until it burst into flames. The fire was so hot that it stretched time and space. It burned for years and when the last of the heat had subsided the hole no longer existed. Instead of falling from Upperland into a hole, you fell into a new country. This was Wonderland, my home. My mother had named me Alice after the foolish girl who had fallen down the hole.

With that thought, I landed softly on a solid surface, and slowly looked around me. Nothing was seen except the rainbow colored clouds that had followed me into my dream land. Slowly, I took a few steps forward making everything solidify around me. First the rock hard ground became a soft white carpet, and then a suit of armor from a giant beaver faded into existence. Soon after, a large four poster bed, closely followed by the rest of my mother's royal suit followed suit. The last thing to emerge from the quickly dissipating fog was a woman with hip length, bone-straight hair and an elegant frame sitting in a chair by a roaring fireplace.

"Alice," a soft voice echoed through the near-empty room. "Alice," it sang again from the figures lips. So sweet like a song being sung over and over.

Maybe tonight was different, I thought to myself as I jumped into warm arms holding on tight, "Mama!" I yelled cuddling my face against her warm breast and closing my eyes against the flood of tears that threatened to break through. "I missed you, Mama. I went looking for you and I couldn't find you. Everyone said that you were gone, but I knew better." I lifted my head and opened my eyes.

The White Queen rocked lightly to and fro holding her daughter close, platinum blond hair falling around them like a veil blocking them from the world. "Alice, let's play a game."

"What kind of game, mama?"

"It's called Hide and Go Seek"

"What is tha-"The rest of my question was drowned out by a loud banging on the door, followed by voices and the Queen leaned closer, whispering in my ear.

"Alice, listen close, I'm going to count to ten. By the time I reach ten, I need you to be hidden somewhere in the room and do not come out until I come to get you. No matter what happens do not look or make any noise."

I nodded and the queen kissed my forehead. "Remember, whatever happens I love you and your sister. One day you will both be strong beautiful women capable of anything," the queen closed her eyes and sat back in her chair. "One... Two..."

I jumped from my mother's lap as another series of loud thuds echoed through the room followed by a woman's voice, "Helen! Open the door!"

I lifted the blankets from the bed and prepared to hide underneath, but was stopped short when I realized the bottom was lined with boards, blocking me from sliding under.

"Three..."

"I know you are in there!"

I went to the windows and tried to cover my body with the creamy white, floor-length curtains. After a few seconds of fumbling with them and unsuccessfully covering my body, I once again gave up on my hiding spot.

"Four... Five..." the door knob rattled with the force from blows coming on the other side of the door.

I went close to the door and tried to scramble inside of the suit of armor, custom made for a hero-beaver many years before I had been born. I climbed onto a chair sitting next to the armor and removed the head, revealing how it was empty inside. Carefully, I lifted my leg and maneuvered my body inside the suit "Six... Seven..." I pulled the helmet back into place and lowered the visor "Eight... Nine...Te-" the door flew off its hinges mere feet from me, crashing into the wall by the fireplace. Into the room walked a tall figure in break-neck high heels. Her short dress was blood stained along with the mask that covered her face. In her hand was a long butcher knife, dripping with the blood of the guard lying dead outside the door.

The white queen rose from her chair and faced the figure now striding into the room, "Now Helen, you didn't think you could keep me out forever, did you?"

"Leave my home, you power crazed wench"

"Aww! Is that any way to treat your sister, Helen?"

In the blink of an eye, the strange woman crossed the room and shoved the knife deep inside my mother's gut.