Harry Dodgson was having just one of those days. Everything was going wrong and it was only 9:30am. Sadly, this day was about to get even worse, today Harry was going to die. It happened pretty suddenly. Harry was running through the long university hallways in a desperate attempt to make it to his next class on time. His pale skin glistened with sweat as his glasses fogged up due to his heavy breathing, making it hard to see. Harry never meant to be late to his classes, it just always seemed to happen. Even on this day while Harry was in the midst of running to beat the bell he couldn't help but fantasize about the lives of all the students he passed in the hall. What were they like, how did they live their lives, why were they in this university? Harry found all that fascinating, for you see he didn't know a single one of them. Left turn, run, left turn again, down the stairs. Harry was almost to the bottom when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Fear froze Harry in mid-step as he realized what was happening.
"No," Harry thought desperately, "Not again!" Harry tripped the rest of the way down trying to breathe. His vision was clouding and the pain in his chest was only spreading. Almost unconscious, Harry pushed past students stumbling into the nearest room and collapsed on his shaking hands and knees. Breathing heavily, Harry pushed down his initial reflex to hurl right onto the bathroom floor. Harry could feel his sweat falling from his short cut black hair onto the rest of his body. He didn't know what to do, the pain have never been this bad before.
"Why…" Harry moaned. The ache had slowly shifted to his head and the fierce pounding was almost unbearable. A soft knock was heard from the other side of the door and an even softer voice followed, "Harry, Harry are you okay in there?" Oh no. Harry tried to force himself into a sitting position. The pain had subsided a little and he could finally look around the empty men's bathroom he now found himself in. I can't let anyone see me like this. Harry mustered all the strength he had left, "No, I'm okay. I'll be out soon, there is no need to worry."
"Are you sure?" the voice answered. "Your face was almost white." Harry cursed at her persistence and crawled his way to the closest wall. Hoisting himself up with the edge of a sink, he smoothed his black hair and straightened his clothes in the mirror. Gritting his teeth and trying to remain calm Harry called out in the most pleasant voice he could muster.
"I just wanted to be away from the crowds for a little while but I'm perfectly fine." The door to the bathroom creaked open and a small head of a short girl peeked in. Her eyes were filled with concern and for some reason this irked Harry even more. "But class starts in two minutes. We should be there already." By her tone of voice and body language Harry figured they were class mates, although he didn't remember her. To be perfectly honest he didn't remember most people's faces. They were all too much alike to be worth remembering. What is this girls name? Olivia maybe? And why the heck was she peeking into the men's bathroom?!
"I know. I'll be there very soon but thank you." She smiled at him shyly and whispered an okay before leaving him in peace.
"Man, that was annoying." Harry thought. "Why did she even follow me?" With a sigh, Harry looked in one of the bathroom's mirrors to make sure he looked presentable. Satisfied with what he saw, Harry made his way to leave but the door would not open. Harry began to furiously shake the door, but it would not budge. Annoyance quickly turned to anger as Harry pounded his fists against it and yelled for help.
"She was outside a second ago," Harry thought. "Heck, tons of people were outside! Why is nobody ever there when I actually need them!" The school's ancient bell tower began to signal the new hour and Harry knew if he didn't make it to class soon he would be in major trouble. Anger was beginning to take over Harry's senses and red dots started to cloud his vision. Before he understood what was happening, Harry started mashing his entire body against the door repeatedly. If this were any other door it would have been knocked right off its hinges, but not this door. It seemed to have taken a personal liking to Harry and was determined to keep him all to itself. "Are they all stupid!" Harry yelled, as he smashed his body once more into what now felt a lot more like a brick wall instead of a swinging door. The pain had returned to Harry's chest, draining him of his last of his energy. Harry could feel his left arm and backside beginning to develop bruises and knew he had taken it too far. He stumbled to the closest mirror and stared at his battered reflection.
"Lu is going to be ticked with me," Harry sighed under his breath. He could just imagine her face when he came home covered in bruises… again. Taking a deep breath Harry tried to think up of a strategy to get himself out. I could try to climb out the window but I'm on the second story of the building. If only I hadn't forgotten my phone! What am I … Before Harry could finish his thought, a small white light shot past his face and landed on the door. Harry thought the pain was making him hallucinate, but after staring at it for a few moments the light did not disappear. Carefully, Harry walked towards it with an outstretched hand. The light didn't move, it just patiently sat there waiting for Harry to come closer. Harry was almost close enough to touch it, when it disappeared and then reappeared in front of one of the washroom's full-length mirrors. Harry crept even slower towards it now, fearing that it would disappear at any moment. This time however, the light floated towards Harry's hand and surrounded it with. It felt warm and comforting to strangely familiar. The glow started to spread to the rest of Harry's body until he was entirely enveloped by it. Harry did not know what to do except stare at his glowing reflection. He started to glow brighter, and the brighter he got the hotter he felt. Harry started to feel dehydrated and dizzy and his clouding vision was of no comfort. Before he blacked out Harry thought he saw a very specific animal behind him in the reflection. A white rabbit?
When he came to Harry realized something was wrong immediately. It wasn't the fact that he was lying in the middle of the bathroom or that the air tasted strangely stale. What turned Harry off was the fact that it was deathly quiet. No sounds of student life, speaker announcements, or even the usual ringing in your ears when everything is too quiet. Harry slowly got up into a sitting position and looked around the room. It looked old and decrepit and the mirrors were all blurry so that Harry couldn't see a clear reflection in them. He raised his hand and touched his nose to make sure his glasses still rested there. With great effort Harry crawled over to the mirrors and placed his hands on one of them. The blurry surface swirled around as if it were rippling water and Harry fell back in astonishment.
"W-what on e-earth is happening-g?" Harry fearfully glanced around him at the transformed washroom until a thought struck him. Of course, it was so simple, he was dreaming. Feeling confident about his new revelation Harry breathed a sigh of relief and proceeded to try to stand. He failed the first few times but finally managed to heave himself off the floor. He stumbled to the wall and clutched a sink for support. Harry peered through the glass again but could not make out his face in it.
"I wonder what kind of dream this is?" Harry thought out loud. Peering closer into the glass Harry tried to make out his reflection in the clouded surface.
"Maybe if I just look closer…" Harry's face was almost touching the glass when it suddenly cleared. Harry smiled with satisfaction as he stared at his now clear reflection. Feeling balanced enough to stand by himself, Harry let go of the sink's edge and started to walk around the room looking for the door which had mysteriously disappeared. He saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and froze. He turned slowly, his heart racing but nobody was beside him. Nobody at all, including his reflection in the mirror. Reminding himself that this was all just happening in his head Harry ran back to one of the mirrors and stared intensely at it. His reflection instantly reappeared laughing. Harry's expression turned into one of complete shock and the reflection mimicked his exasperated face. With the real Harry frozen in place, reflection Harry started running from one mirror to another taunting Harry to chase after him. Harry's mind had gone into overdrive trying to figure out his current situation. It's a dream, it's just a dream… An unexplainable desire to catch and strangle his reflection came over Harry and he bolted after it. Surprised with Harry's sudden cooperation in his game, the shadow shot him a look of sly joy and started running faster from mirror to mirror taunting Harry as he ran. With inhuman speed, Harry dashed after the figure and smashed his hands into the place on the mirror where he stood. The reflection just stood behind the mirror and smirked at Harry. Then, in one swift motion, Reflection grabbed through the mirror and onto Harry's wrists pulling him inside of it. Harry fell through screaming into a long dimly lit hallway, with a low dirt ceiling. Scrambling up from his knees, Harry turned around to see his reflection behind him, still standing in the mirror of the restroom. Harry ran back to it and tried to push through again but the mirror was solid. With one final chuckle Harry's reflection and the mirror he was in turned black and vanished, leaving behind only a dirt wall. Harry just stared at the wall in front of him. He couldn't tell for how long he did this, time seemed to be non-existent in the tunnel. A wave of fear and claustrophobia washed over Harry and he started clawing at the dirt wall with desperation. As his hands became covered with dirt and his nails with blood Harry realized that there was no way to get back, the only option was to turn around and move forward. Forcing his legs to move Harry began stumbling down the tunnel. He walked for a long time at a snail's pace until he finally saw light ahead of him. With strength Harry, didn't know he had, he dashed towards it. As he got closer to the opening he saw his reflection standing at the entrance waiting for him. Running as fast as he could Harry burst through the tunnel and tackled it to the ground.
"Ha! I've got you now!" he yelled at it. Harry was breathing heavily from his sprint and as his heart rate started going down he realized something, something very important. The person he was sitting on top of was not his reflection. Getting off as quickly as he could Harry pulled the flattened man to his feet. Harry didn't think he had ever been so embarrassed in his life as he continuously apologized to the person now standing in front of him. The man's almost ghostly face lit up with a friendly smile as he waved off Harry's apology. After calming down slightly Harry realized he was finally outside in the strangest forest he had ever seen. Only a small percentage of the forest's canopy was made out of trees. Giant mushrooms where everywhere, sometimes even taller than the trees. Flowers that appeared to have faces bloomed together in scattered flower beds all along the forest floor. The trees of the forest itself all seemed to be in different seasons. Some already had blossoms while others where bare and others still had their fall leaves. There was also no sense of location. Small palm trees grew adjacent to huge evergreens. Harry started to theorize about his dream theory again when he finally remembered that there was another person with him. He quickly turned his attention back to the matter at hand.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to ignore the person I had just tackled." He admitted sheepishly. "It's just…" he pointed to their surroundings letting the scenery speak for itself. The man chuckled at Harry's bewilderment.
"No apologizes necessary. I imagine that this place would be a wonder to anyone who just came here, though truthfully not many have." A nostalgic look spread over the man's face as Harry got a good look at him. The man's appearance fit the strangeness of the situation. Sleeked hair, but to opposite sides of his head so that he had two puff balls of hair on each side. Pale face, deep eyes, and a suite that would fit right into Victorian society. Harry couldn't tell what age he was but he was sure at least late twenties. The man turned his attention backed to Harry.
"May I ask your name young man and where you are from?" Harry nodded, he had been so rapped up in the situation that normal introductions seemed almost weird. It was nice to finally be doing something normal, hopefully this man could answer his questions so it would be in his best interest to get acquainted.
"My name is Harry Dodgson and I'm from Oxford, England." Surprised shot through the man's expression as Harry introduced himself.
"How very interesting," the man mumbled to himself a little to loudly to be a whisper. He started staring off into the distance in thought but Harry brought him back quickly with a swift cough. "Oh, so sorry. Old habit of mine." The man apologized.
"No need," Harry answered impatiently. Advancing towards Harry, the man lay his arm across his own chest so that his hand rested above his heart. "The place you find yourself now in is called Tulgey Wood." He extended him arm forward. "The caved you just exited from is named Mirrored Cave. No one has come through it in quite a while." I wonder how long…
"The land you currently find yourself in is a place called Wonderland." Hang on just one…! "And I", the man motioned to himself. "I am called Carroll, Lewis Carroll"
Oh ya, defiantly a dream.