I am a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland! I've read the book probably a dozen times and of course own the Disney version. I've also seen the one with Martin Short as the Mad Hatter, which I thought was just amazing. And of course I am now looking very forward to the release of Tim Burton's take on the story!
Anyway, I just started writing this for fun, and would like to know what people think. Of course it's just the very beginning, and is quite basic. Don't be too harsh, it's my first fanfic of this story, so yeah. Anywhooo here it is! :]
The day was young, and already I was dreading the rest of it. I sighed, watching as my reflection mimicked my every facial movement. My long blonde hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, secured by a black ribbon. My bangs were always an issue, always wanting to go in the opposite direction in which I wanted. Fed up, I grabbed the brush and began angrily running it through the small sections of hair.
"Alice!" my mother's voice rang in my ears and I groaned, placing the brush onto the vanity. She had that familiar look of disappointment splattered on her face and she tapped her toe impatiently in the doorway.
"I'm almost finished," I said dryly. This, apparently, was not the answer she had been waiting for. She huffed and scurried over to me, her long dress dragging on the wood floor. I groaned as she positioned herself behind the stool I was sitting on.
"Sit up straight," she commanded, pulling the ribbon loose from my hair. I gasped in shock, immediately pulling away and pivoting to see her.
"What are you doing?" I exclaimed, maybe a bit too shrill. Her eyebrows furrowed, whenever she got angry like this she looked ten years older than she really was. Her hair was in fact gray, but it was glossy and youthful still. She wore light makeup that complimented her attractive features, and it seemed like the wrinkles only added to the appeal of her. But when she got mad, boy did that change. The wrinkles deepened, and her whole appearance darkened.
"I'm fixing your hair! Do you want to go out in front of all these people looking as you do?" she shouted back. Abruptly, I stood, the stool slamming into her legs, erasing the anger from her face and replacing it with disbelief. I reached my hand out, snatched the ribbon from her hand and stood tall before her.
"I refuse," I said coldly. Although we stood at the same height, a mere 5'4", I suddenly felt tall, as if I was towering over her. She, on the other hand, did not see me in this way. I'm sure she saw herself as ten feet tall, ready to squash me like an ant.
"Excuse me young lady?" she hissed. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, the ribbon dangling in my right hand.
"We do this every year. You invite all of your snotty friends over for this huge waste of time and money, and force me to mingle with them!" this was pent up frustration from years passed, I was sure of it. Never in my life had I stood up to her this way. We had of course had little tiffs here and there, but I was near the brink of being livid, and she was too.
"Those "snotty friends" of which you speak happen to be very dear to me!" she took a step closer, her voice lowering to what I swear could be interpreted as a growl of some sort.
Both of us stood there, seething, for completely different reasons. Me, fighting for my right to opt out of her little tea party, and her, trying desperately to force me into a life that could be a mirror image of hers. Every year she tried to find me a young man, someone who could take care of me throughout my entire life, me not even having to lift a finger. I would be forever bathed in jewels and riches... doomed to hold parties such as these until my death. And he, whoever he would be... whoever she had in mind, would be standing beside me, like a statue, a statue with an immense fortune. A fortune with a price tag. A price tag I was not interested in. No, I wasn't one of those silly girls who was determined to wait around for Mr. Right, but I also knew I did not want her life. Never in a million years.
"Alice! Caroline! What in the world is going on?" my father burst into the room, dressed in his best suit, his balding spot covered by a comb over that could make anyone cringe. He was quite large, and had apparently tackled the stairs a bit too quickly as he slammed his hand against the doorframe for support as he huffed and puffed.
"Daniel! Alice is refusing to come down," my mother shrieked, moving from me to his side. I exhaled sharply sitting back down on the stool, gazing at my reflection as their voices echoed in my ears.
"Well, tell her to move quickly, the guests are arriving as we speak!" he bellowed.
"She won't listen! She's impossible to deal with!" she shouted back. I glanced down at the ribbon in my hands, pondering this morning. Wondering why I remained here, why nothing ever changed.
When I had woken up I had been well aware of the fact that this event was happening. I had been aware of it since last year when that one ended. Mother had already begun planning out a new outfit for me, something to "surely catch the eye of just the right man." And I had said nothing. Not a single word, not even the slightest sign of a struggle. That party had followed my 16th birthday, and according to mother, time was of the essence. I had to be married within the next year if I ever had a chance of finding someone just like father. I cringed. Not that my father was bad tempered, mean spirited, egotistical or ruthless... at least not around us. Only when attending to business. Business that raked in the money year after year. No, around us, he was passive, quiet, always mumbling something incoherent if my mother tried to get him to agree to something. That was what I didn't want. I wanted something different, something extraordinary. Not only in a man, but in life in general.
Yet, I had woken up this morning, allowing the maids to lay out a new blue dress my mother had picked out. I allowed them to trim my nails, pluck my eyebrows, style my hair and apply makeup. Makeup my mother insisted would "do the trick." I had sat passively, just as my father would, and allowed my life to be controlled. I gazed at my reflection, at my crystal blue eyes, lined with a thin stroke of gray on both top and bottom lids. My skin appeared to be flawless, touched up with probably a pound of goop and powder. My eyebrows arched perfectly, and my hair flowed freely around my face, down to my chest and behind my back. I did look nice, I had to admit. And the blue dress, it was marvelous, cut lower on the chest, and its length just below the knee. It hugged my curves and made me feel like a woman. But a woman who was being shown off as a trophy to be won... to the highest bidder.
"I have to go attend to the guests, just please... get her down here fast!" my father's voice shook me and I gasped, coming back to the present. My mother hurried to my side and grabbed the brush from the vanity.
"Carla had your hair just perfect, and you had to ruin it!" she sounded like she was talking more so to herself than me, so I decided to ignore what she said. She brushed my hair carefully and meticulously, yet at a very fast pace. I stared at a small splinter in the vanity, my mind insisting on wandering to places other than here. Her voice persisted, and it rang in my ears, nearly driving me mad. I had to leave, somehow. I couldn't go through with another one of these crazy parties!
"Mom," I spoke softly as she placed the brush back in its place and urged me to get up.
"What?" she snapped. I swallowed hard and stood, following her out of the room.
"I'm sorry. I was out of line, I've just been so nervous about today," I tried to sound genuine, tried to look innocent and sweet. She sighed, placing her hands on her hips and tilting her head slightly to the side.
"Alice, you know I want what is best for you," her voice had softened, and she looked like herself again. I nodded solemnly and then clasped my hands behind my back.
"Could I just have a minute? Before I go out in front of all those people?" I asked carefully. She raised an eyebrow at me, and I prayed she wasn't picking up on anything.
"I suppose. One minute. And if you're any longer I'm sending Carla in for you," she said firmly. I nodded once and watched as she descended down the spiral staircase.
Now was my chance. I turned and dashed back into my room, closing the door behind me. I grabbed my black dress shoes and placed them on my feet quickly. Although I hated stockings, it made these shoes go on much easier. As I walked toward the window, I began to wonder. Where did I plan on going exactly? How far would I get? I looked down at the ribbon still clutched tightly in my hand. I exhaled and tied it around my left wrist and then opened the window. The warm spring breeze blew into my room, causing my hair to flow around my face. My heart beat immediately picked up as I slung my leg over the side of the windowsill. This was crazy, it was true, I was really going mad. Thankfully there was a lining of lattice attached to the house, something my father was quite proud of. Just last week he had the gardener, Michael, put it up to accent the house. This week he was supposed to be adding red roses, but thankfully they weren't here yet.
Once I got both legs out of the window, I held onto the edge of it and lowered my self down. One of my feet stuck through the lattice, giving me some support. I slowly lowered a little more, a little more, and a little more. Until I was now very carefully climbing down the lattice. The house was big, but it wasn't a fifty story building. My room was on the second floor, and the drop wasn't anything life threatening. Of course that is, if I didn't land on my head. I pushed these thoughts from my mind as I continued my decent.
Just as I got close to the first story window, I realized there was a possibility that someone was in the room I was going to be climbing by. My room was above the dining room, so no one would be in there yet except maybe one of the maids. I felt my palms begin to get moist and I tried to regain my grip, but lost it. My heart thrashed and I had to suppress a shriek as I fell backwards off of the lattice toward the ground.
Thank God for bushes. Or thank Michael. I grunted as I fell onto a large bush, feeling twigs poke into my back and legs and arms. But I didn't mind, I much preferred that to being dead or paralyzed. Now I was officially out of the house, so, now the question was, which direction to run in. I disentangled myself from the bush and stood, brushing some dirt from my dress and then glanced to my right. That way I would run into someone for sure, and same with the left. I looked straight ahead of me and decided it was my best bet at this point. And that's when I heard it.
"Alice?" my eyes bulged and something inside of me kicked into high gear as I dashed forward, nearly running into a tree. I tried to block out any sound around me as I barreled forward, trying to get away, as far away as humanly possible. Which was difficult for me since I was not in the best physical condition to be sprinting like this. Especially in dress shoes and a dress.
My heart was beating rapidly and I was beginning to feel out of breath as I continued on. About two solid minutes had to have gone by at this point, so I was sure I was out of sight of the house and whoever had called my name. So, I slowed down to a jog and glanced over my shoulder. I couldn't even see the house anymore, just scattered trees, long grass and dandelions. This was quite a relief, and I decided to slow it down to a walk now. I smiled to myself, feeling quite accomplished that I had escaped the party and my almost captor. This was a good start, and for the moment, I didn't care where I was headed or where I would be by tonight. For now I was just walking freely, on my own time. I stared up at the clear blue sky listening to the birds chirp happily as I walked along. Walked along until something out of the corner of my caught my attention. It was what appeared to be a rabbit hole. Me being the curious person I was, decided to investigate. Plus, it's not as if I had anything better to do at the moment.
As I walked closer to it though, I saw a flash of white. I began to feel my heart beat increase again as I looked all around me. Nothing. I shrugged, telling myself to calm down, and then approached the rabbit hole. But there is was again! The flash of white! This time I was sure I had seen something. I stood completely still, thinking if it was an animal it may come closer if I didn't move. It got very quiet as I stood completely still, even trying not to breathe or swallow. Because of the silence, I heard something, something that made me question my ears. Question my sanity.
"Did I leave the oven on?" I heard these words, not necessarily crystal clear, but definitely those words. And then I saw the white, this time not a flash of it, but something fluffy, and about the height of my knee. I squinted my eyes as I saw a white rabbit hop toward me in a frantic fashion.
"Oh dear!" it exclaimed and that's when I felt the urge to run in the opposite direction.
Either out of pure fear or utter confusion, my feet refused to move. I stared at the rabbit with my mouth hanging open like a fish. He had a purple velvet vest on with a small pocket on the right breast with a gold pocket watch inside of it. He looked like a normal rabbit, except slightly larger and was wearing an item of clothing. And of course there was the fact that he was speaking.
"Excuse me," his voice was neither high nor low, and he had a light british accent. I watched him as he hopped closer, gave me one last glance and then disappeared into the hole. I stood there, completely awe struck, and in total disbelief. That just happened. I was sure of it. It wasn't a hallucination, it felt too real, too alive! That's when my feet decided to work again. I approached the rabbit hole, and got down before it on my hands and knees, peering inside. It was big enough for me to crawl inside, and I felt a strong urge to do just that. I took a deep breath, got lower to the ground and begin to move inside.
It smelled like earth, and the dirt was getting under my finger nails and my hair was dragging on the ground. But I persisted on, slowly moving forward until I realized my entire body was inside the hole. When I looked up to see what was ahead, all I saw was black. Now that my behind was in the hole, it was blocking the rays of sun that had been streaming in. I grunted as I tried to reach forward to see if the hole continued, but I was stuck. I tried to shimmy either forward or backwards, but to no avail. Now I was frustrated, very frustrated. This was exactly what I'd rather be doing than being stuck at the party. I groaned as I tried to get onto my stomach, but still, with no luck. Should I scream for help? Oh, that would be embarrassing. "17 year old pulled out of rabbit hole." I could see it now.
Yet as the minutes began to tick by, and I remained stuck, I was beginning to rather the embarrassment of being found opposed to dying. So, I sucked in a big gulp of air, filled my lungs and just as I got ready to scream, a bright light nearly blinded me. I squeezed my eyes shut and ducked my head down. Slowly, I opened one eye to see where the light was coming from, and realized it wasn't as bright anymore. I opened both eyes and saw that it was right in front of me. I gasped, realizing there was another hole only a foot away, but it was in the ground, like a tunnel leading down into the earth. And then, all of a sudden, I could move my arms. I stretched them out in front of me and pulled myself right up to the hole so I could look down inside of it. I couldn't tell what was inside, or how deep it was since the light was shining up through it nearly blinding me when looking directly at it.
My heart skipped a beat as my hand began to slip against the dirt into the hole. Me having terrible reflexes, was not fast enough to regain my balance, and I toppled forward into the hole. But I didn't hit the ground after falling, I kept falling. Fear began to bubble inside of me as I anticipated what would happen when I hit ground after such a high fall. Automatically I began to scream, screech and thrash my arms about, trying to find something to grab onto.
"Help!!" the word burst from my lips and I felt tears begin to burn in my eyes as my heart got close to exploding inside my chest. That's when bright neon colors began to swirl around me, illuminating the space in which I was falling. I frantically looked around, seeing just dirt around me as I plummeted down through the earth.
At this point I knew I had been falling for a minute. I had to be approaching the ground now, any moment I'd be splattered on the cold hard ground. I was still screaming too, even though I knew there was no way anyone was going to hear me and somehow pull me out of the hole or place a soft surface to break my fall. But just as these thoughts flashed through my head I felt like the falling came to a slow. My hair was no longer being blown around my face and in my mouth, I could actually turn my head from side to side to take in my surroundings. When I looked to my right I saw the dirt wall, but it suddenly turned into a brick wall. I glanced to my left and saw that it had also turned to brick. Was I falling down a chimney? Was it true that when tunneling through the center of the earth you ended up in China? Maybe I was going to end up in the living room of a Chinese family.
These thoughts were interrupted as I suddenly landed in the arms of someone. I felt extremely disoriented and was on the verge of passing out. The arms were strong, and seemed to hold me up with ease. By the feel of the arms and the chest, which I was pressing against, I could tell it was a man. I tried to say something, demand to know where I was, and who had their hands on me. But all that came out were incoherent mumbles. Apparently the fall had jumbled up my thoughts and words.
"Did you say something?" the man had a voice. And the voice was soothing and manly, but at the same time not bellowing or too deep. And he had a very light accent, but of what, I couldn't tell. I tried to respond to this, but again, nothing, and I felt myself beginning to slip out of consciousness.
"Guess not," the man chuckled and I realized we were moving. But I couldn't see anything, the glowing light had gone, as well as the flashing neon lights. Everything was dark. I mumbled again, out of frustration and impatience. Why hadn't this man introduced himself? Why didn't he seem worried about my well being, seeing as I had just fallen from the sky! Or... down a chimney... either way, he seemed like he found the whole ordeal quite ordinary.
We continued walking, or well, he continued walking, for a couple of minutes in silence. There was still no light, and I wondered how he hadn't walked into anything or anyone yet.
"Here we are!" he spoke suddenly, and then a bright light shone in my eyes. I blinked a few dozen times, trying to let my pupils adjust to the sudden change. And then I saw rolling hills, grass greener than any shade of green I had seen in my entire life. Blue skies that were so blue they almost glowed, and wisps of pure white clouds with a glowing sun. I gasped at the beauty, at the majesty of it all, it was something straight out of a fairy tale.
"Welcome to Wonderland," the man said, and I could hear a smile in his voice. I turned my head to see who the man was, but very abruptly everything went black.