Chapter 1: Part One
Part One
Today is my birthday. I should be happy, exited even. I was always excited about birthdays when I was a child but today just feels like another day. Nothing special happens. I wake up, wash my hair and face, brush my teeth, all the usual everyday things. I open the only card I ever have. It's from my friend, Autumn. She's a quiet, calm girl whereas I am a fierce, strong young lady. There's only 2 months between us, but she still acts like my older sister. I've known her since I was 5, I was trapped in the school toilets and she helped me out. From that day on I promised myself to be brave and strong. I break away from my thoughts by a hand wrapping themselves around my waist, "Happy birthday Alice!" Autumn shouts into my back, not being tall enough to reach the grab between my shoulder and my neck. I turn and give her a small hug. My parents are in bed, so we sit and talk quietly for a while, "So," began Autumn, " did you like your card?" I smile at her and reply with "Yes, it was... different". The card in question was a neon pink and yellow card, with the words 'Happy Birthday Alice' scribbled across the top in black ink. She's not the brightest girl I know but she really does try.
About half an hour later, we leave a note on the kitchen table and head out into the town. It's about 6 o'clock in the morning and pitch black. The moon shines on a lake under a long, narrow is no noise to be heard, not even the sound of scurrying mice feet across the cobblestone. We both stand, leaning over the bridge and into our reflections, neither one of us is talking. A soft wind blows past and I jump back with a start. 'Did the wind just say, "Come Alice?" No it couldn't have, the wind can't talk' I think to myself, oh how wrong I was. The wind blew once again and again I heard the same voice in the wind, this time it said a different phrase ' No one is around Alice". A breath catches in my throat and I look around... Everything's gone. The bridge I was standing on is now a long, narrow path, the lake has turned into grass and Autumn... AUTUMN! I spin on the spot, looking for any trace that someone had been here, I found nothing. "AUTUMN!" I scream, "AUTUMN WHERE ARE YOU?!" Tears begin to roll down my face and I scream in angle. Somewhere in the darkness, a light flickers and a young man dressed in a black, patched up suit wearing a top hat is walking towards me. All I can do is stand there in horror. "There's no need to be afraid," His voice is calming and soothing, " Come with me, I'll take you somewhere safe". I nod slowly, and he runs faster than a normal human should. I run after him and follow him through the darkness to a lonely black tree. There's a hole the size of a human in front of me and I kneel down to inspect it. A voice comes from the depts of the hole, "Join us Alice, you'll never be alone again." I take a long shaky breath, I feel a hand begin to push against my back, making me fall into the hole. I scream and plummet head first... into Wonderland.
It left like I have been falling for hours. I could feel myself spinning around head first into the unknown, I am unsure to this day if it was just a hallucination or not, but I could see stars and patterns swirling around in the darkness. As I was just getting used to all the swirling, I landed with a thud on a hard, tiled floor. I stand up and look down at my clothes, I gasped. My tatty, ripped clothes had been transformed into a knee high blue dress with a large white bow on the back. I smiled and spun around a few times before laughing quietly. I know I was being a little childish, but I had never had a dress of such a nice make before.
Straight ahead of me, I could see a small door with an even smaller key hole. I looked around and saw a table standing at my waist height. On the table there was a small key and a small bottle filled with some sort of blue sparkling liquid. I picked up the bottle and shrugged, pulling at the cork that had been lodged inside of it. It smelt fruity and fresh, something that I hadn't smelt in a while. I looked towards the door again and thought, 'This must help me to get through the door!'. I placed the bottle to my lips and a split second before the drink touches my lips, I grab the key from the table and dropped it into a small pocket in the front of my dress. I drank a quarter of the blue sparkly liquid and waited to see if anything would happen. Moments passed, and I felt a strange tingling all through my body. I yelped in surprise as I began to shrink down. When my transformation had finished, I was the size of a water bottle (which wasn't very big, but big enough for people to see you). I put the stopper back into the bottle and placed that inside my pocket. I ran to the door and took out the key, I slid the key into the key hole and turned it clockwise until I heard a faint clicking sound. I turned the handle slowly and pushed open the door, not ready for what I saw next...
I couldn't believe my eyes. There was colour everywhere, unlike the other room with the strange bottle which smelt of fruit, and I smiled for the first time ever since I fell down the rabbit hole. Strange animals which looked a lot like flamingos, elephants, lions and lots of different creatures, all with strange colours and extra parts. The atmosphere didn't feel the same either, everything was bright here. The grass looked greener and the sky bluer, everything seemed so happy and calm here. I started to walk forward to touch the new world I had found and realised there was a dark, worn out staircase at my feet. It seemed to be the only dark thing out there, so I quickly ran down to interact with the world.
I got to the bottom of the stairs and sighed happily. It looked perfect. All the animals, with their strange colours and extra limbs, were grazing happily and were calm. "I could get use to this" I said out loud, to no one in particular. "I'm glad to hear that" Said a strange voice. I jumped and looked around to find where the voice had come from. "Who are you?" I said calmly, trying not to give away that I was scared. "Right here dear Alice" A tall figure dressed in a black patched up suit and black top hat came out from behind a tree and bowed down at me. I gasped, "It's you," I began "you pushed me down to this place." The stranger stood back up and nodded solemnly, "Yes I did and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, but I needed you to come here."
I stared at the Hatter, confused at what he might want. Why would he need me of all people? Hatter could sense my confusion. Turning away from me, he began to walk towards an opening. I followed him. He continued his speech 'I need you to help me defeat someone. The Queen of Hearts has been terrifying the locals and tearing this world apart'. He paused, I used this time to look around us. As he was speaking, the colours of the wilderness were becoming darker and the sky was going grey. He stopped and faced me, his voice was deeper, and his eyes were red and dangerous. His teeth yellowing and rubbing together. 'She has destroyed the world that we call home! She's responsible for all of this!' He turned around and opened his arms wide. Suddenly, the surroundings were catching fire quickly and I was screaming. 'STOP IT HATTER!' I ran up to him, but he just threw me to the side. I groaned in pain and grabbed my chest. I looked up at him, pleading with him to change everything back to normal. I sighed out a small 'please...' before fainting.
I woke up in a soft, comfortable, warm bed, much better than my bed back home. I sit up slowly, my head throbbing in pain. I look around, I'm not where I was before. This is a new room, it's brightly coloured walls hurt my eyes at first, pictures hung from the walls and there was someone sitting on the chair opposite me. 'Ah Alice, you're awake!' I sigh in relief and smile at him, 'Hatter, thank goodness'. I try to get up, but hatter stops me before my feet even touch the ground. 'Don't, you're injured from yesterday' whispered Hatter, looking dead into my eyes. I look at him curiously 'What do you mean by 'I'm injured'? All you did was throw me to the side. That's not your fault, you weren't yourself'.
Hatter sighed and looked away 'When you passed out I changed back to normal immediately and carried you straight away to my dearest friend Caterpillar before the doctor, he said that I had damaged your heart. I'm sorry Alice'. I felt my chest, no pulse. 'Hatter... did you kill me...?' He looked at me again and nodded 'I'm so sorry Alice, I couldn't control my power'. I stare at him, 'How am I even still alive?! I should be dead by now!' He sighs once again, 'Caterpillar gave you some sort of medicine so that you're still alive, just not with a pulse' he replied. I look down at my lap and sigh 'how am I going to find Autumn now?', I think to myself, 'what if she never went to Wonderland with me?'. I look back over at Hatter, 'How did you find me? Were you following me?'. Hatter crouched down beside me and looked up at me 'Once every few years our world collides in the timeline, that basically means that we are free to break through the barrier between our world and visit the other one. I just happened to be walking through your world when I saw you. That's why the environment changed, there was a new person in your world and it didn't know what to do so it changed the environment to suit us both'. I nod and ask, 'Did you see another person with me?' Hatter shook his head and sat on the bed, 'No I didn't Alice, it was only you'. Tears begin to swell in my eyes and I look away from him, whipping my eyes. Hatter grabbed my left hand and kissed it softly, he whispered 'It'll be okay Alice, I promise.'