I don't own Alice in Wonderland.

The morning after my arrival, my grandfather called me down to the kitchen and passed me a plate of pancakes.

"So, Alice, have you got any plans for today?" He asked me, sitting down at the table across from me with his own plate. The smell of the breakfast was almost intoxicating after two days of eating nothing but junk food bought at gas stations.

I thought for a moment. I knew that I had seen just about everything there was to see inside this plastic wrapped abode, aside from what was behind that door.

'That can wait until later...I probably wouldn't get away with snooping at this time of day anyway.'

"I was thinking I'd go exploring the town." I decided on a whim. What harm could it do to see the place where I grew up? I didn't think that anyone would bother me and I might just find something interesting to do...

Hey, a girl can dream, right?

He nodded and I took a bite of my pancakes, enjoying the first taste of a good breakfast I hadn't had in days. He continued speaking. "Do you think you could pick up a few things for me while you're out?"

I shrugged, swallowing down my food. "Sure, why not?"

We finished our breakfast in companionable silence for the most part. We would occasionally start up a bout of small talk. He'd ask me about school, my friends and my plans for college and I'd tell him, then ask about his life here in return. After we were done and had washed off our plates in the sink, he gave me some money and told me what stores to go to and what to get there. I went up to my room and changed into a loose black blouse and a pair of brown cargo pants. I pulled on green and yellow striped socks and my combat boots. I rushed down the stairs, eager to go outside. My grandfather waved at me and I took my leave.

Walking down the streets, I realized that generally, everything shop-wise was clustered on Main Street and the couple streets branching off from there. There was a dentist's, a grocery store, a consignment shop, a smoothie shop, a video store and a pharmacy, just to name a few. I glanced at the list my grandpa had given me and stopped at the pharmacy on the corner to pick up his medication. The woman behind the counter seemed kind enough, not questioning me much after asking my name and relation to Mr. Laurel. Once she heard that I was his granddaughter, she looked as though she had filed the information away in her brain for later or something. I took my leave after that, with a bottle of pills in a small pharmacy bag as well as a small box of chocolates in my pocket.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for candy.

Walking down the street, I turned and went towards the grocery store, taking in the calm image of a park across the street. On one of the swings sat a young man around my age with fluffy brown hair and bright blue eyes hidden behind half-moon glasses. He wore a long brown coat and navy blue pinstriped pants and had a notebook opened up on his lap. His pen scribbled easily across the page, hardly ever pausing. I felt a smile tug at my lips, wondering if maybe I really could make friends here.

The boy seemed to have caught the attention of a surly-looking group of much larger teenagers who then started towards him. The poor thing didn't seem to notice until it was too late and a particularly muscular teen snatched the notebook from his hands. He immediately jumped to his feet looking very distressed. I started across the street, filled with my special brand of curiosity that often got me in trouble. I got close enough to hear the group of boys making fun of whatever it was he had written.

"What the hell is this, Carroll? These aren't even words, dumbass."

The boy he referred to as Carroll snatched at the notebook desperately. "That's the point! It's just a nonsense poem!"

"Aw, now he's writing poetry! How fucking cute!" One of the other boys cooed sarcastically while the the teen holding the notebook shoved Carroll away roughly. He watched in horror as the young man tore the page from the notebook. At that moment, I had reached the group and I snatched the notebook out of his hands.

"Excuse me, but what the fuck is you're problem?"

My friends always told me to pick my battles better, and I obviously didn't listen. Yet, as I looked up at this towering bag of scum, I regretted nothing.

"Look, little girl, this is none of your business."

I ground my teeth slightly in rage. I hated the term 'little girl'. My 18th birthday was next month. I was not a little girl. "Well, it is now because I'm really tired of dicks like you guys thinking you're goddamn kings." I handed Carroll his notebook back and held out my hand. "The paper, if you please."

"Here you go." he said with a sneer as he tore the paper in two and then in half again. Carroll made a strangled sound from behind me and I rolled my eyes as the discarded shreds floated innocently to the ground. The group of boys shared a laugh and left the area.

I turned to the young man behind me and held out my hand. "I'm sorry about your poem. I'm Alice."

He smiled sadly and shook my hand. "Charles Carroll. And don't worry about it, it was only the first stanza. I don't know what to do with it after that but I feel like if I can find something it'll be really great." He stopped. "I'm sorry...I'm babbling."

I laughed softly. "Don't worry about it. I really like poetry. Mind telling me what it was?"

"W-well..." He hesitated, fidgeting nervously. "I suppose it would be fine for you to hear it..." He cleared his throat and stopped fidgeting.

"`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe."

It was a very small chunk of a poem and the words made very little sense but I was completely entranced by it. It flowed from Charles' lips like a song and borrowed it's way into my brain.

"That was beautiful..." I couldn't stop myself from saying so and when a huge, bright smile lit up his face, I was glad that I'd said it.

"really? You really think so?"

I nodded and he grinned, shutting the notebook and stuffing it into the black, beat up shoulder-bag he wore. "Thank you so much...it really means a lot."

"It's no problem. I'm glad I could help." I smiled at him. "So have you lived here long?"

He nodded. "born and raised. I'm really happy to see a new face, though. When did you move in?"

"I'm just staying for two weeks. I was born here, though."

He smiled brightly. "I see. Well, then would you like a tour? I can't promise that too much has changed but we'll probably find something."

I nodded with a smile. "That sounds fun. Let's go!"

The following couple hours were filled with laughs. No matter where we went, he always seemed to find a way to make me smile. I had only ever met one other person who was this easy to talk to before in my life and that was my friend, Shannon, back in New York. He took me around Main Street, showing me each of the stores and I got to finish the shopping to boot. He introduced me to the little Russian woman, Anna, who ran the consignment shop and we stopped by the smoothie place and proceeded to get brain freezes.

Walking down a narrow street towards the outskirts of town, Charles and I finished up our smoothies and disposed of them in a garbage bin in front of a rundown old baseball diamond. He continued down that way, the houses growing less and less frequent and the thick, green, manicured lawns giving way to a dead, yellow, overgrown field. A ways in the distance I saw the tops of houses rising.

"what's that over there?" I questioned curiously.

Charles looked to where I was pointing. "That? Well, they tried to build a little community out here a few years back, but it's so far from town that no one ever bought the homes. It's a shame, most of them are actually quite lovely."

I smiled and grabbed him by the hand. "Come on!"

"A-Alice! Hey, don't run! I-I can't keep up!"

Minutes later, Charles was leaning against the outer wall of one of the houses that he had spoken of, trying hard to catch his breath. I leaned over, laughing breathlessly. "Sorry, Charles...I just got excited."

"I-It's no...problem..."

"Well...wanna go in?" I asked with a grin and a gesture to the front door of the two story yellow house that we were in front of.

He blinked in shock. "I-In there? I-isn't that t-t-trespassing?"

I shrugged. "does it matter? No one's gonna come out here anyway."

He chewed his lower lip nervously. "I-if you say so."

I grinned and walked up to the door. I took a half step back and gave the door a powerful kick. The wood splintered some and I backed up once more and sent another kick into it. It gave a painful creek and swung open forcefully.

I took his hand once again and pulled him inside.

I halted mid-step and Charles collided with me clumsily. We stared at our surroundings in confusion and surprise. All around us, there were hundreds of mirrors, piled up on the floor, leaned up against walls and stuffed into the closet. I stared around at the multitude of reflections and could hardly contain my curiosity. Why were all of these here? What a weird place...

"...Alice...come closer..."

'That voice...It was the same one that I had heard at my grandfather's house. It was coming from...' I turned towards the sound to face a huge, ornate, full-body mirror. 'There? But...that's not possible...'

I took a step towards it.

"...Save us, Alice..."

Another step.

A loud crash interrupted my trance and I spun around to see that Charles had fallen to the ground and ended up shattering a mirror. He clutched his head in pain and a tear slid down his cheek. I rushed over and slung his arm around my shoulder, helping him to his feet. "Are you okay?" I asked worriedly.

"I-I'm fine...I just get these migraines sometimes..."

I frowned and helped him outside, mirrors completely forgotten. He took a deep breath of fresh air. "Come on, my house is closer and you could probably stay for dinner or something." I helped him down the road and up to my house. I pushed open the door and sat him down on the couch. I walked to the kitchen and got him an ice-pack, all the while looking around for my grandfather, who was nowhere to be seen.

I gave Charles the cooling device and started up the stairs, looking for him still. I heard his voice from behind his bedroom door. I stepped closer and was about to knock when I heard a very unfamiliar voice as well. It was clear and deep without much emotion to it.

"What are you doing with this here? The rabbit is calling for her, you know that. I thought we ordered you to get rid of all of these."

"I know, I know..." That was my grandfather. "That mirror just meant so much to my wife is all, I couldn't bear to get rid of it..."

"It's dangerous to have it around. You best make sure she never gets to it or it'll mean your head."

I pulled back, full of curiosity and confusion. I walked back downstairs as quietly as I could and took Charles up to my room to recover. One thing was for certain. I was definitely getting past that door tonight.

And Charles was coming with me.

AN:

I'm having a lot of fun here. Charles is a thinly veiled nod to Charles Dodgson/ Lewis Carroll.

Much Love,

Evan.