Well, after finally making sense of Cheshire Cat's directions, I arrived at my destination….if my destination was supposed to be an enormous garden of nothing but red roses instead of the Well of Wonders. Stupid cat, why did I believe her? She's the mischievous Cheshire Cat, the mother of Kitty Cheshire. Well, I like the roses.

I walked through the big garden, it reminded me of Wonderland Grove, I visited there once before Lizzie Hearts chased me out with her pet hedgehog. I grazed my hand over the silky soft petals, their warm fragrance wafting into my nose. In Wonderland, almost all of the plants were unfamiliar to me, so all of these red roses were a surprise. I remember Mother and me arranging lovely bouquets of colorful roses, and the thought made me homesick.

What if I never see my family ever again? And I love Ever After High;

I'll never see my friends again. With the curse, Wonderland was pretty abandoned, except for the few cursed mad individuals who were stuck here. It was lonely…..and way too nuts. My parents will know I'm gone and they'll go way out of their way to find me. Daring and Dexter will do the same; I can imagine them arguing over who let me run away. Then they'll go back to Ever After High without me (we were on winter break) and I'll miss Spring Fairest and graduation, everything. I had to get home.

I sat down on the satiny green grass, thinking of home. A cute white bunny with a tiny top hat hopped by, I'm not even gonna question it. The rabbit had the most adorable twitching pink nose and big green eyes. I always wanted a rabbit, but at home, I'm stuck with Father's unfriendly hunting dogs and Daring's cocky peacock and Dexter's jackalope. I scratched the bunny's white fur and I already felt better. I stood up and started picking roses. They were as red as a shiny ruby and the sunlight shone on their tiny dewdrops. The rabbit stared at me with worry, like I was committing a crime.

I almost had a full bouquet when a sharp voice interrupted me, "OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!"

All of my roses drop to the ground, the petals strewn all over the ground. A woman with bright red hair, a red heart birthmark over her eye, and a long card-themed red gown stood in the middle of garden; she appeared out of nowhere, which seemed to be the way Wonderland people meet others. The Queen of Hearts: the maddest person in Wonderland. Two Card Guards stood by her side, their faces absolutely emotionless.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" the queen shouted unnecessarily loud, "YOU HAVE COMMITTED THIEVERY AND MURDER, OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!"

"Wait, what murder? I just picked these roses," I squeaked, scared of her guards' weapons.

"MY ROSES, I DECLARE BEHEADING, IMMEDIATELY!"

If this is Wonderland; I'm gonna speak its language. "The snake falls prey, but it lives at the sunshine ray," I said, trying to be cryptic.

The queen got the riddle, but I must've said it wrong. "HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME THAT WAY, YOU SHALL DIE!"

WHAT DID I SAY?! But I didn't have any time to ponder that because the guards tackled me down, book-ball style. They kneeled down and pressed their knees on my hands and held me good and tight. The queen grabbed a hatchet, which also appeared out of nowhere. CAN ANYTHING GO MY WAY?! She angled it right at my neck and was ready for my end. I was almost a goner when the top hat-wearing rabbit attacked the queen.

"GET OFF OF ME!" the queen cried, trying to yank the white rabbit off her face. She fell down and the rabbit transformed into a petite pink-skinned, white-haired girl with bunny ears. I knew her from Maddie's stories, Bunny Blanc, the daughter of the White Rabbit.

"Alistair," she shouted and a lanky, dirty blond-haired boy jumped out of the bushes. I recognized him as Alistair Wonderland, son of Alice. Wow, who else am I gonna meet?

"STOP THEM!" the queen screamed.

But Alistair and Bunny started wrestling the guards and I joined in, wanting revenge for them trying to kill me. When you have two book-ball athletes for brothers (still surprised Dexter made the team), you learn a thing or two. In fact, we played book-ball together as kids before Daring told me the sport was for boys only.

Of course, the queen called forth more soldiers and we eventually were outnumbered. Alistair grabbed my hand and Bunny turned back into a rabbit and we fled to the woods.

"Don't worry, we go through things ten times worse than this," he reassured me as we ran into hiding, with Bunny-as-a-rabbit in Alistair's satchel.

"I'LL GET THAT GIRL'S HEAD IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!" the queen yelled as we escaped.