Suddenly, I whisked away, like Alice to Wonderland, falling down the rabbit hole forever.

The air around me moved so fast; I must have been traveling at the speed of light- or faster.

I closed my eyes and waited, just waited, for the trip to be over.

"Stephen? Where are you, Stephen?" the pleasant and plump black maid called from her current position on the porch. Hanging up laundry was not the chore that required one to be moving all around the house now.

Rebecca harrumphed and dropped the canary-yellow sheet she was about to hang up. Putting her hands on her hips, she twirled around and yelled once more. "Stephen!"

Irritated at the prospect of not getting all of the laundry on the clothesline, she stomped off into the wonderfully huge Thomas family mansion. Rebecca knew that around this time in the summer, Madame Thomas was usually painting in the upstairs drawing room.

However, after climbing two sets of long and winding stairs, Rebecca could not find Madame Thomas anywhere. She did hear the twinkling of the piano coming from behind her, so she hurried off to the music room which was at the other end of the hall.

Stephen's younger sister, Alexandria, was all dolled up in her favorite white summer dress while practicing what sounded like a lullaby to Rebecca. "Miss Thomas?" Rebecca cleared her throat.

Alexandria looked up from the keys, but did not stop playing. She slowly turned her head in the maid's direction. "Yes, Rebecca?"

"Where is your brother at? He is being summoned, and I cannot find him anywhere."

Alexandria shrugged and finished out the sweet song. Rebecca continued, "I also cannot find your mother. Do you know where she is at as well?"

The blonde-haired girl nodded. "She is with my aunt Patrice. They're at a store picking out dresses and other things."

Rebecca nodded and curtsied and scurried out of the doorway. She just had to find Stephen before his mother knew that the most trusting maid of the entire household had lost him!

Alexandria waited for Rebecca to leave before she quietly got up from her place at the piano. Stephen missing! The young girl thought of all the different possibilities.

Perhaps if she found him, he would be in so much trouble- and she would get extra desserts forever!

But what if she did find him, and the place he was at was so magical, she wouldn't leave either? Alexandria wondered if her mother would be upset with her as well.

It didn't matter. She found herself being pulled out of the music room, then down the hall, then down the stairs, then into the backyard…

Alexandria raced outside, past the old gardener and his faithful wife; behind the still-searching Rebecca; and past her Golden Retriever puppy. Sanders followed her anyway, yipping the entire way to the farthest corner of the Thomas' backyard.

She did not realize that such a place could even exist. "Funny, I don't remember our shed being over here," she thought. She slowed down to a halt; Sanders ran into her legs from behind her.

"Sanders!" she shouted as she fell over into the dirt. She stood up again, glared at the playful puppy, and dusted off her dress. "You dumb dog! Now I have dirt all over my favorite dress! And my shoes are scuffed! And my hair-!" She pointed a commanding finger at him. "Stay there!"
He whimpered as he sat down obediently. Alexandria rolled her eyes as she adjusted her hair bow and walked towards the mysterious shed. It seemed to resemble a miniature house, with blue clapboard and white single-paneled windows. There was a flower box underneath each window. The door, which was also white, opened before Alexandria could even touch the doorknob.

Sanders barked once and ran ahead of Alexandria and into the shed. "Sanders!" she screamed. She tried to catch the dog, but he was too fast for her. Alexandria, against her own intuition, ran inside the shed.

Unfortunately, this was not the only unintelligent thing she had ever done.