Chapter 4

Return To Wonderland

By Courtney Erickson

"Wait, what do you mean Wonderland?" I said, shocked. I have to be dreaming. This cannot be happening.

The doorknob once again rolled his eyes at me. "Wonderland is where you are now. Well, I guess where you will be, if you go through my door. I suppose you have met a girl named Arianna?"

"Yes, I have actually. It was quite strange…..She told me to ask for the hatter, I have no idea what that means…." I said, remembering what the girl had said to me before I had plummeted to this strange place I could never imagine.

"Ah, I see. Things are going quite smoothly then. I suppose you haven't met a girl named 'Alice?" He said to me once again.

"Well, no I haven't. Who is she?" I replied, curiosity leaking through my disguise.

"Alice, oh dear….. She was supposed to return, but we haven't heard from her at all. Not even once." I looked away for a moment, glancing at the table and chair, and sighed. This was all so very strange.

"Well….apparently I am uh….'needed' here….I have no idea what I'm supposed to do or where I am to go…but I guess I am going to need to enter through your door. Your door is too small for me….I don't see how I could possibly fit in through there….." I said, hoping there was a way I could get out of this. All I wanted now was to be home, with my family in our little house in Montana. I closed my eyes, picturing my warm kitchen, with my mother making supper and my sister and I talking quietly at the table. The smell of comfort and warmth drifted through the air. I opened my eyes, sighing. I needed to be home with my family. I must be hallucinating or something. There is no way a place like 'Wonderland' or whatever could even exist.

"….I'm sorry, but I can't be here. I have to home with my family. They are probably wondering where I am. I can't stay here!" I said, standing up.

"Oh but you must stay! Wonderland is in peril! If you won't stay, then this will continue and there will be no hope for us all! And there is no telling if Alice will ever return. It has been decades since we have seen her! Oh please Audrey, we need you." The doorknob said pleadingly. Oh great, one other person who unexplainably knows my name.

"What is with all you people knowing my name? I have never seen you before in my life! And besides, doorknobs can't talk anyway. It's impossible!" I said frustrated, crossing my arms.

"Why of course we can talk! Don't be silly. Anything can happen in Wonderland." He said again. "Now, on that table over there is a small bottle. Drink it, and you will shrink down to fir through this door! Please Audrey, obviously there is no way to get home down here. The only way now is Wonderland." He said. That did make me think for a while. Obviously there was no way out here. Except for 'Wonderland' or whatever it was. I sighed.

"Well….ok. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try it…." I walked over to the wooden table and looked at the small bottle sitting on the table. The top was covered with a cork and around it there was a note that read "DRINK ME". I held the little bottle up my eyes. The liquid was clear. It shimmered and sparkled and looked as if it held tiny diamond crystals inside it. My trembling hand pulled of the cork. A cloud of silver dust shot out and shimmered away from the bottle, almost like a deranged and unusual form of evaporation.

"Go on, drink it." The doorknob said, behind me. I opened my lips and poured the liquid down my throat. Immediately, I felt a strange whooshing sensation and everything around me turned into a blur. Before I knew it, I was about 3 inches tall.

"This is so weird…." I said.

"HA! You think this is strange? Audrey, this is nothing! You are going to need to get used to strange things. All of Wonderland is strange. Even I'm strange. And if you spend enough time there, you will be strange too!" He said chuckling. I just looked at him, not even wanting to reply to that…

"Well, that's that then…..all that's left to do now, is to go through the door!" He said. At that very moment, he opened the door. A swirl of colorful light filled the room. In the doorway there were colors, swirling in circular motion. Almost as if someone took a bunch of acrylic paints and swirled them together. I walked toward the door and set my foot through, entering the world that would change my life.

To be continued………….