"Alyss, please come in, it's nearly supper,"

"Coming Mother," Alyss called back as she stood up and brushed herself off. Suddenly she felt a strange sensation, like someone was watching her. Ridiculous, She thought, shaking her head, I'm out in the middle of nowhere. The nearest neighbor is nearly five miles away. She laughed, easily brushing away her feeling of suspicion.

"Alyss!" A voice echoed over the fields.

"Coming!" Alyss shouted, her short amber hair brushing her chin as she began to walk briskly back to her house.

Alyss sat at the dining table picking at her dinner. Her family was conversing easily; the sense on companionship was obvious in the room. However, Alyss was silent.

"Is something the matter, Alyss?" Her mother asked when she noticed Alyss's reluctance to talk.

"Why did we have to move, Mother?"

Mother sighed, "Alyss, we already discussed this. Your grandparents live here and they're getting old, so your father and I decided to move out here to help them with the harvest and such,"

"I didn't need to move," Alyss argued, "I could have moved in with one of my friends. Sarah and Melanie even offered for me to live with them until the end of the year so I could graduate and get a job!"

"We didn't want the family to split up. That's why!" Mother said, beginning to lose her temper.

"I could've stayed in touch! I would have graduated from Pine Mountain High in less than four months! But no! I had to move out here with the rest of you crazy people!" Alyss was shouting now.

The rest of the table had gone silent. Her mother was in a barely concealed rage. Her father was shaking his head slightly, warning Alyss not to go any farther. Her brother Alex was staring at Alyss, admiration plain on his features. Her grandparents looked slightly hurt that Alyss would choose her friends over her family.

Alyss didn't care. She had been ripped away from her old life, and she hadn't had a say in it. She was beyond out of control. "I hate you all. My life would be so much better if you all disappeared!" she screamed.

"Alyss," her mother whispered forcefully, "Go to your room,"

Alyss stood up, knocking over her chair, and stormed away from the table. She stomped up the stairs and slapped her door shut with such force that the walls trembled. Once she was alone, however, she flung herself on to her bed and cried. Her sobs were muffled by the pillow, so no one came to check on her.

After some time Alyss fell deep into the world of dreams, where someone, or rather, something was stalking her.

:-*-:

Alyss is walking through the fields behind the house. She brushes the tops of the wheat stalks with her fingertips, but she is fuming.

Why did my mother have to move us all out here? Alyss thinks angrily. I never had a choice in the matter, and I should of!

"Yes, you should have," a voice from behind Alyss says. Alyss calmly turns around. A white rabbit is sitting in the middle of the field, staring at Alyss with an inquisitive expression. Alyss did the sensible thing to do when dreaming of a talking rabbit. She crouched down and spoke back to it.

"Are you the one who spoke to me?" Alyss smiles dreamily.

The rabbit grins back. "Why, yes I am. Do you mind my speaking?"

"No, not at all Mister, umm, uh…"

"White Rabbit, at your service. But please, call me Mr. Rabbit. And you are—

"Alyss!

The Rabbit laughed. "What a charming name!"

"Well then Mr. Rabbit, what are you doing in my backyard?" Alice says. There was nothing strange in her mind about a talking rabbit. It was only a dream after all.

"I'm looking for someone to come with me to Wonderland." The rabbit grins. "I've been quite lonely you see, and I was hoping to find a companion".

"Oh you poor thing," Alyss despairs, "'I'd love to come with you!"

"That'd be great! Are you ready to go now? I'm afraid we're running a bit late," the rabbit says as he glances at his pocket watch.

"Yeah, let's go now,"

The White Rabbit begins to hop away and Alyss follows. Before long she is standing at the base of the old oak tree. As she glances around she feels that odd sensation again. I wonder where it's coming from. We have no neighbors close enough to watch me here. Alyss frowns, a sense of discord entering her mind. The only one who could be watching me is Mr. Rabbit.

"Alyss, please come along." He was standing at the edge of a large rabbit hole, cleverly concealed beneath the twisting roots of the oak.

Alyss stared, suspicious. She could have sworn the hole was not there a moment ago, but what choice did she have but to follow the rabbit. After all, it's merely a dream. She thought to herself.

"Well, come on then," the Rabbit said right before he jumped into the hole. Alyss dashed over and looked down. It was black as pitch, and seemed to go on forever.

"I have nothing to fear," Alyss said to herself, "I'll wake up soon anyways." Alyss takes a deep breath and jumps in to the black abyss.

:-*-:

Alyss' eyes snapped open and she gasped. She wasn't in the penetrating black of the rabbit hole; she was lying on her bed, still in her house.

What a strange dream, Alyss thought. It wasn't long before she heard a pounding on the door.

"Alyss, get out of bed this instant!" her mother yelled through the door. "It's breakfast! You've been asleep for far too long!"

Alyss stayed silent. She was not in the mood to talk with her mother.

"Alyss! Answer me this instant! Unlock this door!" Her mother continued to yell until she realized that Alyss wasn't responding. "You better be down soon, Alyss," she sighed

Alyss heard her mother walk away. I really don't want to go down, but I can't stop thinking 'bout that dream, Alyss thought and pondered what she should do and finally she gave up. It's not important.

Alyss got out of bed and pulled on her dress, slipped into her stockings and shoes, then walked out the door. She slid down the banister to the next landing, but decided not to eat breakfast with her family. Instead, Alyss snuck into the library and retrieved a book to read outside.

Alyss dashed out of the house like a cat fleeing from water, and she didn't stop until she had reached the oak. Once Alyss arrived, she plopped down on a root to catch her breath.

"I... Need to... Rest... For... A moment." Alyss huffed. As she caught her breath, her thoughts strayed back to the dream.

There's no way, Alyss thought as her eyes scanned the roots of the tree. There's no way that dream could have been re— As Alyss looked, she spotted a hole cleverly concealed by the roots.

"That's not possible…" Alyss said softly as she stood up to examine the hole. It was an exact replica of her dream, down to the grass roots that stuck out from the walls. Alyss knelt down to see if the bottom was in sight. The bottom of the hole was still clear as smoke. So Alyss leaned a tiny bit over the hole, but it not enough to lose her balance.

"Still can't see," Alyss grunted. Abruptly, Alyss felt uneasy, as if someone was watching her . Alyss began to turn, but then was roughly pushed from behind. Her knee slipped on the smooth grass near the edge of the hole, and Alyss began to fall into the blackness.

"No," Alyss gasped as she fell like a stone. She squeezed her eyes shut in fear as the shadows swallowed her whole.