Special thanks to the Publishing module at The University of Winchester for enabling me to produce this publication.
My housemates for providing an entertaining source of inspiration when it came to writing.
WRITING & DEVELOPMENT
The following is a work of fiction, inspired by the work of Lewis Carroll and his novel ‘Alice in Wonderland’.
All characters in these stories are a work of fiction.
All events in these stories are fictional. Some, however, are drawn from the first-hand experience of the author, and do in no way reflect everyone’s opinions or experiences.
All of these stories were written for the sole purpose of entertainment and enjoyment to the reader.
ARTWORK
Special thanks to the various artists at DeviantArt for giving permission for their artwork & photographs to be used. I in no way, claim ownership over the material used. I only claim ownership over the edits & alterations made, as well as the writing included in this book.
ALICE
The girl that appeared to have fallen out of a story book was timid, but brave to say the least. Long brown hair thick enough to look like a helping of chocolate ice cream atop a vanilla sundae, eyes as brown as the coffee stains you’d find on old parchment, her body was as smooth and curvy as the perfect stone you’d use to skip across a lake.
The key trembled in her hand as she took the first few steps forward. The wind from above seemed to be pushing her forward, eager to see which of the two options she was going to choose. As she stepped forward towards the strange and abnormal looking door, the sky began to break open. A warm summer shower began to rain down on the girl.
The girl increased her pace, sheltering her eyes from the rain with her hand. The cobble path on which she was walking down began to twist and turn. The key remained tightly gripped inside the girl’s hand, waiting to meet the lock on the other side of the door.
WHITE RABBIT
The White Rabbit worried about what awaited him on the other side of the door. How long would it take to die he pondered? How would he know if he had died? His face twitched and itched as the thoughts became more vivid in his head. Questions exploding in every direction. Death was the only thing that he could think about.
The key was inside his blazer pocket, hidden from the eyes of the outside world. There was no way of knowing the answers to any of the questions that he continued to have. The only information he knew to be true was that he had a key, and in front of him was a door. This was something that didn’t tickle his fancy – a lack of information.
He tiptoed forward with great hesitation, unsure if this world would throw any surprises at him. The sky turned dark, the twinkling of starlight the only thing that lit the path in front of him. As he approached the door he suddenly thought to himself, what would happen if he turned the key the correct way instead and lived?
HATTER
The concept of a life-changing key was a new one to him. A door that when opened would lead you to your destiny, or a portal to your immediate death. Oddly enough, the idea of these possibly being the last few moments of his life didn’t appeal to him. The Hatter, like so many others that had taken this challenge, wanted to vanish and forget that this whole experience had ever happened.
The sky remained tranquil as if it was getting ready for the dawn of a new day. The young man looked at his pocket watch and smiled at the time. The hands on the clock didn’t move, stuck on the last moment that Hatter had been in the real world. The key dangled around his neck, twinkling in the last few moments of the newly birthed light, before the world became completely eclipsed in its warmth and tenderness.
He marched towards the door with anticipation and hope. If one worries over everything, then the world around them becomes twisted and dark.
As the door appeared to move towards the man, the world around him began to unhinge and dissolve itself into a state he had already imagined. A world of his creation which he knew to be true. He smiled and opened his arms to it, ready to accept the outcome which that had already been decided upon.
RABBIT
He stood still and glared at the door, his foot tapping against the path on which he stood. Was it eagerness? Was it annoyance? It was difficult to tell at this point. He pulled out a small spoon from his pocket, a dish from his coat, and a cup from his rucksack. He gripped the plate firmly, after placing the cup daintily on top of it.
Despite his earlier frustration, he seemed to show excessive care when it came to the art of tea making. The cup began to fill up with a brown coloured liquid. Two leaves fell from a nearby tree, twisting themselves into small green cubes that dissolved in the liquid and created the brew.
The tea started to dissolve out of his cup as if it was never there in the first place. Rabbit’s bottom lip quivered as his concept of heaven had vanished from his grasp yet again. In its place was a small brown key that laid at the bottom of the empty tea cup. Naturally the young being put two and two together and assumed that the key would fit in the door that was in front of him. He stepped forward, with the idea of making another cup of tea firmly planted within his head.
CHESHIRE CAT
Suffice to say the others weren’t as meticulous as the last. Cat looked at the door, and looked at the key that had been given to him. He couldn’t remember who or what had given him this strange object, but knew that putting it into a door that possibly led to nowhere was a bad idea.
But that wasn’t how the game worked. At least that wasn’t how the game worked at the time. The sky thundered again, but the youngest of the group still didn’t move. He sat on the cobbled path and refused to take another step forward. He placed his key inside his jacket pocket and tried to forget that it was even there. He believed that there were more important things to be thought about than doors and keys.
He itched his head to try and think of something to pass the time. The world suddenly seemed very opaque and boring in comparison to what it once was. The colour had been sucked out of the realm, leaving very little room for imagination or fun. The youngest of the group looked back at the door that appeared to have retained its colour, as if it was calling out to be unlocked. Though one must never give in to temptation, destiny is something completely different altogether.
The key unlocked the door in a single turn. There was no hesitation from the one who unlocked the door. Who that was, however, wasn’t yet made clear. The group stood in the doorway and looked inside. It was dark and muggy, like the entrance of a never-ending tunnel.
Liquid dripped from the roof of the tunnel, followed by an ominous gust of wind that began to pull them inside. The White Rabbit twitched his nose as the smell from the cave weaved its way inside of his nose.
It was pungent and damp. Like wet sand and salted air that reminded you of a southern beach. The only sound they could hear was the faint echo of the wind that urged them to begin their adventure.
“You know you want to,” a voice whispered in their ears. The group paused and looked at the worry and doubt that had been carved into each of their faces. They still had no idea as to why they had each been given keys, why they had to unlock a door, and why they had all been put together. The only thing they knew for certain was that ahead of them was a tunnel, and behind them an inevitable and painful end.
“You must keep going. Otherwise you will lose the game.” The voice joked again. Alice stepped forward, her foot just narrowly touching the cave floor. Rabbit gripped her arm, trying to pull her back into the safety of the outside.
“You can’t,” he said. “You don’t know what’s inside.”
“We haven’t got any other choice.” White Rabbit said with a tone of superiority in his voice. “We can’t go back, you heard the voice.”
“But what if it was lying?” Rabbit said with desperation. Cheshire cat rolled his eyes, already irritated by one of his companions that he had become stuck with.
“Where else are we going to go?” Hatter asked, crossing his arms across his torso. “There is no exit.” Rabbit’s bottom lip trembled; unimpressed that so many people were against him in the first place.
“Trust me, Rabbit.” Alice said, touching his hand with hers. “We just need to keep walking.” Rabbit’s eyes glazed over, his heart beating faster than before. Alice smiled an innocent and friendly grin in his direction. Rabbit’s nose twitched.
“Okay.”
“Why are you sad Mr. Rabbit?” Alice whispered. The group continued to creep their way through the tunnel, avoiding the strange dripping liquid that hovered above their heads. The Hatter, Cat and White Rabbit had already advanced quite far through the tunnel, and though Alice could have followed after them at an even faster pace, she had decided to stay behind and walk with Mr. Rabbit.
His ears were dangling down against his shoulders. His newly bought blazer was already coated in a thin layer of slime. He pulled out a cream handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his nose with it.
“I’m not sad Alice,” He answered. Alice giggled as little girls should and took the handkerchief from the rabbit.
“It’s okay to be sad, you know, Rabbit,” Alice added, wiping her own nose with the small piece of fabric. “If you aren’t sad every now and again, you can’t be happy every now and again.” The rabbit looked up at the little girl who continued to smile without a worry or fear in the world. He however was filled with the opposite. His brain turned and flipped with concern and angst over the feelings he had developed for the girl.
How could he confess? Should he confess? The multitude of emotions continued to twist and turn together until they had moulded themselves into a ball of confusion and distress inside of his head. His steps became sloppy; his brow began to leak with sweat.
Alice didn’t seem to notice the whirlwind of emotions that the rabbit was experiencing, as if she was in another world all together.
Finally, the rabbit fell to the floor. His once cleanly pressed brown trousers were now torn and ripped from pieces of rock and rubble. He had become a rabbit in the headlights, unsure of what to do next. Alice finally noticed Rabbit had been knocked down. His body twitching manically on the floor.
“Oh no, Mr. Rabbit. Are you alright?” she cried, as she grabbed the rabbit firmly by the waist and sat him up as best as she could. Her soft, human hands stroked his matted, autumn fur to reassure him. “Mr Rabbit, can you hear me?” she asked with a distressed tone in her voice. The spoon from the rabbit’s pocket fell onto the floor, transforming itself into yet another key, and rattling as it landed.
“Oh Ms. Alice! I’m so sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you!” the rabbit pleaded. He gazed up into the eyes of the young maiden who sat beside him, cradling him like the tiny animal he was.
“What trouble, Rabbit? I couldn’t just leave you here by yourself. As the two locked eyes, it was hard to break the moment that was forming between them.
The key that rested on the floor began to rattle and click.
The rabbit’s eyes watered and shimmered as happiness began to grow inside of him. His earlier sense of self-doubt was beginning to dissolve away and disappear as if it wasn’t ever there to begin with.
“Come now, we have to catch up with the others,” Alice added, patting her friend on the head. As she stood, her eye caught the sight of the key on the floor. How unusual, she thought to herself. The rabbit quickly grasped it in his hand, placing it back into his pocket before Alice could say anything.
“Let’s keep this quiet, shall we?” the rabbit said with a twitch of his nose.
READY SET GO
“What do you mean we’re lost?” The White Rabbit shouted. Alice sat still on her toadstool, drawing swirls and circles into the ground beneath her feet. The Cheshire cat continued to laugh manically from a tree as the argument raged on.
“I said we are lost man, alright!?” The Rabbit argued back. The two continued to argue back and forth until neither had the energy to pursue the other. The Mad Hatter rolled his eyes at the dispute. He knew that neither of them knew where they were going, however, even he had to admit that the White Rabbit had more reasoning than Rabbit.
The Rabbit stomped his feet in a state of anger, shaking the ground beneath him. After leaving the cave, the group had stumbled upon a series of unique paths. Each was blocked by twisting bushes and trees, with brightly coloured flowers decorating each route. One path seemed to lead to a tall, multicoloured building, another, a maze made from stones and rocks, and even one that led to a flight of stairs into the clouds.
“Do we really need this childish act Rabbit?” Alice asked quietly. He froze, uncertain as to why the tiny girl had decided to question him. The Cheshire cat slid down from his tree and leant eagerly over the Mad Hatter’s shoulder, whispering into his ears.
“I think we may have found our first split in the group Hatter, what says you to leaving?” He asked. The cat was known for being the sneakiest out of all in the group. He was able to charm his way into any discussion, and often go completely unnoticed by the others. The Hatter rolled his eyes and didn’t respond. He knew that he was wiser than the Cheshire cat, and that all of this was nothing more than a scheme to cause trouble. “Or would you prefer to resolve this matter alone?” He asked.
The Hatter stood up from the ground and marched towards Rabbit, who was still furious. It was certainly Hatter who was the most mature out of everyone in the group.
“You need to drop this Rabbit. If we carry on like this, we’ll be stuck here forever.” He pointed out. The Rabbit drooped his ears like a lost puppy. At this point, the White Rabbit couldn’t help but overhear their conversation. “Listen, just apologize to him, and we can try and get out of this mess together.”
“Forget it!” The White Rabbit shouted. “I don’t want anything to do with him! His attitude is disgusting!” with that, he ran off down one of the narrowing paths that were ahead of the group. The Cheshire cat chuckled beneath his breath before following after him. They were partners in crime, but, no-one had yet caught onto that fact.
“Wait!” Alice cried out. The girl stretched out her hand to try and grasp her friends back, but her efforts were useless. The Hatter shook his head and sat down on the ground, clearly frustrated with the lack of empathy that Rabbit was showing.
“Are you happy now? They’re gone.” Hatter crossed his arms and gazed at the drawings that Alice had drawn. The Rabbit adjusted his waistcoat to smarten himself up.
“Yes, actually I am.” He replied. Alice looked back up at him, scanning his face for some form of sign that he was lying. There was nothing, not even a smile. It was like looking upon a sad canvas devoid of art. Alice could feel the shudder of a cold shiver down her spine.
Something was awakening.
His idea of common sense was severely fractured. His tail longer than any normal lizards should be, smell distinctive enough to be picked up on from a mile away, and voice as annoying as a broken truck horn.
The Cheshire cat shook his head as the White Rabbit argued his point across to the lizard. The pair had stumbled upon an abandoned house where they thought best to rest for the night. The only issue was that a Lizard was lurking in the darkened corner of the house, and now refused to leave.
“We just want to rest, please let us use this house.” White Rabbit argued. The Lizard didn’t move from his spot, he coughed and hissed but that was about it. “How long have you been here exactly?” White Rabbit asked again.
“About twelve hours.” The Lizard replied. The Cheshire cat laughed into his paws, his face turning a bright red from the delight he was now feeling. Could it be that the Cheshire Cat foresaw this meeting?
“And is this house yours Lizard?” The Cheshire Cat asked, coughing on his laughter as he spoke.
“Nope.” Lizard replied. The White Rabbit walked back outside to get some fresh air, the sound of the lizard and Cheshire Cat arguing back and forth continued to roar through the house. He sighed, and examined some of the vegetables that were growing in the garden. There were carrots, cauliflowers, and a rather unusual purple looking fruit hanging from a tree.
It had been awhile since White Rabbit had last had something to eat, his stomach rumbled from hunger. He lifted his little rabbit paws into the dirt and began to dig into the ground to fetch a carrot. The soil was hard and cracked, as if it hadn’t been hoed or tended to for quite some time. The lizard ran outside being chased by the Cheshire Cat.
“Just because I don’t have a key to this house doesn’t mean I can’t stay here!” Lizard proclaimed. The Cheshire Cat laughed once again at the Lizard’s stupidity. “Besides, I do have a key, I just…don’t know where it goes.” He added.
The White Rabbit crunched into his newly harvested carrot before realizing what the Lizard had said. The keys, he had one as well. He sifted through his blazer pocket and pulled out the small golden key he had on his person.
“Does it happen to look like this?” White Rabbit asked. The Lizard nodded.
“What do you think this could mean Cat?” White Rabbit asked again. The Cheshire Cat chuckled quietly and shrugged his shoulders. The White Rabbit at this point knew that perhaps his friend knew more than what he was letting on. They had all been given the same instructions to go through the same door, however, that was all they knew to be factual. He pondered for a moment, thinking what use a collection of keys would be.
“Everyone in Underland has a key.” The Lizard added, stroking his tail with his slimy, green hands. The White Rabbit twitched his nose even more.
“And why is that?” He asked. The Lizard flicked his vision between both the Cat and White Rabbit, clearly hesitant to reply. “How many people are there here in…Underland.”
“Only a handful. You have to be chosen to come here.” Lizard replied.
THE LIZ-OCKET
The Mad Hatter had walked around each of the strange and bizarre looking pathways, every time returning to Alice and the Rabbit.
“How could they have disappeared like that?” He asked the others. Alice shook her head, refusing to look back up from her drawings. The names of the White Rabbit and the Cheshire cat were now carved into the ground. The Rabbit on the other hand lent his body firmly against the body of an old willow tree, his arms crossed across his chest.
“Perhaps they got eaten by something, or even swallowed by this world itself!” Rabbit argued. The Mad Hatter rolled his eyes and removed his hat, sifting his hand through the inside. In a matter of moments, he pulled out a rainbow coloured handkerchief and blew his nose.
“You know that attitude of yours is what caused this to happen in the first place.” The hatter argued. The Rabbit twitched his nose and looked away. Alice stood up from her toadstool and walked closer towards one of the coloured paths. “What’s wrong?” Hatter asked as he tucked his handkerchief back into his hat.
“Perhaps we should go towards the stairs.” Alice pointed out, her finger pointing towards the stairs in the distance. The Hatter smiled at the idea, reluctant to tell Alice that he had already wandered down that path. “We may all end up meeting in the same place.”
Just then, the ground started to shake beneath Hatter’s feet. The soil cracked and broke. Hatter jumped next to Alice, holding onto his hat in case it fell into the ground. Rabbit’s ears twitched, he turned back around to see what all the commotion was. A small hole had now formed in the ground, a tunnel so to say. Alice crouched down to see what was inside, causing Rabbit to stumble forward and take notice in what was going on.
“I think I can hear something.” Alice said, her head leaning towards the hole to hear better.
“What do you think it is?” Hatter asked. Alice squinted her eyes, trying to pick up on each of the tiny sounds.
“Its…its getting louder.” She pointed out. WHOOOP. The lizard unexpectedly zipped up from the hole and into the sky. Alice fell backwards in shock. “What on earth?” The Hatter and Rabbit watched as the Lizard soared through the sky, until finally landing with a crash on the ground.
“Are you dead?” The Cheshire Cat shouted from the hole.
“Cat!? Is that you?” The Hatter shouted. He gazed into the hole.
“Oh Hatter, um…is the Lizard dead?” Cheshire Cat replied. The Hatter turned and looked at the unusual creature that had splatted itself on the floor.
“I don’t…think so?” Hatter replied. The Lizard flickered its eyes open and looked around. Alice turned her body around and began to crawl towards the Lizard to lend him a hand. “Why are you in a hole anyway Cat?” Hatter asked. Then, White Rabbit and Cheshire Cat both poked their heads through the hole in the ground, and looked at the Hatter.
“Well, we couldn’t find a path back to you.” The White Rabbit pointed out. “So, I had to make one, initiative and all that.” The Cheshire cat laughed under his breath once again, the Rabbit getting more frustrated the longer it went in for.
“Is that a dig at me by any chance?” Rabbit asked, hopping his way towards the hole. The White Rabbit sighed.
“You need to get over yourself Rabbit, we found a clue.” White Rabbit replied. Hatter turned to face the Lizard, who’s key was dangling around his tail. “I think we all deserve an explanation.”
The group sat around a freshly lit fire that the hatter had ignited. In the world of Underland, time didn’t seem to be a strong concept. One moment it would be a dark and cold night, then the next it would be a sunny and bright day.
The flowers and plants that grew in Underland were luckily edible. The only way they had of knowing which ones were good or not was to forcefully encourage Lizard to try them. At first it had seemed that the group of five were the only ones in Underland, now it appeared to be that there were more.
“Mine tastes like pizza.” Rabbit said. “With some sort of kick to it?” He added. Cheshire cat chuckled as he cooked his flower bud over the flames. Alice chewed on a mushroom that she had picked earlier. It had the texture of a Victoria sandwich, but the taste of a strawberry cheesecake. Hatter was busy picking more samples from the flower bushes and trees, it seemed that he had become the leader of the group since the rabbit’s dispute.
“So how long have you been here Lizard?” Alice asked politely. Her cheeks were puffed out like some small hamsters as she chowed down on another mushroom. The Lizard twiddled his thumbs together, hesitant to join the others in their meal.
“I don’t know actually.” He replied. Cheshire cat rolled his eyes. “I just sort of stumbled here.”
“How can you stumble here?” Cat asked. The Lizard held his hand up to the cat, like a traffic warden does to cars in the real world.
“Don’t interrupt me.” The Lizard said. The Cat was taken back, how could he have known the Lizard was going to continue talking with a topic like that. The Lizard took in a deep breath and continued his point. “The last thing I remember, I was walking to some sort of building. It was filled with people and posh looking buildings.”
“How peculiar.” Alice said, lowering her mushroom onto her lap to listen more carefully to the Lizard. “I don’t remember anything like that.”
“You’re right. I only remember seeing a door.” Hatter said as he sat down beside Alice.
“Well, I did see that too…but I remember before that as well.” Lizard said. The group hesitated, each swallowing a mouthful of food to break the tension. “Do any of you remember before you arrived in Underland?” Lizard asked. There was no response, each of the original five focusing their sole attention on their food.
The fire crackled and hissed. The wood that was sustaining its life force almost entirely burnt out. Cheshire Cat twisted and turned his skewer that was jam-packed with mushroom, flowers, and leaves. The different colours of each piece began to darken and gain a thick, black, charcoal coating around each individual chunk. By the time the Cat noticed, the White Rabbit had already thrown the skewer into the hole they had emerged from earlier.
“I was gonna eat that!” He yelled. The White Rabbit glared at the Cat, who immediately backed down.
“Any particular reason why you took so long to notice Cat?” the White Rabbit replied. Cheshire Cat swallowed heavily, his demeanour changing from its typical clown like personality to nothing more than a confused and delirious child. The Lizard looked puzzled at the Cat, his face trying to place him in a world that may or may not have known him before.
