Down the Rabbit Hole - Tryout Story - No Posting

[Weeping_Angel }Y{]

Hello everyone! I'm Weeping_Angel }Y{, but you can call me Angel. This story is going to be part of my form for Inkling wolf #8.

Inkling wolves

IW #8

My form

Tarrant Hightopp

[Weeping_Angel }Y{]

You see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push! ~ The Joker

A little push of some sort, maybe by the wind or some other invisible force, was all it took to send me tumbling and whirling down and down and down. All along the way I tumbled and turned, bumping into couches and cushions and books, and even a baby grand piano. How do I know of these things? Why, I am Alice Lidell of London. My owners were kind and wise, not to mention rich. They lived in a large stone building – I think they called it a mansion – with a large yard and garden, and then acres of forest that I would often roam around in. They worried, but never so much that they would come looking for me for I always came back. But how was I to get back now, as I continued to fall past furniture, deeper and deeper into the earth?

Where I had fallen was another thing. A rabbit hole, hardly big enough for any creature other than a rabbit or hare to fit, had seemingly grown beneath me as I stood over it. I was in the woods, the golden sunlight streaming into the small clearing and lighting the pond where I often rest in the afternoon after tea, when my peace was interrupted by none other than a snow white rabbit. In his tiny paw he held a pocket watch, and he seemed to be muttering to himself about something, before he stuffed the watch into the pocket of his soft blue waistcoat and raced off into the trees.

Now, it has often been said of me that my curiosity will one day get the better of me, and I suppose today is that day, for after the rabbit raced off I stood and pursued him. Oh, the thrill of the chase was wonderful. A slight breeze whipped through my fur, reaching under the dress my owners had decided to put on me that morning – not that I minded, in fact I rather liked dressing up. My ink-like mane and tail flowed in a trail behind me, easily slipping through bushes and branches as I continued after the rabbit.

He was fast, faster than any creature I had ever seen, and I lost sight of him many a time, instead relying on the sense of smell inherited from my ancestors. That was when I stumbled upon the rabbit hole. I looked into it, but all I could see was darkness that seemed to go on forever. In fact I was turning away when the ground swallowed me up and I began my plummet.

Still falling downward, I began to notice that the furniture, books and trinkets all seemed to be rising toward the surface I had come from, though how far away it now was I had no idea. "How odd." I murmured, looking down.

The furniture had vanished, as if the supply that had once seemed endless had run out. Below me a checkered floor came into view, and I was racing towards it. Bracing myself for impact, I covered my eyes with my paws and plummeted down onto the tiles. I stayed there for only a few seconds before the floor shattered under my weight and I landed hard in a spiral room. A single table lay to my right with a small dish labeled 'drink me' and a small key.

Doors lined the walls of the rounded room, but only one thing called out to me. In a far corner, shrouded in darkness, hung a deep red curtain. Grabbing the key, I tucked it into a small sash I wore around my leg and approached the curtain. By pulling it aside I found a tiny door only big enough for a mouse. "Curious," I said softly, "that whoever created this place would expect one to be able to fit through such a small door."

My thoughts then turned back to the dish laying on the glass surface of the low table. Thinking it worth a shot, I slowly took a few sips. With barely enough time to take a breath, I shrunk down and down until I was in the sea of fabric that had once been my favorite dress. Of course, it still was, but now it was even larger on me than it had been when I was a young pup and first laid eyes on it. At least the cloth wrapped around my leg had remained intact, shrinking with me as if there was magic in the key hidden behind it.

At this level, I easily noticed a small box similar to the ones my people would sometimes bring home from the bakery with a small cake or biscuit for me. Walking over to it, a strange but pleasant smell hit my nostrils, beckoning to me. I carefully nosed open the box to find a small, bite-sized cake with the words 'eat me' written delicately on the top. I opened my mouth as if to gulp it down, but something stopped me from taking the cake onto my tongue. Whether instinct or wariness, I did not know, but I listened and instead closed the box, placing it on the sea of blue silk behind me.

Carefully, I dragged the fabric to the tiny door that I was now just the right size to fit in. The key fit perfectly in the lock, as I had suspected, and I turned it to hear a satisfying 'click'. As I gently grasped the fabric of my dress in my teeth, the heavy wooden door swung open with little sound to reveal a world spinning with color. The sights and smells of this place made me begin to feel dizzy, though I still stepped through the door and pulled my dress behind me.

Once the silken fabric had cleared the doorway, I heard the heavy slam of the door shutting itself, as if by magic. Around me grew beautiful flowers, reaching to the sky like trees above my head. The ground below me was soft, not damp and muddy like it sometimes was at home, or even as hard as rock under my paws. It was as if I was walking on clouds, or the soft mattress of my people's room at home.

Home. It's funny, before now I never really considered the large stone building where my people lived as home. Even now, it didn't feel like home, more of a memory. A place where I grew up and learned, but never loved. This place, however, was different. Here among the bright colors, magical breezes and soft songs of the flowers I felt at home. How did I know the songs were coming from the flowers, you might ask. Well, I could hear them singing softly, as if welcoming me to their garden in this magnificent place.

Still, no matter how beautiful it was from the ground, I still wished to see it from above. Turning back to my dress, laying in a slight heap behind me, I laid eyes on the box holding the alluring cake. Once more, I gently nosed open the lid and my eyes fell on the fancy message. 'Eat me.' It seemed so simple, and yet I couldn't help but feel it was so much more complicated. Silently hoping I wasn't making a mistake, I laid the box in front of the neckline of my dress and crawled in so my body was hidden by the fabric.

I took a deep breath and reached out, picking the cake up in a single bite and swallowing it down, barely chewing. While it was rather unladylike for me to do such a thing, the sweet-smelling cake actually tasted quite horrible and I wished to get it out of my mouth as quickly as I could. My relief of getting the cake down lasted mere seconds as an uncomfortable tightening and then stretching of my limbs and innards occurred, until I was my normal size again and my dress was once again comfortably on my back.

Insanity is knowing what you're doing is completely idiotic, but, somehow, you just can't stop it. ~ Unknown

I was being completely and utterly idiotic, then, as I made my way through the beautiful gardens and forest. I knew it was rather stupid of me to travel deeper into an unknown place, but once more I let my curiosity take over. That did not stop the feeling that I was being watched or, more accurately, followed. I looked behind me, turning my head quickly in order to find what was watching me, but to no avail. What I did find, however, was that my once dull, charcoal feather was now swirling with cyan and white. "Curiouser and curiouser." I mumbled, turning back to the overgrown path my paws had led me down.

It seemed to be widening ever so slightly, opening up to a well lit clearing filled with whistling and singing. I perked my ears, and could make out two somewhat familiar voices, though where I had heard them before I could not have told you. Picking up the pace, I came upon a garden near a partially run-down windmill. In the garden was a long line of tables, with many mismatched chairs about it, and assorted teapots and teacups and saucers. Down at the far end of the table sat a hare with wild eyes and straw-colored hair that stuck up at every angle, and a mouse with shining silver fur sitting on the rim of a teapot.

Their familiarity nearly drove me bonkers, but then my eyes fell on the wolf at the head of the table. In an instant, it all came rushing back. Here, at the March Hare's garden in Underland with Mally and Tarrant was where the adventure had really begun the last time I was here as a pup. Why, Tarrant and I had been the best of friends then, and nothing could have separated us. We had stumbled upon the rabbit hole together, and fallen down it into this world of color.

Back then it had taken many tries before we found the secret of the cake and drink, but there had always seemed to be as endless a supply as there was of the floating furniture. Our adventure was magnificent, first with the Cheshire cat, and then that horribly rude caterpillar - Absolem I believe - before we stumbled upon the most delightful tea party either of us had been to.

We danced and partied, riddled and laughed for hours on end, and neither of us really ever wanted to leave. Tarrant, having no family of his own, had chosen to stay back at the never-ending tea party while I made my way through the wood in the hopes of finding someone that could guide me home. It had been great trouble to find my way home, but I finally did so and was delighted to be back in my people's arms.

Now here I was again, at the utterly mad tea party where I had left behind my pup-hood friend for the familiar luxury of London. Letting myself into the garden, I sighed softly at the strong, sweet scent of tea and made my way forward towards the table. The whistling and singing grew louder as I made my way closer to Tarrant, though no one had noticed me yet. Such a familiar song it was, that they were singing and the teapots were whistling, I had to restrain myself to keep from singing along.

Still, I made it to the head of the table with nary an incident and snuck up behind my dear friend's chair. He was just as I remembered him, though he had obviously grown since we were pups, and his eyes were filled with a cheer unlike any I had seen in him before. There was something else about him that I couldn't place, but it hardly mattered to me. Imagine, after all these years I finally got to see Tarrant, my Hatter, once more.

"Hatter." I said, somewhat softly though still easily loud enough to be head a midst the whistling and singing.

Immediately the merrymaking stopped and he whipped around, his strikingly bright eyes tinged with orange and gold. "What are ye doin' 'ere, lassie?" he asked, voice thick with his accent.

It had been so long since I had heard it, and never quite as thick as it now was, but it still brought me comfort despite the slight anger found in his eyes. "My, Hatter, you don't mean to tell me you have forgotten me, do you?"

Slowly but surely his eyes faded back to their normal green and blue tones, and recognition replaced the anger. "Alice? Is that you, Cricket?"

"Yes, Hatter, it's me." I giggled at the use of his old nickname for me, though it seemed fair since I was using his as well.

At my confirmation he jumped down from his chair, his hat wavering slightly atop his head but never falling. "It has been so long, I though I might never see you again. I'm surprised you even remember me."

I embraced him, and he I, before we returned to our conversation. "Oh my dear Hatter, it has been a long time indeed, but I could never truly forget you. And now, I am here to stay."

His smile grew until it could rival Cheshire's, and I couldn't help but return it. "So you won't be headed back to the Lidells?"

"Of course not, Tarrant. I refuse to leave your side again."

I was surprising myself with my own words, but the more I thought on them the truer they seemed. I really would never leave him; I couldn't bear to part from him again. The journey back home had seemed so long last time, and even then I felt like I was missing something. It wasn't my home, and it had never really been so. My heart had always been here, in Underland, since before I had left Tarrant here.

As I was lost in thought, Tarrant's face fell. "Oh Alice, you wouldn't want to stay here with me. I've gone mad."

He did have a point there. Before I made myself known he had been having as grand a time as the March Hare, when he had been wary the first time they met. Still, I knew I truly would have it no other way. "Yes, you have." I replied.

"See, I knew you wouldn't want to stay." He said softly, eyes darkening and the green growing blue.

"Oh, but I will stay, Tarrant. For you see, you have gone mad, absolutely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret," I said excitedly, before leaning in close. "All the best people are."

I drew back, and his smile returned quickly, as did the light in his eyes. "Oh Alice! I'm so glad you'll be staying. Come, join us for tea."

I moved to his right and took my seat, but not before checking my feather. The swirling cyan and white had finally settled on their places, leaving markings in the grin of the Cheshire cat with a small message I had only faintly remembered from the first time I came. "We're all mad here." I whispered, pulling a steaming cup of tea closer to me and joining in the upbeat unbirthday song that had started once more.

Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring. ~ Marilyn Monroe