#tkdbcafechallenge

Falling, falling, and falling…

I was falling down a rabbit hole. And of all things, I was surrounded by furniture. I passed by couches, tables, chairs, and even a mirror. I saw myself in a mirror falling upside-down. It was like she was falling in some kind of vertical hallway. And it seemed she would fall right through the earth and come out the other side. And finally she landed in a strange house. It was colorful and the walls were shaped to be rounded and wavy.

That was when she saw a boy with red hair, and a bright, handsome smile. He wore a red, white and black suit. And what was strange about this boy was that he had white rabbit ears and a fluffy tail. He looked down at her, his head cocked to the side. “Gahaha! What are you doing upside-down like that in the fireplace?”

“Oh!” She flipped herself to be right side up. “How silly of me. Thank you, Mr. White Rabbit.”

“Think nothing of it!” He glanced down at his pocket watch. “Goodness, I’m late! You take care, Miss. Don’t go landing upside-down anywhere else!” And with that he took off.

“Wait!” I called out after him, taking off after him. He ran out through a door on the other side of the hallway. “Where are you going?!” I wasn’t sure why, but I was taken aback by this handsome boy. There was something about his handsome, kind smile that I wanted to see again. And my curiosity was getting the best of me.

He flipped open one door. There was another door behind it. Then he opened that door. There was another one behind that. I came up behind him, easily able to catch up. “Struggling, are you?”

“Not in the least bit!” The White Rabbit reassured me, flashing me that smile again. Wow, he really was so cute. He started opening the doors up faster and faster, so much that I started getting dizzy. “Ah! There we go.” The doors finally revealed the outside. The two of us stepped out onto a shore with pale sand. The tide was heavy and we were immediately doused with ocean water. “Noooo!! I can’t pull another suit out of my hat! I don’t even have a hat!”

“No need to worry, friends!” A dodo called out to us from a rock. Or at least I thought he was a dodo. He had grey hair and strange blue eyes with triangle-shaped pupils. The stick of a lollipop hung from his mouth. “You’ll need to run in the caucus race to dry off.” We were suddenly swept up by crabs and seagulls that were running around a rock. We were then doused in more water when another wave washed over us.

“How do you expect us to get dry like this?!” I demanded the dodo.

“Well, just look at me. I’m dry as a bone.” The dodo was indeed dry. But he was on top of the rock with a small fire next to him. I scowled at him in a way that he couldn’t see. Another wave was coming our way and all the creatures had been pulled out to sea. I flailed in the water, trying to grab onto the rock that the dodo was on.

“Grab on, Miss!” The White Rabbit was on an umbrella, passing by. I grasped his hand and he pulled me up onto the umbrella. “Wouldn’t want you to get swept away in this storm.” I don’t know how I didn’t realize but it was pouring and thundering like I had never seen before.

“I wouldn’t want that either.” I smiled and grabbed onto his arm, feeling like a happy cat who found their owner. Who knew rabbits could be so protective and caring? We rode the umbrella onto the shore.

He stepped out, offering his hand to me. I gratefully accepted it and stepped out of the umbrella too. “Ah, my suit… No use complaining! I’ll just have to fetch a new one.” And with that, he took off once again toward the trees at the edge of the beach. I took off after him, calling his name out. I didn’t want him to go, not when he was so kind to me. Maybe he could help me navigate this strange world I found myself in.

The White Rabbit hopped over fallen trees and avoided rocks like he had done so everyday. I, on the other hand, struggled to be so nimble. I watched him get farther and farther away from me. As his figure disappeared, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of hopelessness wash over me. It made me pick up the pace even more. Finally, I came across this quaint cottage with a straw roof. There was a cabbage patch guarded by a white picket fence right next to it. The White Rabbit rushed inside, so I followed.

Upstairs, he was laying out the things he would need in his bedroom. Black pants, a white button-up shirt, and a red vest. He started to undo his clothes when he spotted me. “Miss! I’m flattered you’ve followed me all this way, but it’s inappropriate to watch me undress.” He started to shove me out of his room.

“What if I want to watch you?” I was shocked at my own boldness, but it seemed the White Rabbit didn’t mind.

“Gahaha! You’re a wild one, that’s for sure. Tell you what, you wait for me there, okay?” Before I could get another word out, he slammed the door to his bedroom closed.

My curiosity started to get the best of me, and I wandered out into his kitchen. I called out to him, “What are you late for?”

“Work!” I heard his sharp yet muffled voice.

“Working so hard, aren’t you? Do you ever take the time for yourself?” I stared at a jar of cookies that was on his table. I opened it up, not realizing how hungry I was. The cookies all said “Eat me” in frosted letters. “Don’t mind if I do…”

“There’s no time! No time at all…” The White Rabbit returned downstairs in a sharp suit. His golden pocket watch gleamed in his vest’s pocket.

“Handsome as ever, Mr. Rabbit.” And with that, I took a bite of the cookie. His eyes suddenly widened and he sprinted out the door. “Wait-” But I clutched my stomach when I felt something jerk inside of me. It was like my stomach had flipped upside-down. I suddenly realized that I was growing. Growing and growing much larger than this house was. My feet and arms would have to stick out of the doors and windows. And my head took up the space of the upstairs area. At least there was a window right in front of me so I could look outside.

“Mr. Dodo, thank you for helping me out.” The White Rabbit returned from the forest with the dodo right behind him.

“No need to thank me. Let’s see what the problem is…” The dodo looked up at the house and frowned. He had a lot of experience keeping things tidy and clean. It would only make sense for a rabbit to go to a dodo to make his house neat again. “Oh, a monster. How unfortunate. Well, there is only one solution to this. We’ll have to burn the house down.”

“Yes! We’ll burn the house-” The white rabbit screamed. “Noooo!!! Don’t grab my bird house or my grandfather clock!!” But the dodo was already grabbing things to burn and smashing them against the walls.

“Don’t burn it down when I’m inside!” I tried to scold the dodo, but it seemed to be no use. “Mr. Rabbit, I need something to eat!”

“Still hungry, Miss? I suppose I could fix up my guest something real quick!” The White Rabbit rushed over to his carrot patch and picked two out of the ground. “Nothing like a snack before having to rush to work!” He bit into one of the carrots and tossed the other one up into my open mouth. I swallowed and began to shrink immediately. “Got it all fixed up, Mr. Dodo! I’ll catch you later.” And with that, the White Rabbit rushed off.

And now I was much smaller, no bigger than a blade of grass. I wasn’t even sure that my calls reached the ears of the White Rabbit. But still, I had to try. I had to figure out where I was. I ran off after him through the grass and past the flowers. That was when I spotted a dark blue caterpillar with steel-blue eyes sitting upon a brown mushroom. I must admit, I had never seen a caterpillar wearing a monocle before. He was smoking, using a hookah. Each puff of smoke was formed in the shape of a letter that he would say.

I climbed onto the mushroom next to him. He turned sharply toward me. “Who… Are… You?” With each puff, he released another puff of smoke.

“Oh… I’m not entirely sure.” The mushroom was soft underneath me as I patted it on each side of me.

“You’re not sure? How ridiculous. Who are you?”

“And I just said, I’m not entirely sure.” I couldn’t tell you anything that occurred in my life before this very morning. I couldn’t tell you where I was from or what my name was. “I was following a white rabbit and now I’ve shrunk and I can’t find him anywhere.”

“You know a white rabbit but you don’t know yourself?”

“It’s much easier to know someone else rather than yourself, wouldn’t you say?” Though, there was some strange feeling in me that the rabbit knew who I was. And he was keeping it from me. The thought made me anxious and I shifted on the mushroom to try to feel more comfortable.

He hummed, then took another drag. Then he handed the hookah to me, perhaps sensing my anxiety. “Take it. Trust me, it stops time.”

“Stops time…?” I was hesitant, but I took a drag of it myself. I understood what he meant as soon as I puffed out the smoke. It was like the grass got greener and the sky got bluer. The birds flew slower. The wind came to almost a complete halt. The flowers no longer swayed and I couldn’t hear the sound of rushing water anymore. I wanted to take it for the rabbit to try. Perhaps he would feel better too. “I mean, I’m not entirely sure where I come from or how I got here in any case. Do you think I’m going mad?”

“You’re not already? What a shame. You’ll struggle to fit in a place like this.”

“Like what place? Where are we?” I glanced around at the grass and leaves all around us. I still wasn’t sure what kind of place this was. But somehow, through my hazy mind, it all felt right to me.

“Wherever you want to be. And do keep your questions limited.” The caterpillar grasped his head. He grabbed his hookah back and took another drag. “I’m attempting to take a break from my responsibilities.”

“What do you do?”

“Deal with irritating brats all day.” He took another drag. “It’s my line of work to understand all the on-goings here in Wonderland. I’ve never seen you before, nor are you on any royal register. So if you wouldn’t mind answering, who are you?”

“I still don’t know even if you keep asking.” I, on the other hand, was feeling cheeky. “And why should I stop asking questions? Why don’t you know the White Rabbit like I do? How come you don’t know where he’s heading off to? Why won’t he take any breaks? You know, you still have told me who you are. So who are you?”

He took more and more drags while I rambled on. Before I knew it, the mushroom before me was completely covered in smoke. I couldn’t see the caterpillar at all. I laid back onto the mushroom again, glad to be rid of that irritating caterpillar. And when she leaned back, she spotted a blue butterfly flying above her. “You want to find that rabbit? Then, fine. One side makes you grow taller. And the other side will make you shorter.”

So I took a bite of the mushroom. I waved downwards as I started to grow even taller than the trees. “Oh, goodbye, feet!” I poked my head out of the trees, looking around.

“Damn, you’re huge.” I looked down at one of the branches to find the voice that just said that. And there was a boy, just like the White Rabbit. Except this boy was wearing loose purple clothing. He had grey hair and amber eyes just like a cat’s. And the purple cat ears and tail were telling as well. The cat grinned mischievously. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a girl as big as you are.”

“How rude! I can be small too, you know!” I bit the other piece of mushroom I was holding and I immediately shrunk down to the side of the grass. I ate both pieces at the same time and became the size of a normal girl once again. “Much better.” She looked around and frowned. She had no idea which direction to go.

“Yeah, whatever.” The Cheshire Cat was up in the branches, clearly bored. “Do you even know where you’re going?”

“Not in the slightest…”

“That white rabbit you’re looking for went that way.” The cat pointed in one direction.

“He did?”

“Who did?”

“The White Rabbit!”

“Who’s that? He sounds irrelevant.”

I stamped my foot in frustration. “Fine! I’ll find the way myself!”

“Okay!” The cat suddenly appeared in the next tree that I was walking toward. “The Mad Hatter’s that way. He’ll tell you where to go.”

“Mad?! Why is everyone here mad?!”

“That’s just the way things are. I’m too mad to change it.” The cat grinned as he disappeared. It only left me with one option. To follow the floating tea cups and kettles until I find this Mad Hatter.

And find him I did. I couldn’t pull away from the strange song that he was humming to himself. It was a somber melody that made me want to comfort the singer, to hold them close and never let go. He wore a magenta hat upon his black hair. His skin was unnervingly pale and his eyes were yellow. He glanced up at me when I sat down at the table containing various tea kettles, cups, snacks and spreads. “You haven’t been invited.”

“I apologize, but I was drawn in by your beautiful singing…” I trailed off as he made his way closer. I felt like prey to a predator, yet I had no desire in me to run.

He grinned wildly as he grabbed a tea kettle and poured me a cup of tea. I watched the liquid flow from the tip of the kettle down into my cup. “Well, now that you’re here, you might as well feel comfortable.” He handed me my tea cup. “Drink up.”

I reached out to accept it when I heard a loud voice. “I’m late! I’m late! There’s no time! Hello, goodbye!” The person I was looking for dodged various kettles and cups until he finally arrived at the table. He was about to pass when he realized just where he had run to.

“Mr. White Rabbit, just the person I was looking for.” The Mad Hatter got up slowly. I felt I could finally breathe again now that his attention wasn’t on me.

“No, no, no! I think you mean someone else. Mr. Rabbit White, yes!” The rabbit turned, extremely alarmed, keeping on the other side of the table to get away from the hatter.

“Take a seat. I was just celebrating my unbirthday. And I just know it happens to be your unbirthday as well.” The Mad Hatter sat down again. It was like he was moving through water. It was very contradictory to the jumpy dance the White Rabbit performed.

“My unbirthday…?” The rabbit seemed genuinely touched, so he sat down. “I didn’t know you remembered…”

“Of course, I remembered, you fool.” He took a sip of tea.

“Oh, it’s my unbirthday too. What a coincidence!” I was about to take a sip of tea to celebrate, but the rabbit gave me a strong look that indicated I should do otherwise. I slowly put down my teacup.

“I can’t believe it, Miss! You should’ve said something sooner,” the White Rabbit said. “I didn’t get you a gift or anything…”

I smiled at him, just grateful for the thought. “That’s quite alright, Mr. Rabbit. You’ve done plenty.” But silently, I wished that he would stay. But then I frowned. Stay where? At the Mad Hatter’s table? It wouldn’t do to stay here long. But I wanted him to stay with me for a long, long time. I wanted him to never leave my side. I smiled to myself as I thought of that possible unbirthday gift.

“Well, let me see what I can whip up real fast!” He started to go through his pockets, rifling through the many things he was carrying. Various trinkets popped out. I saw rabbit food fly past too. At one point he pulled out an entire ladder from his pocket. The White Rabbit’s pocket watch fell onto the table. “Ah! I’m late! It was nice to celebrate, but goodbye!”

That was when the Mad Hatter stopped him. He grabbed onto his watch and took a look at it. “Your watch is two days slow. It’s no wonder you’re late.” He smashed it onto the table, letting it fall open before us. “I know just the fix for this.”

“AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! NOOOOOOO!!!”

The Mad Hatter grabbed the butter and smeared it onto the gears of the watch. Then he frowned, realized the gears were in the way, and proceeded to pull all the gears out of it. He grabbed the sugar, poured that into the watch. He poured tea onto it, ignoring all the protests from the White Rabbit. It was when he grabbed the jam that I froze in terror. The jam wasn’t jam at all, but another kind of sticky red substance: blood. I stepped back in horror, when I realized that every item that he put onto the watch was not what it seemed. The hatter closed the watch and banged it on the table over and over again, letting gears and other trinkets fly out.

“Oh, my watch…” The White Rabbit held onto what was remaining of the watch, like he was trying not to cry. I made my way over to him, my eyes never leaving the Mad Hatter. I grasped onto the rabbit’s sleeve, hoping he could protect me. The hatter grinned at me, seeming to enjoy my terror. The rabbit sniffed, very upset over the loss of his watch. “Come on, Miss. That hatter’s very silly anyway.” He took off and I followed behind him. I wasn’t sure if “silly” was the word I’d use to describe the Mad Hatter…

“Stop by again soon, ‘Miss.’” I didn’t look back when I heard the Mad Hatter’s words, which sent a shiver down my spine.

“Mr. Rabbit! Wait!” I ran as fast as I could, trying to keep up with the White Rabbit as we dashed through the dark woods. But it wasn’t long until I realized that the White Rabbit was completely gone. “Mr. Rabbit, please… wait for me…” I slowed my run down to a complete stop and looked around. Everything around me was just complete and utter nonsense. Paths disappeared and animals were hybrids of objects. I raced around trees, trying to find the right way. The right way to what, though? I still wanted to find the White Rabbit. But I wanted to go home…

I wanted to go home, yet I didn’t know where my home was. It was this feeling of hopelessness that was washing over me and I knew the White Rabbit would wash all of it away if only I could find him. It was hard to explain that I felt that I was losing him, but he was someone I never had to begin with. He was my White Rabbit. But I couldn’t find him. I was lost in a dark and scary forest with no one around me now. So what was I supposed to do now?

I sat down on a rock and I screamed the first name that I thought would help me. “HARU!!” I had no idea who that was, but I was sure that he would help me. He promised that he would help me if I ever got lost or hurt. But who was he? Why can’t he hear me?

“Crying already? ‘Haru! Haru!’ Really obsessed with some guy, aren’t you? Pathetic.” The Cheshire Cat appeared in one of the branches above me, deciding to mock me. I didn’t even realize that my cheeks had become damp with tears.

I wiped them away and glared at him. “I don’t expect someone like you to understand.”

“Still don’t get what’s going on, idiot? Okay, then. Guess you’ll never know where your home is.” The cat started to disappear.

I stood up quickly. “No, wait! You know how to get home?”

He began to appear again, his mischievous grin forming. “You’ll have to see His Majesty about that.” He showed a clearing in the trees that led to a green hedge that surrounded a beautiful castle. I walked toward it, seeing no other choice.

All of the knights were in the shape of playing cards. They were painting the roses red. I was curious, but I heard the sound of trumpets. It seemed there wouldn’t be time to be asking questions. Not like I had the energy to anyway. The White Rabbit ran past me, completely out of breath. “Presenting, His Majesty, the one and only honorable Queen of Hearts!!”

A beautiful man with a golden crown adorned his gray hair. His amethyst eyes glared over the crowd of knights. His outfit was stunning. He wore a red and black tailored suit, with shades of gray that matched his hair. And he wore a long elegant red cape that touched the floor. He clearly was like no one else that I had seen yet, and I couldn’t take my eyes off his stunning, bejeweled outfit. “Beautiful” really was the only word that could appropriately describe the Queen.

From out of the corner of his eye, he saw the paint dripping off of the white roses. “WHO PAINTED THE ROSES RED??” His roar was thunderous, and I immediately fell backwards when I heard it. It seemed the cards were more used to it, as they were able to keep their footing. The Queen of Hearts surveyed his knights and finally came upon three spade cards that were found victim. “O.W.T.H!!” Everyone cheered as the three cards were dragged away. His eyes turned to me, the only person who was not cheering. “Who are you?” Tired of that question, I was about to respond when he beat me to it. “Hmm, you have good bone structure.”

“What was that?” I asked.

“Not to mention you also have beautiful eyes. And your hair frames your face well. Hmph! Stand up straight! And curtsey!”

I immediately straightened and curtsied. “Yes, Your Majesty!”

“Good. You won’t be so bad.” He narrowed his eyes. “Do you have any idea on how to play croquet?”

I glanced over at the White Rabbit, who gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up. “I have a faint idea…”

“Excellent!” The cards immediately dragged out a crochet cart at their Queen’s orders. There was a bag of flamingos, which I assumed were to be our mallets. There were these strange white fluffy rabbits that I had never seen before that were going to be our balls. It seemed I’d have to put up with more nonsense before I could get home. As the Queen took his turn, I turned toward the White Rabbit for any sign of help. But he just smiled and waved at me. But he seemed more distracted by the creatures that represented our balls. He grabbed one of them and placed it in a satchel on his chest, then let out a silent sigh of relief. I sighed too, as the Queen scored perfectly, each card lining up so that he would win.

I stepped up to take my turn. I learned just how unfair the Queen wanted this game to be. The flamingo ridiculed me. My rabbit wouldn’t stay still. Not that I really wanted to hit the rabbit, but I was worried about the consequences if I didn’t. The cards wouldn’t allow me to score at all. But it seemed I had a sneaky helper. The Cheshire Cat appeared next to the Queen, resting on his shoulder. He waved cheekily at me. I pointed at him. “The cat!”

“What?” The Queen turned his head sharply to where I was pointing. There was nothing there. The Cheshire Cat had disappeared. He turned back to me, furious.

I tried my best to laugh it off. “Oh, just a p-prank…” He didn’t find it very funny apparently. He crossed his legs, his lips twisted in a weird fashion. I smiled awkwardly as I attempted to take my turn. Apparently, everyone was distracted, wondering whether or not I would be executed. So I swung and my little rabbit tumbled through the card.

The Queen’s entire face turned red. He pointed down at the card, which my rabbit went through. “O.W.T.H!!!” The card was then dragged away. The Queen spun on his heel toward me. “And you--”

“The cat’s back!” I pointed right over his head. The Cheshire Cat gave me a wink.

The Queen looked up. There was nothing above his head. “That’s it!! O.W.T--”

“Wait!!” The White Rabbit ran up, waving his hands. He jumped in front of me. “We should have a trial!”

“A trial…?” The Queen seemed to think about it for a minute. “Alright, then. Everyone!” The knights immediately stood to attention. “We’re having a trial!”

And before I knew it, I was sitting at a desk in a fantastical courtroom. High above me, the Queen pursed his lips, looking displeased. He glanced around at the playing cards. “Where is that BTH?!”

“Your Majesty, I have brought the Judge for the proceedings.” A boy with gray hair and bright blue eyes and wearing a sharp red suit was dragging along someone who looked exhausted.

The Judge yawned, unhinging his jaw and not even bothering to cover his mouth. He had red hair and whenever he opened his eyes, I could see they were bright green. He wore a red cape similar to the Queen’s. His suit jacket was tossed aside, so he was only wearing his white button up shirt and black pants. He collapsed into his seat right next to the Queen’s. The Judge reached a hand out to caress the Queen’s face. “You’re getting wrinkles, Lulu. Better relax, huh?”

“Don’t touch me!!” The Queen scolded, pulling away from him.

The boy with gray hair walked down toward my desk. He held out his hand. “Good afternoon. Ritsu Shinjo. I’ll be defending you today.”

I blinked as I shook his hand. “...You have a regular name?”

“I’m unsure what you mean by that statement. What you have been charged for is making a mockery of the Queen. That is grounds for immediate execution.”

I slumped onto the desk, placing my head on my hand. “Great…”

“Now, we have a few witnesses that we can call up to the stands. Starting with…” He flipped through his papers. “Ah, Mr. Mad Hatter.”

“Oh boy.” I slumped in my seat as I watched the Mad Hatter walk through the courtroom up to the witness stand.

He flipped his tailcoat back as he sat down. All the cards shrunk back as his gaze drifted over the entire courtroom. Ritsu, completely unfazed, stepped up to the stand. “Mr. Hatter, I would like you to tell me what you know.”

“Nothing,” the Hatter said.

“Nothing whatsoever?”

“Nothing whatsoever!” The Mad Hatter seemed annoyed that he wasn’t heard the first time.

Ritsu rubbed his chin, deep in thought. “That’s very important.”

“Excuse me?” I asked, in disbelief of what I just heard.

The Queen and the Judge were talking amongst themselves, each of them side-eyeing the witness. The Mad Hatter glared up at them. “This dump would look so much better if it was up in flames.”

The Queen’s pupils constricted as he turned sharply to the hatter. “What did you just say…?”

“I think we should get a head start on that.” The Mad Hatter brought a tea kettle out of his jacket and poured “tea” onto the witness stand.

The Judge pulled a gun on him, right at the hatter’s head. The Hatter only grinned up at the barrel. My eyes widened and I ducked under the table. Where did he get a gun from?? All the playing cards seemed nervous, but also looked like this was a regular Tuesday for them. The White Rabbit jumped into the center of the room, hands up in surrender. “You dope, put that kettle down! And Mr. Judge, come on! You can’t be whipping that thing out just anywhere!”

Ritsu immediately started reciting some laws. “Mr. Judge, the law states that firearms must not be wielded in courtrooms, nor that you can shoot anyone without reason. The witness is under protection until he stops being a witness, and then you can take action.”

“Fuck, you’re all so annoying,” the Judge grumbled as he put the gun away, then let out a massive yawn. “Get that guy out of here. I’ll kill him later. You got my snack, Rabbit?” It did seem that the Judge had a little bowl of various creatures that he had deemed as snacks.

“You’re not getting your hands on Peekaboo!” The White Rabbit was clutching one of the little creatures that we were using as balls for croquet, the one he had placed in his satchel earlier. “Get your fill somewhere else!”

“Then, you’re gonna be my next witness.”

The White Rabbit seemed alarmed, but there was nothing to be done. The Mad Hatter was escorted out and the White Rabbit took a seat at the witness stand. I pressed my lips together, but I couldn’t express my worries. But the rabbit seemed to sense it anyway and gave me a bright smile. It’d all be okay. Ritsu stepped forward. “Mr. Rabbit, what do you know about this girl?”

“She’s the best! She’s kind, a hard worker, intelligent, and is curious about the world,” the Rabbit stated. “There’s no reason for her to have her head chopped off!”

“Oh, is that what O.W.T.H stands for…?” I asked myself.

“No reason…?” The Queen asked suspiciously. The White Rabbit’s eyes widened when he realized what he had done.

“That’s correct,” Ritsu said. “The witness has just stated there is no reason. Your Majesty, it is my professional opinion that--”

“I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR PROFESSIONAL OPINION!! O.W.T--”

“WAIT!!” I cried out, pointing above the Queen’s head. “The cat’s right there!!”

“What?!”

The judge looked over and frowned. “The cat’s messing up your hair, Lulu.”

“WHAT?!” The Queen immediately pushed down his hair to make it perfect again. “WHY DIDN’T ANY OF YOU TELL ME?!”

“I just did!” I stamped in frustration. I was really getting sick of all this nonsense.

“Hey, Your Majesty.” The Cheshire Cat was sitting behind the Queen, waving to him and grinning like usual.

“Oh, it’s you.” The Queen turned around. It seemed the two of them actually had some kind of understanding. “Get on the stand. You need to make an account for yourself.”

“Gladly.” The cat slipped into the witness stand, kicking the White Rabbit out with a literal kick. The rabbit fell onto the floor with a yelp. “I was only worried for you, Your Majesty. You see, this girl told me that you were a big-faced loser with a bad temper.”

“I did not!” I protested.

“Just to repeat for the court,” Ritsu said. “The girl you see before you called Your Majesty a big-faced loser with a bad temper.”

“Gyahaha! This girl’s got guts!” The Judge finally cracked a wicked grin and leaned down toward me. “Still don’t realize what’s going on, kitty-cat?”

“...What did you just call me…?” Why in the world did that sound so familiar to me? I had never met this judge before…

The Judge leaned back like nothing had happened. “Can’t we wait a day for the whole off with her head thing? I’d love to get a taste of her first…”

“NO!!” The Queen was getting more and more frustrated by the second, his entire face had turned red. “O.W.T.H!!!” It seemed that was the final straw. It looked like my head would be detached from my body very, very soon.

“We gotta go!!” The White Rabbit grabbed my hand and we booked it out of the courtroom. We ran through the woods, we ran through the tea party, we ran through the blades of grass, past caterpillars and butterflies and flowers, we ran past the rabbit’s house, we ran back to the beach. All the while we ran, the entire Queen’s court was chasing us.

I could finally catch my breath when we had reached the beach. We were in front of the tree that we had come out of the first time. The White Rabbit made a gesture toward it. “Alright, just in here, Miss, and you’ll be home free.”

I started to climb in when I looked back at him. “Wait, aren’t you coming too?” I grasped onto his hand with worry in my eyes. Now that we were finally together, I couldn’t lose him now.

His smile was as bright as always, despite the conditions we were under. “Gahaha! No need to worry about that, Miss. I’ll be right there when you wake up.”

“When I…?” I blinked a few times. “What?”

“It’s all just a dream, Miss. So just hop up there and I’ll see you in a bit!” He pushed me into the rabbit hole and I fell backwards into darkness.

I gasped as I woke up in Darkwick General’s infirmary. I sat up straight, patting the bed beneath me. It felt like I was really falling. “Oh, good. You’re awake.” Elias was sitting next to my bedside, peeling an apple. “Are you feeling alright? That was quite a hit you took there.”

I looked to the bed next to me. Haru was laying down on it, still asleep, with a ventilator mask over his face. I tried my best to remember what had happened. We were in the park, taking care of the animals. And I remembered Towa getting really mad. “And that was when a tree fell on us…” I looked down at my outfit. I was wearing a red vest and lapel pin. That’s right. I was a Sinostra student at Darkwick Academy. And the amazing, wonderful Haru Sagara was my boyfriend…

“Well, at least it wasn’t a hard enough hit for you to lose your memory.”

I glanced over at the bed next to me. “Is Haru gonna be okay…?”

“I’m sure he will be. He always seems to bounce back no matter what happens. Oh, that first year from your house you’re always with was looking for you.”

Of course Ritsu had something he wanted to go over with his business partner. What a nightmare. “Right, I’ll let him know that I’m doing okay now.” Though why did he just go by his regular name in my dream? I guess I couldn’t imagine him being anyone else but himself.

Haru started to blink awake too. He took off his mask and sat up. “Oh heya. Didn’t mean to give you both a fright? You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

I nodded. “I think I fell unconscious there for a second.”

He slid out of his bed and sat down on mine. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I should’ve done a better job protecting you.” He lifted my hand up to his lips. “And then you had to worry about me… I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

“Since when are you so down? Lighten up, Haru!”

“Gahaha! You always know just what to say!” He wrapped his arms around me, burying his face in the crook of my neck.