• David leaped down the stairs. He tripped as he reached the bottom and hit his head. But he was up in an instant, determined not to let that foil his plan for the perfect day. His parents would be gone for the day, so he planned to go hiking in the woods behind his house. He grabbed his brown leather jacket and sunglasses on the way out. He had his hand on the knob and was about to leave when his mom popped her head around the corner. “Are you going out?” she asked.
    “Yeah mom” he replied.
    “Be careful.” She said.
    “Yes mom…” David replied, and was out the door before she could say another word.
    It was a bright, clear day. It was warm but not hot. There wasn’t a cloud in the bright blue sky. In other words, it was the perfect spring day. David had been hiking for maybe an hour when he discovered the hole. It looked like any other perfectly ordinary rabbit hole, except for the fact that it looked to be about eight feet in diameter. David cautiously peered down. He couldn’t see the bottom.
    He presumably would have tried to find a way to measure the depth of the hole, but suddenly the ground gave way beneath him and he went tumbling into the rabbit hole. He had time for only one thought, Oh crap… before darkness was rushing by his face.
    How long he fell, he wasn’t sure, but he did feel it when he fell into the large pile of leaves. The air in his lungs rushed out with a whoosh. At least I’m alive, David thought. Still, it was several minutes before he could sit up properly. When he finally did, he let his gaze wander around. He was in what appeared to be the hollow of a very large tree. There was a small hole leading out of the tree. He looked up, and realized just how far he had fallen. He could barely see the tiny dot of light that was the surface. He was not getting up that way. He shrugged, and crawled through the hole.
    When he emerged he found himself in a huge forest. The trees easily towered over anything he had seen before. A narrow dirt path led between two of the massive trees. As he trod the path, he thought he heard a sound behind him, but nothing was there. He continued to walk. Suddenly, someone burst out of the trees behind him and shouted “Boo!” David nearly fell down in surprise. “AHH!” David screamed as he whipped around.
    “Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” a female voice said. He caught site of her a moment later. She was a girl, about David’s age. She had a blue dress with white trim, white stockings, shoulder length blond hair with a pink bow and a flower set near her bangs. She had large green eyes, which were even larger in surprise. She was very cute. Not beautiful, but cute none the less. However cute she was, though, David was still angry. “What was that about?”
    “Sorry,” she muttered, suddenly downcast “I couldn’t resist.”
    “Yeah, well…it’s ok. Just don’t do it again.”
    The unknown girl brightened up immediately “Ok! I’m Alice! Who are you?”
    “Alice?” David muttered,, “You certainly look the part”
    “What?”
    “Nothing. My names David.”
    “Well hello, David! What brings you here?” They started to walk down the path together.
    He cast his gaze around “Where is ‘here’ anyway?”
    “You’re in Mirra, of course. Where did you think you were?”
    “Mirra?” he replied, confused.
    “Yep. This world is called Mirra.” Alice giggled suddenly. It was a clean, pure, happy sound. “Mirra, Mirra on the wall, who is the fairest one of all? Me!” she cried and descended into a fit of giggles. When she had recovered enough to answer, David asked, “How did I get here?”
    “Shouldn’t you know that better than me?” Alice smiled.
    David thought for a moment.
    “Well, I fell down a rabbit hole. Landed in a pile of leaves” David unconsciously rubbed his stomach “Boy did it hurt too!”
    Alice laughed “Wow. That’s pretty weird.”
    David ducked under a low hanging branch “You can say that again. How did you get here, Alice?”
    “I have no idea.” Alice replied
    The two of them leapt over a brook. “What do you mean?” David asked once he landed on the other side.
    Alice shrugged. “I can’t remember a thing. I’m not even sure if my name is Alice. The first thing I remember is waking up in a field somewhere around here.”
    “Really?” replied David, shocked.
    “Yep. But…I have this feeling. I just feel like…I have to get to the Queen of Heart’s Palace at Wonderland City.”
    “Hmm…” David replied, thinking. “Do you think the Queen of Hearts will know how to get me back home?” David asked. “Because, short of a jet pack, there’s no other way for me to go back up the rabbit hole.”
    Alice apparently found that very funny. It was several seconds before she could talk properly through her laughter. “Well then,” she said when she had regained her composure, “Why don’t we go to Wonderland City together.”
    “Hmm…let me check my schedule.” David replied, smiling.
    They both laughed this time.
    “So,” David asked, “How far away is Wonderland City?”
    “I have no idea,” Alice replied.
    “Oh. Well what direction is it in?”
    “I don’t know that either.”
    David stopped so suddenly that Alice ran into him. “What?” he nearly yelled.
    Alice smiled ruefully. “I’m sorry. I guess we’ll have to ask for directions or something.”
    “Directions? From who? Do the flowers talk?” he replied.
    “No need to be mean!” said Alice.
    David took a deep breath. “You’re right. I’m sorry for snapping at you. What do you think we should do?”
    “Well,” replied Alice, thinking. “This path has to go somewhere right? Why don’t we follow it. We’re bound to find someone eventually.”
    David sighed. “You know we don’t have much food or water, right? All I got is a trail mix bar in my pocket.”
    “We’ll find food and water. I’m sure of it.” Alice replied hopefully.
    “Well, I guess we better get started. We’re burning daylight,” David said. And together they started their epic journey.