Alice in Wonderland follows a young girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a whimsical and nonsensical world called Wonderland. There, she encounters a cast of strange and fantastical characters, including the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, and the tyrannical Queen of Hearts. As Alice navigates the surreal and often illogical world, she faces bizarre challenges and conversations that challenge her understanding of reality and identity. In the end, Alice wakes up to find that her journey was a curious dream, leaving her forever changed by the experience.
It's the short summary of the children's tale, a tale her mother once read to her. It's not her favorite but it left an impression on her.
Because it sounds so fantastical, something outlandish and so out of reach.
But maybe...
Just maybe...
She wishes she could visit a world like that.
Away from everything, away from the pain of the real world.
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The ride back home was silent. No words to be exchanged between father and daughter. They have already exhausted themselves out of frustration.
Frustration of a father who's failures he now realizes, now thrown at his face.
Frustration of a girl who has no control in her life.
They went to Winslow High an hour ago and it was a wasted trip. Danny, Taylor's father, seeked justice and reparations for what had happened to his daughter. Only to be met by the corrupted system of a rotten institute. Winslow High is nothing but cesspool of gang activity, a staging ground for recruiting dumb and impressionable children to causes they couldn't even comprehend. Taylor's incident, the locker incident, was shelved as nothing more than a prank gone wrong. It shows how the school itself doesn't care. Even the girl herself became frustrated, more than enough to implicate certain perpetrators.
Yet nothing was done.
Even the police won't help, having not enough evidence and Taylor's own evidence wouldn't matter in court as she will be implicated for tampering despite not doing so.
Show's how shrewd lawyers are, especially if one of the perpetrators has one for a father.
Speaking of the perpetrators, they're a whole can of worms entirely. A broken friendship and silent torment uncovered, leading to a confrontation between father and daughter.
Both having explosive tempers and a stubborn mind.
Unyielding.
"This is not over Taylor." Danny muttered angrily, more to himself than to his daughter.
"I know." Yet his daughter doesn't think so, replying bitterly.
As the car arrived at their small and humble old home, Taylor swiftly went inside. The girl wants nothing more to sleep off the frustrating day. More importantly, her health is declining once more.
It's been a day since Panacea healed her from serious infections from exposure of hazardous materials due to the locker incident. She might be given a clean bill of health but she still needs to rest.
And rest she will.
Flopping on her bed, Taylor curled up in a ball. Yet sleep never came for her, for the worst enemy against one's self...
Is her own thoughts.
Memories keep flooding in whenever she closes her eyes. The smell, the ugly sight and the laughter. They keep coming back, louder and more frequently.
She can't sleep.
She can't rest.
She's tired.
So tired.
Emma...
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The small breeze awakened her from her slumber. Her eyes opened clearly. When did she sleep? She must have fallen asleep due to exhaustion. Yet she doesn't feel refreshed. Worst of all, she's feeling even more tired.
Might as well sleep again on this patch of comfortable grass.
.
.
.
.
Wait, grass?!!
Taylor sat up, fumbling her glasses back on. She must have fallen asleep with it. Fortunately, she didn't accidentally smash it. But more importantly, why is she lying on grass instead of a bed. Did her dad move her? If he did, this is not an improvement.
What if it's another prank?
"Oh!" Suddenly, something soft and fluffy landed on her lap.
It's a pure white bunny rabbit.
"Cute." Taylor whispered, not wanting to scare the critter. She carefully moved to pat the critter, slowly inching her palm until it met soft white fur.
"Fluffy." She sighs in content, happy for once to experience something so surreal. She had seen rabbits before but never had the luxury of touching one. Now, she finally knows why people liked to pet them.
It's just so fluffy.
And then she suddenly choked on her blood. Blood gushed out her neck, making her gurgle and drown at her own blood. Too stunned and clueless of what just happened, Taylor collapsed on the field of grass. Her blood stained its peaceful green hue, spreading across the blades of grass.
How?
Why?
She thought to herself as she lay down there dying as blood kept on gushing out her wound. Her throat was torn open, its flesh ripped off like it was torn apart by a savage beast.
Then her eyes laid on the rabbit. It's pure white fur stained in red. It's mouth? Dripping with her own essence, droplets of blood sliding off its lips.
And then she knew nothing more.
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Taylor woke up again in the field of grass. Startled awake, the grill immediately touched her neck for any sign of injury.
Nothing.
A sigh of relief escaped her lips but it immediately died a s she realizes that she is still in her dreams, if being in the same field of grass is the indicator.
"What is happening?" She muttered, her hand never leaving her neck.
The grass rustled, disturbed by something beneath its roots. Taylor immediately took a step back in caution after what just happened. Her instincts screaming, even if this is a dream by her assumptions, the pain was too real.
It was something she doesn't want to experience ever again.
And then the same rabbit came out of the underbrush.
Taylor took a step backwards.
The rabbit hopped forward.
Another step backwards.
Another hop.
And so she ran.
That's the beginning of her many deaths in Wonderland.
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