It was a quite afternoon in the suburbs of New York. Elaine Carroll smoked her third cigarette of the day, watching the light rain fall from the heavens. She had been meaning to quit, but it wasn't working out. Elaine had just gotten out of her english class, one of the more horrible ones. Kids were screaming at each other, acting more like first graders instead of high school seniors. The teacher had given up trying to disect the story "Alice in Wonderland" and had dismissed the class early. Elaine had an "A" in the class, so she wasn't worried about skipping it. She fumbled with the catnip she had bought for her cat right before school as it sat in one of the many pockets of her favorite leather bomber.

Elaine stood staring into the rain at the bushes across the street, not truely focusing on anything. She was too busy thinking about what she was going to do when she got home. Tonight was the night she got away from her mother, Elaine knew that much. Her mother's drinking had gotten worse with the letters her father had sent, though Elaine knew not what they said. Elaine was eighteen now, she knew she didn't have to handle her mother's abuse any longer.

As she zoned out under the bus stop's plastic panelling, she tuned out her best friend's jabbering beside her. Alisa was an odd girl, but Elaine wasn't one to be talking. Alisa may have been crazy, compared to the definition, but if you went by definitions, Elaine would be under the category of 'loser.' They were quite the pair, Alisa being imaginative, creative, blonde with blue eyes, and spunky. Elaine was tall, quiet, pale, with light brown hair and forest green eyes, that almost looked black when she was angry. Two opposites, yet the best of friends.

Alisa was going on and on in Elaine's ear. "I can't believe Jeremy ruined the story!! I wanted to know how Alice got home. I have to know how to get home myself one day!" she exclaimed, and Elaine rolled her eyes as if this were something she heard repeatedly.

Elaine sighed out some smoke and looked at Alisa from the corner of her eye. "Alisa, don't tell me you're still thinking you're related to Alice in the story, just because your name is the same..." she said, looking unamused.

"It's true, Elaine! I am the great-great-great-great-greaaaaat grandaughter of Alice Liddell!!" Alisa pouted. "And Wonderland is really real. The story has been passed down from generation to generation and-" Alisa continued her yammering until her mother pulled up and honked the horn.

Alisa suddenly looked concerned as she saw the twitch on Elaine's face. "Elaine... do you want to stay the night?" she asked.

Elaine couldn't help but to smile at her friend's concern. Despite Alisa being crazy, Elaine still loved her like her own sister. "No. I'll be okay you know. Tonight's the night."

"I know... that's why I'm worried..." Alisa said, then waved slightly as Elaine walked away.




Elaine walked into her house, and everything was quiet. She decided it would be best if she kept her shoes on. She quietly peeked into the livingroom and noticed her mother passed out on the couch. With a silent, thankful sigh, Elaine walked upstairs and into her room. Everything was already in boxes, since the moving wasn't something that was a secret. All by her lonesome, Elaine packed everything into her car. Everything but her german sheperd, which Elaine thought was a good idea to leave with her mother.

Elaine took one last look at the house that she grew up in, before driving through the rain and never turning back. There was never a peep from her mother, and that is what was best for Elaine.




It didn't take long for the sleek red Honda to pull up to some apartments. Elaine was greeted by a kitten in the window, and her brother waiting for her at the door with an umbrella. Her brother Dylan had always been a stone-faced man, but with handsome features. He strode down the stairs and held the umbrella over her. "Head up inside, I'll take these." he said.

Elaine was about to protest, but Dylan just shook his head. His roomate Tony trotted out and gave Elaine a playful bear hug. She meeped as she was swung around and looked up at them both. "There's too much stuff..."

Tony laughed. "Psssh. What type of men would we be if we didn't take care of it for you?" he said and gave her a playful push towards the house. Elaine looked back at them with a slight pout, then sighed in defeat and went inside. The apartment was a nice size, Elaine could admit that much. She easily found her room at the end of the second floor hallway and made her way inside. It was trim with wooden floors and it's own fireplace. She smiled fondly at the old fashioned trimmings and the four post queen bed. Most people wouldn't guess by looking at her that this would be her type on thing. She took off her jacket and shoes and flopped onto the bed. Almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, she drifted off into a deep sleep.


Things went from black, to a grey shimmer, and images flashed past her. Elaine found herself standing in a spiral of different objects, the feeling of falling all around her. She wasn't seeing just objects, however. She saw more than just that. She saw images of people she never knew, and things from a time when she wasn't even a twinkle in her father's eyes. She was falling, falling, falling, until everything went black with the impact.
Elaine woke with a start from her dream. She was breathing heavily and looked around in a daze. She realised she was still in her bed and shook her head. She looked at the small alarm clock on her sidetable and let out a small groan. It was already 6am, and Elaine knew she would have to get up and go to school.

At least it was a nice day out.







Elaine pulled up to the school and climbed out, looking at the school with a slight disgust. There was only a month left, and she could leave this world behind. She smiled at the thought of getting a job and getting out of that prison, and she couldn't help but to skip slightly as she met Alisa in their usual place under the stop sign. Elaine walked over and gained an expression of slight confusion when she saw her friend staring at nothing, as if she were in shock. "Hey Alis, what's up?" she asked.

"The rabbit..." Alisa said, not taking her eyes off the place across the busy street.

Elaine looked slightly annoyed as she heard this and sighed. "Alisa, get real." Elaine said and looked across the street through the fast traffic. There was a white rabbit across the street, just staring at the two girls. Elaine pulled out a cigarette and was about to light it, but stopped in the middle and choked on fresh air. The rabbit stood on it's hind legs, and she could clearly see it was wearing a blue waistcoat with red trimmings, and was tapping on a pocket watch, as if to tell them to look at the time. It had a playful, almost human twinkle in it's eyes. Elaine shook her head and put her cigarette back in it's case. "I must really be tired. That rabbit looks real." she said softly, looking annoyed. She grumbled and put her hands in her pockets, remembering the catnip in her pocket, finding her car keys, some loose change, and the lighter.

Without looking, Alisa started to run across the street. "Oh Mr. Rabbit!!" she called out, but then stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed the look of panic on the rabbit's face, and the blaring of a bus horn

Time slowed to an almost stand still as Elaine saw everything that was happening in vivid detail. She jolted to stop it, even though she knew she couldn't"Alisa! Watch out! Get ou-!" she yelled in a frenzy and managed to take one step before her world shattered around her.
There was nothing she, nor the rabbit, could do.







Elaine sat in the hospital, worn out, shaken,and really needing a cigarette. It had been five hours since Alisa had gotten hit by that bus. The image kept running through her head, burning the image into her skull. It was almost unbearable. Family members crying, police interviews, and no sign of the damn rabbit, and finally Elaine was allowed to go home. "You're free to go home now Ms. Carroll, drive safely." A police officer said. It didn't matter to Elaine, she didn't have to go to school, since it was already over and considered 'excused.' Elaine just merely nodded, but when she was out of his view, she lit up a cigarette right in the middle of the lobby as she walked out. 'Home..? Do I even have one of those yet...?' she thought to herself and sighed. She walked outside slowly and noticed Tony standing by her Honda. "Next time, don't drug me when I'm sleeping."

Tony looked confused. "What? We didn't drug you, you were passed out." he said. Elaine realised he was wearing a crisp white shirt and black slacks, as if he had been getting ready for work and rushed out the door. Tony was in college, and was studying in business. He was nice, but a little bit of a bad boy, and was very bright and young at 21. He had reddish Irish locks and sparkling greenish blue eyes. "And why are you wearing all black again? You look cute in pink." he said with a playful, but stern pout on his face.

Elaine rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like that's ever going to happen. I hate pink as much as I hate the color red." she said and climbed in. "Tell Dylan I'm going to be home late, okay? I'm taking my time driving home." she said. "I know he'll be calling my cell phone later." she said and didn't smile, something that worried Tony.

Tony nodded. "He talks about you in his sleep you know." he said., as if guilt would make her laugh.

Elaine sighed. "Yeah... he's the only one that has ever cared about me." she said and shrugged. "When is he going back?" she asked, not wanting to know the answer.

Tony pouted. "About a week. Has he not talked to you about it?"

Elaine chuckled. "No, he never tells me anything when it comes to his deployment. He thinks he's protecting me and all that other bullshit. And he doesn't nearly love me as much as he loves you." she said with a playful wink, making a reference to an age old joke. Tony had been her brother Dylan's roomate since highschool, and everyone always thought they were a gay couple, though they were both straight as rulers. "And don't worry about mom, she has Ephelis with her." she said and shrugged. "Better off than me I suppose."

Tony laughed at the joke when Elaine mentioned how Dylan loved Tony more, but then his expression turned sad when she mentioned her mother. "Are you happy you moved in with us like that? I know how much you care for her well being."

Elaine nodded. "Of course I am happy. I get to wake up to buttsex in the morning." she said with a sarcastic tone. Was she truley happy? She didn't know what it felt like anymore.

Tony grimmanced at the buttsex thing. Just the thought of that creeped him out. "Okay then." he said and sighed softly. "Just make sure you're home at a decent hour, and call us if you're going to stay out late, doing whatever it is girls do." he said and scratched the back of his head.

Elaine shrugged and chuckled. "I'll think about it."

Tony ruffled her hat and shut the door for her. When she rolled down the window, he smiled. "Don't back sass me, okay?" he laughed playfully, "Call your brother when you get home so we don't worry."

Elaine merely nodded as her answer and started the car, then slowly started to drive away.

Once she was out of Tony's overprotective view, she started to drive faster, her car wanting the speed almost as much as she did. Maybe the speed of her car would help her get away, get away from everything that happened. The image just wouldn't leave, and it was starting to really get to her. The dent left on the front of the bus, the frantic driver, Alisa's frantic mother, everything was just too much. Everything rushed past her as water splashed up from the puddles of the previous rain.

Everything came to a sudden stop when something small whisked right in front of her car. Elaine slammed on the brakes and skidded across the road, coming to a halt against a tree. Everything went black for a moment. Elaine woke up with a sharp pain in her head and shoulder, causing her to curse angrily to herself. She struggled with her seatbelt for a moment, then kicked open her door and looked out onto the road, noticing a familiar white ball of fluff. She rubbed her head at first, feeling the beginnings of a bruise already. She got up and walked over to the white rabbit in the waistcoat and sighed, kneeling down.

"Great... did I hit you?" she muttered. Looking him over, he had no injuries. "Damn rabbit." she grumbled under her breath. As she stared at him, she heard a small ticking noise coming out of the rabbit's pocket. She slowly reached out to take out the clock, but was interrupted.

The rabbit's beady eyes suddenly popped open, and in an instant, he leapt up and scuddled away from her hand. "Oh my! My, my, my, my, MY!" he said frantically, patting down his waistcoat with two fluffy white paws. He looked at Elaine and blinked, his ears laid back in a very scared, deer-in-the-headlights sort of expression. "Oh dear..."

Elaine shook her head, rubbed her eyes, and stared at him. "You're talking.... why are you talking? Rabbits aren't supposed to talk." she said as she couldn't help but to stare.

The white rabbit huffed at her rudeness, then quickly pulled out his watch in a swift flick of one paw. He looked down at the screen, then gasped and did a frightened leap, his ears twitching. "We're late! We're late! Oh so very late! Follow me, please!" he insisted to her, then turned and bolted from the street, running into the bushes that lined it.

Elaine stood up with a groan of soreness and looked back at her car, which was starting to smoke. It looked bad, but she looked back at the bushes where the rabbit had dissapeared and sighed. "Ffff- Fine." she muttered to herself, then walked cautiously after the rabbit.

'Great, now I'm listening to my hallucinations... what's wrong with me?' she thought to herself. "I must've hit my head harder than I thought." She said aloud as she picked up her pace. Her hallucination was only just beginning.

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Wonderland Mishaps