“Mother you know I hate dresses!” I shouted indignantly at my mother who was trying to force me into a blue gown. It was far too frilly and the neck line plunged dangerously. She had also come with a pair of snow white stockings and a pair of shining black heels that were far too high for my liking.

“Taekyung, you will wear the dress and you will act like a proper lady today! So be quiet and just do as I say!” My mother screamed back at me shrilly while slamming the bedroom door on her way out. I huffed and threw myself onto my large bed. ‘I’m sixteen for the love of god! I don’t need to wear this stuff or act in a way that would ‘attract a future husband’.’ I thought furiously as I rolled around.

“Taekyung, it’s only for a few hours. Just put it and try to have some fun.” My older sister, Kyumi, had spoken up from the corner of the room where the old rocking chair sat.

“You can’t say anything. You have the perfect life; a nice husband, a child on the way and mother isn’t constantly bothering you about ‘acting like a proper lady’.” I mumbled at her in a sulky manner. This had annoyed her as she stood up from the rocking chair and was now towering over me.

“Perfect life? I wish, you have no idea how hard it is to constantly be on my guard as one single slip up can ruin my image! Mother is always keeping an eye on me to make sure I do what she wants, so don’t say I have everything perfect.” Kyumi shouted at me before throwing the dress in my face. I sighed and stood at the door waiting for Kyumi to leave.

“Fine. I’ll wear it.” I gave up and closed the door behind Kyumi. ‘I hate this life. Everything’s the same everyday, nothing…unusual ever happens.” I thought dully as I slipped on the dress. It showed far much more of my chest than I liked so I slipped on a white under dress to save myself the embarrassment. But the stockings and heels would not been seen on me in a million years so I substituted for a pair of white knee high socks and flat black shoes.

Before walking out the door and into a nightmare for five hours I glanced at myself in the mirror. “It’s only for a few hours. I’ll try not to offend someone.” I said to myself and put on a fake sweet smile. The mansion gardens were covered with various white tents and a large dance floor was set in the centre of the rose garden. Then I caught the sight of Mr. and Mrs. Kim. ‘Ugh, fantastic.’ You see, I was “engaged” to their son, Hyungsoo. I had hated Hyungsoo since the moment I had met him; he’s arrogant, stuck up and worst of all, completely fake. He acts sweet and modest in front of everyone else but when he’s near me his personality switches completely.

“Oh Taekyung dear! My you’ve grown into such a lovely lady.” Mrs. Kim said while she patted my cheek harshly. I just put up with it and smiled sweetly. But my smile faded when I saw the familiar head of Hyungsoo coming towards us.

“Hyungsoo, why don’t you take Taekyung for a dance? After all you two need to get to know each other.” My mother urged Hyungsoo towards me and I had no choice but to take his out stretched hand.

Hyungsoo lead me to the large dance floor and a slow waltz began. I kept my eyes on the rose bushes to the left, but a flash of white caught my eye. Craning my neck, my eyes caught the sight of a young man maybe a year or two older than I. But there was something perculiar about him; he had a pair of white rabbit ears.

“What seems to have caught your attention, lovely?” Hyungsoo said.

“Nothing, and don’t call me that.” I spat back at him venomously. He just replied with a “hmph!” and started eyeing a rich man’s daughter. I couldn’t handle this any longer so as soon as the music stopped I stomped my heel down on Hyungsoo’s toe and ran off into the rose gardens. The maze of hedges was taller than my head by at least a metre so it was difficult to find anything in there. I walked down a long path and came to a crossroad in the hedges. ‘Where should I go now?’ I asked myself, growing more and more curious about the rabbit boy. To my left I saw a movement and whipped my head around to see the boy running down a new path.

I ran in the direction the boy was going but found myself at a dead end. Confused I spun around trying to find any other passage that he could have taken but there was only the way I had come. I took a hesitant step back but lost my footing and fell backwards. I expected to hit the ground but I only felt the sensation of falling. I peeked open one eye to see an array of clocks everywhere. My eyes flew open and I was falling through the air in a tight passage accompanied by the echoing ticking of hundreds of clocks. ‘This has to be a dream. Or maybe I hit my head when I fell and got a concussion.’ I thought hopefully while trying to convince myself I wasn’t going crazy. The fall seemed to take hours but I soon crashed onto a black and white chequered floor with only a soft glow coming from the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Wait, the ceiling?! How could there have been a ceiling when I had fallen from somewhere? I sat up slowly and took in my surroundings; the room was large and looked very grand. But there was something odd about the room, there were doors of all shapes, sizes and colours dotting the circular walls. I stood up and dusted off my dress before walking to a white door and trying to turn the gold doorknob, it didn’t budge. I tried every door but they were all locked and I sank to the floor again in defeat. ‘How am I meant to get out of here?!’ I screamed in my head beginning to panic at the thought of being stuck here forever. But in front of me was a blue door small enough for a mouse to walk through. I crawled towards it and turned the tiny doorknob in my fingernails; it swung open gently and a light breeze wafted through the opening. Crouching down low enough I peeked through and saw the most beautiful garden I had ever seen. The sky was a soft purple and an abundance of vegetation grew beyond a stone path. I straightened up again and turned back to the room to see a glass top table in the centre of the room.

I walked over to it and saw a small glass bottle sitting there. I picked it up and turned it around in my hand before reading the tag attached to it by black ribbon.

“Drink me.” I said aloud pondering what liquid could be held inside the bottle. Who knows what could be in the bottle but my curiosity got the better of me and I pulled out the cork that sealed the bottle. I smelled the liquid for any signs of poison but the liquid was surprisingly sweet. I lifted the bottle to my lips and took a small sip before replacing the cork and setting it on the table with a ‘clink’. It tasted like very sweet water but I didn’t feel any different. Until I saw the table grow taller. I looked at my hands and saw that the walls were growing larger and I got closer and closer to the ground. I was shrinking and soon I was hidden in the folds of my blue dress, the ceiling seemed like the endless sky now. I stumbled out of the fabric and looked around only to see everything in the room had grown in size significantly, but the blue door was bigger. I ran to it and grasped the doorknob but it was locked, which was odd as I had opened it only moments ago. I spun around in frustration and looked at the glass table again to see a key sitting next to the bottle. That’s it, I need the key but I was far too small to reach it. Another oddity caught my eye and I walked over to see a small box sitting on the floor next to the table. A small cake sat on the top with the words ‘eat me’ written on it in icing. If the drink made me small maybe the cake would make me grow, then I could get the key and shrink again and walk out the door. I picked up the cake and took a tentative bite. While I was chewing I felt my limbs stretch and soon my head banged on the ceiling, causing the chandelier to sway precariously. The room was cramped and my arms and legs began to ache at the angle they were twisted to, so I quickly grabbed the key and took another sip from the bottle before quickly shrinking and running to the door with the oversized key held above my head. I jammed the key into the lock and pushed open the door.

The air was cool and I was instantly blown away by the beauty of the forest in front of me. Maybe I would find someone who could tell me the way back home. I started down the stone path and into the forest, taking in the vibrant colours of the various plants. A patch of colourful flowers caught my eye and I bent over to pick one but it squirmed in my hand before letting out a shriek. I jumped back and let the flower go only to see the other flowers grow faces and start shouting at me.

“What and insolent girl! Killing an innocent flower, she should have her head lopped off!” One of the pink flowers screeched at me and the others joined in.

“I-I-I’m sorry! I didn’t know-” I started but the flowers screamed even louder so I sprinted down the path to escape the jeering. ‘How can flowers talk?!’ I asked myself in disbelief as I slowed down again. This was a very strange place and I now knew I wanted to get out of the place as soon as possible.

I walked for few more minutes but came to a stop when I spotted a figure in the distance. My smile grew and I rushed towards them in the hope that they could help me.

“Excuse me! Could you…please….help me?” I slowed to a stop and cocked my head to the side at the peculiar sight. Another boy was perched a top a giant purple mushroom. He had curly hair and bright eyes but he exuded a certain arrogant presence, which was backed up by the silver mirror he held to his face, admiring himself. I took a step closer and he lowered the mirror to face me with an unimpressed look.

“Uh, hello. I was wondering if perhaps you could help me?” I greeted the boy warmly and asked as politely as I could.

“What do you want?” The boy asked in an irritated tone. Okay, I had asked him nicely and he speaks to me like that.

“I just wanted to ask you for a little help.”

“No.”

“No what?”
“No, I won’t help you. Especially when you’re wearing that.” The boy leered at me and I tried to cover myself as I was only wearing the white under dress I had put on earlier.

“What is your problem?! Are you a ert or something?” I asked while taking a few steps back. The boy just laughed and hopped down off the mushroom and walked right up to me with his face only a few inches from mine. He was really cute- wait I didn’t even know this guy but I was calling him cute? He blew a pink bubblegum bubble as he circled around me, like he was trying to evaluate me.

“You’re Taekyung, right?” He asked as he faced me again with his hands in his pockets.

“How do you know my name?” I asked him, starting to get scared. He knew my name yet I had never met him.

“Everyone here knows your name. I’m Jeongmin.” He said the first part as if I had been living under a rock my whole life, before saying his name with a type of haughtiness.

“Right well, could you tell me how I can get back home, Jeongmin?” I asked politely despite my growing discomfort.

“Only if you give me something.” He said mysteriously while pacing back and forth.

“Give you what exactly.” I asked unsure of his intentions.

“A kiss.”

“WHAT?!” I said surprised at the request. Why would he want a kiss? Okay, I’m positive he’s a ert now.

“Oh come on. I’ll only tell you how to get home if you do.” He said in an annoying sing song voice. Will I really have to kiss him to get back home? I hadn’t ever kissed a guy before and I certainly didn’t want to give it to this guy; even if he is insanely attractive.

Instead of giving him and answer I just held my head high and strutted down the stone path again. But I didn’t get five steps before I heard him shouting out.

“You need the two sided mushroom.” He called out to me. I stopped and turned towards him, wondering what on earth a two sided mushroom could be.

“It can only be found at the Red Queen’s palace. Good luck getting there.” Jeongmin had said the new information with a dark voice. Maybe this Red Queen was disliked by people?

“Okay, thank you. I’ll be leaving now.” I thanked him quickly and turned to go but Jeongmin caught my shoulders and planted a kiss on my lips. I quickly came to my senses and went to push him away but he had disappeared and all that was left was an echoing proud laughter. I touched my lips before stomping my feet and screaming into the air,

“If I ever see you gain, Jeongmin, you’ll regret doing that!” as I made my way down the stone path again and deeper into the forest.

“She’s just like the Hatter said…” Jeongmin’s voice echoed through the trees as I started walking faster. ‘The Hatter?’ I thought in confusion, ‘Who on earth could that be?’.

Hey! So, how was the first chapter? It's the school holidays here so I should be able to update more often, so look forward to the rest.

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