Wonderland

     The first thing I noticed when I woke was the smell of roses. I took a long, deep breath, letting the sweet delicious smell fill my lungs until it felt as if they would burst. I exhaled slowly, and a smile spread across my face.

     Wait.. Roses? Where am I?

     I slowly opened my eyes, and the uninviting burst of sunlight immediately attacked my eyes. I lifted a weak arm and covered my sensitive eyes, blinking rapidly and trying to focus on my surroundings. Propping myself up with my other arm, I looked around. It appeared that I had been lying in a flower garden, or apparently napping.  An elegant arrangement of beautiful yellow tulips and, of course, roses encircled the small patch of grass I was on.  Large oak trees with long hanging layers of moss towered over the flowers and me, creating the most beautiful and magical picture.

     Wow, it was gorgeous. I looked farther up, and past the thick branches of the oak were hints of a beautiful blue sky.

     "Oh, my.." I whispered, completely stunned and speechless. But how did I even get here?

     I put my palms against the soft green grass and pushed myself upward, using my legs to propel and balance myself as I stood. Brushing off my dirt-covered jeans, I searched the garden for an exit. I turned, and behind me was a stone pathway leading away from the garden. It pained me to leave such a beautiful place, but I could always come back later when I found out exactly where I was. Sighing, I carefully walked over the grass to the pathway and followed the trail. It was difficult to see where it led thanks to the enormous number of oak trees surrounding me. I walked for several minutes, trying to ignore the slight headache that was beginning to accumulate on the right side of my head. Suddenly, there was a rustling up ahead only a few yards away from me, so I stopped abruptly and strained my ears to listen.

     I stared a the tree of which the source of the noise had came from. I stood there for several minutes, preparing to protect myself if anything jumped out. A small hand appeared from behind the tree, and my heart pounded in my ears.

     "Um, hello?" I called, swallowing hard and standing in defense mode. Then a head appeared, with big green eyes just like mine.

     "Melody!!" My little brother, Caleb, cried. He ran from around the tree to me and hugged me around my waist, his tears soaking into my red flannel. I let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't a stalker, its just my little brother.

     I hugged him back and smiled, but my expression quickly twisted into one of confusion. "How did you get here?"

     He looked up at me with a tear soaked face and shrugged. "I don't know! I just woke up over there." He pointed back to the tree.

    "Huh.." I held his face in my hands and grinned. "Hey! It will all be okay, we just have to find our way out of here so we can go home, okay?"

     He nodded slowly, and I wiped away the tears from his face. Holding his hand, I lead him down the trail.

     We walked for what seemed like hours. Caleb complained several times, saying he was tired or hungry, so I'd put him on my back and tell him a story of when I was his age just to keep him entertained. He'd laugh and tell me I was silly, and I agreed. I was a pretty weird kid back then, but I had wonderful memories, and he loved hearing about them.

     "Melody," My brother said, "This place reminds me of Wonderland. You know, from Alex in Wonderland?"

     I laughed and shook my head. "It's Alice in Wonderland, you weirdo." A huge cheesy grin spread over his face, and he laughed along with me. But Caleb was right. Images of the garden flashed back into my mind, and it was almost too easy to imagine little Alice and the Mad Hatter having tea there.

     Caleb interrupted the movie playing inside my head when he pulled on my hair. I snapped back into reality and turned my head to see what he wanted.

     "What is it, Caleb?" I asked. His brows were furrowed in confusion, and his head was tilted to the side as if he were trying to examine some interesting new species.

     "There's a guy dressed in a costume!" He exclaimed. I turned my head back to the front and stopped.

      Straight ahead and blocking the trail was a tall man dressed in odd attire, as if he were from the Medieval time or something. His deep blue eyes were fixed on both Caleb and me, and his lips curled over his teeth as if he were going to snarl in disgust. Suddenly, he pulled an arrow from the bag on his back, placed it on his bow, and aimed it straight towards us.

 

Reviews

[Delaney]

Well, this most definitely has my attention now! The description of the world they are in is phenomenal. On top of that, who is this man? Why is he trying to shot them? Oh, it is going to heat up from here, I can feel it. good job!

Yours truly, Delaney

[Jordan Ray]

Thank you! All of the answers to your questions will be added in the next chapter, which will probably be added today. Thank you for the reviews, they're really helpful!

[Delaney]

You're welcome! I'm looking forward to it.