Prologue

Narrated by: The Hareophant.

Once upon a time, Alice was, once, quite alright.But before I tell you about her any further, I suppose it would only be polite to introduce myself.My name is The Hareophant, and I am the narrator of this little story and all my subjective thoughts will be coded with blue. I shall be the voice accompanying you through Alice’s journey, though I cannot promise that everything I tell you will be pleasant. I am merely recounting what I witness—maybe intervene a little, but I promise I will do no harm to her.And what I am witnessing in the meadow, specifically under the giant old fig tree right now is Alice Liddell. The girl with long sleek hair who scratches her legs so hard because she is unfortunately allergic to grass pollen.“She was always allergic to grass, so why would she be there, let alone barefoot, in the first place?”Beats me. The poor girl does not even know—or maybe in this case, remember—that she is allergic to grass.Now, I could reach down and pull her out from doing that myself. But that is not how a story works, is it?So allow me to deploy one of my little helpers to guide her instead. Go on, little rabbit. Lead Alice away from the grass and bring her safely here before those poor legs are covered in more scars.

“Oi, stop that.”Alice feels like her hand stops involuntarily mid-scratch. She looks down and found a white lop-eared rabbit standing two feet away from her butt, noses twitching and all, as it stares up at her.“Did you just say something?”The rabbit tilts its head, making one ear drooping lower than the other. “What do you think, Alice?”“Oh. Yes, you definitely did.” The girl’s left hand move to scratch her head. “Is that my name? Alice?”A small nods follow from the rabbit. “So, you really have forgotten everything. How unfortunate.”Alice seems quite taken aback by that. It is obvious to the eye by now that she has not a slightest idea that she remembers nothing. “Is that a bad thing?”The rabbit looks down at Alice’s bare feet. They are swelling and already covered in red spots, and some are bleeding due to the excessive scratching.“Depends. But looking at your poor bloody feet right now, I think it is best for you to remember that you are, and have always been, allergic to grass pollen.”Then Alice follows the rabbit’s gaze.“Come, let us get yourself somewhere safe.”“To where, exactly?”Both of the rabbit’s ears shoot upright. “Down!”“Down where?” Alice blinks in confusion.Two tiny feet stomps against the ground. “Look down!”The ground beneath them crumbles after the last warning. Sending them free falling through the dark that smells like wet soil after the storm. Alice throws both arms out, fingers grabbing at nothing, and I almost plug my ears from the scream the girl lets out from her throat, which somehow sounding like… is that a laugh?And the very next moment, we can hear a loud bouncy thud coming from what seems to be the end of the hole.“Ouch! My butt!”A pair of floppy ears slowly rises behind the giant mushroom that was placed there as a trampoline to keep anyone safe from falling. The rabbit shakes itself from head to tail, dusting the dirt off it’s fur before turning back to Alice.“Are you okay, Alice? Can you stand up?”“I am okay, little bunny.” Alice pats the mushroom beneath her. “This mushroom is fluffy, and that was so, so much fun!”The rabbit lets out a long weary sigh. “Thank goodness you are okay. I forgot how steep the entrance hole is.”Alice smiles, perhaps for the first time since she became aware of her own existence. Then, as if remembering something important, she jolts slightly before blurting out, “Wait, I did not catch your name yet. You must have a name, right?”Her hand reaches out, gently stroking the rabbit’s head. The little creature melts to her touch.“I’m Pommie. Call me Pommie.”

Pommie’s ears twitch happily at the touch before flicking toward the enormous tree stretching out behind the giant mushroom. “Come along, Alice. Let me show you where you will be staying for the time being.”“Staying? Am I going to stay here?”“For now, yes. Follow me—and watch your step, the roots around here have a rather nasty habit of grabbing at feet.”I think I should mention, before we go further, that the entrance they tumbled through leads to a place we call The Burrow. It is not much to look at from the surface—just a small hole beneath an old fig tree that is hidden well enough between grasses that anybody would walk right past it thinking it is just an ordinary rabbit burrow.But once you are granted with the authority to go beneath its hole, you will find that The Burrow is another thing entirely. It is a small little world of its own, with everything one possibly want to see and do all in one place.Anybody who gets to experience The Burrow enters through the same little hole, yet to make it clear, no two people are ever land on the same place. The Burrow seems to know what lies within each dreamer, and where it chooses to send them depend entirely on the person who falls inside.Alice’s particular entrance happens to lead straight to one of its quieter corners.The bouncy mushroom she had landed on sits behind the enormous treehouse. There is a narrow, slippery path due to excessive amount of moss and tangled with roots creeping along the ground, that leads into a round wooden door waiting for them.Alice follows closely behind Pommie, carefully picking her pace along the path. A wandering root curls around her ankle and gives her foot a playful little tug—a welcoming gesture for them, making her startle and lets out a tiny gasps before she hurriedly pulls herself free.Pommie pays no mind to it since she—I shall refer Pommie with she/her pronoun from now on—knows the root will not harm Alice in any way. Her little tail bobbing with every hop as she leads the way, until they both finally stop in front of the treehouse’s front door.

The white rabbit reaches up on her tiny toes and turns the handle around.The mysterious door is now wide open, revealing a curled up grey wolf right on the doormat—Ashvein, I should say, the one who got the duty to watch over the treehouse, though watching mostly just means sleeping in the front of it all day. We can see his ears twitch every other second with soft snores coming out his nose in each breath he takes.Without a second thought, Pommie hops straight onto the top of his head with her little paws presses hard into his fur. “Wakey wakey, doodleboo! Look who I bring along!”The wolf's eyes flutter open, and he jumps up so quickly that Pommie tumbles off and lands with a plop on the doormat. She then bites his front leg.Ashvein blinks his sleepiness away, shakin his head, before he eventually looks at the girl standing by the wooden door.“Is that… Alice?”Alice fidgets with the hem of her blue dress, clearly unsure what to do with her hands. “Seems like I’m so popular here for some reason. Care to fill me in?”Ashvein turns his head toward Pommie, hoping for an explanation of what he see in front of him. Pommie only shrugs. “She lost her memory.”The grey wolf lets out a long sigh, rubbing a paw down his face. “Thought so.”Pommie steps forward to stand between the two. Okay, no more awkwardness! She thought to herself.“Alice, this big thing here is Ashvein,” Pommie says, giving the hound a light pat on the side. “Don’t mind the face, he is really just a giant softie. Isn’t that right, snoozebug?”Ashvein only grumbles in response, seemingly not fond of the new silly nickname Pommie always come up with, but his wagging tail says otherwise. Then he brings his head to Alice, letting her pet him as he leaned into her touch. “Welcome to the treehouse. Sorry about the mess. If Pommie told me that you are coming, I would clean up a little.”Alice gives a small smile back. She still do not know what to make of any of this.“Now then!” Pommie then claps her paws together. “Who wants some tea? I brewed a fresh pot right before I left!”The young human shakes her head. “No, thank you. I think I just want to lie down.”“Oh, suit yourself then,” Pommie says with a shrug. “Come, come, you may sleep in my bedroom for tonight. We will find you a bed of your own soon enough, promise!”She leads Alice up to the narrow staircase, then walking past old shelves filled with small trinkets, and duck through a tunnel before coming out into the last stop: a small round room with one big and cozy bed tucked in the corner. Alice crawls in without a single complaint, sinking her body right into the warm fluffy blankets.“Sleep well, marshmallow” Pommie tucks the covers around her shoulders before giving her head a tiny pats. “Tomorrow we will go for a walk around The Burrow.”Alice’s eyes flutter shut before she even gets the chance to thank Pommie properly, the whole situation makes her tiny body so tired.After making sure Alice is asleep, Pommie hops out and closes the door behind her.And so, Alice’s first day in The Burrow come to an end.