Hello, my name is Alice. This is my story. No no, Not the cliche story of falling down a rabbit hole into a mysterious unknown land with a Red Queen who cuts off heads and a man in a ridiculous hat who has tea parties. No this isn’t like that.

A few months ago while I was cleaning out a old sewing room in my grandmothers home I discovered something quite strange. I found what looked to be a small door in the wall. Not super tiny, More like something someone about my size could fit into comfortably. Given I was a rather small person. I thought it was something like a closet of sorts, so I never really thought much of it and went on cleaning the rest of the room without question. (Plus, the door had a key hole and was locked so not like I could be nosy anyways.)

I soon finished cleaning, gave the door another glance with curiosity sparking up into me, and I left. I debated asking my grandmother about the door and what was inside, She’s a nice woman and probably wouldn’t mind telling me I thought. Unfortunately she passed away two weeks after I cleaned out the room.

When going through her will, which was in alphabetical order, we came across my name after a couple other relatives. “To my precious and most deserving granddaughter, Alice Rodgers I leave my sewing tools, my song books and my old memento box from my childhood until death.”

That evening, after gathering my grandmothers things she left me I flipped through some of the songbooks, stashed away the sewing tools and opened up the memento box, which had me curious as ever. It had a bunch of childhood photos, some seashells, jewelry, nothing out of the norm for a memento box. As I looked through it though I found a envelope. On the back it said “Alice” Alice? Why would a envelope with my name be in here? I opened it and there was a letter and a key. “Dear Alice, I know we were never as close as I had hoped but I hope that through my departure of this world you find another very interesting to sooth that ever so adorable curiosity of yours.”

I was slightly confused but stared at the key. It was quite pretty, Silver with a Spade ending and a sapphire encrusted diamond. While inspecting it a flash of the door came through my mind. I ran upstairs into the room which was now filled with boxes and clutter. I moved a few boxes and found my way to the door. I put the key in the keyhole, and sure enough, it fit. I gave it a swift twist and without a second thought opened the door. Bad idea, and soon I’d find out why. For now my naive self wandered into the dark room which was illuminated by the light of the hallway outside. There were, boxes and spider-webs everywhere. Ick. Spiders, hate those things. Moving towards the back of the hollowed room I discovered the end. And, thankfully, a light switch as it’d been dark in the room since I’d long left the light of the hallway. I flipped the light switch and a blue light illuminated the room. Blue, weird I know but, my grandma always seemed a little…you know. Suddenly I dropped the key and jumped in fear, the door had slammed shut. I yelled out thinking that one of my family members had shut it thinking no one was in here. I ran over to the door banging on it and telling them to open up. They didn’t.

I wasn’t particularly afraid of the dark. And I did enjoy being alone. So I figured hey, some alone time before they figure out I’m in here. I wandered back to the end of the room and looked around. More boxes. I decided to open some. I found a couple perfume bottles, some old clothes, a teapot set and some canned fruits. Eh. This room wasn’t as interesting as I assumed it to be. I leaned against the wall in the back of the room and let out a sigh. Then I noticed. The wall seemed kind of hollowed out. I pressed up against it a few times to assure myself it was really hallow. It was. Curiosity again, got the best of me.

I found a loose end in the wall and pulled it. The wall fell and I looked in awe. I seen, people. Standing there. Not staring at me, but through me it seemed. Just, normal plain people. It took me awhile to get my barrings, but once I did I stepped through the hole in the now torn wall. I looked back and it looked as though the wall had…vanished. I was in shock. I seen what the other people were looking at. It was a big field. Not a normal field no. There were no daisy’s, no green grass, no butterflies, nothing of the sort. Instead it was a field of dirt, mud and….Human skulls. My curiosity was dead at this point. What did kick in was fear. Fear of what in the hell was this?! I looked back only to notice the faces of the people behind me were now either weeping with sorrow or contorting into sick ghoulish smiles. I was still unseen, though. So I did what anyone would probably have done and ran, I didn’t know what this place was and I frankly did not care anymore I just wanted out. The curious side of me died and all that was left was fear. Like when you think the boogeyman is under the bed or in the closet.

After what seemed like miles, I came upon a building. It was big, and black and eerie as fuck. “What the fuck is this shit, a bad LSD dream?!” I thought to myself. I entered the building to find it was sort of a “Palace” I guess you could say. Creeped me the hell out is all I know.

“Welcome Alice!” I heard a familiar voice as I turned around swiftly. “Grandma?!” I gave a confused shout. “Why yes Alice, we’ve been waiting for you for a long while now. Did you enjoy what you seen on the outside?” She had such an eerie tone in her voice…It almost didn’t seem like her.

“What? What do you mean?! It looks hellish outside!” I was getting unusually angry. “Oh ‘Hell’ is not the word I would use. More of a ‘Labyrinth’ maybe or and ‘Abyss’. Or as I like to call it…Wonderland.” Her face had a sick twisted smile on it and I couldn’t take it anymore. I ran out the door only to hear her say “You can run Alice, But you can NEVER EVER return home!” I felt my stomach sink. Tears coming out uncontrollably, I was shaking in fear. Then I suddenly hit my head on something…I don’t know what, but it made me black out. When I woke up I found myself in the front of the door in the old sewing room on the floor. My mother and father staring at me with sick grins and hungry looking eyes. I screamed and jolted up. What was this?! This was NOT my home. I. I can hear them, wandering around calling out my name in a sadistic evil tone. No no no no no no. I just want to go home, please. Please God. I fell asleep hiding in a old cubby hole I used to hide in as a child. and when I awoke, I was in a hospital room hooked up to an IV with my mother asleep in a chair and my father reading a book.

“Alice?! Thank heavens! Darling, Alice is awake!” My father said in a cheery voice. “Alice? ALICE! Oh God we were so worried about you.” My mother wept while hugging me. “The doctor said that you had a mild seizure due to a drug you had taken. Why didn’t you let us know you were taking drugs, Alice? Why would you do this?” I just blankly stared at them both. “Drugs?! DRUGS?! I’m not on drugs dammit, I’ve just been to hell and back.” I thought.

I tried to talk. But for some reason my mouth wouldn’t move, all I could do was lay there and stare at them blankly. I was paralyzed. My whole body from my neck down. They said due to a “seizure” from an overdose on a Acid kick I had paralyzed myself. I wish I could have said how much of a load of bullshit that was.

No, I knew what had happened. I could FEEL what had happened. I was just a shell of a person. My body, it was stuck in that ‘Wonderland’ my Grandma had confronted me in. I felt myself being tortured, I could feel being stabbed and bitten. But no marks would show up on my body. It was silent torment. I have nightmares every night of that place. Although I wonder if they’re truly nightmares. In my nightmares I’m not paralyzed, and I see every single mark on my body. In my nightmares I’m constantly running and hiding. I have to wonder if I’m not just asleep when I’m in that hospital room, like some of me has escaped into my old life. I don’t know anymore. All I can do is run and hide, in this Inverted Wonderland I am trapped in.