Wonderfall, Juniper Lee [top young adult novels txt] 📗

Cassidy's thoughts momentarily blurred and then reorganized themselves. She blinked to clear her suddenly watering eyes and looked back into the mirror.
"What?!" she gasped, as she peered at her reflection.
"Curious, isn't it?" she heard a voice behind her state. It was rather nonchalant, which didn't seem to fit the event that had just occurred.
Cassidy shifted her eyes to view the person without turning away from the mirror. The voice belonged to a tall man in a top hat and a long brown coat. She quickly glanced back to her reflection, feeling uncomfortable in her blue strapless dress, pink leggings, and white shrug, which materialized onto her from thin air.
"No way," she sighed. "This isn't real. I'm just dreaming."
"Oh no," the man in the top hat replied. "This is very real. And also very urgent. We need you, so follow me."
"Right," Cassidy added sarcastically, "because this is so real. But," she paused, talking more to herself than to him, "I don't want to wake up, so I might as well stick around."
She followed the man down a hallway with a checked floor pattern that seemed to shift with her steps. She was filled with questions, so she just couldn't keep quiet.
"So, since this is, you know, real, can you tell me where I am and who you are?"
"Miss Shay, everything will be explained later. For now, all you need to do is walk through that door and meet up with the others."
The man started to walk away, leaving her, with all of her questions, at a giant brass door. She turned the heavy key and pulled it open, hearing the man's footsteps fade into the distance. With a deep breath, she stepped into the small room, shut the door behind her, and turned around slowly.
"Cassidy!" she heard a familiar voice exclaim. She felt a girl's arms wrap her in a hug.
"Juniper?!" Cassidy asked excitedly, happy knowing she wouldn't be alone in the strange place.
"Yep, it's me. Lemme guess, your diamonds, right?"
"What do you mean, diamonds?"
Juniper sighed, exasperatedly. "You don't get it yet, do you?"
"Umm, no."
"Look around! A man in a top hat, giant doors, mirrors? And look at all three of our outfits: blue dresses, with white and pink. None of this helps?"
For the first time, Cassidy took a good look around. Finally, it all clicked.
"Seriously?!" she questioned, turning back to Juniper. "Wonderland, as in Alice and the Mad Hatter?"
"Yep! I guess we're all alices. You look like diamonds, all frilly and rich."
"And you are..." she paused, examining Juniper's black leather jacket, blue mini-dress, and black leggings, "Spades?"
"Yeah. I even get a motorcycle."
"How come you get to be the badass?"
"It doesn't fit you."
"Well, frills don't either. Anyway, who's she?" Cassidy gestured to the unknown girl in the corner.
"You can call me Jazz," the girl said as she approached. Her gray beanie didn't exactly match her pink and blue striped dress.
"Wait, do we know you?" Juniper asked.
"Yeah. Bookrix." Jazz replied.
That was all she had to say. The girls immediately recognized her, but they were still puzzled.
Then, another girl, actually a woman, entered through the giant door. She had long, dark hair and was wearing a light blue blouse and jeans. Jazz was the first to recognize her.
"Wendy?"
"Yeah. And you are?"
Juniper jumped in, "I'm Juniper. That's Cassidy. And that's Jazz. Don't ask us how or why, because we don't know either. All I can say is welcome, fellow writer, to Wonderland."
"Wow," Wendy stated calmly. "Well at least we all sort of know each other, from Bookrix. So, can I ask, which one am I?"
She gestured at a glass table which held four 'Drink Me' bottles. Each was labeled with a different symbol: hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades.
This time, Cassidy spoke up. "I'm diamonds. Juniper's spades. I think Jazz is hearts, ao you must be clubs."
"Why do I have to be hearts? I'm not into girly dresses and crap," Jazz whined.
"Don't complain. Just drink it," Wendy wisely commanded. "Hopefully this will all get explained soon."
Juniper picked up her bottle first.
"Here we go!"
Then Cassidy began the countdown, "3...2...1...," and they all downed their drinks, feeling the sensation of falling into darkness.

Juniper awoke to find herself laying on cold dirt, underneath a large oak, surrounded by tall grass. She rubbed her eyes and stood up quickly and spun in a circle, trying to take in everything at once.
Her clothes remained unchanged which was a relief. She stretched the stiff arms of her leather jacket while she scanned the bank. Nothing especially unusual caught her eyes. After waiting a few seconds to make sure there was no white rabbit in a waistcoat running by, she turned around and strode back to the oak tree.
"Think Alice," she commanded herself aloud.
Then she caught a movement with the corner of her eye. Something small shifted in the grass to her right. With light steps she headed toward it.
"What happened before Alice fell down the rabbit hole?" Juniper whispered.
Before she had time to answer herself, she heard a slight crunch beneath her foot. The source was an old history textbook, with a slightly crunched spine from her heavy boots. It's pages were yellowed and the print was faded.
"That's right; a boring book with no pictures. But where's the sister and where is Alice?"
She picked up the book carefully and looked back to the grass. Another small movement shook the petals off a cluster of daisies. Her mind raced.
"Dinah?" Juniper called, taking another step forward.
A small gray kitten poked its head out to stare at her. She petted its head gently, her mind still working furiously. Nothing was what she expected.
"It's more like a crime scene than a dream," she muttered. Then, exasperated, she sighed, "What now?"
Dinah tilted her head adorably, but didn't offer any help. When Juniper stood up again the kitten trotted back into the grass.
"If this is a test, there's no point in waiting around for the white rabbit to come by. And it seems like I'm following Alice, because it looks like she was just here. So I'd better just find that freaking rabbit hole and move on."
She scanned the bank again, looking for footprints, human or animal, to follow. when none could be found, she came up with a better idea. Back at the oak, she pulled herself onto the lowest branch and began her climb. Once she had a clear view she easily spied the rather large rabbit hole.
Eager to move on, she jumped down and sprinted over to the hole. She hadn't even reached the edge when the ground crumbled below her and she fell. Her mind quickly switched gears from fear back to racing curiosity once she realized that there were suspended objects in the air around her.
"Remember the book. So far, everything has matched the book exactly," she told herself. Then, a little quieter she asked herself, "But why was the rabbit hole so easy to fall through? Seems suspicious. Was it set up for me or for Alice?"
As she pondered this question and her other questions she didn't pay attention to her fall. Soon a small circle of light appeared below her. Then she hit the ground and lost all control of her train of thought; her body crumpling on impact.
She winced and stood, prodding herself to make sure nothing was broken or majorly bruised.
"Where's that pile of sticks when you really need them?" Juniper commented with her trademark sarcasm.
The room around her was circular and small. There was a table, a small glass box, and a drink me bottle, all of which were empty. A miniature wood door stood open to the side of the room.
"Seriously, Alice? You drank everything and took the key with you?!"

Text: Juniper Lee
Publication Date: 06-08-2012

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