Oz Wonderland (Watty Award 2013)

Down, Down, Ouch!

It was another windy day in England. But today, the wind was so much stronger than yesterday. Chris closed his café’s door slowly. ‘That was one bloody wind!’ he said. The café was silent, because no one was there, except Chris and the chef, Michael. ‘And because of this weather, no one wants to come to our café, Michael!’

Michael turned on the TV lazily. ‘It’s been 4 days. And no one came to our café. We’ll close this café later, I guess,’ he sarcastically said. Chris looked at him, and he was shocked.

‘There’s no way you’ll close this café! This is where my money comes from! Without the café, I can’t live anymore!’ Chris shouted.

‘No need to shout, Chris. Do you think I want to close this café? I don’t have another shop, or café. But no one comes to our café!’

‘We have to be patient. In a few days, the weather will be better and everyone will be back to our shop, again!’ Chris said. But the news didn’t agree with Chris. They said that the weather will be the same for the next 3 days. ‘At least we have another 3 days, Mike.’

Michael put on his jacket and his hat. ‘I’m going home. Please, close the café. We’ll back in 3 days, or if you want to open the café by yourself, I don’t mind,’ he said, and then he exited the café and ran to his home.

Chris sighed desperately and then he closed the café, and walked home. The wind was really strong today. Leaves from trees flew everywhere, and the sun hasn’t showed itself for like, a week. He hasn’t seen any animals for 3 days, except that blue suited rabbit that was just running in front of him. Wait. A blue-suited rabbit?

Chris followed the rabbit, as the rabbit ran faster and faster. ‘Hey, rabbit! Wait!’ he shouted. It was idiotic, but he has to follow the rabbit. What if the rabbit is the one from the story, Alice in Wonderland?

The rabbit finally stopped. He stopped in front of a big tree in a park. The tree was extremely huge, and Chris has never seen it before. ‘Wow, this is one bloody tree!’ Chris said.

‘B-b-bloody? I don’t see any blood,’ the rabbit said. THE RABBIT TALKED! Bloody hell, the rabbit talked!

‘Did you just—talked?’ Chris asked the rabbit. He wasn’t scared—he was amazed! He found a talking rabbit!

‘Yes, and we need your help!’ the rabbit said, and then he jumped into a big hole near the tree. Chris was surprised, because he didn’t see any holes, but then that hole was just appeared.

‘Where are you going? And who needs my help?’ Chris asked. But it was no use—the rabbit was already down there. ‘Should I jump?’ he asked again. But still, no answer. Chris looked around him. No one was there. So, he slowly took a look at the hole, and then he jumped inside.

He fell into a deep hole, and the hole was extremely huge. Above him, he could see there are a shelf full of things that he don’t know. He analyzed everything around him carefully. ‘I was expecting doors, but, well mirrors are okay, too.’ He slowly said.

There were ten mirrors, and each one of them looks exactly the same, except the size. The biggest one was on his right, and then next to it, a smaller mirror, and repeats, until he saw in front of him the smallest mirror, that can only be entered by a mouse.

‘Alice walks through the mirror above her fireplace, so I must find the same thing,’ he said. But there was no fireplace in the room. ‘Well that’s strange. There is no cake and the poison as well,’ he said.

Chris was really excited to see the Wonderland. ‘To my childhood,’ he said, and then he walked through the biggest mirror, and surprisingly, he was transferred into another world.

‘Holy crap—welcome to Wonderland, Chris Hamilton,’ he said to himself. Wonderland was amazing. There were a lot of big trees, and he could hear a sound of a big stream near him, and it wasn’t windy—it’s pretty much warm. ‘I love this place!’ Chris shouted.

He walked slowly, following the black bricks. ‘That’s weird, a black bricks. But who cares? This is amazing!’ he said to himself, again. He took some flower from the ground, a really beautiful flower. And besides the bricks where he walked, there were thousands more beautiful flowers in many colors.

‘I could live here. It’s warm, it’s beautiful, it’s—‘ but he stopped, because he heard someone screamed. ‘What was that?’

‘RUN!’ the voice said.

 ‘Who’s that? Show me yourself!’ Chris shouted. But no one’s there. The flowers around him slowly dying, and then he finally can see the one that screamed—a brunette girl with blue skirt and white shirt.

‘RUN, IDIOT!’ she said. But Chris didn’t run. Why should he run? This place’s amazing! At least that’s what he thought until he saw a big, dog look-alike lion, 10 feet high, chased the girl. The creature roared loudly, and then he realized: Bandersnatch.

‘Run!’ he shouted, and then Chris and the girl ran as fast as they could. The Snatch followed them, with the sound of anger and hunger. He roared, and roared, and roared. ‘What is wrong with that creature?’ he screamed.

‘He’s hungry, that’s the problem, idiot!’ the girl shouted in American accent. They ran through the forest, following the black bricks.

‘We should kill it!’ Chris suggested.

‘Well, we can’t! We have to hide,’ the girl said. They ran, and ran, and ran, but the Snatch still followed them, roaring like it’s going to make them stop.

 They finally reached the end of the bricks. ‘Damn it! We have to fight,’ the girl said. They turned around, faced the Snatch. He could see the eyes of the Snatch, it was extremely hungry, and it’s willing to eat anything that can satisfy its hunger.

‘ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?’ Chris shouted. But it was an idiotic move. The Snatch thought that Chris shouted to him, so the Snatch roared again.

‘You’re never out of idiotic move, are you?’ the girl said. She pulled a rope, and then above them, a big tree came down extremely fast, pushed the Snatch for about 40 metres, and also gave the Snatch a reminder that you shouldn’t mess with that girl. The Snatch roared for the last time, and then it ran, as fast as it could.

‘That was amazing! YOU ARE AMAZING!’ Chris said. The girl laughed.

‘Do you have place to live?’ she asked. Chris didn’t answer. He wanted to say that he has, but he didn’t want to be eaten by the Snatch. ‘Of course you don’t have one. Come on; follow me to a safe place. This place has been more dangerous than it used to be,’

‘Thank you so much for letting me stay in your place. Because I don’t have any place to stay, I was just come when the Snatch chased you,’ Chris said.

‘That’s okay. Now follow me and don’t make any idiotic move!’ she commanded.

‘Yes, ma’am. And what’s your name, young lady?’ Chris asked.

‘Dorothy Gale,’ the girl said, left Chris speechless. Dorothy… in Wonderland.