The Songs in Our Hearts Book One: Reaching Out

Chapter Nineteen: Wonderland and a Plan

"Huh, I wonder why this place has a big hole in the ceiling," Coda pondered out loud as he stood beneath a gaping indentation. As the violinist stared into the abyss above him, he considered sending a small flare up in order to see where it lead.

Coda moved the case so he could remove the instrument from it, and suddenly, he heard what sounded like screaming coming from the hole. Looking up, he let out a yelp as three figures fell on top of him.

"Ugh... what— where did you guys come from?" Coda groaned as he pushed himself off the ground.

"Um, from that hole...?" the spiky-haired brunette answered. Coda looked up again only to see the same dark tunnel. "Do you know where we are? We..." The other boy had started to say something else, but the duck he was traveling with seemed to glare at him.

"We're not from around here," the feathered companion stated while continuing to glare at the brunette.

Rubbing the back of his head, Coda answered, "Sorry to break it to ya, but I'm not from around here either." The violinist reached a hand out to them. "I'm Coda."

"Sora," the boy responded, shaking Coda's hand while giving him a bright grin. "The other two are Donald Duck and Goofy," Sora further explained, gesturing to the bird and the dog. Turning towards Goofy, Coda saw that he was still lying on the floor, and a laugh escaped his lips at the sight. The sound of footsteps hitting the floor rapidly soon caught their attention. A small, white rabbit ran past Goofy as he got off the ground.

"Oh, my fur and whiskers!" he cried, ignoring the four other people in the room. "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" the rabbit shouted as he scurried down a hallway. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! I'm here, I should be there!" he continued to ramble on about some queen before his form disappeared down the hall.

"Well... that was..." Coda paused as he tried to think of the right word to describe the scene that had just taken place. "Odd." Talking animals was one thing, but to speak in rhyme and ramble about a queen were another.

"Yup," Sora agreed. "Maybe we should go check it out?" he suggested. Coda nodded and watched as the three of them walked ahead and into the hallway. He could immediately sense there was something special about Sora, but he wasn't sure what it was. Sora's presence seemed to brighten up Coda's mood. The brunette was a good-spirited kid, but there was something else about that spirit that set Sora apart from others.

The hallways didn't seem long, but to have windows when they were presumably underground and a plate rack was rather off. Coda watched as Sora opened the door at the end. And then another, and another.

"Gawrsh, I wonder what kinda world has to use three doors," Goofy gasped, already peeking on what was on the other side.

Squeezing next to the dog, Sora stated, "Hey, I wanna see too!" Curiosity peaked, Coda moved closer to get a look too.

"What's on the other side?" the violinist asked as he peered over them.

"Let me see!" he heard Donald exclaim. Coda felt a sudden weight and webbed feet on his shoulders. He immediately lost balance, and the four of them came falling forward through the door. As they got up, Coda noticed the rabbit running across the floor.

"Hey, there it goes," he told them, pointing at the rabbit. They watched as he hurried into a small door— a door much smaller than he was beforehand. There were other strange things in the room as well: all the furniture (excluding a small bed) looked as if it had been squished flat against the floor.

"What kinda place is this?" Sora wondered out loud. Once everyone got off the floor, they moved to investigate the small door the rabbit had run into. Bending down to the door's level, Sora asked, "How did he get so small?"