Alice in Wonder-City

Down the Rabbit Hole

One sheep.... Two sheep.... Three sheep.... Alice was getting very bored with farm life. She now understood why they tell little children to count sheep when they can't get to sleep. It was putting Alice to sleep.

Her sister loved the farm, was going to inherit it from their parents. 'How boring,' thought Alice, 'to be stuck here in this geographically challenged town.' The cows were next to be drenched. Then the goats. Then the pigs had to be fed. The eggs collected. The horses to be rugged. Alice could barely muster enough energy to continue counting. Fifteen sheep.... Sixteen sheep....

An abrupt clouding of her vision awoke Alice from her placebo slumber. Peeling the projectile away from her face Alice was met with a fashionably dressed man, decked out in a white waistcoat, gloves and top hat. It was a pamphlet. A Quinz' Crocket Enterprises pamphlet! And they were inquiring about possible employment of country college graduates!

Alice didn't hesitate. This was her chance, the chance she had been waiting for. Racing away in a flash, forgetting her sister who had learnt over the years to never question in moments like these.

After scarcely packing a bag, printing off her resume and buying a train ticket, Alice was seated waiting for her journey to begin. And begin it did. The Rabbit Hole was a newly completed marvel.

The train started off at a steady pace, the clickity clack of the hyper drive engine echoed off the walls. The tunnel angled down for a period of time before abruptly shooting skyward. A steep ascent, like that of a climbing roller coaster. And with every roller coaster there's a drop.

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The first steps into this new word were marvellous. The lights, the sights, the buildings, the people, the energy, Alice had never felt smaller. And the shops! So very different to the single supermarket, barber and petrol station at home. There were bottle shops, pet shops, glove shops, Alice had recently passed a pub called 'DRINK ME!', there was one selling hats, one selling cats, there were even shops selling shops!

She marvelled at a telescope shop specialising in only telescopes (Alice knew this because it said so on a sign, 'We specialise in telescopes, telescopes and telescopes) Barely paying attention to her own feet, Alice certainly wasn't paying attention to oncoming traffic. It was a stampede! (Actually, it was the lunch hour rush). Not only was Alice an ant to the buildings but to the crowds too, people were everywhere, individuals going to and from work, friends shopping, tourist groups, school students, pizza delivery bikes, every direction she looked Alice was swarmed. She loved it.

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