An Unexpected Fall

Mariza giggled as she chased after the bright red ball, her turquoise-streaked hair bouncing behind her. The garden around her home sparkled with morning dew, and she could hear her sister Clover laughing somewhere nearby.

"Catch!" Clover called out, appearing from behind a flowering bush. She wound up her arm like a pitcher and hurled the ball with surprising force.

Mariza reached up to catch it, but the ball flew much harder than expected. It smacked directly into her forehead with a loud thunk that echoed through the garden.

Everything went spinning. The blue sky whirled above her as she tumbled backward, her brown boots flying up in the air. Her head hit the soft grass with a dull thud.

Darkness crept in from the edges of her vision like spilled ink. She could hear Clover shouting her name, but the voice sounded far away and growing fainter.

Then everything went black.

The Girl in the Blue Dress

Mariza's eyes fluttered open to soft sunlight filtering through enormous mushroom caps overhead. She sat up slowly, her head still dizzy from the fall. Instead of her family's garden, she found herself on a carpet of violet grass beside a babbling brook.

"Oh my! Are you alright?" came a cheerful voice.

A girl about her own age hurried over, wearing a blue dress with a white pinafore. Her blonde hair was tied back with a black ribbon, and her bright blue eyes sparkled with concern.

"I'm Alice," the girl said, kneeling beside her. "You took quite a tumble from that rabbit hole!"

"Rabbit hole?" Mariza touched her forehead where the ball had hit her. "I'm Mariza. Where are we?"

"Why, Wonderland, of course!" Alice laughed, helping her to her feet. "Everything's a bit topsy-turvy here, but it's perfectly wonderful once you get used to it."

A peculiar hummingbird with rainbow feathers zipped past them, humming an actual tune. Mariza blinked in amazement as playing cards walked by on tiny legs, carrying paintbrushes.

"Come along," Alice said, taking her hand. "I'll show you around. Just mind the singing flowers—they can be rather rude about visitors."