On a golden summer afternoon, Alice sat by the river. Her older sister, Charlotte, sat beside her, happily reading a book. Feeling bored, Alice glanced at her sister's book.
"What's the point of a book without pictures?" Alice asked.
Charlotte was too busy reading to reply. Alice gave a tired sigh and thought about making a daisy chain. However, that would require getting up to pick the daisies. And the hot day was making Alice feel very tired and lazy.
Suddenly a rabbit ran past the two girls. He was white and wore a colorful vest. "Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" he cried. "I'm going to be late!"
Alice was so sleepy that she didn't think a talking animal was strange. But then the White Rabbit pulled a watch from his vest pocket.
"Rabbits don't wear vests," Alice said to herself. "And they certainly don't carry watches."
Alice jumped up and ran after the White Rabbit. Near a hedge he popped down a large rabbit hole. Alice followed right after him, not thinking about how she'd get out. Suddenly she was falling!
"Help!" Alice cried. She felt as if she were falling down a deep well.
It was too dark to see anything below, so Alice looked around as she fell. The rabbit hole was lined with cupboards and shelves. Maps and pictures decorated the walls.
Alice grabbed a jar labeled Orange Jam from one shelf. She was disappointed to discover it was empty.
"If I drop this jar, it might kill somebody below," Alice said. She slipped it onto the next shelf she passed. Alice continued to fall.
"After this, I'll never get upset about just falling down some stairs. Why, I won't even complain if I fall off the roof!"
Down, down, down. Would this fall ever end?
"How many miles have I fallen by now?" Alice said. "I must be getting near the center of the earth. What if I fall right through the earth?"
Where would she end up? Alice tried to remember her geography lessons. "I'll just have to ask the first person I meet. I'll say, 'Please, ma'am, is this New Zealand or Australia?'"
Alice was silent for a while, but then she started thinking about Dinah, her cat. "I hope someone remembers to feed Dinah tonight," Alice said aloud. "Oh, Dinah, I wish you were here! There aren't any mice in the air, but you might catch a bat. Do cats eat bats? Do bats eat cats?"
Alice didn't know the answer to either question. And she was feeling so, so tired. She was beginning to dream that she was walking hand in hand with Dinah—
Thump! Suddenly Alice landed on a pile of sticks and dry leaves. She wasn't hurt, so she jumped right up. Ahead, the White Rabbit was hurrying down a long passage.
"I'd better catch up with that rabbit!" Alice ran as fast as she could.
"Oh, my ears and whiskers! It's getting very late!" the White Rabbit said as he turned a corner.
Alice turned the corner too, but the White Rabbit had disappeared. She was now in a long, low hall with doors lining both walls. Lamps hanging from the ceiling dimly illuminated the hall.
"The White Rabbit must have gone through one of these doors," Alice said.
She walked down one side of the hall, trying every door. They were all locked. She walked up the other side of the hall. Those doors were locked too. Alice stood sadly in the middle of the hall.
"How will I ever get out of here?" she cried.