Enjoy "Stay in the Cabinet" by Charleigh Frederick, a winner in the Wonderland Writing Contest on Instagram.
Being shoved into a cabinet didn't stop young Princess Rose from hearing the fight outside. Through the crack between the door, she saw her father, the king, slain for being brave. And even after the noise had gone, the rebels retreating, she didn't dare leave where father told her to hide.
"I'll get you when it's safe. Until then stay in here."
So Princess Rose stayed put.
She stayed quiet.
And she heard the rustling in the dark corner, even before the pink rabbit appeared next to her in the dark.
The pink rabbit was dressed smartly in a suit and snapped a pocket watch closed as he came before her like a soldier. "I am perfectly on time for a very important date."
Princess Rose's eyes widened, but after a moment, when no one found them out for making noise, she answered. "You're late. You're late. You're late for the important date. My father is gone."
The pink rabbit's nose twitched in grief. "King Julian?"
To her, he was just Father. She nodded.
"Well, that is dreadful indeed. I'm sorry for your loss." The pink rabbit made for the dark corner he had come out of.
"Wait!" Rose called, and the rabbit did wait. "Please, take me with you. They're going to come back. The rebels will come back, and they'll kill me too."
The pink rabbit took her in once more, and she felt far from her normal regal self. Her hair was a mess, and her dress no doubt was wrinkled and stained from the dirty hiding place. Not to mention, her nose and eyes were red from silent sobs.
"Please." Rose had never used the word much, but it felt fitting here and now.
"I can't take you like that," the pink rabbit said. "But if I change you, there's no going back. Are you sure?"
Rose nodded.
The pink rabbit pulled a heart-shaped tart from his pocket and handed it to her. "Eat this."
Rose stuffed it in her mouth, chewing the sweet shortbread around the raspberry filling. It was sweet and bitter and made her skin tingle all over. When she looked down at her hands, she saw with a start only white fur. "Am I..." she trailed off. Surely not.
But the pink rabbit nodded, and when she looked at him again, she could see just past him was a rabbit hole she could have sworn hadn't been there before. "You are now a white rabbit. What shall I call you?"
"White rabbit," she breathed in disbelief.
"Very well White Rabbit. Follow me to Wonderland."
Before Rose, now White Rabbit, could protest, he had wiggled down the hole and out of sight.
She had been too late for her father, but she would stay in the cabinet. After all, if the rabbit hole was there, everything beyond must count. Grief still tinged her eyes, but the princess was a rabbit now, and she planned to make the most of it, wherever and whatever this Wonderland might be.
Author bio:
Charleigh Frederick is a 23-year-old writer whose works blur the line between good and evil. Signing her first publishing contract at 19, she now has signed ten novels across three publishing houses, including published works DEMON SCOUT with Bow's Bookshelf (a comedic found-family story about a demon and a girl scout partnering to sell the most cookies), and RULE 25: DON'T FALL FOR THE TARGET with Winding Road Stories (a clean spy thriller forbidden-romance). In spring 2024 she graduated (BFA) with highest honors from the writing department at Pratt Institute and won thesis award. She was a Vocal+ Fiction Awards 2022 Challenge finalist. Her stage plays were selected for performance at two different theaters in Minnesota. Her poetry can be found in past issues of Brimstone and Venus and Behind the Vision LLC, as well as in the upcoming anthology I LOVE YOU UNCONVENTIONALLY with Dragon Bone Publishing. She will also have a short story in this anthology. For more information, find her on Instagram @ author_charleighfred, or reach out to her agent, Leslie Varney of Prentis Literary.
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