Doc says she can hear. So, he reads.

The book labeled “Grimm” is her favourite, but the German is gibberish to him. Instead, he chooses another story: about a little girl lost, trying to find her way home. That’s the one he reads to her, in the hope that she’ll hear him, and find her way home, too.

But hours turn to days among the tubes, pumps, and beeping monitors, and the time comes when the words on the page – ‘What was the rabbit late for,’ wondered Alice – dim, waver, and run.

The book falls, forgotten.

And he falls, too: down, down, into the lonely dark.

This was my original entry to the 100 Word Challenge for Grown-Ups for Week 36, where the prompt was to include the phrase, ‘What was the rabbit late for,’ wondered Alice … and also to hook the end of the story with ten words from which another author could write a new entry.

I like this entry, certainly. There’s a lot of what I think is pretty fun wordplay and description. But it’s also so depressing and dark. Plus, the end hook doesn’t allow for a lot of variation in theme for the next person. It’s like I’d be sticking someone with a depressing story! So, in the end, I went with something more lighthearted, instead. I’ll leave it up to you which one you prefer.