A Compendium of Carrolls

A3. The Hallway.

Sauntering down the hallway, past door 101, and 221B, I eventually get to the one I'm looking for. No number, but it is clearly marked with the white silhouette of a rabbit against a dark circle suggesting a hole. Just the thing!

Stepping through I find myself on a riverbank, and pause to take in the rather odd scene before me. A small group of rabbits, all of them adorned with adorable little hard hats are sitting around a blueprint.

"Blackberry?" Said Pipkin hesitantly, "What are we making?"

Blackberry consulted the blueprint, "A rabbit hole big enough for a small girl to get down."

Pipkin considered this. "We... Aren't doing anything illegal are we? I mean, we won't be burying anyone will we?"

"No, no, nothing like that." Blackberry said reassuringly.

"Won't the hole fill up with water? We are right next to the river." Asked Dandelion.

"I don't think it will, because we have something called, narrative requirements on our side."

"What's that?"

"I knew you'd ask that Pipkin. It means the story requires it to be dry, so it will be."

Bob, the Bunny, who was a bit excitable, yelled out,

"Can we dig it...

Yes we..."

But he was interrupted by an enormous caterpillar, who was dragging a hooker past, (no, I thought it would be a hookah too, it just goes to show.) The caterpillar had large round spectacles with swirling psychedelic lens. It was a wonder he could see where he was going. He looked at Bob the Bunny and said in a Liverpudlian drawl, "Oh yeah Man, I can like, totally dig it."

Bigwig meanwhile had made a start, and was scratching away with his powerful front legs.

In keeping with all truly British public works, the others let Bigwig get on with it whilst they variously sat around and watched, nibbled the odd clover, and discussed when they should stop work for a well earned tea break.

Fiver sat on the bank and stared across the river, half of which they had cordoned off for safety reasons, and which was now under the control of a temporary traffic light system. There were small queues of boats building up on both sides of the river.

Bigwig was making great headway, and huge gouts of earth were flying out behind him.

Suddenly, there was a cry of terror, and a small black body was hurled out of the new hole, to land ignominiously upon a fairly soft pile of soil. Peering around short-sightedly, the Mole exclaimed.

"Heyyyy!!" then indignantly, "I was Spring cleaning."

A water rat, who had just managed to get past the traffic lights, and was grumbling to himself about the terrible frequency with which the darned things were springing up everywhere these days, stopped long enough to enquire.

"Hello there Moley, can I give you a lift somewhere old fellow?"

The Mole thanked the Rat , then accepted a helping paw and climbed aboard the rat's neat little row boat. As the rat sculled away, the Mole turned back and yelled, "Onion Sauce, onion sauce." to the indifferent rabbits.

Bigwig meanwhile was getting even deeper, suddenly he burst through into the strangest scene. Looking around at the snow, and the lamp-post , and the faun with a red woollen muffler, Bigwig shook his head. Must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, he thought, then turned and went back a ways, before carefully filling in the erroneous hole.

"Blackberry," Pipkin said thoughtfully, "Why are we digging this hole, and where are we heading to?"

"I wonder about that too," replied Blackberry, "I expect we'll land up somewhere."

WORD COUNT & PROMPT ▼

Word Count: 604 Words.

3. “The Hallway” - In a hallway filled with doors leading anywhere, pick one and tell us what you discover behind it. (<1000 words).