As Ellen Hawkes walked down the stairs to the kitchen, she was surprised to find her mum standing over the stove, as well as the pleasant aroma that emitted from it.
"Good morning," Mrs. Hawkes called over her shoulder as Ellen stood dumbstruck in the doorway. "We're out of toast and cereal, so I thought we'd have some pancakes for breakfast today."
"Oh!" Ellen exclaimed, her expression of confusion turning into a smile, and she sat herself down at the biggest, comfiest chair next to the kitchen table.
"What do you want on your first pancake?" her mum asked after a couple of minutes.
"Err, chocolate please!" Ellen said, almost immediately. It wasn't long before her mum placed a plate in front of her, with a pancake rolled up into a wrap. Licking her lips, Ellen picked up her knife and fork and began cutting up the pancake into chunks before stuffing one into her mouth, dribbling chocolate sauce all down her chin and onto the front of her pink pyjamas. Her mother, seeing this almost grotesque act of eating, waited until Ellen had swallowed before coming over and wiping at her daughter's face furiously.
"Honestly, Ellen," Mrs. Hawkes said with a sigh. "You're such a mucky pup."
When her mum was finished cleaning her face, Ellen mumbled a "Sorry, Mum", before immediately shoving another piece of pancake into her mouth.
Upon finishing her first pancake, Ellen's father, Mr. Hawkes, soon came downstairs, dressed in his work suit. "Good morning," he said, in a tone that was both weary yet cheerful, and sat himself down opposite Ellen.
"Mornin', Dad," Ellen said as her mother placed another pancake in front of her, this time smothered in a golden puddle of maple syrup. Ellen happily ate this one, and then a third, and was about to start on her fourth and final when her mother told her that she was just going to drive Mr. Hawkes to work, as well as do some shopping.
"I should be gone for about an hour," Mrs. Hawkes instructed slowly to Ellen, who was half-listening, half shovelling food down her throat. "When I come back, I expect to find you working." This last sentenced caused Ellen to groan slightly, which Mrs. Hawkes countered with a smile and a "If you've done enough when I get back, I'll give you an ice cream." With that, she headed out of the kitchen.
Slowly, Ellen's dad walked over to Ellen and planted a little kiss on top of her head. "Have a good day, poppet," he said.
"You too, Dad," Ellen responded, though her speech was slightly muffled by the large mouthful of food still swirling in her open gob.
Soon, Ellen heard the front door slam shut and finished up eating before slouching backwards into her chair with a sigh. Suddenly, with her belly now stuffed full of food, all she wanted to do was head back to bed, however, remembering her mother's words, she pushed herself up unsteadily to her feet and headed up the stairs to get changed.
Ever since she had started being home-schooled, Ellen had agreed to always get changed into proper clothes as the beginning of the day, just as she would have had she been going to school. Her mother had argued that Ellen was less likely to work if she was dressed in her pyjamas, as she would still be in a comfortable and exhausted mindset.
As Ellen went past the study, however, she noticed a bright light emitting from it, and paused, peering past the door. It was pitch black, aside from the eerie white light emitting from the computer, which at this moment had a completely white screen.
Frowning, Ellen slowly walked into the room and flicked the light switch, though the room remained dark. It was then she became aware of a sound, like a faint white-noise. She looked around for the source before a sudden case of light-headedness overtook her. She felt faint, and stumbled over to the dark shape of the computer chair, slumping down in it clumsily so she wouldn't fall flat on her face.
The light from the computer, as well as the static-like white noise intensified as Ellen was suddenly engulfed in bright white light.
When Ellen came to, seemingly lying sprawled out on the floor, she became aware of a weight on her chest, and warm breath on her face. Slowly, she opened her eyes.
Another pair of eyes, rounded and brown in colour, stared back at her from a cute, furry face.
Ellen gave a loud, piercing scream as she shoved the strange... whatever-it-was off her, pushing it to the ground before sitting abruptly up. Her scream died quickly to a shocked silence as she gazed at her surroundings blankly. This wasn't her home. She was outside, on some kind of beach, though none she recognised! She then looked down next to her legs, where the creature had fallen.
It was stumbling up to its feet, and turned to look at her with a slight glare. It was brown and pink in coloured, and looked vaguely rabbit-like, with long flopping ears that seemed longer than its whole body. On its head were three little horns. "What was that for?" it asked, putting its little pink paws on its hips. It's voice was like that of a child, a young boy. It, or he, took a step towards Ellen, which caused her to give out a little squeak as she pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged her arms around them. "What?" the rabbit said, sounding irritable.
It was then, as Ellen buried her chin in her knees, that she noticed she wasn't wearing her pyjamas anymore, but instead in more outdoor appropriate clothes, not too different from the clothes she normally wore when she went out. Her hair had even been tied into two twin plaits.
She then gave a nervous laugh as a realisation crept over her. "I'm dreaming!" she exclaimed aloud.
The little rabbit-like creature stared up at her blankly. "What?" he said.
Ellen laughed again. "This is just a dream! None of this is real!" She pointed a fat finger at the rabbit. "You're not real!" She gestured frantically to her surrounding. "This isn't real!"
The little rabbit's frown, which seemed to be his default expression, deepened into a scowl. "This is not a dream!" he exclaimed. "This is really real!"
"Hah!" Ellen exclaimed, her voice seeming to get higher and higher the more she spoke. She crossed her arms over her sizeable chest. "Prove it!"
Then the rabbit bit her arm.
"Ow!" Ellen cried out, pulling the dented skin away from the creature. "That hurt!"
"Now are you convinced?" the rabbit said, somewhat smugly.
Ellen rubbed her armed. "Did you have to do that?" she said.
"Yes, yes I did."
With a sigh, Ellen got to her feet, brushing the sand off her dress, hoodies and leggings. She gazed around her, noting some people in the near distance. "Err, hey!" she shouted, starting towards them, only for her foot, thankfully protected by long boots, hit something hard and she tripped over it, falling face first onto the ground and almost swallowing a mouthful of sand.
The little rabbit blinked at her before wandering over to her feet. "Are you alright?" he asked.
Ellen lifted her head and spat sand and dirt out of her mouth. "No! No, I'm not blooming alright!" She could feel tears pricking in the corners of her eyes and gave a loud sniff as she brushed grit off the lenses of her glasses. "What the hell did I even blooming trip on!?"
The rabbit glanced down at her feet and noticed something buried in the sand, something metallic. He picked it up and held it out in front of the girl. "This was in the sand," he said.
Once Ellen had calmed down a little, she studied the device in the creatures hands, which vaguely reminded of one of those old Tamagotchis she used to own, though slightly bigger and chunkier. In colour, it was pink and white. Carefully, Ellen picked it up and examined, adjusting her glasses slightly. "What is this?"
"I don't know," the bunny admitted. "But I get the feeling it's important some how." He paused for a moment before holding out his paw. "By the way, my name is Lopmon."
Ellen frowned as she glanced slightly away from the screen before holding her pinky finger out, wrapping it around Lopmon's paw and shaking it to her. "I'm, err, Ellen," she grunted.
"Well, good to meet you, Errellen," Lopmon said, before his arm fell down to his side.
"Erm, no, it's just Ellen."
"Okay, Justellen."
Ellen gave a loud sigh. "Ellen. My name is Ellen."
Lopmon frowned. "Make up your mind!" he said, putting his hands on his hips.
Ellen pushed herself up until she standing again and once again brushed the sand off her clothes and her face. She then looked back over at the other people she could see in the distance. "Come on," she said to Lopmon. "Let's go see what's going on." She then made her way over to the rest of the group, though this time more careful to watch where she was going.
