The story begins with Alice sitting by her sister on the bank of a lake. Bored with the looking at her sister's book because it has no pictures, she grows sleepy. At that moment, a white rabbit dashes by, consulting his pocket watch and fretting about being late. At the time she sees nothing strange about this, but because she has never before seen a rabbit wearing a coat and carrying a watch, she immediately jumps up and follows him down a deep rabbit hole. Soon Alice is falling down what seems to be a bottomless pit.