The Hat Fic

Chapter 1

It was a warm Summer afternoon around Matthew Thiessen's kitchen table. Fall was quickly approaching, and Matt decided it'd be nice to invite Hoopes and two of his other friends, Cola and Sahara, over for lunch before he and Hoopes set off on tour. The group was sitting 'round the chatting away, when Hoopes began to feel a tad uneasy.

"What's wrong?" said Matt. "Are you feeling okay?"

Hoopes groaned slightly and tugged at his red hat until it came off in his hands. He reached up, scratched his bald head, then tossed the hat aside. "I don't know," he replied. "It's making my head itch really badly"

"Did you have a problem with this when you guys shot the Air For Free album cover?" asked Sahara, her voice laced with concern.

Matt shook his head. "No, it's his favorite hat. He's never had any sort of an issue with it."

"Guys, I'm fine," Hoopes insisted. "I'm just a little itchy. I'll be okay."

The others nodded, but in the back of Sahara's mind she was still a bit worried. Hoopes was one of her best friends, and when she cared about someone, she also worried about them.

Cola sensed something was wrong, so he nudged her foot of the other side of the table and she gave a weak smile in reply. The conversatiom continued until Cola became uneasy.

"Did you see that?"

"See what?" asked Matt.

"The hat, I swear it just moved."

Matt laughed. "Cola, what are you talking about? It's just a hat. Hat's can't move."

Cola scowled slightly and continued to stare at the red hat that was sitting on the counter a few feet away. He was just about to advert his gaze, because, after all, it was just a hat, but then more movement caught his eye. "Holy s--"

"Guys," said Hoopes. "I saw it. I saw it move."

"C'mon, you can't be serious." Matt turned around in his chair and saw the hat suddenly lift itself off of the counter. "Oh crap."

Sahara kept her eye on the floating red object as she swiftly moved towards a nearby drawer. She pulled several large spoons out and then carefully slid back into her seat, handing two to Cola and one to Matt. Cola handed one of his to Hoopes.

Suddenly, the hat flew towards Matt and he swatted it down with the wooden spoon. "I think we should get out of here."

With the hat lying peacefully on the floor, Matt and the other fled the scene and ran towards Matt's car. Everyone climbed inside and in two seconds flat, they were speeding down the road.

Cola peered around Hoopes (who was in the front passenger seat) and looked out the side mirror. "I don't see the hat, guys."

"Why are we running away from a hat?" Sahara asked.

"A better question would be why did the hat try to attack me," replied Matt. "Hoopes, how's your head?"

"Fine, I suppose. I just feel kind of weird without my hat."

Fifteen minutes in, the car ride was going smooth, that is until Matt got a phone call. Hoopes said it was his home number, and he answered it, but there was nothing but static on the other end. Just as he hung up, the engine began spitting and sputtering.

"No," said Matt. "Nononono!"

The car continued to slow until it came to a complete stop, leaving the group stranded downtown. After three unsuccessful attempts to start the car again, everyone climbed out, careful to watch for the hat, and stood on the side of the road.

"What do we do?" asked Matt. "I don't wanna go home, at least not yet."

"I dunno... Hmm, why don't we walk to the music store. It shouldn't take that long." suggested Hoopes.

Cola sighed and asked Matt for a pen. "We should probably write down where we broke down at so a tow truck and pick up your car."

"Good idea." Matt began to shake his head back and forth, allowing multiple pens to fall out of his hair. Cola bent down and picked up a purple one and wrote the address on his hand. When he was done, he gave it back to Matt, who had gathered the others up and put them back in his hair.

The group started on the walk to the music store, each of them looking around to watch for the hat. Five minutes passed, no hat. Ten minutes, still no hat. But twenty minutes later, Sahara glanced behind her and noticed a small red object in the distance. She adjusted her glasses and saw the object grow bigger and bigger until she knew exactly what it was.

"Guys..."

"What's up?" asked Hoopes.

"The hat... It's coming towards us... RUN!"