May's anthology

The mirror-Horns & Halos Mad Day Contest

Sleep lies heavily on my eyelids and I can't shake off a nightmare whose dark, slimy fingers cling to my soul never planning to let go.

Splashing water on my face doesn't help. When I lift my eyes to the mirror, my sunken eyes stare back at me. These nightmares are taking a toll on my otherwise healthy body.

No! Not again! That weird hat is back on my head! Does the hole behind me look bigger now? Am I hallucinating?

Again, I don't have the time to investigate. When I blink, everything is gone.

This is the third time this has happened! It has to mean something! And that gaudy hat is the strangest one I've ever seen. It doesn't feel like it belongs to this world. It must be otherworldly.

However, I don't believe in otherworldly things. After all, I am a regular businessman, a number cruncher. I am the best at what I do. Still, it doesn't feel like my true calling.

Nevertheless, I deck myself in my ugly suit and go to work because that's what's done.

It is a regular day, just me being a pencil pusher until I come home. That is when everything changes.

When I splash water on my tired face, I notice that the purple, tall hat with red, blue, and green ribbons hanging from the top is back on my head. The dark hole has made an appearance, as well.

However, this time, when I blink, it's not gone. For a second, I stop breathing, thinking that even the smallest breath would make all hell break loose.

When I release my breath, a huge explosion echoes through my bathroom. Then the hole swallows me, as well as my newly acquired hat.

I am spiraling through it at the speed of light while my brain ponders the most ridiculous things.

How is the hat still on my head even as I am twirling and tumbling through nothingness? Did my house explode, or did the hole implode? Or did I just die?

Finally, the ground comes into view. Everything slows down. My body gently plops on it with no harm done, without even jarring my hat.

"Hatter, thank the carrot's you are back." A voice says.

As I pull myself off the ground, I see a white rabbit with a tattered waistcoat covered in blood.

"Who in the hat's name are you?" I ask stunned.

"It's me. What's wrong with you? Did you hit your head? Nevermind, we have to hurry. I am running out of magic, and the Crazies are getting closer. Are your pouches full?" The rabbit asks.

That's when I notice that the small pouches are strung around my waist as well as across my shoulder. Gone is the business suit that I was in just moments before, and a new set of clothes covers my body.

These clothes are strikingly different from my dull suit. Besides the hat, which is odd enough to begin with, I am wearing a purple shirt with a golden waistcoat over it. My pants are made to match the hat, and I am wearing a strange gauntlet. Also, my other hand is covered in magical rings.

How do I know that? I don't have the faintest idea, but I do.

As the rabbit pulls me awkwardly forward, our path is cut by an overgrown potato with crazy hair and mismatched eyes.

"The Crazies! They have found us! Throw the pouch!" The rabbit yells.

I have no idea what is going on, but when a talking rabbit tells you to do something, you do it.

When I throw the pouch at the 'Crazy', it explodes in a mess of eyes and ears.

The rabbit and I run into a small house with ears growing out of its roof.

"Hatter!" A female voice screams as she hugs me tightly.

"I thought they got you this time. I saw you get hit and vanish! How did you survive?!" She asks.

I look at her in utter confusion.

"Who are you people? Where am I?" I ask.

The girl's crestfallen expression makes me feel bad, but I need to know.

"They must have hit him with Forget Me Not." The rabbit says.

To me, it makes no sense, shouldn't something called forget me not do the opposite?

Seeing my confusion, the girl decides to explain.

"Your name is Hatter. I am Alice, and this is White Rabbit. We are in Wonderland in the middle of the War of the Jabberwocky, and you are one of our best fighters.

You are a magician AND an excellent fighter, which we need if we want to beat someone who possesses as much dark magic as she does." Alice says.

I look at her with utter amazement. I am not a hero, I am just a nobody working in accounting. And yet, this name, Alice, does sound familiar.

"For hattery's sake, how is this possible?" I say.

"I know this is a lot to grasp, but we need you, Hatter. Wonderland needs you. Will you help us?" Alice says.

I want to escape, to run and never look back, but a strange feeling of belonging makes me stay.

"As the Hat is my witness, I shall do my best to save our heads. Heads are good for hats. If there are no heads, there would be no hats, and the world would be one dull-looking place." I say.

"He already sounds like himself," Alice says.

"That's good, because we have incoming Crazies. They are Jabberwocky's bad minions, and we want them dead." White Rabbit supplies helpfully.

"Fear not. Their hat holders shall be gone since they refuse to accommodate magnificent hats such as my own." I say.

"Yes, he is definitely coming back," Alice says smiling.

Then she opens the door, and the battle of blood and mayhem begins.

But not to fret, my hat shall always stay on my head, and my head is still there to support the hat.