Underlands Madness Unlocked [ Alice x Hatter ] B1

What Took You so Long?

We finally find a place that's big enough for everyone to set up camp. Mallymkun and Chessur is snoring away on the back of the bandersnatch. The bandersnatch is surprisingly in a deep enough sleep to not be snoring tonight. I have Ericiza, trapped in the box, right next to my head. My father is leaning against the bandersnatch and is wide awake staring at me. I pretend I don't notice and just look at the foggy sky. Trying to think of the positives in all of this. We're so close to the end of this journey. So close until we see Alice again.

Just one more night Alice.

One more night and will be together again.

I keep that thought in mind while my father crawls to me. Can't he just leave everything alone. Why must he try to bug me? I get bugged enough by Chessur everyday. I just wanted one night where I can just think about the positives. If I wanted my brain picked apart, I would go to one of those asylums Alice told me about. The ones where they think being bonkers and mad is to improper to live amongst others in England. England sounds like a official place. I hope to never go there.

When my father finally gets to me, he sits down near my head. I drag my eyes over to him and he's just looking at the sky like I was. I hope he doesn't want to talk so I continue my fog gazing with him.

"That sky is rather foggy, isn't it?" My father asks me.

"YuP," I make sure to pop the 'p' hoping he won't continue the conversation. The last thing I want to do is talk about my feelings towards Alice. Thinking about them, that's fine. More then fine, but not talking about them is better.

My father sighs to himself and moves closer to me. I can't take this anymore. I hate waiting. I've waited years for Alice to finally come back to Underland over, and over again. Now waiting to just talk about her is driving me incredibly bonkers. I'm not sure which is worse: Talking about my feelings, or waiting to talk about them.

I finally tell myself enough with the silence and speak to my father, "Just say it father."

"Hmm? Did you say something my boy? I didn't catch that." He's trying to act dumb in this moment. My father is many things: A great hatter, sophisticated, clever and cunning, but not dumb.

I roll my eyes with his attempts to make me speak more and say, "Just tell me what you want to say. Tell me I should tell Alice the truth. Tell me I should just tell her everything and get it out of the way already."

It's silent for a few moments. I turn my head to look at my father and he's staring at me again. Staring at me with his famous closed smile. He looks down at the ground once, then back to me. He whispers loud enough that I can only hear, "My boy, I'm not going to tell you what you must and mustn't do. But I would be a bad father, if I didn't tell you the truth."

This conversation now peaks my interest. I sit up on my elbows and wait for him to continue. He sighs to himself again, then moves over to face me. "Did I ever tell you about how I met your mother?"

"No, I don't believe you did."

He laughs deeply then starts his story, "It was before the time of King Oleron. I believe he was still a prince at the time. Your grandfather was his hatter and I was next in line to be the hatter for the crown-" Hightopps have always been the hatters for the crown. "-anyway, one night when I was sewing a hat in my fathers, your grandfathers, work shop. I look up and see the strangest thing."

"Strangest things are the best things."

He laughs deeply again at my comment. "Yes they are my boy, but this strange thing had over twenty hats stacked on top of each other. Green hats, yellow hats, fezzes, and bowlers. That's not even the strangest thing though. The strangest thing was that a women was holding them and coming straight to our work shop."

"Mother?"

He nod his head and smiles fondly at the memory. "Yes, your mother. She came into the shop and threw them all down right on the table. I was so surprised, I couldn't even think of what to say. I was even more surprised that this little dainty girl that held all those hat, was one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. She eventually saw me staring at her, quite frankly I was jaw dropped, and told me something I'll never forget."

He stared out into the distance like he could picture the scene in front of him. "What was it? Don't keep me waiting father," I sounded like a child waiting on the answer to a mystery.

"She said to me, are you just going to sit there and stare, or are you going to help me set up these hats. It wasn't until later that I found out my father, and her father decided to combine their load of the hat work. Hats were still very big back then."

This is a very nice story, but I don't understand how this is supposed to help me at all. I still don't want to tell Alice any of my feelings, but then my father continued, "I fell for your mother the moment I saw her. I fell so hard, I nearly dropped all the hats I was helping her sort. It wasn't until month after that moment that I finally had the courage to tell her how I felt. Do you want to know why told her?" I nodded my head. It didn't feel like a good time to use words. "I told her because if I didn't she would have married another."

I sat right up and practically yelled, "What! My mother, was going to marry someone else?"

My father just laughed at me. Laughed and smiled at my reaction. When he finally subsided his laugher he answered me, "Yes, my boy. Your mother got purposed to by a shoe sales man! Can you imagine that? A hatters daughter and a shoe sales man? Well, that's just not right. To be completely honest, I got jealous. I got so jealous, that I told her my feeling on the night before her wedding." My eyes go wide with my fathers confession. "Yes, I know. Not very proper, now is it? But the point is, even with all the time I spent not telling her, I should have just told her. Do you want to know what she told me after I confessed?" I rapidly nodded my head. This story is bonkers but in the best way. "She told me, Zanik what took you so long? I've been waiting forever for you to tell me! And that's how I found out she felt the same way. The only reason she was going to marry the shoe salesman is because she didn't think I would ever have the courage to ask her to marry me, myself."

The completion of the story is wonderful. I'm so glad my father was confident enough to tell mother his feelings. Otherwise I would probably not been born. This is a great story, but I still don't understand what he's trying to say and I tell him as such. "This is all great father, but I don't understand why you're telling me this."

My father leans in closely to me. He whispers again just so I can hear, "Are you willing to never tell Alice your feelings, even if there's a chance that she may feel the same way? Are you willing to not tell her until she marries another, and then you don't even get a chance?"

I breath through my nose in frustration. I never even thought about that before now. It's a new thing for my madness to curse me with.

My Alice... with someone else.

My Alice... loving someone else.

I squeeze my eyes shut to try to stop the thoughts. I can't think about that, It's hurts too much. Too much, too much. My father must of realized I didn't have the muchness to answer right now because after that he walked back over to the bandersnatch. He left me there to think about everything. Everything I feel, and everything I could have had. Everything that could still me mine.

But, what if Alice does find another person? Will I be like my father, and wait till the last second to tell her? I'm nothing like my father. Those words I said so long ago ring in my head. It's true, I'm nothing like my father. I maybe a hatter, but everything about my life is different from his. For starters I'm in love with a yellowed haired lass that's been taken by a blood black witch.

If what my father says is possible, and there is nothing impossible about it, then when would be the right time? Better yet, what if I already lost that chance?