20 years later
April 1, 2022
My dreaded phone blasts my alarm and wakes me out of my dream. I'm still exhausted. I rubbed my eyes and looked at my phone. 8:20. Good, I have time to shower before work. I silence the alarm before I toss my covers off me and swing my legs off the bed. My orange cat Marmalade jumps up on my bed and starts meowing at me.
"Any human words today?" I ask her as I scratch behind her ears. For as long as I could remember I believed cats could talk. Everyone thought I was nuts and I'm starting to believe them. My family thinks since I fell out of that tree something has been off with me. They believe I fell twice during that visit 20 years ago. Though I only remember falling once. It was a few days after I started talking about Cheshire and Hatter. I went to climb that tree again to see if I could find my way back to Hatter's tea table and one of the branches snapped underneath me. I ended up with 20 stitches on the back of my head and a fractured skull. It still makes me wonder if any of it was real. It felt real still. I vividly remember being somewhere else and having tea with a man named Hatter, a half human half rabbit named Hare, and a talking cat named Cheshire. It felt so real, but no one believed me. Since those days I've dreamt mostly of being back at Hatters table. Most of it is just nonsense colors and feelings, other times I can almost feel him reaching out to me. These days he feels closer than ever. He's the main reason none of my past relationships have worked out. I want someone who makes me feel like Hatter does, safe and seen, but no one can seem to live up to the fantasy of that man. I sigh as I pet Marmalade.
"No words today again. Well, it's been 20 years today. What do you think, my little shadow? Should I just give up now?" She just stares at me. I sigh as I walk towards my little kitchen with my friend at my feet. I fill her food dish before I pour myself a cup of cold coffee. I preferred cold brew coffee because I misplaced my cup so often it was usually cold by the time I found it again anyways. I set my cup next to my keys so I know where to find them and I go to take a quick shower. As I turn on the water my mind wanders back to my dream last night. Hatter wasn't at the table and neither was Hare. Which was strange because at least one of them was always at the table. It was just a small mouse in a suit sleeping on half a sandwich this time. He opened his eyes and sat up before he said.
"Be ready. Your past is unfolding into your future. Steel your mind and embrace your magic. Your claiming magic has called out to him. Watch for your Guardian."
The dream faded out from there. I had so many questions but I knew I'd never get answers to them. I step out of the shower and start to get ready when I hear my phone ring. I look at the screen and see Marcus's picture. I slide to answer.
"Hey Marcus. What's up?" Marcus was one of my best friends and coworkers. We've worked together at the Labyrinths Garden second hand book shop for 5 years. He'd been my supervisor at the shop while I learned the ropes and eventually we became friends.
"Can you come in early? Harry just found out he is getting off work early today and we want to go celebrate our anniversary early as well." I chuckle. It's their 6 year anniversary together this year.
"I hope you've got something special planned out this time. Harry will be ten times worse if you have nothing planned out." Last year he mixed his days up and accidentally forgot. Harry hasn't let him forget that mistake all year, between small hints or just ribbing him for forgetting. They're an amazing couple usually, so Marcus just takes his jokes and just smiles.
"Give me 15 minutes and I can be there." I tell him as I pull an outfit from my dresser. I hear him sigh in relief.
"You're a lifesaver Rabbit. I owe you big time. Also there's some big news here so brace yourself." He hangs up before I can question him. Just great, first that dream turned ominous and now I get more secrecy from one of my best friends. Today was just getting curiouser and curiouser. Something about these last few weeks has put me on edge, but I haven't been able to tell what's wrong.
It takes me almost 10 minutes to finish getting ready and out my door. Coffee and a sketchbook in hand I head out my door for my short walk to work. The short walking distance was one of the reasons I chose this apartment, it was a quick five minutes to the bookshop.
After I locked my door and left my building I paused for a moment on the sidewalk and looked at the trees blooming. Spring has come fast this year. Though the nights still got cold, the days were finally warming up enough that I could start leaving my jacket at home. It was supposed to rain today though so I had grabbed my favorite blue raincoat on my way out.
I loved being surrounded by blossoming trees in this small town. Something about it felt right and oddly familiar. I loved the spring. Everything was starting to wake up from a long winter's nap. It was spring 5 years ago when I was hunting for a place of my own away from my parents, that's when I found it. The Labyrinths Garden. It used to be an old tea room about 20 years ago before Mrs Smith took over and converted it to the book shop. When you walked in the front door you could still smell the tea that had spilled and soaked into the wooden floorboards. It reminded me of the dreams I had with Hatter. It was another one of the reasons that I applied and started working there, other than my deep love of books. Every time I worked it felt like stepping back into that dream space. It was a nice quiet job and it gave me an escape from my overprotective family. I liked that it was slow paced work. It never got too busy until Christmas time, when everyone wanted books for gifts. So I spent most days either reading or drawing images from my dreams. They've been my friends and my second family for a while now. Marcus and Harry knew all about the dreams and about the accident when I was a kid. They never said they didn't believe what I saw was real, but I saw the doubt in their eyes just like everyone else. Though they humored me asking me every once in a while if the dreams had changed. I knew it was hard to believe that I found another world in a tree because I scraped my knee. Part of me accepted the fact that it may have all been a byproduct of me hitting my head so hard, but a small part wanted it to be real so I knew I wasn't crazy.
I made it to the front door of the shop as it started to rain. When I walked in I heard Marcus call out from the back register.
"Welcome into the Labyrinths Garden. Feel free to get lost in our book selection." He sounds uninterested in the potential customers and I can't help but snicker as I shake the fallen tree flower petals from my hair.
"Try a bit more enthusiasm next time Marcus. Or you may scare off the few spring tourists we get around here." I hear him drop something. He's probably repairing another book. As I walk to the back, I see him at the register counter with one of his latest projects spread out. He liked making new bindings and book covers for some of the older novels that were falling apart. I hated when he did it at work because the glue overpowered the tea smell that I loved.
"You made good timing. Guess this year may finally go the way I need it too." He laughs as he places the fragile pages and old cover into a box for later.
"So who's getting the face lift this time around?" I ask while trying to look at the remains. It's in horrible shape, I can't even make out the title. He smiles and runs his hands over the pages.
"An original copy of Dracula. It was in the donation box and Mrs Smith said I could fix it here and keep it if I wanted." He smiles at me. I remember him telling me when I first started that Dracula was the first spooky book his grandfather read to him and it was the reason he fell in love with spooky stories and Halloween.
"Must be exciting to have an original. I know how much you love that book. Who doesn't love a good horror story?" I chuckle as I clock in. He looks at me with a serious expression.
"What's going on? You're usually more sarcastic when I ask you to come in early. What happened? What, did your dreams change or something?" He starts to laugh, but stops when I pause. I set my coffee down. He places his hand on my shoulder.
"That's it. Isn't it? The dreams changed? It couldn't be too bad. They never have been bad before. What happened?" He gently turns me to face him and I know he can see the confusion and slight fear in my eyes from the look he gives me. I sigh before I confess.
"It didn't just change slightly. It was completely different. Hatter, Hare, and Cheshire weren't there. Just a mouse in a suit. Saying my past was coming back and my magic was calling to someone and to look for my guardian. It freaked me out. Like a lot. It's never been more than just tea with those three and now some mouse is telling me to be ready. It really freaked me out today." He looks at me, I can see him trying to figure out what the dream could mean. He pulls me into a hug before he whispers.
"We're here for you. Day or night. You know that right?" He pulls back and looks at me. I know he's right. Harry and him have been there for me when I needed them most. I smile at him and nod.
"It's probably nothing, but with it being 20 years today since the accident I guess I'm just on edge. Something feels off these days. I'll be fine though. So move your ass and go enjoy your anniversary. Or Harry will be a lot worse with the jokes and the not so subtle jabs if you make him wait." I smile and he sighs.
"Fine. And before I forget, the store is closing for a month, maybe a month and a half." I stare at him, shocked. This has to be an April fools day joke. He looks at me seriously.
"Mrs Smith is having the floors sanded and resealed so we need to be out for a while. Don't worry Rabbit. She said she'll still pay our salary. She said to consider it a late Christmas bonus. And since we've never had one I'd say we're due. And besides we both could use a break for some rest. Maybe we can finally rent a cabin near the Looking Glass tea room. We've been talking about that for a while." He smiles at me and I just sigh.
"Yeah, maybe. For now though you need to go before Harry starts in on the jokes that you forgot again." He chuckles and grabs his jacket off the hook.
"Don't worry about the dream. One changed dream doesn't mean it's all coming down around your ears. I'm serious though. One hint of trouble and you call me or Harry. I'll explain everything to him tonight so he's in on everything. Try to have a good shift." He gives me a quick side hug before he starts to walk out. I hear him pause at the front door and call out to me.
"I'll call you tomorrow and we'll discuss that vacation."
"Yeah if you can still operate a phone! Have fun tonight. And texting might be a better option!" I hear the doorbell chime as he walks out into the rain. Those guys have been the best thing to happen to me since I'd moved out here.