The Hat Chapter One
I'm trapped! I'm trapped! These words of terror echo in my dreams every night. I'm stuck in a land of imagination and wonder.
It was one year ago, or was it two? Anyways the point is, I found magic. Yes magic. It's very much real. It was a warm summers day, and I was heading home from a lake, when I found myself lost. I was helplessly wandering the breezy forest for quite some time. This is a happy forest, I thought to myself, very happy; yes indeed. I kept wandering for what felt like hours, walking around, trying to find the path again. I knew I shouldn't have tried to find a short cut, but I was eager to get home. My little sister, Daisy, would have been wondering where I was by that point. She hated when I went to the lake, leaving her all alone at the house. We still had a father, but he was forced to join the army two years before, when he I was 16. She was scared that I would be taken by a military officer and forced down the same path as my father because I was of age.
I swear I passed that pond earlier, I thought to myself, as I got confused and worried. I needed to get home to little Daisy. The forest began to feel like a maze, no matter which way I turned I could not find my way back to the path.
Eventually I tried retracing my steps, hoping to find my way back to the lake. I soon tripped over something. I hit the dry ground with a thud then looked to see what I tripped on. A box, well more of a cylinder, but that's not important, is it? I crawled over to pick it up and examined it more closely. I brushed off the dirt to reveal its light brown leather with darker seams. There was a latch made of the same dark colour keeping it shut tight. I loosened the latch and opened the box, then I saw it.
The hat.
I moved my brown hair out of my eyes and, yes, it was a hat. I took it out of its container and looked at it from all angles. It was a top hat, purple, almost black, in colour. The silk on the inside was a lavender. The hat also had a deep purple sash around it, just above the rim. I looked for a makers tag or logo but couldn't find one. I liked it, so I put it on, but I had no idea what it looked like on me. Then I had more incentive to find the lake. After a while of walking around, I found it, and looked at my reflection against the still water.
Hmm, classy, I thought to myself, I think I'll keep it. As I looked at my reflection some more I realized I had a cut on my neck, it was small but it was bleeding quite a bit. I didn't notice the cut or felt anything when it happened, too wound up with the hat I guess. So I put the hat back in it's case and tried to find my way home again so I could make sure the cut didn't get infected. The sun had just started to set, which made traveling home harder, but I stayed on the pathway.
As the sun got closer to the horizon, the creepier the forest became. The wind whistled through the leaves, which made me jump. "Come on Jeff," I said to myself, "It's just a forest." But getting lost in it earlier that day made me uneasy. Thinking back on it, the forest did not feel right before I found the hat. Then after I found it the lake was really easy to find. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't hear the horses galloping towards me. Not until it was to late.
Military!? I thought as I tried to hide behind a tree, but the people in the cart saw me. The voice of the man turned me around and made me face the carriage. I see the man jump off the carriage and start to walk towards me. "I'm so sorry Daisy." I said under my breath. With each step the man took, the faster my heart would beat. I clutched the hats container tighter, hoping I use it against the man if need be. I couldn't see the mans face because he was wearing a cloak.
"I knew it was you Jefferson!" the man said, pulling me into his embrace, "I'd recognize you anywhere." When I heard him say this, I was so relieved I nearly fainted.
"How have you been son?" He said, as he pulled back his hood. When I saw his face I was so shocked I couldn't speak.
"F-Father!? Is it really you?" I said in disbelief. There was no doubt about it that the man that stood in front of me was my father, if he had aged ten years instead of two.
"In the flesh!' he said with a smile. Everything about him was different. His voice was rougher. His eyes cold and looked like they've seen far too much. His hands shook even though it was warm out. There was also so many scars all over him, the biggest one that I could see ran from his chin to his ear. That one looked like it had only just healed. His brown hair that used to be so much like mine was now graying and cut short. It even seemed like he had to force the smile he gave me.
"Why are you back?" I asked him, "Is the war over, did we win?"
"The war is over son, you have no need to worry. How about we head back home and see little Daisy then I'll explain what happened." He said as he put he arm around my shoulder, leading me back to the carriage. He seemed unsure with his words, like he didn't know if he had said the right thing.
"What happened to your neck Jeff? How did you hurt yourself?" my father asked, examining my neck.
"Oh this?" I asked as I felt the mark, "I just fell on my way home, not a big deal."
"Well make sure you patch it up when we get back to the house, okay?" he said with concern in his voice.
"Okay dad."
The rest of the ride home was unbearable. I wanted to hear stories from Dad but he kept saying he'll only tell then in front of Daisy. It took about ten minutes to get back to the house. I noticed that the light in our house went out when it was in eyesight. I taught Daisy well. I had tried to teach her when dad left that she had to hide, she was only 11 so she didn't completely understand. But she knew I was all she had now, and so she took every word to heart. We pulled up to the house, payed the driver, and went inside.
Once inside I called out to Daisy, to let her know it was only me, telling her to come with her hands over her eyes. While she was coming out from hiding, I put the hats container beside one of our old wooden chairs.
"What is it Jeff?" Daisy asked as she walked into the room, doing as I asked.
"I brought you a surprise, are you ready?" She nodded as a big smile stretched across her tiny face. I looked to dad to see if he was ready himself, he gave me a thumbs up in response. "Okay Daisy, you can uncover your eyes now." The look of pure joy on her face when she saw her father brought tears to both of our eyes.
"PAPA!" she yelled as she tore across the room, into his arms, and held him so tight I thought she would never let go. She started to cry into his shirt and my father buried his face in her long blond hair, telling her not to worry, that he was home now.
Life had been hard for us, even before the war started. My mother had died while she gave birth to Daisy. Her name was Alice and she was the happiest person you'd ever meet, she was kind to all. Giving what she had to the people that needed it, she always had the warmest smile on her face. Father tells me that I have her eyes and her curiosity. She would go wonder in the woods to look for herbs or mushrooms to sell at the market. She was the one that found the lake, she took me there almost every week. She taught me how to swim, how to tell time by the sun, how to start a fire, and which mushrooms were good to eat. We stopped going to the lake while she was pregnant, it was hard for her to move around, and she was always in pain. I knew that something wasn't right but she just told me that this was normal, and that it happened with me too. It was the look in my fathers eye that told me she was lying.