Unwritten, by Natasha Bedingfield

I am unwritten
Can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning
The pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

I break tradition
Sometimes my tries are outside the lines
We've been conditioned
To not make mistakes, but I can't live that way

The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten

David couldn't sleep. His daddy would be home tomorrow for three whole days and he had a thousand things running through his mind; things they could do together, places they could go, things to talk about. He especially wanted to show off the new card tricks he'd learned. He wished his daddy didn't have to work so much at that dumb old Casino.

"Are you still awake?" Mommy asked from the doorway.

"I'm trying to sleep," David said, and squinched his eyes shut. His mommy laughed and he grinned; he could always make her laugh. He thought she was the prettiest lady in all of Wonderland, even when she was scolding him. Her eyes were brown, like his, and her hair was something Daddy called strawberry blonde. David didn't think her hair looked anything like a strawberry – more like the sky when the sun first came up in the morning - but he liked the way she braided the sides and coiled them around her head.

She came in and sat on the edge of his bed. "Would you like to know a secret?"

David's eyes opened wide. A secret? No-one had ever told him a secret before. Well, not a real one. Benny was always trying to tell him secrets, but they were usually about stupid stuff like what he had for lunch. He was sure his mommy had much better secrets than that.

David snuggled back under his blanket. His mommy tried to smooth out his hair, which was always sticking up from his head in crazy spikes; he liked the way her hand felt on his head and didn't remind her that nothing she did was going stop it from spiking.

"Now," his mommy said in her serious voice. "This is a very special secret. Not even Daddy knows this secret, and you mustn't tell him."

David puffed out his chest. A secret Daddy didn't even know? Boy, did he feel special! His mommy must really trust him, to tell him something like that.

"I won't tell, I promise!" He crossed his heart and kissed his pinky, making his mommy laugh again.

"All right. I know you won't break a pinky promise." His mommy pressed a kiss to his forehead. "When you were still growing in my belly, I had a special visitor in my dream one night. Can you guess who it was?"

David didn't have many dreams, but every kid knew who the dream visitor was. "The Cheshire?" No-one in his admittedly small circle of friends had ever been visited, but they spoke of the Cheshire like he was a boogeyman.

"That's right. And do you know what the Cheshire told me?"

David shook his head, but he was dying to know. Suddenly keeping a secret didn't seem as much fun; his friends would never believe that his own mommy had been visited by the Cheshire!

"The Cheshire told me that my baby – that's you – would be very, very special."

"He talked about me?" David asked, incredulous. What could the Cheshire know about him before he was even born? His mommy smiled down at him.

"That's right. He told me my baby was going to be a boy, and that he would be very important one day. He said you were part of a long, distinguished line – the Hatters. Do you know about the Hatters?"

David shook his head. Hatters? Did they all wear hats? He knew a lot of men who wore hats, but his daddy wasn't one of them. He said he had so few chances to be outdoors, and he wanted to feel the sun on his head.

"The Hatters have been a part of Wonderland since the first dawn on the very first day," his mommy said softly. "They protect the land, and the people. Like the Hatters that came before you, one day you will do great things, David."

"What kind of things?" David asked. He couldn't believe the Cheshire thought he was so important. He wished he could tell Benny, maybe then he'd stop picking on him because he was so small.

"I don't know, sweetheart. Maybe the Cheshire doesn't even know. But I want you to know something. Are you listening close?"

"Yes, Mommy."

"Whether or not what the Cheshire said comes true, I want you to know that you will always be the most important person to Daddy and me. Nothing will ever change how much we love you."

"Really?" Hatter asked.

"Really really," his mommy replied. She kissed the tip of his nose. "Now try and get some sleep. Tomorrow, when Daddy comes home, I think we'll all take a picnic at the lake."

"A picnic? I love picnics!" David grinned his biggest grin, flashing his dimple. His mommy laughed.

"I know you do. But we're not going anywhere unless you get to sleep, little man." His mommy stood up and fixed his blanket, tucking it in around him.

"I love you, Mommy," David said.

"I love you too, sweetheart."

David tried hard to fall asleep, but now his mind was whirling more than ever. He wondered what big, important thing he would do for Wonderland. Would he fight in a battle? Be the hero? He found the idea very exciting, and started imagining himself dressed as a knight and battling an army. Or better yet, a big Jabberwock. And instead of a helmet he would wear a big hat, because he was a Hatter. No, the Hatter.

Right in the middle of imagining his hero's banquet, David fell fast asleep. And though he had no memory of it afterwards, he too was paid a visit by the Cheshire, who told him all his dreams would most certainly come true.

AN: Well, this is it folks. The final chapter of Deconstructing Hatter. I thought it would be fitting that we ended at the beginning, with a happy Hatter who is only just learning of his destiny. With all the angst in Hatter's backstory, it seemed only right to end it on a more uplifting note.

Thanks so much to my faithful reviewers and my bashful readers. I'm so glad you enjoyed this peek into the making of Hatter. I have more Hatter and Alice stories coming so stay tuned!