Prompt: Write a story inspired by the phrase "I'll eat my hat."

Impending Chaos. There just is.

Sara Cobbler was not the type of girl to make rash comments that would eventually get her in trouble. Today, however, she found herself doing just that. It had all started when she'd gone into town with Janner, Kal, and Leeli, the girls in search of new hats for the Annerian's Dance of Spring, and the boys in search of… Well, Sara didn't actually know, she would have guessed either a Zibzy game or trouble. Probably the latter. She, on the other hand, wanted a hat that was just right. Not too frilly or lacy; she wanted to wear it often, not just on special occasions, but it also had to look fashionable. Try as she might, she couldn't convince herself to ignore the small group of people who thought she shouldn't be so close to the royal family. There would always be people who had something unkind or negative to say, of course, but Sara just wanted to fit in. She didn't want to make the Throne Warden's name a disgrace because the gossips of Anneria spread rumors about Janner Wingfeather gallivanting about with some nobody girl from Skree.

She shook her head, scolding herself. She was on a walk to town to find a good hat and have fun with her friends, not to throw herself into an abyss of negativity and pain. She was fifteen years old, for goodness sake. She should be saving that for when she was old and gray and had plenty of time to think of her regrets. She glanced over at Janner, who was arguing with Kal about the amount of Frogspawn in one group. "Do you want to stop at the library?"

"Sure," Janner paused his long-winded explanation on why there couldn't possibly be twenty thousand eggs in one cluster just long enough to smile and nod at his girlfriend, and then went back to debating.

Sara rolled her eyes, and turned to Leeli, who was humming and kicking rocks with her good leg as she walked. "So, what kind of hat are you looking for?"

Leeli shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. Something with ribbon and flowers. What about you?"

Sara grinned. "Maybe a nice straw sun hat with gold string embroidered into the weaving, and a blue ribbon that trails behind like a startail."

"Ambitious. You trying to impress someone?"

"No!"

Leeli raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more. For twelve years old, she certainly was wise.

They reached town without incident, only stopping to examine a peculiar looking Flabbit and make a quick detour to the O'Sally family's summer home in Anneria, which took longer than it should have due to the fact that one of the dogs had a new litter of puppies and Leeli took her time naming each one, but soon enough, they were weaving their way through the bustling streets of Rysentown. Leeli and Sara broke off from the boys and headed for the clothing district, while the boys jogged off toward an unknown destination.

"Weirdos," Leeli muttered, grinning, and they both dissolved into fits of giggles.

"But really," Sara began, once she had gathered herself and mustered back a straight face, which she was still finding a bit hard to keep. "Where is the hat store? I've never been there before."

"This way," Leeli turned and started across the street, and Sara followed. "It's not like the normal hat shops, though."

Sara stared.

There wasn't anything else she could do, really. The sign above the doorway to the store read Miss Bel's Edible Hats (Normal Sold As Well.), and Sara could hardly believe her eyes. What kind of store sold Edible hats? An Annerian one, she answered herself. She'd buy two, she decided. One she could eat, and one she could wear. Why sit out what was there for the taking? She followed Leeli inside, and was instantly hit with a cadre of intermixing aromas. Chocolate was wafting from one aisle, blueberries from another, and peanut butter from still another. She veered towards the chocolate, while Leeli headed for the plums, and soon found herself paying for one normal hat, which fit the vision she'd told Leeli of on the way almost perfectly, and one chocolate hat, which looked so normal Sara decided it would be fun to play a prank on the boys with it. A small, half–formed idea found a snug nest in her mind, and she allowed it to grow, nurturing it until she was sure it was foolproof.

"Janner, if you can beat Kal at a footrace from here to the bridge, I'll eat my hat." They were halfway back to Castle Rysen, and Sara crossed her arms and smiled defiantly at Janner. "Really. I'll eat it."

Janner looked skeptical. "Your brand new hat? Why? Why eat a hat at all?"

Sara shrugged. "I dunno, just seemed fun."

"Fun?" Janner gawped. "Sara, are you getting heat stroke or something?"

Sara disguised her giggle as a scoff. "Heat Stroke? It's April, for goodness sake's, Janner!"

Janner still looked suspicious, but he nodded anyway. "I'll race you to the footbridge, Kal."

Kal grinned, his eyes narrowing in anticipation. "All right, but just so you're aware, you're cruisin' for a bruisin'." Janner rolled his eyes, and positioned himself to run.

"On your marks," Sara began, smiling. "Get set… GO!" Janner and Kal took off in a flurry of dust, and Leeli and Sara strolled after them, laughing. When they reached the bridge, Janner smiled at Sara. Her beau was covered in dirt, his eyes wild, his breathing ragged, but he was grinning all the same.

"I lost, in case you were wondering. No hat eating for you."

Sara shrugged. "I'll eat it anyway." And with that, she flipped her hat off her head, and bit into it lustily. Janner and Kal gaped, horrified, as Sara tore a bite out of the straw with her teeth, and chewed as though it tasted amazing. She held it out to Janner. "Here, give it a try."

"What? No!"

"Oh, just do it, you Digtoad."

Janner brought the hat slowly to his lips, grimacing all the while, and took the smallest bite possible out of the brim. He chewed slowly, his eyes slowly widening. "Mmm!" He took another bite, larger this time. "What kind of a hat is this?"

Sara laughed. "A chocolate one."

"Where-" Janner asked between bites. "Did you get–a chocolate–hat?"

"At the edible hat shop, of course."

"There's an edible hat shop?"

"Of course there is, this is Anneria."

"You say that like chocolate hats are a normal occurrence."

"You should have seen the look on your face.