Another weekly update, yay! Anywho, this is quite interesting in the fact that I finished this at 3 in the morning. Yep. I usually become nocturnal during the summer months. The Hatter's explanation of the poem is naturally sketchy, but in the future I may supply you guys with a more thorough analysis that goes with the story. It'll be later, though, as I don't want to give out a "spoiler" of sorts. I did like hearing what others thought of the poem, though. Some may be pretty close to the truth, but I won't say who just yet. ;) Fun stuff here, on a separate note. I love my reviewers dearly, as if you guys didn't know that.
I own nothing of Alice in Wonderland.
Very carefully, as if it pained him, the Hatter lowered himself down to the ground to sit. His back rested against the stone wall of the wall and it felt very cool and soggy, causing him to shiver. During this time he became very quiet, his eyes not meeting Alice's. His long legs were drawn toward his chest, arms and head resting upon his knees. It wasn't until he beckoned her over by patting the earth beside him that Alice dared to tread to him. Even then she shakily sat sideways a foot or so away. She was about to take off the jacket and return it when he suddenly shook his head.
He sighed and removed his ornate top hat; it was placed beside him with care. He ran his worn fingers through the mess of his hair, seeming to try to distract himself, if only for a moment. Before she even knew it, Alice found herself looking into the Hatter's eyes. Above all else, they looked weary and a bit frightened. Not a twinge of madness.
"I suppose I should start with the fact that the poem was of my creation…" His voice was but a whisper. The hushed tone only made her listen ever more closely. He fought hard to keep his gaze on her. "And, the subject matter was indeed you."
Alice gulped. Some lines flew back into her mind, but they were fuzzy and the words ran together.
"Allow me to…elaborate on a few choice lines." He bit his bottom lip in thought. "'No thought of me shall find a place in thy young life's hereafter' and all the previous parts of the stanza, I suppose. You…haven't stayed here for long, it seems. After the last time…well, I had figured you would simply continue to grow and…forget."
His eyes flickered away only briefly. Alice leaned forward just slightly, but kept her distance.
"'A tale began in other days when summer suns were glowing'… Underland always seemed…more pleasant during your brief visits. Quarrels were settled, the tea parties, the unbirthdays… But, at the time those had been "other days" for certain." A small frown settled on his face. "'We are but only children, dear, who fret to find our bedtime near.'"
Her words came before she could control herself, the thought coming from memory. "I had always wanted to be an adult…"
He spoke as if he hadn't heard her. "Despite your desire for maturity and rationality… Death ultimately becomes everyone's boogeyman." She nodded, allowing him to continue on. "'For "happy summer days" gone by and vanish'd summer glory'… Summer seemed to have left as you did, Alice."
He was…leaving out pieces, she was certain. Her mind grabbed at half-remembered lines. She swallowed, trying to see past his vague explanations. Still in his narration he was leaving something out. "What about the last two lines? What were they?" Her voice was frail as well, barely louder than his had been.
The Hatter seemed to want to hesitate, but he recited the last couplet obediently. "'It shall not touch with breath of bale the pleasance of our fairy-tale.'"
"Well?" she asked. "Please explain that…and what it is this whole thing is supposed to be getting at. You're translating fragments, and despite the validity…I think you want to avoid the big picture altogether."
He averted his eyes now. The spoke to the ground, "I didn't want to forget. I knew you would probably for certain, but… The, ah, fairy-tale…term…arose when you last came." He paused. He spoke now with a hint of distress. "It vanished, with you. No more summer days, silver laughter, dreaming eyes…!"
She felt herself grasping for one of his shaking hands. They had a chill upon them. The Hatter was torn from his thoughts and his words vanished in a puff of smoke once more. Slowly he turned to face her, his bright green eyes wide. She had moved so close that he could smell the sweetness of her hair…
Alice then took advantage of the nighttime silence, but spoke in a gentle tone, "I did miss you when I woke up."
His other hand began to rise and reach toward her, frightened if it was even real at all. There she sat close to him, eyes large and blue under the luminous moon, skin soft, hair lustrous and fragrant… Oh, what a cruel dream this would be! His fingers were but inches from her smooth face when a deep, thundering sound passed through them. The Hatter immediately shirked away and stood up, looking around wildly.
Alice shook her head from the daze she had been in. She held the jacket ever more tightly, deciding to put her arms through the sleeves. The article of clothing hung on her like a blanket, but it shielded her from the cold. Her stomach was doing all sorts of gymnastics moves. One moment, it had flipped in anticipation and now…it felt heavy with fear. She cursed herself for not having something to defend herself with.
The Hatter stepped closer to her, straining to hear where the sound had originated from. Far off in the distance a great patch of wheat trembled with the movement of a large beast. Her breath hitched. The Hatter took one of her arms and covered her mouth with his other hand, taking her out of the clearing to weave through the grain once more. He wanted to silently evade whatever was out there. She followed him with no qualms.
He kept her close to his body, not willing to have her trailing behind. Alice nearly struggled to keep up with his long strides, though pressed on as adrenaline began to pulse through her body. For a moment, she thought she was surely imagining things, but…she could've sworn she felt the ground beneath her tremble every so often. The intensity only increased, causing her footing to become shaky. It was as if they were on the ship again…
Even in the dark she could see a dark, looming shadow pass over them. The severity of the Hatter's present grip nearly made her cry out in pain. His entire body was ready to act, wound up tightly with anxiety. It wasn't long before the beast made its presence known, pushing through the wheat that separated them. There before them, a good eight feet tall or so, was a horrendous, giant toad with thick, matted black hair and an enormous set of steer horns. A vicious and low croak came from the Bull Frog, the sound rumbling through the countryside. Its breath was putrid with death and swamp odors and acidic spit dribbled from its mouth, hissing as it hit the ground.
The Hatter scooped her up into his arms and bolted from the towering toad. It lumbered toward the fleeing pair with its long leaps, shaking the ground beneath it with each landing. Alice gripped his vest and shirt tightly, looking back. The Bull Frog's eyes burned with rage and were filled with an inky darkness, causing her blood to nearly run cold. How could they ever outrun such a determined behemoth? Or rather, how could the Hatter while carrying her?
Her lungs pumped oxygen throughout her body forcefully. She doubted that they were gaining any ground, though its jumps only seemed longer and it landed closer each and every time… Stalks of wheat crumpled under its immense weight, dust shooting into the air. If only there was some place where they could hide, where it couldn't possibly fit!
Oh, but who was she kidding? It would plow its way through the area and demolish any sort of hiding spot they could possibly procure. Her mind desperate sought more solutions but she soon saw before them an opening into another clearing. There, only but a few hundred feet away, was a massively deep ravine with torrential waters below. Her hands searched for the vial in her clothes at once, her fingers quickly feeling the familiar cool glass.
She brought it out into the warm night air, throwing the cork to the side at once. Alice took a swift drink, draining half of the liquid before forcing the rest to the Hatter's lips. He resisted and comprehended little, allowing the revolting drink to travel down his throat. Well, not that taste was the primary concern for him currently.
The Bull Frog, thinking that it had assured its meal, shot out its slimy, thick pink tongue. By this time the large quantity of the vial that the duo had drank took effect, causing them to shrink down into their clothes as the Hatter still sped on. The creature was unable to retract his tongue at this point due its velocity and sheer bulk. It could only stay planted where it was as its tongue reached the other side of the ravine, which had truthfully not been a great distance, sticking to a hulking boulder. Another rumbling croak was issued as it tried desperately to bring back its tongue. The rock was dragged closer and closer to the ledge of the other side by the sheer firm grip of the tongue's sticky coating of dangerous saliva, pebbles falling into the waters below. Too stupid to truly realize the ramifications of bringing its tongue back, it was soon plummeting down the ravine along with the boulder which had fallen over the ledge.
The Hatter stood in his pooled clothing, still covered by his undershirt despite its enormity. He found himself on his knees not even a moment later, Alice still held tightly in his arms. She found that she was in the strange little blue dress that she had found herself in during her previous trip to Underland. It hung on her loosely. After she had concluded her musings on their clothes, she carefully began to pry the Hatter's fingers from their death grip on her frame. He muttered a quick apology.
The Hatter then found that Alice had wrapped her arms around him, chanting "thank you"s as if she knew how to say nothing else. He blinked, thoroughly confused.
"You're the one who saved us, Alice," he stated, still dumbfounded.
She drew away and wiped a teary eye. "I couldn't have carried you and sprinted across the plains very well at all."
He frowned. "In any case…that was quick thinking. I would tip my hat to you, but it seems that we left it behind…"
Alice sighed. "Let's get it then, shall we?"
The Hatter nodded at this, following the beaten-down tracks of the horrific Bull Frog and carrying his now-enormous undershirt around him. Alice kept close, still feeling fear nip at her mind…though her hand felt strangely cold and empty.