MAD tEA PARTY
“N
o! No! No!” The two of them cried out as I landed myself onto one of the many cushion seats round the big dining table. The Dormouse who was sitted between them, being
fast asleep was used as a cushion by the two mad mischiefs, resting their arms on it while talking over its head. The March Hare looked at me with its jaw opened so wide that it almost touches the ground and the Mad Hatter glared at me with his dark piercing eyes, “You can’t sit with us without being invited.” I pulled an orange envelope out from my pocket and waved it in front of them triumphantly, “You think I am Alice yea? I got this from Mr. Carroll a few days ago and he agreed on letting me interview the Mad Hatter! So, let’s start off now, shall we?” “That old bat, not again!” the Mad Hatter groaned as he pulled at his dark black curls frustratedly. “How many times do we have to do this!” “Well, the public is very, very interested in you, you see.” I said while arranging my pen and notepad on the table, ready to take down all the notes. “The public has to be as mad as me! For someone to like a mad person they have to be mad themselves first.”
“That’s not necessary the case -” “But it is the truest truth!” “Never mind. Now let’s be-” “Ms. Who-is-not-Alice, what about me?” the March Hare interrupted, pointing at himself with a tea spoon. “Next time, Mr. March Hare as we are now-” “How about some wine? Let’s have some wine!” “I don’t see any wine.” I looked around the big table, there was nothing but only tea. “Only the smart ones can see it.” “I can see it!” said the Mad Hatter excitedly. “So Ms. Who-is-not-Alice is a dunce!” the March Hare laughed like crazy. “It wasn’t very civil of you to call me that during an interview.” I said angrily. “Then it wasn’t very civil of you to not introduce yourself when you are the ONE doing the interview.”said the March Hare. “Oh, I didn’t realise, I am sorry.” I said apologetically, “I am Maddie Hayden and can we please start-” “Another ‘M’ to the family!” squealed the Mad Hatter. “Memory!” “Moon!” shouted the March Hare. “Mouse-trap!” said the Mad Hatter. They are starting to play a game with the letter ‘M’. “Much!” “Much of a muchness!”
“MERCURY!” I cried, trying to stop them before they get carried away, these guys are unbelievable! Seizing this opportunity to start off the interview, I quickly asked, “So Mr. Mad Hatter, can you tell me about the mercury incident you had before when you are not mad?” “Ha! What do you mean? I am always mad! All the best people are! That is why I am the best hatter in town!”
“Alright... so I did a little bit of research and found out that there’s this thing called The Hatter’s Disease. It was said that they use this very toxic substance to glue the hats together, which involved a lot of mercury and ended up poisoning them heavily. The poison would manifest itself in different ways. Some would develop Tourettes style syndrome, some would develop a personality disorder... some would get darker. Is that what causes you to go all mad?”
“Well, I could but I could not tell you because would you tell if you could but could not but would if you could?” replied the Mad Hatter cheekily. “Can you please stop with the riddles? I need to note this down else I am going to get fired!” “I would if I could but I cannot.” He winked, “not till you tell me, why is a raven like a writing-desk?” “Because it can produce a few notes, though they are very flat; and it is nevar put with the wrong end in front.” I said flatly. “Nu-uh!” “But this is the answer I found on Wikipedia!” “Well your little twinkling wiki is not quite reliable, is it?” “Then, what is the real answer?” I asked curiously. “I would tell you if I could but I cannot.” Both the March Hare and the Mad Hatter laughed crazily.
Tired of arguing, I flipped the pages of my notepad and decided to move on to the next question when all of a sudden, the striking clock strikes six out of nowhere and it was so loud that I nearly fell off my chair. The Mad Hatter quickly jumped up and shooed the March Hare into the empty seat on the left while he pushed the Dormouse off the chair and took his seat. “What’s the matter?” I stared at them in confusion for a second before standing up and moving towards the Mad Hatter’s previous seat, figured that I will follow suit. “What’s the matter? Did you just ask what’s the matter?!” replied the Mad Hatter angrily. “It’s the Time again of course!” “Okay.... I don’t really understand what’s going on here.” I said carefully while looking over at the March Hare who quickly adverted his gaze. “What a dunce! Imagine knowing nothing about me and you still dare to come for an interview!” scoffed the Mad Hatter. “I bet you haven’t even read the whole book of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland!” “As a matter of fact, I actually read the book five times already!” I said while trying to rack my brain and summoned up all the information I knew about Time and that’s when realisation hit me like a train. “It’s because of the fall out between you guys, right?!” I pushed, “It’s because of what happened at the great concert of the Queen of Hearts!”
The Mad Hatter sighed and for the first time, he looked sad. “Yes. We used to be on such good terms! He has almost do anything for me with the clock!” “Like what?” “Suppose it was nine o’clock at night, just in time for bed: you had only have to whisper a hint to Time and round goes the clock in a twinkling! Half-past five, tea-time with the dolls!” “Did you try talking to him after the -” “He won’t listen. Now he thinks that I am a Time murderer just because of a song! And for him to freeze me at 6 o’clock forever,” the Mad Hatter shook his head and pointed at the dirty tea-things on the table, “Look at them! Poor thing! I can’t even remember when was the last time they shower!” “What if all of the food and tea get used up?” “I would tell you if I could but I cannot.” “Well, what happens if you try to ignore and just leave the table?” I ventured to ask again. “I would tell you if I could but I cannot.” I sighed. Some questions are meant to have no answers, it seemed. “How about the 10/6 on your hat, what does it mean?” “It isn’t mine.” said the Mad Hatter.
“Stolen?” “I keep them to sell,” he glared at me, “For an example, this is half a guinea-” (pointing at the hat on top of his head) “You mean ten shillings and six pence.” I interrupted. “I have none of my own, I am a hatter.” I nodded. “I see. Well, Mr. Mad Hatter thank you for your time.” I kept my stuff into my bag and stood up, ready to leave but then realised I had no idea how did I came here in the first place. “Do you know how Alice came through to Wonderland in the first place?”the Mad Hatter asked calmly as he poured himself a cup of tea. The tea ran through the broken cup, filling the plate beneath. “She fell asleep and fell through the rabbit hole” I said slowly. “And how did she get out of here?” I stared at him blankly. The Mad Hatter hold the cup to his lips and gave me an eerie smile, “Dear Maddie, when you sleep you fall into a different world and when you wake up you get warped back into your own world. But you can’t leave, not now, not till you go through what young Alice did.”
twinkle, little bat! “T winkle, How I wonder what you’re at!” the world you fly, “UpLikeabovea tea-tray in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle-” jumped up and bawled “T heout,Queen “He’s murdering the time! Off with his head!”
MAD tEA PARTY