Through the Looking Glass

by Carla Jablonski

  You throw the Chronosphere to the ground. It immediately opens into the glowing sphere. You jump in and it begins to move. It rises from the ground, and Horunvendush Day melts away into the Ocean of Time.

  You glance over your shoulder. Time is still on your tail, powering his handcart and getting closer.

  He catches up with you. “You cannot win a race against Time!” he huffs. He’s out of breath from his efforts. “Give it back. I am merciful. But you must give it back!”

  He lunges for you.

  You need to get somewhere—or, rather, somewhen fast!

  DO YOU GO FORWARD IN TIME? GO HERE.

  DO YOU GO BACKWARD? GO HERE.

  WARNING! You’re about to spoil a great story by not making a choice! Page back, then click one of the links to advance the story. Otherwise, the next section may not make any sense to you.

  OOPS! YOU went way too far into the future! Nothing is familiar, everything is strange, and there are bizarre flying contraptions zipping around overhead. The plants and animals are odd shapes and colors—even odder than usual for Underland.

  You’re still the same age, but everyone else is the great-great-great-grandchild of the people you knew. There are identical twin girls wearing matching polka-dot shirts who can only be descendants of the Tweedles. There’s also a partially visible Chessur-like tabby lounging in a tree. You even come across a grumpy caterpillar—a dead ringer for Absolem.

  The problem is, the Chronosphere has aged. It’s all rusty and cracked and no longer glows, not even a little. It just wore out.

  This means you’re stuck where you are.

  Oh, well. You’ve always been ahead of your time!

  THE END

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  YOU YANK the lever hard, hoping you’re going back to a day that will help you with your mission to restore the Hatter to himself again. You spin out of control and crash-land.

  You dust yourself off and look around. There’s no sign of Time, which is a good thing. But you have no idea where you are. Or when.

  You hear trumpets blowing a fanfare. You head toward the noise.

  You join a procession of Underland citizens approaching a castle. Humans, animals, and fanciful creatures have come from far and wide for some kind of celebration, you surmise. You follow them inside.

  You stand at the back of the enormous formal room. A king and queen sit on thrones on a stage. On either side of them are two young women. Your eyes widen when you realize who they are: Mirana and Iracebeth—the White Queen and the Red Queen! Only they’re in their twenties and must still be princesses.

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  SPENDING TIME WITH THE DESCENDANTS OF YOUR LOVED ONES IS DELIGHTFUL, BUT YOU MISS YOUR OWN FRABJOUS FRIENDS. HEAD BACK TO THE BEGINNING AND START A NEW TALE.

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  Mirana is a beauty all in white. Her sister, Iracebeth, scowls next to her, dressed in red. Although her head is oversize and she’s wearing her hair in that odd heart-shaped style, it’s not as large as it was—is?—the last—next—time you saw her.

  This time travel is wreaking havoc with your tenses!

  A serious-looking man places a tiara on Mirana’s head. When he steps back you recognize him as the man in the portrait in the Hatter’s house. This must be Zanik Hightopp, the Hatter’s father.

  And there’s the Hatter! He’s younger than the day the Jabberwocky struck, so you’ve gone farther back in time. He opens a very large hatbox and holds it up to his father. Zanik takes out an enormous tiara. He stands behind Iracebeth, struggling to get the sparkling tiara on her very large head. Hatter stifles a laugh.

  Finally, Zanik shoves the tiara down onto her head. It breaks in two.

  The whole crowd bursts out laughing. Iracebeth turns purple with rage. She raises a finger to the sky and yells, “OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!”

  The crowd goes silent. You almost feel bad for her, especially when her father announces that because of her behavior she is no longer the heir to the crown—Mirana is.

  That sends Iracebeth over the edge. You and the crowd gasp as her head swells in front of your eyes.

  Iracebeth marches over to the Hatter’s father. “Zanik Hightopp,” she hisses into his face, “I will never forget what you and your family have done to me this day. Never!”

  Iracebeth storms off, followed by a tearful Mirana. The king and queen bid the crowd good day, and the citizens disperse.

  Zanik watches them go, then turns on the Hatter, furious. “You cost the princess her crown!” Zanik says. “Do you know what this means for us?”

  Zanik Hightopp and the Hatter squabble, speaking over each other. Then they both stop abruptly and stare at each other in silence.

  You can see that Hatter is deeply pained by what his father has said to him. He storms past you and out into Witzend Street.

  You jog to catch up. “Excuse me?” you call after him. “Tarrant!”

  The Hatter whirls around, ready to argue. You rush up to him and fling your arms around him. “It’s you, isn’t it? It’s really you!”

  He looks down at you, confused. “I’m sorry. Have we met?”

  You release him and grin. “Yes! I mean no! I mean, not yet. I’m Alice.”

  He cocks his head and studies you. “Funny. I feel I should know you.”

  “We met once, when I was young,” you explain.

  “I’m afraid I don’t recall,” the Hatter says.

  “Because it hasn’t happened yet,” you say.

  “When will it happen?” the Hatter asks.

  “Years from now,” you reply. “When you’re older.”

  “I’ll meet you when you’re younger—and I’m older?” he says, puzzled.

  “It doesn’t make much sense, I know,” you admit.

  “Of course it does. You’re Alice, my new, old friend.” The Hatter gives you an amused smile as you walk together. “You’re bonkers, aren’t you?”

  “Am I?” you ask.

  “All the best ones are.”

  The Hatter stops beside a grand oak tree with a hole in its side. He grabs your arm. “Can you keep a secret?” he asks, his voice dropping to a whisper.

  You step in closer to him.

  “This tree is magical,” he says, admiring it. “Every night when I was a boy, I would make a wish and the next morning the tree would have granted it. Usually green-and-white Swizzles. Delicious!”

  He pats the tree, then walks on. You suddenly remember your mission.

  “Wait! Stop! Your family is in danger!” you cry. “You must warn them about Horunvendush Day!”

  “You want me to get a message to my family?” The Hatter narrows his eyes suspiciously, then points an accusing finger at you. “If my father sent you to change my mind, you can tell him that I never will!” He stomps away.

  “Tarrant, wait! Listen!” you call out to him. “You are right now creating a past you will never be able to change. Hatter!”

  But he’s gone. Maybe you can warn his father instead.

  “My sister wasn’t always like this. But something happened when we were small,” you hear Princess Mirana saying to the Hightopps as you approach the castle. “One snowy night—a night known forever as Fell Day—she was running through the town square and hit her head on a grandfather clock. Right at the stroke of six.” She covers her eyes and shudders. “It changed everything.”

  This gives you an idea! You’ll prevent the Red Queen’s accident w
hen she was a child. That way she won’t grow up to be such a meanie! The Hatter and his father won’t get into their argument, which means they’ll be together on Horunvendush Day. Perhaps they’ll all survive the Jabberwocky attack! And the Hatter then will become the Hatter now.

  Well, not so much now, you think as you throw the Chronosphere to the ground. It pops open and you climb in. The now before he lost his muchness.

  You shake your head. You’d better solve this problem soon, or you’ll be as mad as, well, as the Hatter should be!

  “Hang on, Hatter,” you cry, as you zoom farther into the past.

  You soon land on the outskirts of Witzend. A light snow is falling, so you know you must be pretty close to Fell Day.

  A tiny set of grinning teeth floats around the corner, followed a few inches behind by a tiny kitten butt and tail.

  You giggle. That must be Chessur as a kitten, before he got his materializing under control. A bloodhound puppy who can only be Bayard gives chase. A pair of chubby twins you immediately recognize as the Tweedles clumsily trot into view, followed by an eight-year-old Hatter.

  “Tarrant!” a stern voice calls.

  You and little Hatter both turn to see a younger Zanik Hightopp glaring at him from the doorway of his shop. Little Hatter sighs and trudges toward his father’s shop. When he spots you, his face lights up. He grabs your hand and drags you into the shop.

  The shop is neat and well organized. Hats sit atop stands on a counter. Trimmings are displayed along one wall, and stacked rolls of fabric wait to be selected. Zanik is writing in a large ledger.

  “Papa! Look!” the little Hatter announces. “A customer with a lovely head.”

  “I’m sorry, miss,” Zanik says. “We’re closed.” He stands and crosses the room.

  Little Hatter tugs on Zanik’s coat as he walks to the door. “Papa, look! I made something for you in school!” He holds up a little blue paper hat.

  Your eyes widen. The blue hat! The Hatter’s downward spiral started when he found it. Here it is now! What does this mean?

  You watch as the Hatter’s father accidentally rips the hat. He shrugs and tosses it into the trash. Little Hatter runs upstairs, tears in his eyes. Poor little fellow!

  Zanik looks thoughtful for a moment, then opens a drawer in his desk. You notice with surprise that it is full of green-and-white Swizzles. Hmmm…You leave the shop, feeling bad for the little Hatter.

  You gaze up at the clock tower: 5:55 p.m. Five minutes before the fateful event that Mirana says changed her sister. The snow is swirling more forcefully. You need to get to the town square!

  You hurry into the snowy cobblestone square just as the bell in the clock tower lets out a loud gong!

  “The stroke of six!” you exclaim. “That’s when it’s going to happen!”

  You look around for Iracebeth. A gentleman fish slides by upright, holding an umbrella. Two frog deliverymen struggle with the grandfather clock they carry.

  Another booming gong! Then you see her: little Iracebeth running toward the square. Tears stream down her face, and she’s not paying attention to where she’s going.

  She’s heading straight for the frog deliverymen! And they don’t see her! That must be the clock she hits her head on!

  GONG!

  Hurry! The bell has rung three times already—only three more gongs to go!

  You have to stop this accident. But how?

  THROW YOURSELF IN FRONT OF HER GO HERE.

  OR STOP THE DELIVERY FROGS FROM COLLIDING WITH HER AND GO HERE.

  WARNING! You’re about to spoil a great story by not making a choice! Page back, then click one of the links to advance the story. Otherwise, the next section may not make any sense to you.

  YOU FLING yourself at Iracebeth. But you slip on the ice and smash your own head into a large statue of King Oleron at the edge of the square.

  Owwwwwww!

  You gingerly feel your head to see if you’re bleeding. Phew. You’re not. That’s a relief. But you’re a little worried when you feel how much your head is swelling. This is more than a goose egg. It’s already beginning to feel like a Jabberwocky egg.

  Uh-oh.

  Iracebeth tries to help you up, but your enormous head throws off your balance. The two of you topple over. Iracebeth hits her head, too. It instantly puffs up.

  But things work out okay. You become her special friend, and she becomes a

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  YOU DIVE for the front delivery frog and shove him—hard. The grandfather clock hits the ground with a chiming crash.

  “Hey! What the—” the frog sputters.

  Gong! The fourth gong! Hooray! You averted disaster!

  Then you gasp. Little Iracebeth avoids the delivery frogs, thanks to you, but she’s about to run into the gentleman fish!

  “No! No! No!” you shout.

  “Careful, miss!” the gentleman fish scolds.

  Gong!

  Just in time, Little Iracebeth veers out of the gentleman fish’s path. But she skids on the ice. She slips, she slides, she windmills her arms, trying to keep her balance.

  You can’t watch! You cover your eyes just as the final gong sounds.

  Wham! You peek through your fingers to see little Iracebeth hit her head on the base of a statue of her father, King Oleron. You wince.

  “Just at the stroke of six,” you say sadly. Exactly as Mirana had said.

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  very sweet princess who grows up to be a very nice queen—all because she’s not lonely anymore. There’s another Big Head in town. You!

  THE END

  HAVING SUCH A GLORIOUSLY BIG HEAD IS GETTING SOMEWHAT HEAVY. GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING AND TRY ON ANOTHER HEAD FOR SIZE.

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  Iracebeth sits up, clutching her head. “My head!” she wails as people start to gather and try to help her up.

  You sigh. “Time was right. You cannot change the past. She hit her head anyway.”

  You turn away sadly, unsure of what to do next. Movement in the Hatter’s shop across the street catches your eye.

  You peek through the window of the hat shop and watch Zanik Hightopp bend down and take the crumpled blue paper hat from the trash. He smooths it out, smiles to himself, and places it in his breast pocket. He gives the pocket a fond pat.

  “He kept it,” you murmur. This is important, somehow. Your brain reels as you try to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. The blue hat the Hatter just found, in your time. It’s the very same hat his father kept from this time. And the same hat you discovered hidden in the tree stump on that fateful day of the Jabberwocky attack.

  And where have you seen those green-and-white Swizzles before? In the Hatter’s “magical” tree and in his father’s desk drawer!

  Something else…something else. The answer flashes into your head. When you were spying on Time in his castle, he went through the watches of the Underland citizens who had died. The closed watches were in alphabetical order.

  “There was a gap!” you cry.

  A gap where the Hightopps would have been. If they were no longer living.

  “They’re alive! They’re alive!” You have to tell the Hatter!

  You’re finally getting the hang of traveling by Chronosphere. Soon you are back to the right time and place. You burst into the Hatter’s house.

  “Hatter! Your family! They’re alive!” You look around. No sign of Hatter. Hmmm. Maybe you’re not
in the right time and place.

  You go upstairs to check. Your heart clutches when you see Mirana, the Tweedles, Bayard, McTwisp, and Mallymkun crowded around the Hatter’s bed. He lies dreadfully still with eyes closed. His once bright orange hair is now completely white.

  McTwisp is listening to Hatter’s chest with a stethoscope. He shakes his head. The others wear grave expressions as they acknowledge your arrival.

  “The Forgettingfulness…” Tweedledee begins sadly.

  “It’s unfilled his head,” Tweedledum finishes, equally sadly.

  “We fear you are too late.” Mirana sighs.

  You take the Hatter’s hand. “You were right,” you tell him. “They’re alive!”

  No response.

  “I can’t bear to see him like this….” Mallymkun chokes out.

  Bayard picks Mally up in his mouth, and the group sadly departs, leaving you and the Hatter alone. You see the little blue paper hat on the nightstand. You pick it up.

  You perch on the edge of his bed. “I know what this means, Hatter!” you say. You gently close his hand around the little hat. “You made it for your father.”

  Still no response. You fight back tears and continue. “And remember the magic tree, Hatter? It wasn’t magic…it was him.” You pat his hand. “All those years it was your father leaving those Swizzles for you to find. And on the day the Jabberwocky attacked he left the blue hat there as a message. That they’d survived!”

  Did his eyelids twitch? Encouraged, you press on. “Because he kept it, Hatter. That blue hat you thought he threw away. All his life, a token of his love—his love for you, his son.”

  Definite eye flutters! You’re getting through to him!