HALLOWEEN IN WONDERLAND
It was getting close to
the special night when the spooks and goblins came venturing out but it wasn’t
what Rabbit feared as much as them. On
nights like this it brought out all kinds of them. And it was already starting with the invitation that he was
holding in his paw.
The mad hatter had
personally delivered it to his hole and dropped it down landing in his salad.
When he plucked off the radish that was stuck to it, he knew what it was. He shivered
as he opened it. As he read the details, he gasped. He was bringing her. He got up and paced, wringing his
paws together, mushing up the invitation, in hopes of coming up with an excuse
that would be accepted. He could not go.
“Why does he always want
to bring her to these parties? She
always looks at me like she hasn’t eaten in days. No, I will not go to this
party with her there. That’s final.”
Now it was the day before
and he still had not come up with a believable excuse. Hatter would be coming
to confirm him to coming. Maybe if he hid?
The ground above shook.
He knew it was Hatter. Rabbit ran and crawled under his bed. “Rabbit, are you
down there, my little friend? Come out my fluffy eared fellow. I have someone
here with me. They would love to see you.”
Rabbit covered his mouth
with his paw. She was here already! He stayed quiet and prayed they would
leave. After a bit he could hear a sigh. “Maybe he is gathering some greens.
Let’s go to his favourite patch.”
Rabbit waited for a bit
to make sure they were really gone. Then he slowly crawled out from underneath. He let out an exasperated sigh. “What am I
going to do?”
He grabbed his small
little basket and decided to go pick some berries which was in the opposite
direction of the place he picked his favorite greens. He first poked his nose
out and sniffed. Nothing so he came out and headed toward the berry patch. He
was halfway down the path when he heard voices behind him. He froze. The voices
were not the Hatters. The way they giggled it sounded like sprites. They were
always up to no good and just as he was going to make haste another voice
joined them. This time it was the Hatter. He rushed off now. Rabbit could take
the long way around and get back to his hole.
But of course, he was
spotted when he heard his name. “Rabbit, there you are. I’ve been looking for
you.”
Rabbit didn’t even turn
around, he could hear his fast paced footsteps coming towards him. Soon Hatter
was standing in front of him looking down at him beaming. “Aren’t you excited about
the party?” He waved his hand in the air like he was about to conduct an
orchestra. “And I have someone special that is coming to the party.” He looked
over Rabbit’s head. “Come dear and see our dear friend. Rabbit cringed as he
heard that all too shrilly laugh. His nose twitched at her over powering rose
perfume.
She came rushing up
beside Hatter looking down at him with her bright pink lipstick lips. Her teeth
shone and looked sharp to rabbit. He backed up a bit. Her long pointy
fingernails were painted hot pink as well. She held out her hand to rabbit. “So
lovely to see you. When I heard about the party, I came right away as I knew you would be there.”
Rabbit swallowed hard and
let out a nervous laugh. “Well…” said rabbit. “I…”
“Oh come on my fluffy
friend. Don’t stammer. Get the words out before they run away,” laughed Hatter.
Rabbit had forgot about
the sprites who now were joining them. Their wide eyes resembled glassy
marbles. Pale green skin freckled with brown spots on their shoulders and arms
led to hands that sported sharp claws. They smiled at Rabbit but he knew that
they were only faking it. They were both nuts and liked trouble for their main
entertainment. Well he was not going to hang around be their amusement for the
day.
He threw up his furry
chin at them all. “I have things to do, I must go.”
He hopped around them
listening to the giggling sprites that sounded like their nails on a
chalkboard. His ears quivered. “See you later,” she said.
He mumbled under his
breath. “Not if I can help it.”
Rabbit gripped his little
basket so tight that he went right by his berry patch and when he realized
that, he sighed. “I’m not going back there. It will be salad for supper.” He
hurried back to his home before he met up with them again.
Back in his hole, he
cleaned up and got ready for his meal when he could hear the sound of someone
coming towards his hole. He held his breath for a moment. “Rabbit, are down
there? I need to have a word with you. It won’t take long.”
It was Hatter. Rabbit let
out a breath and went up to see what he wanted. All he hoped was that she wasn’t with him. With relief, she
wasn’t. He smiled down at him and presented him with a basket of berries.
Rabbit eyes went wide.
“I knew you would be too
worked up to pick, so I picked for you. Of course I hope I can convince you to
come to the party. It will be great rabbit-only of you just make an
appearance.”
Rabbit eyed him
carefully. “Make an appearance? That’s all I have to do?”
Hatter nodded.
Rabbit looked one way and
then the other. “I…suppose…”
“Good, I take that as a
yes. I will come and escort you to the event.”
“Oh you don’t have to do
that…”
“No, I insist, I want you
to arrive without incident. I know those sprites and such like to play games.”
Rabbit’s ears fell a bit.
“Okay.”
“Wonderful.” And off he
bounced leaving Rabbit with his berries.
The day had come and
within hours Hatter would be arriving to pick him up. He paced back and forth
wiring his paws. He knew that she would
be with him.
“Rabbit, are you ready?”
He listened for a moment
but could not hear her. Slowly he went up and saw Hatter by himself in all his
glory, dressed in a bright orange coat that swept the ground and his shirt was
bright green. Rabbit could see his outfit shimmer like the makeup around his eyes.
“Good evening Rabbit.
Happy Hallows eve.”
Rabbit nodded. “Same to
you.”
“Don’t be so glum rabbit.
You wait and see.”
The Hatter escorted
Rabbit to a waiting carriage. Silver foxes waited to pull the orange pumpkin
shaped carriage to their party. Rabbit gasped. Fire flies lit the way. The
Hatter helped him up and off they went. The trees were lit up with lights and
the old table was brimming with goodies. The guests were there in all their
elaborate costumes. Faeries wearing masks of leaves of every color of the
forest adorned their faces. Their cat like eyes glowed in the light when it hit
them giving them a mischievous look.
Rabbit felt like he was
being stared at as the silver foxes that brought them rushed past them and
suddenly started playing on the table scattering nuts everywhere. The masked
faeries got in on the game. The chaos had started.
Of course there were
other rabbits there and they were nibbling on carrots and clover enjoying
themselves and ignoring the rest. Rabbit wanted to do that as well. But not to
be of course as she came waltzing up
to them. “Oh, your here.” The shimmering lights reflected in her gold eyes that
peered down at him through a mask that covered almost her entire face. It was
mostly made of feathers.
“Dance with me rabbit.”
Before he could decline,
she grabbed his little paw and led him to where all the others were dancing. He
shivered as he looked up into the faces. Some had flowing dress wear that
looked like spider’s silk. Wild flowers decorated their colored hair over their
painted faced. The feathered and leaf masks were a favorite. Rabbit stayed
close to her. He didn’t want to get touched by one them.
The music filled the air
and they were all drinking out of little cups. Rabbit knew the cups were filled
with honey wine and honeysuckle wine. They would all be quite happy in a hour or two. He would leave
before then-for sure.
Rabbit just hid in the
grass as she danced around him. He kept looking for Hatter but he appeared to
have been swallowed up by all the guests. Horned creatures and woodland elves
all enjoyed the food and drink. Their laughs sounded like wolves howling on an
eerie night.
Finally Hatter was headed
their way and Rabbit knew by the look on his face that he was maybe going to
rescue him. Oh he hoped so.
“Well, how are we doing?”
Before she could answer,
one of those horned creatures came up at the same time and grabbed her and they
danced off. That left Rabbit and Hatter. He smiled down at Rabbit. “Ready to
go?”
Rabbit nodded quickly. “I
thought so. Come with me my friend.”
Rabbit was a bit worried
what he had planned. Nothing was ordinary with Hatter. The carriage was waiting
for him again and this time, deer were going to pull the carriage. They looked friendlier
than the silver foxes. Hatter helped him up and sat beside him. Off they went.
The carriage was not
heading toward where Rabbit lived. “Where are we going?”
“Don’t worry Rabbit. I
have something special for you.”
Now Rabbit was worried.
He looked around as the bare leaved trees looked like fingers ready to pluck
him out of the carriage. The moon was full tonight and in the forest the mist
was creeping in. Rabbit was imagining all kinds of things that were hiding in
the mist ready to grab him. He was ready to hide under the seat when they stopped.
Hatter jumped up and held
out his hand. Rabbit was scared of taking his hand and shook his head. “Trust
me Rabbit, it will be great.”
Finally he took Hatter’s
hand and they went to a small opening in the forest not far from the carriage.
Rabbit kept his eyes open for goblins ready to eat him. The moon’s light lit up
something. Rabbit couldn’t make it out.
“Here is your surprise my
friend. I know you will like these.”
Rabbit looked a little
closer and his eyes went wide. “There were magic mushrooms. These ones only
grew at certain times of the year and then sometimes there were not very many.
Tonight, there was an abundance of the little mushrooms. Rabbit couldn’t
believe it.
“Happy Halloween Rabbit.”
“Why thank you Hatter.”
“Let’s go gather you up some,
shall we?”
Now they were heading
back to his hole. Sitting in his lap was a basket full of magic mushrooms. He
couldn’t believe that he would be having some of these for his breakfast. Hatter
helped him down and before he went down his hole, Hatter had another little
gift. “Here is a little treat for you.” He handed Rabbit a carrot muffin.
Rabbit smiled. “My
favorite, thank you so much.”
“You’re quite welcome my
friend. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Rabbit went down his hole
with all his goodies. He could hear Hatter go off with the carriage. Now all
that he could see was the soft moon’s light shining down his hole. He yawned.
He took his basket of
magic mushrooms and placed them in his little pantry, next to his berries that
Hatter had given him. He smiled to himself.
Today wasn’t so bad after all.
He snuggled down in his
bed and mumbled. “Happy Halloween Hatter.”
HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM
WONDERLAND!!!
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