The Misadventures of Hatty.

Origins of the Original.

Despite only being 36 years of age, many people who looked at Hatty would assume the small hunch-backed woman to be twice her age, her ginger hair, ratty and thinning, her skin sallow and her eyes- strangely vacant.

After a rather uneventful early childhood, apart from the occasional ceremonious burning of ants on her birthday, her parents decided to send her to an all girls boarding school, complete with sadistic nuns, strangely sexual religious paintings and the over whelming fear of God radiating from the stained beige walls.

Hatty didn't take to the school to well, constantly day dreaming, answering almost every question incorrectly, and having the record for most boarding mate transfers within 2 months.

She finally had a permeant room mate, Connie. Connie a meek, slightly chubby girl with bug eyes and bush of brunette hair, with a severe middle parting, seemed not to mind Hatty's aloofness, she rather relished in it being an introvert herself. On the odd occasion when they would interact it would be short and sweet, brief conversations about the problems in the catholic church, more often pertaining to numerous cases of child abuse, easy breezy bed time fodder.

Their relationship didn't progress until Hatty noticed Connie, making an interesting looking garment in their free time. It intrigued Hatty she had never seen such bright and vibrant colours mixed together so garishly and structured into such a fashion.

Asking about the curious item, Connie responded telling her she was making a hat for her pen pal in Scotland. Unknown to Connie her pen pal was actually a prison inmate, by the name of Kevin, a 68 year old man incarcerated for arson. How that came into fruition- quite simply explained, Connie was unaware that a local prankster post man, was changing the addresses of all letters sent from the school; a vehemently anti-religious man deciding that was his best means of protest.

Hatty was transfixed on the hat, pestering Connie if she could try it on. Giving in to the whines of the red head, Connie handed the hat over. Hatty took it, transfixed almost in a trance- taken a back with the sheer other worldly energy emitted form it. Placing the colourful abomination a top her thinning ginger crown she felt an immense force come upon her, she felt she could see the world clearly now, she had all the answers she ever wanted- why was she born, the meaning of life, her purpose in the world. An intense reaction for an 11 year old, possible psychopath, but what her crowning moment left her with was anti climatic to say the least. Hatty decided that from that day on ward, not only would she spend the majority of her money to commission her own personal collection of hats, but the way she would acquire her wealth too. 

Hatty was going to become a librarian, a profession known for it's glitz, glamour and most importantly lower than average wage. 

Taking the hat off, Hatty immediately requested Connie make her a hat of her own, bribing her with the collection of liquorice she had amassed over the last couple of months. Hatty requested she would need at 5 minutes to come up with a concept for her new staple, quickly looking around the small damp cave of a room to inspire her. Then it came to her.

Hatty presented Connie with a crudely drawn design, a simple black beret, adorned with a cross of Jesus Christ. That would seem pretty tame and non descript to most people, however Hatty's mind works differently. The beret was pretty simple, and almost fashionable however, Hatty decided for the image of Christ was to be depicted hanging upside down and the typical human form, be replaced with a taxidermized rat, Hatty had been given on her 10th birthday. She also requested for the rat Christ figure to be shown in an accurate fashion- blood and infection writhe, and by her own words "festering."

Connie set to work on the abomination the next day, after stealing some felt from the textiles classroom, nervously smuggling the material in her pocket, transporting the stolen goods turned into her own personal hell. Connie an innocent, somewhat naïve do-gooder had never stolen anything, walking the egregiously short distance back to her boarding room, her entire being was lined with a heavy layer of sweat, her brow furrowed and her heart beating fast.

Connie managed to evade capture the entirety of her arduous 250m journey, returning to her room, slumping down towards the floor, trying to stop an oncoming panic attack, in the midst of her anxiety, she could hear heavy footsteps echoing outside, and a slight wheezing sound, getting louder and louder. Connie could think of nothing else, but to reside herself with the idea, that she would now be taken by the nuns and tried and tested as a hardened criminal in front of a jury of her own peers. Her heart accelerating- pounding. The ringing in her ears- almost deafening. The door handle began to squeal as it was turned, her fate was to be decided in about 0.26 seconds, her life would be taken from her before it had even begun.

Closing her eyes tightly Connie had failed to realise that the galumphing had been made by her room mate, her co-conspirator, her ally- Hatty. The waves of relief washed over her as she opened her eyes- revealing her own personal redemption in the shape of a small ginger hunch back, standing over her with a vacant stare. The silence being cut with an impatient tapping foot, as an anxious Hatty waited for news of her hat's status. Connie revealed the mass of black felt she had concealed in her blazer pocket, Hatty responding with a silent exclamation, and for the first time of Connie knowing her, a facial contortion that was supposed to be a smile. Helping Connie back to her feet, Hatty demanding she start her work on the hat with much haste, and retired to her lumpy, creaking bed.

Connie, now hunched over the lone desk, got to work, occasionally snacking on the liquorice payment, the shake in her hands disappearing by the minute, as her worked on her craft. Once the beret was completed, she began the arduous task of trying to attach a rat- suspiciously already super glued to a wooden crucifix, to the beret, all the while, with an inpatient red head, huffing and puffing in the corner. 

Now complete Connie handed the beret to her room mate, hoping the strange girl would be pleased with the gift. For the first time in their relationship Connie noticed that Hatty's eyes were no longer vacant but alight with a sense of joy. Pure joy. The relief she felt was immense, but that feeling was almost eclipsed with the elation radiating off Hatty.

Hatty had never seen such a beautiful piece of clothing, it was everything she could wish for. admiring the beret from all angles, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and placed her crown on her head. Opening her eyes, seeing herself in her crowning glory, in the small smeared mirror, she could appreciate the full majesty of the hat.

The detail Connie had put into it almost bought Hatty to tears- immaculate in its construction, putrid in it's gory depiction of the rat Christ, a truly disturbing monument into the mind of the future librarian Hatty.

Hatty slept little that night, excited to take the hat on it's first outing the next day. Dreaming of her new life that was about to begin the next morning.

However Hatty would have never been able to predict the next days event that would eventually lead to a life continuously on the run. A life dominated with the need to be constantly vigilant. A life Hatty would either thrive in or die in.