Mad's In Love! -bxb-

Prologue

Al's POV:

My mother, Alice Kingsleigh, used to say, "There is no such thing as the word impossible" Which rather confused me as a child reading up on the English dictionary as that word clearly existed.

She was a rather odd woman, even I had to admit. Other mothers in my class would dress up in tight and fluffed out dresses, wearing cakes of makeup and hairs the size of hornets' nests. MY mother would dress in clothes she acquired from her latest voyage, whether it was traditional Chinese or modern Vietnamese, and wear little to no accessories; saying that she was attending my recital and not a ball held by the king.

My peculiar mother had a wild imagination, even wilder than I who was so young back then. Throughout my childhood, mother would often bring me to a world filled with impossibilities and wonder. She used to call it, Wonderland.

In this world, there were butterflies that smoked pot, chubby twin boys who would giggle and bicker at the slightest things, and flowers that could dance and spit words at you for standing in their presence.

I remembered quite vividly the times we would get lost in time as we spent hours running around the fields, practising swordsmanship with the white knights, and spying on the red queen's garden parties.

But most of all, I remembered a certain man that was quite peculiar on his own, the only man I knew to be weirder than my mother.

The Mad Hatter.

He was most certainly weird. With a crooked top hat on top of his tangled and unruly red hair, along with streaks of colourful eyeshadow that decorated around the rims of his eyes, splashing colour to his otherwise pale white face.

The first time I met Mr Hatter, mother had smiled fondly at her old friend and sat us down to join his tea party. It was a funny event as the crazy rabbit and the door mouse bickered continuously about the smallest incidents and Mr Hatter would laugh at all the problems they fought over.

I remembered myself being drawn to his gaze that would often stare longingly at my mother with a sad expression. A look that made me grew curious of the peculiar man.

The second time we joined them for tea, I began paying more attention to Mr Hatter, all his tendencies to lift his hand once he touches the cup only to grab the cup right after, and the way he often randomly moved his fingers or his limbs as he spoke or listened.

On our third meeting, I noticed how he could never look me straight in the eye, and would often stray his gaze towards my mother. He would not ignore me, and yet simultaneously he did not acknowledge me.

Our seventh meeting was a rather odd one. I had run into wonderland myself and had gotten lost without my mother's guidance. After a while of stumbling around, Mr Chesire Cat soon helped me find my way to the tea party, as he presumed I would attend as always.

Once I'd arrived, I was greeted by the door mouse and the rabbit, but Mr Hatter had grasped my attention. He merely glanced at me before his eyes pried the surroundings, looking for a certain figure.

I frowned and remembered the odd feeling in my chest as I recalled that moment, "I came alone today." I said, the first words I had spoken to him since we've met.

For the first time as well, he finally looked at me. I was filled by nervousness and excitement, despite the disappointed look he had at my remark. "Ah, I see" he trailed, rather uninvested in our conversation.

I continued to stare silently at him as he sipped his tea. "Why don't you join us, Al? We've prepared your share already!" the door mouse squealed. I nodded silently and sat at my usual chair, one seat apart of Mr Hatter's. Mr Chesire joined us for that day, occupying my mother's usual seat and the party continued as usual.

Again, Mr Hatter did not speak a sentence to me.