The Top Hat of Magical Manipulation

Prologue

Everyone knows the story of Frosty the Snowman. We have all grown up hearing how a snowman came to life when a magical top hat was placed on his head. As the story goes, Frosty was chased to the North Pole along with his friend Karen as the weather heated up and the magician Professor Hinkle followed close on his heels. Hinkle was the original the owner of the top hat but was an evil man.

Santa eventually comes to the rescue and forces Hinkle to vow to never to harm Frosty again in exchange for another hat in his stocking. Hinkle agrees and runs off, Frosty stays in the North Pole, and Karen goes home. The story ends happily...or so we are led to believe. We never were told what happened to Hinkle and the new hat that Santa put in his stocking that year...

Chapter 1

Karen returned from the North Pole that year and wondered if she would ever see Frosty again. She eventually grew up and started a family of her own, telling stories of her childhood to her daughter; a tale of a snowman who came to life. Through the years her daughter would love to hear that tale but as she grew older she would scoff "Yeah right mom! A snowman can't come to life!" Now a teenager, she wouldn't even stop to listen to the yearly tale. She would rather spend her winter break doing other things, such as shopping with friends or chatting on the phone with the famous quarterback Andrew Gribbs. Drew had been her friend for a few years now, back when he was a shy and gawky kid that tripped over his own feet. Now he had muscles and was a heart throb but was the same old Drew that Alyssa had come to love.

Though he was her secret crush, he was still her best friend and they had plans to go out that night to the mall to pick up last minute Christmas gifts. Karen however had other plans. "Alyssa, you know that it is tradition for us to go out and build a snowman while I tell you about what happened to me as a child." Karen tells her. "But mom!" Alyssa whines to her, rolling her eyes. "I know that story off by heart. Besides, in all the years that we've built a snowman it has yet to come to life!" Karen was a bit heartbroken but she finally relented, staring out the window as the snow blew around in the wind. It was true, Frosty hadn't returned as promised and he probably never would in her lifetime.

Chapter 2

Alyssa swept up her curly red locks into a ponytail and quickly did her makeup. She added a little bit of eye shadow to her lovely green eyes swiped some mascara onto her long lashes. She was a pretty teenager that got her good looks from her mother, she didn't really even need the makeup but she wanted to try to look stand out a little bit. Ever since Drew had gone out for the football team and made quarterback girls had started to flock to him like never before. She feared that she would be lost in the tide but her fears were unfounded. She didn't know it but Drew secretly had a crush on her as well. When she wasn't looking at him, he was looking at her. She throws on a soft plush blush sweater over a tank top to match her black tights and grabs her purse, yelling "I love you mom!" before heading out the door.

Drew was waiting for her in the food court when she got to the mall. He was wearing his football jersey and jeans. When she approached he gave her a huge hug and a matching smile, making the girls around him jealous. Leaving the food court they walked around the mall, searching for last minute gifts to get their families. Drew was so easy to talk to, it was no wonder that they were such good friends. Now if only she could tell him how she really felt about him. The two teenagers were so busy talking and laughing that they almost walked right past the magic show that was going on. A magician was attempting to pull a rabbit out of his hat and he was asking for volunteers.

"Step right up and help a guy out!" He proclaimed to the dwindling crowd. Several twelve year old kids were chewing up some pieces of paper, preparing to hock spitballs at him and the magician knew that he had to act fast. Without thinking he grabbed the nearest person who happened to be walking by...Alyssa! "Please ma'am, help me pull this cute rabbit out of my hat and I'll reward you greatly" he tells her. Alyssa is more than surprised when the strange man grabs her arm and Drew gets into a defensive stance right away with a glare in his eye. However it is near Christmas and Alyssa does not want to disappoint the children in the crowd so she reaches into the hat and miraculously pulls a soft velvety rabbit from inside the hat without even knowing how she did it. "Hurrah! She has done it folks!" The magician cheers and the crowd applauds. The magician reaches into his suit and hands Alyssa a round amulet. "A token of my gratitude" he tells her. It has a symbol of a top hat on it with a smiley face, which she puts into her pocket as she thanks him.

Alyssa and Drew quickly exit the performance and move on, not dwelling on the strange occurrence for very long. They do not realize that what just happened has set off a string of events that can't be undone. The amulet in her pocket is not a token of gratitude but a beacon for evil.

Chapter 3

Professor Hinkle had just finished up the magic show that he was performing and putting away his magic trick in his old battered trunk. The stitched, Frankenstein looking top hat sat next to him on a folding chair as if staring at him. He mumbled to him himself "She's perfect....unsuspecting..." He quickly gathered the rest of his things and toted them off to his beat up Chevy so that he could drive off home and begin to put his plans in place.

Alyssa walked up to the front of her house trying to juggle several bags in her hands while Drew carted several more behind her. He stops at the front door and she spins around, blushing a little as she tries to think of the right words to invite him up to her room without sounding lame. "You can come in if you want but you don't have to, I think I can get them from here." Drew, the gentleman that he is had to finish the job and offered to carry them in for her. "Here, let me help you cart these bad boys in. When you shop, you're serious!" Where do you want these?" He asks her, secretly hoping that she wants them in her room so that he can see inside the room of this amazing young woman. "Oh, um..can you help me get them into my room?" Alyssa asks, "I want to put them into my closet so no one finds them" she tells him with a grin. They quickly rush up the stairs and stash them inside the closet, giving Drew a chance to see inside the secret world of Alyssa. For a moment their heads are so close that they another inch and they could kiss but a knock at the door interrupts them.

Karen knocks at Alyssa's door, interrupting the moment of truth and Drew quickly stands up. Alyssa looks a little flustered but opens her door, giving her mom a look of pure annoyance. "Did you have fun shopping?" Karen asks Alyssa, poking her head inside and waving to Drew. "Yes, mom. Tons." Alyssa tells her, giving her another look that speaks volumes, as in "Get out now." Drew, who was raised in polite society smiles warmly to Karen and quickly moves to exit the room, stopping only to give Alyssa a sweet hug from behind like any friend would in front of someone's mom. "I'll cal you later Alyssa. It was nice to see you again Ms. Karen. You two have a nice day!" After Drew leaves Alyssa flops face down onto her bed in frustration muttering "Mom!" and Karen just giggles as she leaves the room saying "Ah, young love" under her breath.

Chapter 4

Professor Hinkle caressed the hat, muttering sweet nothings to it. Ever since Santa had delivered it to him in his stocking twenty years ago, he had been tweaking and experimenting with it in order to change it to fit his own needs. He was not going to allow this hat to create an anthropomorphic "Happy Birthday" yelling jolly snowman. No, this hat was going to create a monster that would guarantee him whatever he wanted.

Hinkle decides to test the hat, running some water in the sink after sticking the stopper into the bottom. He makes sure that it is hot enough to scald the skin as it'll make the beast more volatile and angry. He takes the hat between his fingertips in both hands and spins it three times while chanting a strange incantation. Then he simply drops the hat into the water right side up into the water so that it lands perfectly on top of it. The hat glows a dark green for a moment, the stitching seeming to pulse slowly at first before rapidly speeding up until it becomes a blur. Suddenly the water seems to animate and rise up out of the sink, slipping out of the ceramic basin and onto the floor. It is no longer a puddle, it begins to form a body about five and a half feet tall with the top hat on its head. Steam rises from the see through liquid body, bubbles cascading through it as if it were blood vessels. "Yes, yes!!" Hinkle exclaims with glee and clapping his hands. "I have finally done it!!! Now I will have my revenge!"



To be continued...