Post by madhatter on Sept 9, 2010 20:52:40 GMT -5
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Xerxes Break sat perched atop a wooden chair in one of the two back rooms of his hat shop. This particular room served as Break's teatime room; currently, the small round table was covered by a white linen tablecloth with a vase of fresh wildflowers acting as a centerpiece in the middle. A shiny silver-coloured pot of tea sat beside the vase, steam curling up from its ornate spout. He had set out a platter of small cookies and cakes which he planned to eat as his lunch. In front of him sat a porcelain tea cup, half filled with delicious camomile tea.
As he sipped from his teacup, he lazily gazed out through the door into the main room of his hat shop, chin resting on the palm of his hand. It remained empty, as per usual. He rarely had customers anymore. Even seeing his beautifully made hats and bonnets displayed in the shop window, there was never a lady entering the hat shop's modest doors. All of his creations from the last month still remained on their shelves and hat racks. The counter with old register had begun to collect dust from disuse. Xerxes Break let out a deep sigh. He would run out of business soon enough, and be forced to close up his shop.
Break tiredly lifted a cookie from the tray and to his mouth. He took a bite and stared thoughtfully at his reflection in the cup of tea. "Well, Emily," he said absently, aiming his question to the small green turtle perched on his shoulder, "what do you think? A customer might come today, do you suppose?" He gazed downward at the cookie in his hand and brushed a stray strand of white hair out of his eyes, ignoring the fact that the turtle clinging to his shoulder could not respond to his questions.
And why, might you ask, was his shop avoided by anyone who passed by its doors? That was all because of his title, the nickname that had been given to him by others who viewed him as having lost his mind. Xerxes Break was known by another, more common name: The Mad Hatter. Of course, he didn't help the matter by acting mad. He didn't quite act sane at all, even if he actually was. So, in all, it was his own actions that had run himself out of business.
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