She started to smell the strong scent of coffee the more she walked down the heart studded path and the heart topiary became sandwiches.

“Oh great, am I about to meet the Earl of Sandwich or something?”, she muttered under her breath and rolled her eyes as she walked.

“Actually, it is the King of Hearts”, said a voice beside her and she jumped. When she looked over she saw the man in the tiger onesie.

“Oh it’s you again”,she huffed, “I just got away from a many legged freak and a pair of brawling twins, a tea loving lunatic and his pet mouse. Of course you would show up again in my nightmare.”

He looked at her with a grin and shook his so his tail moved.

“Just wait…… the King of Hearts is the ruler and he’s worse than all of them put together.”

“ Maybe he can help me get out of here!”, Ali said and took off at a run and the cat shrugged his shoulders.

“I warned her”, he said and sat down and started to clean himself as he watched her run away.

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Alice ran as fast as she could and soon she entered a village. All the houses were shaped like hearts and there was a fountain in the town square that was filled with red water and a statue of a man in the middle. She watched people walk around and they all stared at her. She stood out like a sore thumb, everyone was dressed in shades of red. She tried to stay away from them for the most part but a few just stared no matter where she went. She saw a cafe and ducked inside and sat a table where she was out of sight. She glanced at the menu and noticed that the only food on it was sandwiches. She patted the pockets of her apron and found that she had a small bundle of bills. They were white with hearts in the corner and in the middle was the picture of who she supposed must be the king; he looked like a young teen, maybe it was an old picture. She shrugged and got up and went to the counter.

“Welcome to Sandwishes, where your sandwich meets your every wish”,the girl behind the counter greeted her with a cheerful smile.

Ali held out the money, “Can I use this here?”, she asked with a nervous grin. The girl looked at and took a bill and it.

“Well, it wouldn’t taste very good but if it’s your wish then I’ll make it happen”, she replied cheerfully. Ali looked at her like she had suddenly grew a second head.

“I meant can I spend it here. Who eats money?”, she said and took it back.

“Well of course you can. We also take LoveExpress, LoveCard, and HeartBucks”, the girl said and got out a pen and pad, “So what can I get for you?”

“Ummmm I’ll have the turkey and cheese on heart rye and a double love latte”, Ali said as she looked at the menu. The girl wrote everything down and held her hand out.

“That’ll be five and half hearts please.” Ali handed her six of the bills and waited for her change. She was given two heart shaped coins and the girl clipped a little red heart to the front of her dress, it looked kinda like a pace maker.

“That will buzz when your order is ready”, she said and turned around to make the order. Ali went and sat back down. In the other chair at her table sat the Mad Hatter. His outfit stood out even more than hers but no one seemed to notice.

“Just what do you think you are doing at my table?”, he said and grinned crazily at her.

“I was here here first so you better leave. People might think I’m as crazy as you are”, she snapped back at him, hungry and irritated.

“I see you haven’t learned any manners yet”, he nagged and took his hat off. He dug around inside for a moment and pulled several things out; a white rabbit that hopped outside and turned into the one that had pushed her down here in the first place, the mouse man from before; who nibbled a piece of cheese happily and winked when he saw he, and a stuffed caterpillar toy.. Finally he found what he was looking for; a huge book that had the word Manners written on the front in scratchy handwriting. He opened it up showed her a page.

“Right here it says “It is rude to snap at the Mad Hatter for sitting at your table in Sandwishes”, he grinned and tapped the writing, “so you are breaking a rule. Don’t let the king find out.” She snatched the book out of his hand.

“It does not! It says that you should always stand when a lady stands at the dinner table”, she read out loud just as her beeper went off and she stood up. He popped up quickly and looked at her sheepishly. She just rolled her eyes at him and went to get her order. Everything was heart shaped, which shouldn’t have surprised her but she still snorted loudly as she went to sit back down. The Mad Hatter still stood and she glared at him.

“I figured you would have left but since you’re here, you might as well have a seat”, she said and sat down and started to eat hungrily. He grinned, snapped his fingers and a polka dotted napkin appeared and he spread it over her lap carefully. He sat down and started t drink tea from a bowl sized mug that appeared out of thin air.

“So how are you enjoying your time in our wonderful land?”, the mouse man squeaked and stole a crumb of bread off her plate.

“Other than the crazy people I keep running into, it’s really pretty. Who knew I could dream something like this up”, Ali said as she took a sip of her latte.

“Only the Hatter is crazy, everyone else is just a little eccentric”, he squeaked back and giggled, “Did you meet the chain smoking caterpillar yet? He’s really smart.”

“Yeah….. he was probably the strangest one I’ve met so far”, she said and scooted her plate closer, “and the twins that aren’t actually twins…… the just started to fight for no reason.”

“Oh they had a reason”, sad the Hatter as he buttered a muffin and took a bite, “The little one had a girlfriend that gave him a present and the tall one asked to look at it and broke it on purpose. It’s been years and he still can’t forgive him for it.”

She had been about to speak when a commotion started outside and she looked out the window. A red sports car roared into the town square and stopped right in front of the fountain and a man dressed all in red hopped out and stood on the edge of the fountain and started to dig through his pockets. The Mad Hatter’s eyes widened and he stood and grabbed her an pulled her outside.

“Hey I wasn’t done eating!”, she cried out and tried to break free.

“You must go outside. That man is the king and anyone that isn’t present when he shows up”, he slid his finger across his neck and dropped his head to the side and closed his eyes.

“Off with their head”, he whispered as they reached the crowd around the fountain.