text: The Hatted Man A light flickered off in the hallway. The hallway was not a clean one. Not a hopeful one. Not an important one. But nevertheless, it was a hallway. The boy that lived with his two parents on one side of the hallway saw the light flicker off. He was curious what had caused the light to abruptly end its attempt at illumination, as it was usually on for hours, never turning off for any soul. This force of curiosity was enough to overcome the boy’s force of sleepiness, and thus he left his room. The boy walked out into the hallway, and looked both ways, as all young boys are taught to do before approaching a new and potentially dangerous situation. To the left, he saw nothing. To the right, he wondered as to why the hall to his right was copying the hall to the left, as it was also empty. Just to be sure, he once again looked to his left, since he had in the past had bad experiences with his left. This time, to his total appalament, the hallway was not completely empty, as a man with a black top-hat was turning the corner. He disappeared out of the boy’s vision, and so, after a second of hesitation, the boy followed suit. Around the corner, he saw the top of the man’s hat going down a stairwell at the end of the next hallway. This time, however, the hallway was illuminated and the boy saw what the man was leaving in his wake. On the floor, after every step, the man was dropping chocolate. Not sweet chocolate, but a bitter sweet. The boy, being a young and impulsive child, picked up and ate one of the chocolates, to find that it tasted slightly salty, with a red, gooey inside. Nevertheless, he continued on after the man, his curiosity pulling him forward. Down the stairs he went, and around another corner, following the trail of chocolates. He turned and went out through the front door of the building. That is where his curiosity indeed paid off. In front of him, he saw what can only be described as an “awesome spaceship”. The man had stopped and turned back towards the boy, with a cold look on his face. He put his hand out, and in a cold, but enticing voice said, “come with me”. The boy happily bounded forward towards the man, and took his hand, following him onto the spaceship. Once he stepped inside, the ramp up to the entrance contracted in and the door closed. The boy saw the inside to be a sleek, white metal with glowing red lines distributed around the room evenly. The man led him down another hallway, a circular tube of sorts with unmistakable alien life held in water-filled tanks on either side.They arrived at a door with an alien keypad, which the man typed a password into, prompting the door to open. Cold air spewed out, to reveal a chamber holding what seemed to be coffin-like containment units. The man led the boy over to one, and placed some chocolate within it, which the child then climbed in to acquire. Once was within it, the man pushed the child down and pushed a button, causing the capsule door to close, concealing him inside. Soundlessly, the man left the boy in the room, once again closing the password-locked door. 10 minutes passed, and the capsule once again opened, revealing an empty space where the boy just minutes before lay.