[center][b] Chapter 1[/b]
[i] "-- Have I gone mad?
I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll let you in on a secret... all the best people are."[/i] - Alice to the Mad Hatter [/center]

Rose flopped back on his musty bed, a cloud of dust exploding up and the rusty bed springs screaming in detest. The bed's creaky metal frame had been due for an oil touch up fifteen years ago, and as a result it sound sounded like the equivalent of a tin-can robot groaning. The thought of a robot groaning tickled Rose's funny bone, leaving him busting out into a jovial and most certainly maniacal laugh. He laughed and laughed, until he began to choke from his lack of air. He threw his head back against his bed and studied the Asylum's sagging ceiling. Cracks ran across the cieling like rivers, and chips in the painting ran deep as scars. Rose thought the celing was beautiful in it's own gnarled and scraggly way. Growing restless after just a minute or so of laying, he bounded up off his bed and going to the nightstand -- the lonely quarter's only other piece of furniture besides his bed. He picked up his deck of playing cards, which he kept well polished and dusted, and began flourishing and shuffling to pass the time. One handed shuffles, Dynamo flourishes, springing the cards from the left hand to the right hand, you name it. Rather suddenly, he checked his Alice in Wonderland-esque pocket watch, and rather eerily continued compulsively shuffling the deck of cards in his left hand. The watch was golden with "Down the rabbit hole" engraved boldly on the back. It read half past six o' clock. 

Rose figured it would be a good time to go for his evening walk, perhaps he would flip the guards the bird. Now that, would be a riot. At the thought of it, Rose giggled with an unsettling glee. Before he stepped out of his small quarters he decided to duplicate. It started out as a seed of a thought, then it turned into energy, and then after a dull pain he found himself staring into his piercing blue gaze. It felt strange, he didn't have to tell his decoy what to do, it just sort of came to them. Almost telepathic, but there was no thought involved. He kicked open the door of his "cell." His decoy started trotting down the hall, saying hi to random patients, and whistling a jovial tune. The real Rose, with the deck of cards still being shuffled in hand, pushed open one more threshold door, and a cool, light and refreshing breeze kissed his face. However, the sky was overcast and a wispy gray, the clouds mixing and swirling overhead. He took a deep breath of the humid air. Finally he pocketed the deck of cards, and took out a shiny, vibrant red apple from his coat pocket, wiping it off with his coat-tails. He took a massive bite, and a little juice dribbled down his chin. He wiped it off swiftly with his arm. Smiling and munching on his apple, he gazed over the recreational grounds.