I was feeling pretty crumby after I had lost all of the fencing equipment. I walked passed some sports store in New York and I saw this red hunting hat in the window that really caught my eye. The red reminded me of Allie's red hair. It's very unique, really, and it only cost me a dollar. The hat as an extremely long peak and its nice and floppy.
As obnoxious as it looks, though, I like wearing it sometimes. It comes in handy when I'm trying to hide. I have all this gray hair on one side of my head so it works well to cover it up. I don't want people thinking I'm really old or anything. One time, old Ackley came into my room and he was really annoying the hell out of me when I was trying to read. I pulled the hat over my face and pretended I was going blind. I don't know about Ackley, but I really got a kick out of that. My hat also serves as good protection from the weather. It gets really cold in New York, especially the wintertime.
I don't always wear it though. Sometimes it's embarrassing, if you want to know the truth. Plus, if I want to look older or look appropriate, or something, then I have to take it off. I'll wear it in a taxi cab, but I certainly didn't want to look like a screwball the time that I check in at the Edmont Hotel.
After my long adventure home, I was able to reunite with my sister Phoebe. I took her around the park and we spent some time together. I offered her my red hunting hat. I wanted her to wear it so she could have the same protections that it provided for me. She didn't really care to wear it though, she wanted me to. Anyway, her rejecting the hat really did something for me. Her childlike innocence and me as her protector, I sort of felt changed. After that I stopped using my hat for stupid reasons, and mostly I only used it for its real purpose.
