It was now July 1976.  Lisa and Michael had been happily married for just over two years and their lives seemed just about perfect.  Lisa had since been promoted at the library and was now one of the head librarians.  The extra money didn't mean as much to her as the fact that she loved her job.  Michael had been working on various projects, like a movie for television called Three Men In a Boat, and was collaborating with Terry Jones on a program called Ripping Yarns.  He had kept his word to her and had hardly changed his hair all (think Flying Circus, last season). 

Now he was going to be working on a new film.  Terry Gilliam had approached him a few months earlier about starring in his new film Jabberwocky, based on the Lewis Carroll poem.  He had been eager to do something different on his own for quite some time.  Michael, with his keen interest in medieval history, gladly accepted.  He didn't know quite what Gilliam would have in store for this film, but he did mention that he wanted to do some things he hadn't been able to do in Holy Grail. 

This particular morning, Michael was going to be meeting him down at Shepperton Studios, where they would be filming most of the picture.  Gilliam was just going to show him the storyboards he had drawn up, show him where certain scenes would be filmed, mostly a basic introduction before they'd start filming in a couple of weeks.

As he entered the kitchen, he saw Lisa seated at the table with her reading glasses on and her hair up in a bun.  She was going over some papers detailing a few projects at the library.  He smiled and came up behind her, rubbing her back and leaning over to give her a little kiss on the cheek.

She closed her eyes and smiled.  "Well, where are you off to?" she asked as she looked up at him.

"Oh, didn't I tell you? I'm off to meet Terry down at Shepperton Studios.  He's going to show me what the film is about."

She looked up.  "Oh, it must have slipped my mind.  I'm sorry Michael," she giggled apologetically.

He smiled tenderly at her.  "That's alright, love.  I know how busy you've been this morning.  Don't worry, I shant be long."  He gave her another kiss on the cheek before he stood up again. He walked over to the mirror and ran a comb through his hair, then put it back in his pocket, picked up his car keys and headed off toward the door.

"Michael?" she suddenly called out.

He turned back toward her and raised his eyebrows in curiosity.

She removed her glasses and pulled her hair out of the bun, letting it tumble down her back. "Would it be alright if I came with you?"

Michael was just a bit surprised.  He didn't think she'd have any interest in this, especially after watching them film Holy Grail.  "Er...well..." he began awkwardly.

"It's just that I'm very curious.  I've read the poem and I think a movie adaptation would be quite interesting.  I'd really like to see what it's about, unless you think I'm a burden..."

The look of uncertainty on Michael's face softened, as he walked back up to her. "Well…alright.  I don't think Terry would mind," he smiled.

She beamed and arose from the chair.  He took hold of her arm as they exited the house.


They parked out near the entrance to the studio and Michael turned off the ignition.  He remembered where Gilliam told him they'd meet and headed off with Lisa toward the set.  He looked around and chuckled.  It reminded him very much of the Plague Village scene from Holy Grail. 

"Well," Lisa mused, "this looks quite familiar."

Michael nodded.  "Yes it does.  I only hope that by "doing things we weren't able to do in Holy Grail" he doesn't mean employing more quantities of mud and shit," he grinned.  Lisa laughed at him sympathetically.

Michael looked around and then down at his watch.  He narrowed his eyes.  "Where is Terry anyway?"

At that moment, he saw a familiar face running towards them, waving.  It was Gilliam, dressed in a pair of pink corduroy trousers and a white shirt and tan jacket.  Michael raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Hey, Mike!" Gilliam said cheerfully with a big grin on his face.  His grin faded when he saw Michael smirking at him. "What?"

"Please don't tell me you've gone colorblind, Terry," Michael said with a mock expression of worry.

Gilliam rolled his eyes and playfully jabbed Michael in the ribs.  He turned and his eyes widened somewhat upon seeing Lisa.  She smiled at him shyly. "Oh...hello, Lisa.  I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yes, she's interested in learning what this film's about.  I told her I didn't think you'd mind if she came along," Michael said.

Gilliam shook his head.  "Oh, no, it's no problem.  Well, I guess to start off with, this is the main location we'll be using...just a second, I'll get the storyboards." He ran off to one of the buildings which was part of the studio.  A few minutes later he raced back with some papers in his hand.

He sat down on a folding chair and gestured to Michael and Lisa to join him.  They walked over to him and peered over his shoulder as he began to point the sketches out to them. "Now these here are the storyboards, but first I'd like to show you the character sketches I've come up with."

Michael nodded.

Gilliam held up a few thick pieces of paper with some sketches of what appeared to be the main characters.  Below each sketch was the character's name scrawled out almost illegibly. He pointed to a sketch of a very chubby woman in common medieval clothing.  She had a very round face and puffy cheeks, and a very unsavory, pouty expression on her face.  Lisa broke out in giggles.

Gilliam grinned.  "Yup, that's Griselda Fishfinger.  The main character is in love with her for reasons no one can explain."  He giggled.

He put the paper behind the others and a new character came up.  Lisa looked at him curiously.  He appeared to resemble Michael somewhat, but she couldn't be sure. "Who's that there?" she asked.

"Oh, that's Dennis Cooper, the main character," Gilliam explained.  "He eventually goes off to fight the Jabberwock at the end.  He's quite a pathetic little man, carrying a potato around, and..."

"Is this the character Michael is playing?" Lisa interrupted.

"Yeah," Gilliam answered.

"What the hell is that on his head, a funny sort of wig or something?" she asked.

Gilliam looked up at her.  "Um, no, actually it's Dennis' hair.  We've got him looking somewhat like Oliver Cromwell I guess you could say.  We'll be cutting Mike's hair into that style for the filming."

Lisa's eyes widened almost in horror.  "Oh, no you aren't! I know those are just sketches but they look horrid!  And what would poor Michael do after filming is over?  He'd have to walk around in public for a month or so looking like Oliver Cromwell?  I won't let you do that."  Michael blushed slightly.

Gilliam raised an eyebrow in surprise.  "But it's artistic integrity, Lisa. We want to do things we didn't get to do in Holy Grail, to get more of the medieval look and feel and that hairstyle is one of them."

"You mean men actually wore their hair that way back then??" she asked incredulously.

"Uh...uh.." Gilliam stammered.  "Okay, I guess not, other than Cromwell's Roundheads..."

"And they weren't around until at least the seventeenth century, Terry," Michael the history expert interrupted.

Gilliam rolled his eyes in frustration.  "Okay, fine, so I want him to look funny and pathetic. Wouldn't it help if he had a pathetic hairstyle?"

"No! Why does it have to look like that?  Can't his hair look nappy and pathetic while keeping it long?  Can't you just smear mud in it or something?" Lisa asked.

Gilliam fixed her with a glare, then turned to Michael and sighed.  "Mike, this woman of yours is very demanding, isn't she?"

Michael nodded.  "Yes she is, Terry..."  Lisa looked up at him with a bit of a surprised look. "...But she also has very good judgment, and I for one happen to agree with her.  If I have to get my hair cut like that for the film, I'm gonna have to walk around afterwards with a bag over my head until it grows back.  Lose the funny haircut or lose me." Michael assumed an adamant stance, folding his arms across his chest.  Lisa looked up at him, grinning.

Gilliam shut his eyes and sighed.  "Okay, no Cromwell haircut.  I guess I'll just have to smear mud or shit in your hair then, Mike."  He grinned and gave Michael a wink.  Michael rolled his eyes as Gilliam walked away to deposit the sketches inside the studio.

After he was gone, Lisa turned to Michael and gave him a hug. "Thank you for saving my precious locks, Lisa." He said as he playfully ran his hand through his hair and tossed it back.  She laughed, and he reached down to give her a kiss on the cheek.


Michael sat in the chair nervously as Maggie Gilliam worked on his hair.  With each snip of the scissors, he seemed to wince just a tiny bit.  Maggie didn't notice though; she was too busy making sure her husband's orders were followed to the letter.

He wondered how long this would go on.  It seemed like he had been sitting there forever.  There was no mirror for him to view her progress.  Gilliam hadn't said much, except that Michael was scheduled for a mandatory haircut...something about it being in his contract, he had joked.  Michael was a bit angry.  Gilliam had given in when he and Lisa visited the set that day, and it was a good thing too, since Michael agreed that the sketch of him looked awful.  Now it was as if Gilliam was doing a complete reversal.  Michael sighed deeply.  He was angry but he knew there was hardly anything he could do about it.  He just hoped he didn't look too terrible.  Maybe Gilliam had worked out a compromise.

Finally, Maggie whisked the towel off Michael's shoulders. "There you are, Michael.  All finished." she said softly with a smile.  "Would you care to have a look?"

"Oh...yes, please." he said hesitantly.

She smiled and handed him a mirror.  Michael took one look...

...And his eyes widened in horror.  He turned his head for a moment, then looked back in the mirror as if he had done a double take.  He was overcome with shock.  His bangs had been cut very short, so short that he couldn't even comb them to the side to make them look better, and his hair was cut almost above his ears on both sides.  Michael carefully reached behind his head and touched his neck.  Nothing.  He turned his head to the side a bit and realized that Maggie had just hacked his hair off, almost like she'd done it with pruning shears.  It was just as Gilliam had pictured it, the dreaded Oliver Cromwell style.

In the mirror, he could see Gilliam himself standing there behind him, looking at Michael with a wide grin on his face and giving the "thumbs-up" sign.  He turned toward his wife, grabbed her in an embrace and the two began to kiss passionately.

Michael let out a blood-curdling scream and let the mirror crash to the floor...

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"


Michael frantically sat up in bed, panting.  What was going on?  Had it been a dream?  He turned to his right and saw Lisa sleeping soundly.  His pajamas were damp and his face had broken out into a cold sweat.  He cautiously reached behind his head and breathed a sigh of relief that his hair was still intact.  Still, he wanted to make sure.

He slipped out of the bed, put on his slippers and quietly made his way down to the bathroom.  He entered and positioned himself in front of the mirror.  His haggard face was framed by a mop of longish, wavy brown hair, just as it had been previously.  A stray lock of hair dangled in his right eye, and he lifted his hand and pushed it off to the side of his face.  He giggled, relieved that the Gilliam chop job had only been a nightmare.  He set off back toward the bedroom, and climbed back into bed, a huge smile on his face.    

Lisa had since woken up and now lie still in bed.  That morning her mother had been taken to the hospital and was scheduled for a heart operation.  It wasn't a major operation and there were very good odds that her mother would come out of it fine, but she hadn't heard anything all day.  She wished more than anything that she could put her worries to rest and get some more sleep.  She looked up at the ceiling and sighed, tears beginning to form in her eyes. 

Before settling down, Michael turned toward Lisa and discovered that she too had been awake.  Right away he sensed her apprehension and knew right away that it had to do with her mother's operation.  It made him hurt to see her so nervous and upset.  He wished he could do something to ease her tension...

Suddenly a grin formed on his face and he started stroking the back of her neck.  Softly he began to sing:

"And I sing you to sleep, after the lovin'..."

She slowly turned around as he sang and gave him a sweet little smile.  She kissed him on the cheek and he smiled, his dimples peaking out of the corner of his mouth.  With that she eased back down and snuggled up to him and they drifted off to sleep...