“How did you get here?” Allie asked him in an unsteady voice.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDFTbSsct1s
“I… I don't rightly know,” Julius replied. “One day I went to sleep and then I was just… here.”854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2kqwnCxsO
Br’er, Allie and Oswald all knew exactly what he meant. That is exactly how it went with them. One day they were living their lives. The next day they were wherever they were now. Their old lives were like a dream. Some memories were stronger than others. Some were so watery that they could barely be remembered at all.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCxtUJa0gk
“How long have you been here?” Allie asked. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgcw8yylkcj
The black cat shook his head. “I don't know,” he answered. “I tried keeping track for a while, but things just got muddled and I lost count.”854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgkAJ4G24yX
Allie and her two companions had also tried to keep track of how long they were there, but they eventually stopped. Why? They couldn't say. They just stopped. And they hadn't really thought about it since. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJTVqnQDwcN
All four of them were silent for a moment. “I don't know about y'all,” Br’er said, “but I'm a’starving.” 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjZdPITE4n
Julius let go of Allie, smiled and took the burlap sack and began prepping the vegetables he had just foraged. Before long they were all sitting on the floor of the cabin eating the best turkey they had ever had the pleasure of tasting. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3FXu8Y6VeV
They stuffed their gullets for what seemed an eternity. Oswald, not being able to eat another bite burped loudly and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “So how do you two know each other?” he asked. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdAJWmrj2j5
Allie and Julius both looked at each other and smiled. “We used to have adventures together,” Julius said. “A very long time ago.”854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIzxGTJ1nUD
“I would go into Cartoon Land and Julius would help me,” Allie said. Then with a pause she added, “Most of the time.”854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbn2Qdhc6dS
Both she and the cat laughed. “There was a few times that I ended up getting us into some mischief,” Julius added. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNRDHHIu07
Both the cat and Allie were thinking about all the times they had spent together in Cartoon Land and how far away it all seemed now. They talked about the times until the sun fell out of the sky and the moon hung over them. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWDjkWf3OA
The cat and the little girl both fell asleep next to each other on the floor of the shack while Br’er and Oswald huddled close to the fire. 854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYilZhBLUoX
Oswald glanced back at Allie and the cat. “Is this something we should be worried about, Br’er?” he said quietly.854Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3J3qLUSRkK
Br’er shrugged his shoulders. “I don't rightly know what to make of it, Ozzie.”
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