“How did you get here?” Allie asked him in an unsteady voice.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn8lHb0vszi
“I… I don't rightly know,” Julius replied. “One day I went to sleep and then I was just… here.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIJDx98jBF
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.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8bCVx2Zu6
“How long have you been here?” Allie asked. 701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYsHvB4xCqR
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.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFl2EqonJ2
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. 701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoA1pu53UEa
All four of them were silent for a moment. “I don't know about y'all,” Br’er said, “but I'm a’starving.” 701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3sBRHfm3vu
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. 701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLy054VSbve
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. 701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf84x8TS0S3
Allie and Julius both looked at each other and smiled. “We used to have adventures together,” Julius said. “A very long time ago.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCgEXuucdGL
“I would go into Cartoon Land and Julius would help me,” Allie said. Then with a pause she added, “Most of the time.”701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf5PMeYQJbu
Both she and the cat laughed. “There was a few times that I ended up getting us into some mischief,” Julius added. 701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4KfprD3FA
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. 701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhPOUEzNgGN
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. 701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRmx6gaF8WD
Oswald glanced back at Allie and the cat. “Is this something we should be worried about, Br’er?” he said quietly.701Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡai9RBZEIMX
Br’er shrugged his shoulders. “I don't rightly know what to make of it, Ozzie.”
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