“How did you get here?” Allie asked him in an unsteady voice.851Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmItRQaLe7
“I… I don't rightly know,” Julius replied. “One day I went to sleep and then I was just… here.”851Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuRjX6udffT
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.851Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgPKrIMzZ2
“How long have you been here?” Allie asked. 851Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr27h5eGUUi
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.”851Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTHktM7Jfh
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. 851Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNrDD7oJi2
All four of them were silent for a moment. “I don't know about y'all,” Br’er said, “but I'm a’starving.” 851Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ34TzEkD7I1
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. 851Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHR4TiQnJQP
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. 851Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TlMbNRj3Y
Allie and Julius both looked at each other and smiled. “We used to have adventures together,” Julius said. “A very long time ago.”851Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCT5n9UtmA5
“I would go into Cartoon Land and Julius would help me,” Allie said. Then with a pause she added, “Most of the time.”851Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2OGtXGL9iT
Both she and the cat laughed. “There was a few times that I ended up getting us into some mischief,” Julius added. 851Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIO8OV30qbB
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. 851Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZodjuzeivk
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. 851Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBo7ESy8d6
Oswald glanced back at Allie and the cat. “Is this something we should be worried about, Br’er?” he said quietly.851Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9H39YS8R2p
Br’er shrugged his shoulders. “I don't rightly know what to make of it, Ozzie.”
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