“How did you get here?” Allie asked him in an unsteady voice.943Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePYQZoZGr2
“I… I don't rightly know,” Julius replied. “One day I went to sleep and then I was just… here.”943Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBq8dtrwwAN
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.943Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtdsL5bdZS
“How long have you been here?” Allie asked. 943Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKTu1i0T2Ix
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.”943Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0tyHa7cmHp
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. 943Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgC85UkQ7TO
All four of them were silent for a moment. “I don't know about y'all,” Br’er said, “but I'm a’starving.” 943Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgqsWeNSjMO
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. 943Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyhBXgKYjv
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. 943Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLWVZDuM3H7
Allie and Julius both looked at each other and smiled. “We used to have adventures together,” Julius said. “A very long time ago.”943Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDnJwVdX5b
“I would go into Cartoon Land and Julius would help me,” Allie said. Then with a pause she added, “Most of the time.”943Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7rzGwg5HLq
Both she and the cat laughed. “There was a few times that I ended up getting us into some mischief,” Julius added. 943Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjxQuRH0jx
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. 943Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfFqRE61Knw
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. 943Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwjcgW9efyn
Oswald glanced back at Allie and the cat. “Is this something we should be worried about, Br’er?” he said quietly.943Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbiSlIdWRG
Br’er shrugged his shoulders. “I don't rightly know what to make of it, Ozzie.”
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