It seemed all too unlikely that the Cheshire cat was the character you needed. The catman was certainly a transformation from the original stories but didn't seem to me any madder than... well, normal. Spotting a mad character in Wonderland might be tricky.
You push on. The woods seem to grow darker, the trees taller and more tightly packed.
"Going somewhere?" the Cheshire's cat voice echoes out from the darkness. As you suspected; he's tagging along.
"Maybe," you reply, pushing a branch heavy with dark green leafs and strange purple fruit away from the path.
"I'd be careful," warns the cat again, "I don't think you're alone."
The branch springs back into place behind you as you make your way deeper into the woods, "I Know. You're here." In a way it's almost reassuring to have the feline-cum-man with you, the deeper woods seem much colder and far less welcoming than the outskirts.
There's no reply. Silence when you expected the Cheshire-man to speak again.
That slows your step. The woods seem to darken again. It's almost silent. Even the birds seem far away, elsewhere, somewhere safer.
The crack of a twig is too loud to be the natural settling of the woods. There has to be something behind you. You hear a second rustling. There is something behind you and its getting closer. |