He was a man on a mission. Desperately seeking a when, a how and a why, he wondered how could he have been so blind and basked in the childish memories from so long ago, that still just felt like yesterday, when it had really actually been a whole two days. He marched resolutely, and jumped hastily on one foot then two then one again when he met a small Hopscotch grid that had been drawn onto the sidewalk in blue chalk. How could something like that have happened? He passed by Maya and Horace, too focused to notice at all. Maya tried to grab his attention by literally grabbing him, but he shook her off and glared at her, "DO you know where he is?" he asked, a crack in his voice. "Where is who?" Maya replied, confused at the strange look of her friend. She had never seen him so desperate and shook. She thought it didn't suite him, he always used to be the lighter of the three and now he looked even more broody than Horace, who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow, as he chewed on some raisins. "Nevermind" Minan said, and stormed off. The other two looked at him confused as he headed to his home.
When he got there he grabbed one of the picture frames from his room and stared longily, a tear crossing his pink cheek. In the picture he was holding his best friend Plato. On how many adventures had they been, how many stories did he have to tell about him, they had spent the best part of the last 9 years together and now ... where had he gone? Just then his mom peeked through the open door to his room. "How's it going honey, all good?" she asked. "Do you know where Plato is, Mom?" Minan asked, tearing up again and barely being able to make out his mom's features through the tears.
"Your rabbit honey? Well now ... I'm not sure, where did you put him last?" she replied wide eyed. Minan looked at her blankly, without seeing her, he sighed and then said "I don't know...", he looked back down at the picture, the tears that had pooled in his eyes now dripping on the glass.
The next day he was ready, he had the pictures, he had the tape, he had the determination. He started walking around town, holding up a picture of his lost friend and asking the people of the town for any kind of information. "He's about an armful of bunny rabbit, ears this big..." he gestured "the tail is very fluffy but not too fluffy, he is mostly brown, answers to the name Plato, he like walks on the beach in the sunset haze and loves golden retrievers...". Still, nobody seemed to know anything about where his rabbit could be.
He met Mr. Sandman, who was playing a game of dice with a scrawny looking fellow, "What'cha lookin for boy?" Mr. Sandman inquired before casting the dice "Tis an eight my friend, i'd like to see you do any better" he then said to his mate. "I'm looking for this rabbit" Minan replied, as he observed the scrawny man shake the dice in a wooden cup. "Oh yea, I've seen it alright" Mr. Sandman said knowingly with half closed eyelids. "Really?" Minan replied, full of excitement at the idea of getting his friend back. "Snake eyes!! Pay up my friend!!" Mr. Sandman exclaimed, looking at the result of the scrawny man's attempt at scoring over him. "So where is he ?" Minan inquired, beginning to lose his patience already. "Do you really want to know?" The man replied looking at him closely, one eye wide open while the other was still on his adversary, checking his every move in case he tried something. "Yes, yes i'd say so mr." Minan replied calmly, while being eaten away from the inside. "You're buddy is at the Sog" Mr. Sandman said "I saw him getting caught at the edge of the forest, he's probably somebody's meal by now". "Where is this Sog place" Minan asked sternely, the mood had changed entirely, Mr. Sandman looked at him with new eyes as the five foot child had now grasped him by his shirt and was staring in his eyes.
The Sog was a majestic place, filled with wonder and excitement, amazing chefs from all over the world ready to tickle your taste buds with never heard before dishes, fruit of their own imagination and sometimes, people said, the recipies of which had been acquired by supernatural means. The building was huge, and every floor was known to hold a restaurant of a different school and specialty, each with their well known team of exquisite chefs and their helpers.
Minan stared at the building that was blaring with lights, he'd never been in the city let alone in the presence of such a large, noisy and bright animal as was this in front of him. He saw people waiting in line on the outside and decided that wasn't the entrance for him. Instead, he reached the back alley, only to discover a good twenty sous chefs all reunited there to smoke at that precise moment while talking behind the backs of their head chefs, all with similar arguments and identical sensitivities the logic and helpfulness of which escaped Minan. But he was gonna get in there yet. He went around the whole building and finally discovered a small vent, the lid of which was creaking open and shut, clearly encouraging him to climb up and crawl through it, which he did without hesitation.
After crawling for several feet he broke out of the vent system in a bathroom, and upon exiting found himself in the lobby of the giant restaurant. People were ignoring him, mostly though he went unnoticed due to his stature, he was the only small kid there. He crawled through a forest of legs until he managed to get to the front counter of the lobby. Up above, suspended in the air were the day menues and specialties of each of the restaurants on every floor. Minan couldn't really tell what most of these meals where about, with their fancy names, but one of the boards caught his eye. It read 'Wild Game Night' with a smiley face next to it.
The floor was the fifth. He managed to get to one of the elevators but couldn't reach the buttons. Eventually though some of the giant people got off at that floor, and so did he. He then walked up to one of the waiters. It took him a few tries but eventually he acknowledged him.
"I want to speak to your cook" he told him plainly. "Aww soo cute" the waitor replied "Where's your mom?" he asked innocently.
The waitor opened the kitchen door for Minan, still massaging his black eye with one hand.
"Where's my rabbit" Minan inquired, speaking to the person with the largest hat.
"Rabbit? hahaha, why little kid we don't have rabbit here, only boar and deer, some ducks if you fancy, but rabbit? It's not really my item " the head chef replied. "More like you can't cook it right!" yelled a voice at the opposite side of the kitchen. The whole place then burst with laughter as the head chef's face changed color several times to then settle on a deep purple.
