Miniworld

V-5

The calico dog didn't know what to make of itself. It sprinted in the middle of an abandoned city street, moss and weeds growing profusely through cracks everywhere it looked. He could hear the shrieks and screams of the Caverns behind him. They smashed cars, buildings, even tore through the ground just to get their savage claws onto the animal. The dog however didn't take a chance to look back. He just kept running and running, hoping to outrun them, but they never stopped.

The dog could feel his throat burning with exhaustion. His heart ached from pumping blood so harshly. His paws burned with the heat of the scorched concrete and the dryness of the sand. Up ahead he could see a deep hole dug into the ground, and he made up a quick decision to hide. It was behind a wagon, he jumped up and fell in, regretting when he realized he's fallen for over 15 seconds. The Caverns followed him in. They were falling as well, groaning and barking, trying to grab the animal in mid air once more. Soon they dove into a large pool of water. The water glowed bright blue bubbles as the dog tried swimming upwards. He watched as the zombies disintegrated, their acid blood bubbling up and evaporating. Large sea fish and creatures ate at their remains. Their scales glowed as they swallowed and swam in the water. The dog found the shoreline and crawled out, it was breathing heavily and began limping. He looked up at the hole entrance. The rest of the Caverns who didn't fall were at the edge of the hole entrance above. They continued to scream and groan as some of them spit their acid which landed into the water. It was dark in the hole, the only lights were the sun outside and the glowing flowers, water, and the moss on the walls. He turned around and saw a cave entrance with torches lit beside it. Old fossilized ribcages poked and placed to make it into and arch like door. His shredded ears perked up as he heard the sound of someone playing the flute deep within.

–––

"Those aren't meant to bend," Dr. Carver, Slinky, grew annoyed with the strange customer at his desk. They were attempting to make one of his mechanical birds move without turning the key on its back. "Put it down, please. Do you have an appointment?" He asked. The stranger didn't answer, instead they walked away from him in a rude gesture. They began spinning a globe at the table sitting in the front room. Slinky inspected them. They were tall and wearing a large white robe with an oversized hood. They had a long tail that looked fluffy, but majority was tied in yellow bandages making it look like a lion's tail. Only the end of the tail was exposed showing the full size of its fur. There were horns sticking out of its head, the face was shaded by the hood. Its eyes were pure white and it had large white paws with golden claws. Slinky couldn't see the rest of its body. He could only tell that they were limping quite bad.

"You either tell me why you're here or I'll call the police," The wolf threatened, but the stranger didn't seem to acknowledge him. Slinky sighed and brushed his somewhat long hair in frustration and grabbed the telephone. Before he touched the spin dial, he heard the bell on his desk ring. Slinky looked aside at the stranger with the phone to his ear.

"Do you have any bandages?" it asked with a deep voice, its white eyes grew wide.

"You sure are mysterious," Slinky answered, putting the phone down. "Sure, let me get them from the back." Slinky turned away to the room behind the receptionist desk, pushing piles of papers and medical supplies out of his way. As Slinky was distracted, the stranger climbed over the desk carefully, kneeled down, and rummaged through more papers beneath. He pulled out an empty bottle and climbed back over the desk before Slinky returned.

"Here you are," he said, handing him the roll of bandages. The stranger took the item without changing his facial expression.

"Do you have a bathroom?" he asked, seeming irritated.

"Yes, it's right over there behind the aquarium." the wolf answered, pointing behind the strange individual. The stranger proceeded to walk to where Slinky directed. At first he admired the fish, then walked into the small bathroom.

–––

Axel grabbed a hold of the railing while carefully stepping down the stairs. His father was pacing frantically around the foyer, looking for his car keys. He glanced at Axel with his space book in his mouth.

"I thought you were staying up stairs?" He asked.

"I changed my mind. I figured that I would get hungry and I didn't want to risk falling with these stiff bandages," the boy answered innocently, stumbling, then walking to the couch by the fireplace. He sat down as Kovu jumped up and sat with him. Dustin found his keys sitting underneath some newspapers. They jingled as he picked them up.

"Well, there's ready-made tea sitting on the stove. I'm going out for the day." Dustin patted Axel's head, and set out into the cold winter Friday. Axel watched as his father closed the front door, then quickly got up to his feet and waddled over to the coat rack. He put on his winter boots, coat, scarf, and gloves, and headed for the door when he noticed Kovu was watching him from behind.

"I'm just going to go look at the hole, I won't be gone for too long," he said as Kovu sniffed the air. Axel opened the door and let Kovu out first. He realized it would be safer if he had something to guide his way. He grabbed a walking stick and followed towards the forest ahead. It was more of a calmer day and the wind was barely a problem. No snowflakes fell from the sky, and it was easy to see the roots of trees and large rocks in the snow. Although he couldn't remember where the hole was located. He watched Kovu as he walked with his nose to the ground. The dog pawed some of the cold snow covered rocks, then trotted over to some puddles of water. Axel looked ahead and saw a trail of bright green grass. He followed it to find that the hole was giving out more heat. It was quickly melting the snow around it. Abnormal glowing fungi was sticking out from the ground surrounding it. When Axel approached it, he felt a sudden pull of gravity dragging him closer to it. He panicked, and grabbed a nearby branch from a tree and pulled himself away from the hole.

"Kovu NO!" he screamed as the dog walked to the hole. But Kovu wasn't affected by it. Instead he just peered his head down and backed away, seeming stressed. Axel looked on in surprise, noticing that nothing else was being pulled into the pit. He let go of the branch and tried walking closer to it again. He stumbled, losing his guard and balance, and he was once again being dragged closer to the hole. He yelled, retracting his claws and digging into the dirt as half of his body was consumed deep into the darkness. Kovu barked and stepped back once more, watching his companion struggle. Axel gritted his teeth and tried to pull himself upwards. His arms were weak, and he noticed a faint glow above him. The insect he had found before was floating before him. Axel closed his eyes when he realized that he wouldn't be able to make it out of this. His body ached in exhaustion, then he released himself into the pit.