Whiskerways

Lore

Mochi batted the red pompom. Its little bell rang somewhere much farther away than the other end of a cat tunnel. Miso went inside to investigate. The household’s transport arrangements became complicated.

The black fabric opened into three paths: a moonlit garden, a sunlit castle, and a violet ocean full of stars. Blue hoops held their shape while the distances between them did something less obedient. It was still crinkly underfoot. Some reassuring details had survived.

The red pompom became the Homeward Beacon. Its light remembers the room where the sisters first chased each other. Travelers follow it through folded space when the other routes begin looking equally convincing.

Miso and Mochi study the crossings from their laboratory, but the tunnels remain useful on their own. Even an exciting scientific discovery benefits from familiar directions. Somewhere in that enormous network, a tiny bell is ringing. Someone who had stopped knowing where to go lifts their head.