The Quest
Created | Updated Sep 25, 2002
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Yo nearly strained his ears, listening for any life in the room. Once he had allowed a considerable amount of time to pass, he shrugged to himself and went back to work on the ropes.
A minute later, Yo was rubbing his now-freed wrists and climbing unsteadily to his feet. He decided it was probably best to stay near the walls, where it was darkest. He stepped away from the pool of light, holding his arms out before him like a blind man, feeling around for obstacles and waiting for his eyes to adjust.
'Gods, I hate cornfields,'
sea muttered to herself, as there was no one to talk to within a reasonable shouting distance.
'The rows all look alike!'
She put the car into neutral to think for a moment.
'The reason they all look alike, honey, is because you're driving in circles,'
said a voice.
sea looked all around her to see the speaker. There was no one there. She looked again for signs of life, but the corn was still - save for the stalks she'd brushed while drving. She frowned.
'Up here, baby.'
sea looked up to find a fat purple cat lying atop the corn, grinning lecherously at her.
'Hey, hottie,'
it purred.
'Nice ride.'
sea stared at the cat for a full minute before blinking slowly and taking her cell phone from her pocket.
'Gw7en?'
she said.
'Can you and Marv come find me? I've just been hit on by a rather frightening purple cat hallucination, and I think you might be right about that concussion. Well, either that or I've wandered into a parallel dimension.'
Yo's eyes finally adjusted to the dark and he crouched in the shadows by the wall. He glanced around the large, empty warehouse and saw a small shed in one corner. His curiousity made him unable to resist investigating.
It was similar to a portable toilet in shape and construction; roughly four feet long on all sides and seven tall, made of sheet metal. Three of the sides were a plain hospital green color, but the fourth was black and had a small control panel attached. Yo frowned, then flipped a small red switch on the panel.
The machine hummed to life and a display monitor lit up.
'Welcome to the Total Perspective Vortex,'
it said.
Yo's eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
'There she is, Marv!'
Gw7en pointed as Marv slowed the truck down. Gw7en waved at sea, then jumped out of the truck and hurried toward her.
'I'm fine, really,'
said sea.
'Purple cats?'
Said Gw7en, arching an eyebrow.
'You must admit, I've always been a bit strange. Who's to say a purple cat is unusual?'
sea replied with a grin.
Marv frowned.
'sea, what's that noise in your trunk?'
sea's grin got wider as the thumping grew louder. It was a grin that suggested thinly veiled psychosis, and it scared the zark out of Marv.
'sea?'
Gw7en moved toward the trunk warily.
'I caught a purple cat.'
Marv and Gw7en exchanged glances. Marv took sea's keys from the ignition and approached the trunk cautiously, fitting the key into the lock.
The pounding stopped as the trunk opened.
