Tom Quartz makes short work of jumping from the tree to the roof of the building. He is silent. His steps are quick and goes completely unnoticed by the sleeping employee. The little cat slips through the partially opened door and into a stairwell. It’s dark but his sharp eyes let him see easily; there’s nothing here but steps and shadows.
So down, down, down he goes. The stairs level out into a flat surface, leading into a door. There’s no way into that hall, though, so Tom Quartz keeps going down. He has to go down three flights before he finds himself at a door that’s easy to get through; he just has to step near it and the glass panels slide open!
Tom Quartz is quick to run into the next room. It’s large and white. The air reeks of disinfectant and fake orange spray. It smells like the vets office.
Is that what this is? A vets office?
That seems like a very strange place for the tiger cub to have been taken. But, the longer that he walks around, the more it all seems to click into place. This is a vet’s office. There are large cages scattered about for the various animals to go in, and counters that are piled full of papers and orange plastic bottles.
Tom Quartz peeks his head into a room where the door is sitting open. There’s a tall cage on the far wall. A sugar glider clings to the metal walls, small pink fingers curled around the thin silver bars.
Their eyes meet.
For a long moment, neither animal says anything.
Then, in a voice that’s whisper soft, the sugar glider says, “you aren’t supposed to be here.”
“I’m looking for someone,” answers Tom Quartz. He steps further into the room. “Can you help me find them, maybe? Do you know about – this place, do you know what it is?”
“A neutral place,” says the sugar glider. He is small and grey, with black stripes and white fur coating his stomach. “Are you one of us or one of them?”
“I…one of who?”
“The magic animals. They come and go, like the bars aren’t real. I think they might be ghosts.”
“Magic animals?” Tom Quartz flicks his ears. Realization dawns on him slowly. “Oh. You mean like the animals that come visit the tigers?”
The sugar glider nods.
“Yes,” says Tom Quartz. He puffs out his chest, suddenly feeling proud of his title. To think, the other animals here know about them! “I’m one of those animals! I’m looking for the tiger cub that the humans moved in here! Do you know where she’s at?”
The sugar glider nods. “If you can get me out of here, magic cat, then I’ll show you where the tiger is.”
Katelynn E Koontz – Author
