Carrot was looking at many different signs that were tacked onto some pink-coloured trees.
“Now, where was I?” he murmured, looking at the various directions he might choose.
A familiar, husky voice became audible from up in the trees. “Twas brillig, and the slithy toads...” sang Zaha Torte’s voice. “... All limsy...” he sang resentfully.
“How did Zaha get here?” wondered Carrot aloud.
“Lose something?” Zaha asked impertinently.
Carrot turned around to see a huge set of grinning teeth.
“I was just wondering...” began Carrot.
A huge pink-and-purple-stiped cat appeared sitting on a tree branch. His face looked all too much like Zaha Torte’s so much that a few bunches of cat fur stuck out in front of his face like they did on his human body.
“Zaha, dude,” said Carrot, “you’re a cat!”
“Twas brillig and the slithy toads would gimble in the whey...” Zaha sang in reply. Then he covered his body wit his fluffy tail, and when he removed it, there was no ‘he’ a all.
“Dammit,” muttered Carrot, “leave it to Zaha Cat to disappear right when ya need him.” He frowned and shouted after Zaha, wherever he had gone, “That disappearing at will thing is really no way to get friends!”
“I’m back, I’m back, I thought my scene was over,” said Zaha. “Whaddya wanna know?”
“Which way should I go?”
“Where do you want to get to?”
“It doesn’t really matter, I guess -”
“Then it doesn’t really matter which - way - you - go...” said Zaha in that creepy, breathy voice he used when threatening the Sorcerer Hunters. Zaha then proceeded to grin largely and drive from the tree and disappear. The kittie paw prints walked towards Carrot, and then made their way around him, one foot on each side.
“Creepy,” murmured the boy.
Then he reappeared and jumped into another tree. “If you’d really like to know,” said the evil cat, “she went that way,” and Zaha pointed in both directions.
“Who did?” asked Carrot, looking around.
“The Chocolate Rabbit.”
“She did?” said Carrot excitedly.
“Who did what?”
“The Chocolate Rabbit!”
“What rabbit?”
“Ugh! Never mind, you baka!” said Carrot, folding his arms and turning his back on Zaha Cat.
Zaha proceeded to remove his head from his body and stand on it. “Can you... stand on your head?” he asked impishly. “However,” continued Zaha, popping head head back on his neck, “if I were looking for a Chocolate Rabbit, I’d asked the Mad Cake.”
“I don’t think I like the sound of that...”
“Then there’s the March Chestnut in *that* direction,” replied Zaha.
“Oh, I think I’ll go find him, then!”
“Well, you know, he’s nuts, too,” cautioned the malevolent cat.
“But I don’t *want* to go among mad people!” cried Carrot helplessly.
“Oh, you can’t help that. Most everyone’s mad *here*.” At this, Zaha laughed his typical evil psychopath laugh. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not all here myself...” And at that, his freakish laughter echoing through the woods, Zaha Cat disappeared stripe-by-stripe.
“Jeez,” said Carrot, “if the people around here are like that, I should try not to upset them.”
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