When Vivian opened her eyes, it took more than a moment of concentrated focus to figure out what was right in front of her. The sky appeared to be a deep glowing hazel green color with tiny specs of gold dust. It was as if she was looking into the eye of a giant tabby cat.

And she was.

Sitting up, Vivian could see that it wasn’t the sky her lenses couldn’t adjust to, it was an up-close-staring-contest with the biggest cat she’d ever seen. Oddly, Vivian did not feel fear. The echo of the enormous voice box sending out waves of gentle purring calmed Vivian’s heart rate and soothed her achingly tensed muscles. She was completely cradled in the grasp of this tremendous tabby and she felt completely safe.

All around them there were brambles piercing balloons, mysterious shadows filled with moon dust and solar flares, and grandfather clocks chiming at a frequency so high it was almost imperceptible to anyone but Vivian. There was a definite murmur of rushing water on the brink of overtaking everything. Flying above it all were countless striped hornets with wings of woven lead and toxic stingers filled with a syrupy venom.

The cat continued to cuddle Vivian providing protection and warmth, however Vivian could sense it was about time for the cat to move on. Its eyes were fixed on something shiny among the tall blades of grass covering the meadow before them. She could tell it wanted to run and chase down whatever culprit had garnered its attention. In her selfishness, Vivian began to cling tighter to the soft fur enveloping her body. She did not want to loosen her grip. She did not want to face the rest of the journey without something familiar.

The cat turned its face back to hers and looked longingly in her eyes. The gaze spoke with an unconditional crest of compassion and solidarity. It reminded her that if she were to make it through to the other side of this universe she had tripped her way into, she needed to let her cat play and trust it would be there for her when she needed it.

She let go.

And the giant cat quickly disappeared in the distance.