2023-01-17 15:36:15 +00:00
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---
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2023-02-13 20:41:30 +00:00
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title: Appendix F
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2023-01-17 15:36:15 +00:00
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created: Tue, 17 Jan 2023 08:09:58 -0700
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updated: Tue, 17 Jan 2023 08:09:58 -0700
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public: yes
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---
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2023-02-13 20:41:30 +00:00
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## Appendix F: Bean
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2023-01-17 15:36:15 +00:00
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**Note**: This story by mio was originally published in issue 6 of the
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tilde.town zine, and is included here with the author's permission.
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<https://tilde.town/~zine/issues/6/html/mio/bean/>
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~
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> This short story is dedicated to \~dozens.
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>
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> Several months ago he spoke of a [tabletop
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> game](https://dozensanddragons.neocities.org/30.html) that involved
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> growing cats from beans, inviting others to try it and share their
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> actual plays. As it happened, someone read the message and played the
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> game, but the narrative that was supposed to accompany the results never
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> materialised, having fizzled out in a desolate post-apocalyptic
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> landscape before it had barely started.
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>
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> Here instead is a story about growing, cats and beans, not necessarily
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> in that order. Discerning readers will observe its setting is loosely
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> based in a different game, the wonderful [Basement
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> Quest](http://tilde.town/~dozens/quest/) of which \~dozens is the
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> amazing author and thoroughly adept game host. He has also kindly given
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> permission to reproduce my tiny tale of tomfoolery under the [CC-BY-SA
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> license](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). The story
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> would not have existed without his support and the patience of fellow
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> players, though any lapses in judgement for churning out complete drivel
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> are mine alone. *Gratias maximas.*
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>
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> mio
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Deep within the bowels of the bustling city of Vay'Nullar was a building
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like every other and none other. The unassuming brick structure stood to
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one side of Cofe Street, so named after a giant automaton that had once
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occupied an empty plot of land for the sole purpose of selling coffee
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and the wonders of mechanical ingenuity before it broke down one day and
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the lot, overrun by weeds, was turned into an apothecary. There was no
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sign above the entrance to announce itself to the world, the windows
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shuttered and the wooden door bolted from within. It could be said that
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there was nothing remarkable about the building except for a colourful
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row of marching kidney-shaped beans painted in bas-relief than ran along
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the base of the tiled roof. The beans' faces were contorted in various
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expressions of merriment, from hopping up and down with silly grins to
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flipping on their backs, eyes screwed tight and mouths wide open in
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laughter.
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No one actually knew for sure if it was a shop, or what it sold, because
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the doors had never opened for business. Passers-by can be forgiven for
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thinking it was probably an ill-fated foray into fame and fortune by
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some enterprising young upstart that had floundered at the last moment,
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and the place had long since been abandoned to the cobwebs of aurs and
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dust bunnies. However, the neighbourhood's residents knew differently.
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If anyone had cared to ask, they would have recounted in tense, hushed
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voices of eerie sounds emanating from the building at night. Some said
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they heard loud whooshing noises; others swore someone or something was
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lighting crackling bonfires inside, though they had neither seen light
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nor smoke from a fire. Still more spoke of a sound --- the more
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musically-inclined might liken it to a note blown from a long horn,
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lowered then abruptly dampened. The children --- the ones who were old
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enough or secretly sneaked out past their bedtime --- would have simply
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described it as if a crowd had gotten together in a room and farted at
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the same time.
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None of the residents had ever heard nor seen the landlord; as far as
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the eldest grannies could remember, the building had always appeared the
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way it did. When the city finally sent an inspector to assess the
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property after multiple complaints from the most vocal residents, the
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man had returned so shocked by whatever he had seen that to this day he
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could not utter a syllable, his entire body frozen in fear whenever the
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subject of the bean building was brought up. Cursed, was the conclusion
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of a guild of wizards three districts over, though one that seemed to
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evade their scanners. A few of the bravest and more curious among their
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ranks offered to investigate, but never returned with their findings.
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Children were sternly warned by their parents to stay away and behave,
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or they would be snatched up and eaten by the monster that lived within
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its walls.
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One afternoon, a young girl who was studying the painted relief along
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one side of the building heard scratching, mewls, then a whimper coming
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from somewhere nearby. Following the sounds, she rounded the back of the
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building and spotted a grey kitten with light charcoal stripes slumped
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against the wall, paws on their furry tummy, with a pinched expression
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on their face. As she came closer, she could hear a low gurgling sound
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coming from somewhere near its tummy. "Oh!" She exclaimed, her face lit
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up in understanding. "Stay here, kitty." she told the kitten.
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She returned from a nearby shop with a glass bottle of oat milk, two
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small dishes and three skewers of tofuna balls. She set the items in
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front of the kitten, removed the skewers from the first dish and filled
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the other with milk. "Go on, it's for you." The girl smiled
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encouragingly at the kitten, who stared at her with wide eyes before
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pouncing on the tofuna balls. When the kitten had emptied the plates,
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they licked their face and paws, then looked up at the girl and mewed
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once before disappearing into a small hole in the wall of the building
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partially covered by a loose board. The girl tried to peer into the hole
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but it was too dark within to see anything.
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The next day and the day after, the girl returned to the same spot with
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food for the kitten, who seemed to be expecting her, mewing once again
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before retreating back inside the hole in the wall after the meal. On
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the fourth day, the kitten was nowhere to be seen when the young girl
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arrived. She bent down to fill a saucer with more milk, and found a
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single brown bean in it slightly smaller than a cherry potato. She
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waited but there was no sign of the kitten. Eventually she left the
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offering of food near the hole and went home.
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As the girl lay in bed that night, she examined the bean by the light of
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her bedside lamp. She held it up between her thumb and forefinger,
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rubbed a thumb against its smooth contours, then clasped it gently
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between her palms, gradually warming it as she peeked at it from between
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her fingers. After whispering to the bean for some time, she carefully
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tucked it under one end of her pillow, and yawning, turned down the lamp
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and went to sleep.
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When she next opened her eyes, it was to find herself inside a gigantic
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storehouse with a high ceiling that seemed to stretch on and on into the
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horizon. One side was lined with glass partitions, some of which were
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obscured with thick curtains, while others had curtains parted aside to
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reveal the activities of the occupants within. On another side,
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separated by a path the width of two streets, was an open grassy area
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dotted with large translucent domes, like hazy soap bubbles on a summer
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day. The entire area was bright and well-lit even though she couldn't
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make out any significant source of light aside from the little caddy
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lamps twinkling from the desks inside the partitions, or the campers'
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lamps inside and around the domed tents.
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A cat wearing bright yellow boots, blue overalls and a construction hat
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was beckoning her over. She recognised them as the kitten she had met in
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the alley earlier, though now they appeared as tall as her. Just as she
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was about to call out and ask where they were, the cat suddenly appeared
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in front of her and said eagerly, "There you are! Come along now!"
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Everywhere she turned, there were now cats in all shapes, colours and
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sizes --- short, large, skinny, tiny, chubby, striped, spotted, black,
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calico, white, brown, grey, and so on. Many were patting rectangular
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panels with various tiny buttons on the desks. Some were on all fours or
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sitting in various positions in front of stools with small boxes that
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made whirring, clicking sounds. After each click, the cats would shift
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positions, as if striking poses for some invisible audience. One cat was
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mixing and matching several new outfits in light colours. Another was
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hugging stuffed toy chipmunk while sorting mushrooms at a picnic table.
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A few were holding a burger with an oversized cheese wedge between their
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paws.
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Some who were walking around the partitions were also holding mugs, the
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aroma of coffee wafting through the air as they passed --- except for
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one cat whose paws were wrapped around a glass of a clear brown drink
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topped with cherries. A cat sped by on a contraption with a handle and
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two thin wheels, which emitted tinkling sounds from a tiny, nondescript
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box attached to a basket in front of the contraption. They passed a
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group of six cats gesturing to a black board covered in numbers and
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symbols; one of them chanted something that confused the girl and pushed
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a button on one edge of the board, which sprayed water over the surface,
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erasing the chalk writing. After wiping the board dry, the cat began
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rapidly filling the board with more symbols. When the girl looked over
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her shoulder, the board had already washed out the writing, and another
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cat had taken up position in front of the board.
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Outside one domed tent, a metal arm was mixing a vat of pink and yellow
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cream while a cat sat beside it reading aloud from a scroll. At the next
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tent, two cats huddled over a thin, grey bulbous metal stump placed on a
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tiny wooden table. The cats seemed to be engaged in a serious
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conversation at first; then the girl blinked and they abruptly dissolved
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into laughs, thumping the table with a paw and barely grappling onto the
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table edge with the other to keep themselves from tumbling and knocking
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over the metal rod. A cat reclined against the frame of a bubble opening
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and seemed to be intently listening to something, while a stockpot
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bubbled merrily on a stove and spewed out dumplings into a large crusty
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bread bowl behind them.
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A few steps from the path, a cat hung up pictures onto a pie-shaped box
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under the glow of a lamp affixed to their tent. The lamp slowly changed
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colours, each new colour followed by strings of words floating and
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fading in mid-air like intangible poetry. Behind them, half-hidden by
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big rows of vertical posts made of paper tubes, a cat perched atop a
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stack of ten thick black writing pads and was writing in a notebook at a
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furious pace, only occasionally stopping to bite into a slice of pie
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with a light yellow filling. A blue panel displaying several lines of
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indecipherable characters flickered occasionally from below. Remotely
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she could barely make out another cat stacking containers of different
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sizes neatly as they spoke to a sliding black case on a table covered in
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tools and fossils. Inside another tent, a cat was moving a small stack
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of old boxes with lights blinking blearily through the tent walls and
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shuffling them inside an animated green cabinet in the shape of a
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possum. As the girl stared, some of the cats grinned at her, and others
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waved.
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At random intervals, a group would gather around a large pipe made of
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dark grey metal at the base, which gave way to a translucent material at
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knee height, towering up before disappearing into an opening in the
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ceiling. Venturing closer, she realised the translucent pipe was
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actually made of many transparent small pipes with beads of light
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passing through them at impossibly fast speeds. As the lights spun
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faster, a low purr emanated from the pipe, which became louder and
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louder in a roaring crescendo as the group fixed their gazes upwards at
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a spot where pipe met ceiling, some clapping their paws to a soundless
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rhythm that was nonetheless familiar to them all, until the noise was
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abruptly cut off to barely a whine and a chuff once more. The crowd of
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cats dispersed as if nothing had happened.
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Further on, another group wielding oversized sporks was shovelling piles
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of pea-sized, dark brown beans at a glass pane the size of a large smoke
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screen, behind which an ornate fireplace was set over a well-used
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hearth. The beans seem to pass through the glass, to be devoured by the
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giant blaze that flared and snapped briefly each time it received more
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tinder. Some of the cats looked on with somber expressions, and the girl
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had the feeling that whatever the fire did was as important --- if not
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more so --- than the stream of lights in the pipes. As the flames
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gradually changed colour from blood orange to pale lavender, the group
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seemed to relax into relieved smiles and slowed their shovelling, only
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halting when the fire had turned a vibrant purple. Her guide gave the
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group a thumbs-up before ushering her along the path.
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When they had walked a few score feet onward, the young girl suddenly
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noticed almost all the cats in their immediate vicinity had a small
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rectangular apparatus on them --- whether held in their paws, hanging
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from a waist pouch, jutting out from a back pocket, strapped to their
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caps or arms, or placed within reach on a nearby desk or table. In that
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instant, a resounding chime like a bell rolled across the area where
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they were standing. The cats glanced down at their apparatus, which were
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lit in varying levels of brightness. Some of the cats looked up at one
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another and sported identical grins on their faces. Then, as though
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following an unannounced but practised cue, the cats applied light
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pressure on their apparatus. For a moment it was quiet, before the hall
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erupted into a very loud raspberry. It was as though a giant balloon had
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deflated over their heads and air was coming out of it in one big gush,
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only there was no strong burst of wind to blow them all off their feet.
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Distantly she heard the answering giggling of babies and children
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somewhere around her, though there were no infants or other children in
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sight. The cat with the yellow hat turned to her with a chuckle and
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said, "Snazzy, huh? Let's keep this a little secret between us, okay?"
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Before the girl could reply, she awoke with a start in her own room. It
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took a moment for her to ascertain where she was as her eyes focused on
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the shelf by the wall filled with toys and books, and the morning
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sunlight streaming in from the bedroom window. Recalling the cat in
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boots, she felt around her pillow for the bean, but her hand only met
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soft bedsheets. She shook out her pillow while pushing aside her
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blankets, checked the floor and peeked under the bed, but the bean had
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disappeared. As she looked around her room, she noticed the mug adorned
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with tiny butterflies that she used as a brush holder had been moved
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from its usual spot on her desk. She got out of bed and padded barefoot
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over to the desk. Instead of one baby potato-sized bean, the mug was
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filled with a number of small red beans. Shaking them out in handfuls at
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a time, she counted 43 in total.
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The girl smiled. When the time came, she and the beans will be ready.
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