Once Bitten

Trip-up (3)

When the watch MK had borrowed told him it was late in the evening and the sun had set, leaving the house in eerie darkness other than the light from a small lamp in Bai He's room that he figured it was safe to leave on with her curtains drawn, he finally decided it was probably her bedtime. It helped that she'd also started yawning and didn't complain too hard when MK told her gently that it was time for bed. If anything seeming relieved with the routine. 

MK let her show him where her toothbrush was kept and he waited while she did that, leaving her bedroom while she put her pajamas on. He walked back in when she called out for him, letting her jump into bed and lay down.

"Alright, goodnight Bai He." He said softly, pulling the covers up to her chin and she giggled, kicking her feet a little. 

"Read me a story?" She asked sweetly, excitement clear in her tone and MK didn't have the heart to let her down. 

"Okay kiddo, I'll read you one. Want to pick one out?" She gasped and nodded happily, shoving the covers off her and shooting out of bed and towards her bookshelf, looking along the books and picking out the most well-used one there, something called 'White socks adventure.'

"This is the story of White Socks. White Socks is a black cat with white on the end of his paws and a pink bow on his collar. He belongs to a beloved family who feed him and love him and take care of him every day." MK read out in a storytelling voice, tilting the book so Bai He could see the illustration of a cat happily playing with an older, human boy, a ball of string tussled in his paws.

"Then one day they go away on a trip to the woods. They have a picnic and White Socks is given the most delicious tuna to eat before yawning and deciding to take a nap in the warm sun." MK read on, with Bai He watching with happy eyes as she stares at the picture of a cat napping happily in the sun by itself. 

"But oh no!" MK gasps out the words, making sure to put emphasis on them so it sounded like he was actually worried. 

"His family has left him behind! When White Socks wakes up, he finds himself alone in the forest with no family in sight. Where's everyone gone? He asks himself, sure that they must have left him on accident. They'll be so worried when they realize I'm missing, I have to find my way back to them. He tells himself, quickly picking a direction and beginning his journey through the woods." 

MK turned the page, Bai He leaning more heavily into his side as she watches the pages with tired but interested eyes. 

"He walks and walks for hours, ducking under bushes and swimming through rivers but it feels like he's not getting any closer to home and the forest just keeps getting darker and eventually White Socks feels tired and begins to get hungry. He wished he had some food with him." MK turned the page again, moving away from the picture of a cat swimming through a river. 

"But he kept going, even as the sun started setting because he needed to find his family and nothing was going to stop him!" He turned the page again, putting some enthusiasm into his voice.

"Eventually though White Socks grew tired. He'd been walking forever and he was so, so hungry, his stomach growling at him noisily. Just then, he hears a squeak! His ears prick up as he darts his eyes about, trying tind the noise until- there! He spots a little mouse, scurrying around at the bottom of a tree nearby and his tummy rumbles again as he licks his lips." MK took a quick glance down away from the book to Bai He, wondering if she was still awake with how still she was but her eyes were still open, even if they were only open halfway so he kept going.

"White Socks silently crept up behind the mouse, lowering himself and then waiting and waiting until he was close enough before pouncing suddenly, catching the mouse in his mouth before he could dart off. Ah-hah! He'd gotten it! Grinning at his victory White Socks went to eat the mouse only to realize how scared it was, thrashing about in fear with wide, terrified eyes and it made White Socks pause.