Ella and the Ten Keys

Chapter 3: Mirrored

Ella disregarded Oreo's warning and opened her eyes. She was falling through the air, and in the distance she could faintly see the ground. There was a tent with red and white stripes, that reminded her of one used in a circus. It seemed like she was about to fall right through the roof of the tent.

"Rip!" the tent made a hole where Ella and Oreo had fallen through.

"Oof!" exclaimed Ella as she landed on the ground. The tent broke most of her fall, but even from there to the ground was enough to hurt a bit. Oreo of course, landed on his feet, as cats will do. His paws were a bit shocked by the sudden landing but that didn't stop him from checking up on Ella before taking care of himself.

"Ella? Are you alright? I forgot that humans don't always land so...gracefully."

She slowly stood up and brushed herself off. "Yes, I'm alright. That was a heck of a fall though, you should have warned me."

"Yes but if I had, would you still have walked out the door?" he asked.

"Maybe not, but if I did I would've grabbed a drapery or something to use as a parachute first, instead of free falling and relying on the tent to cushion our landing."

"Hmm, fair point. I'll keep that in mind for next time."

"Wait, next time?" said Ella, worried.

Oreo didn't answer her this time, but instead started observing their surroundings. They were lucky that they landed where they did, right smack on the ground. If they hadn't, they most likely would've fallen onto one of the many mirrors that filled the space. Oreo made a mental note to make sure he knew where he was falling to before he jumped anywhere else.

"So, what's this room? A mirror maze?" Ella asked.

"It appears so. Finding the door, or anything for that matter, must be very hard in here. We need to be careful not to get separated this time."

Ella agreed, remembering how tough it had been trying to find him in a regular room.

"Here," Oreo continued "you can hold my tail if you like. I know it's not the same as those opposable-thumbed-hands you're used to, but as long as you don't pull on it too tight I think this could work out nicely."

"Thank you, I think that's a brilliant idea." said Ella as she gently grabbed hold of her cat's long tail. As they walked, Ella noticed that Oreo tended to sway his tail from side to side, making it difficult to hang on to, but neither walked ahead of the other so they didn't have to worry about being separated. They stayed quiet for a while, until Ella's head was so full of questions she was afraid her head would burst if she didn't ask some of them.

"So Oreo, how are you able to talk?" Ella asked, finally.

"I talk with my voice of course." Oreo replied, smartly.

"No, I mean, you're a cat, so-"

"And who decided that I'm a cat?" interrupted Oreo, slightly offended.

"Well, I thought it was obvious."

"No it's not. I like to think that I am something different. Why must I be whatever you think I am?" Ella thought that was a puzzling question, whether a cat said it or not.

"I guess you don't need to be anything, but then, if you're not a cat, then what are you?" Ella didn't really understand what her cat was saying, but was still glad that he could talk none the less.

"Why does it matter what I am? I think you should be asking who I am, that's what's really important you know." This is very true. Oreo is definitely a wise cat.