Down The Rabbit Hole

B. 3. "Où est ma chatte?" ("Where is my cat?")

"Où est ma chatte?" ("Where is my cat?")

You are a stranger in a foreign land – try to communicate with the locals in an attempt to find your missing pet – short story. (<1000 words)

Word count: 978


         "Unidentified Space Station, this is the USS Rubberneck requesting permission to land."

"Baas, Mongolia sasa. Navo compo" squeaked a small voice through the speakers. (yes, Mongolia responding. Permission granted)

Krissy looked over at Dinah, her cat, "What was that!" she said, rolling her eyes. "I hope that means yes 'cause we're going in." Krissy maneuvered the small space shuttle towards the rocket landing pad. She let it hover as the landing gear lowered itself. Once lowered, she gently set the craft down.

"Well, Dinah, this is the moment we have been waiting for ever since we first saw it through Maggie," she said as she lowered her head. "I just hope they are as friendly as they appeared."

Krissy rose to her feet and picked up Dinah. Together, they went and stood at the hatch. Dinah hissed and growled at the thud of the hatch unlocking, followed by a loud, long hissing like that of a snake as it opened, allowing streams of sunlight to filter in and fill the shuttle like a slow dance.

         Stepping up to the opened hatch, she noted that the sky was blue and streaked with rainbows. The snow she had seen earlier through Maggie was gone. Green and blue thick grass lay in its place. The weather was hot. She could feel the wave of heat rise from the rocket pads like flames above the roof. The people didn't seem to mind. Krissy assumed the season had rotated into what she knew as summer.

         Little people had swarmed the rocket landing pad. All Krissy could see was a rolling sea of purple hair and flailing hands and arms motioning for her to disembark. She accepted their invitation, descended the shuttle ramp, and waded through the crowd. She was stopped by two little people dressed in orange uniforms. She was unsure of their rank, but she was reasonably sure that one was a female and the other a male. They looked alike with big, round blue eyes, a small button nose, and a small mouth. Their faces were round, and their heads were covered with thick purple hair. The male's hair was shaped like an upside down, pointed, ice cream cone. The female's hair was long with ponytails, one on each side of her head.

         "Welco, Welco Mongolia!" (Welcome, Welcome to Mongolia.) They smiled and clapped their hands. Krissy had to rely on her gut feeling that all was well and there was nothing to fear except she knew there was a definite problem—communication. Without warning she heard a deep grunting sound and the crowd of little people began to scream and scatter. The two little people she met tugged on her flight suit and pointed. "Sawoocho Flowco, teg! Sawoocho Flowco, teg!" (Black Forest dog, run! Black Forest dog, run!) they screamed as they expeditiously waddled away. Dinah hissed, screeched as loud as she could, and leaped away from Krissy's hold.

"DINAH! DINAH! come back, come back," tears fell as she shook with sobs. Dinah was gone.

         The excitement had dissipated, and the grunting sound had silenced. The little female she had met earlier returned and led her to a nearby office building. Krissy couldn't focus on the reason they made the journey. To gather information about their planet. All she could think about was finding Dinah.

         "I gotta find Dinah. My cat, my cat...I gotta find my cat! Please help me," she cried.
The little female took Krissy by her hands and brushed away her tears. She looked into her eyes and sat straight up in the tiny chair. She patted her chest and said, "Mina." Krissy stared at her and wrinkled her nose with puzzlement. The small female patted her chest again, "Mina."

"Your name? Your name is Mina?" she whispered. Mina nodded her head, Baas, Mina." Krissy patted her chest, "Krissy." Mina touched her arm and repeated, "Krissy?" "Yes, Yes, that's right, Krissy."

"Mina, can you help me find my cat?"

Mina looked at her. She cocked her head to her left, then to her right. Shifting her attention to her partner, Paas, she asked, "Marcsum Mas?" (do you understand her?)

"Doog!" (No!) replied Paas sighing heavily.

Frustrated, Krissy jumped up and caught their attention. She formed both hands into fists and extended her forefinger and middle finger on each fist. Holding them close together, she held them close to her ears. Turning her head side to side, she wiggled her fingers. Next she placed her index and middle fingers to her thumbs, and made long lines from her cheeks away from her face. Mina and Paas looked at one another and back at her. They had a look as though they were sure that Krissy had lost her mind.

Krissy wasn't at all sure about what to do next. She was sure her last idea would fail. She dropped to the floor and propped herself on her hands and knees. Moving in circles, she would stop, place one hand on her rear, and move it up and away from her body. She began one more repetition. Out of ideas, She was about to give it up when Mina jumped up.

"Regit Paas, Regit! Mas Regit!" (Cat Paas, Cat! She wants her Cat)

Mina grabbed Krissy, pulled her into an adjacent room, and pointed to a footlocker-type box. Krissy looked back at Mina, unsure of what she wanted. Again, Mina pointed to the box. Krissy walked over, knelt, and opened the box.

"Meow,"...Dinah purred as she jumped into Krissy's arms and rubbed her head against her cheek.

Mina smiled and patted Paas on the shoulder. Krissy understood Paas had saved Dinah.

"Thank you, Paas," she smiled.