He told her of the many doors, and as he did, one by one they shone through the trees. Startled by their appearance, X flapped her wings and squawked. The animals responded by calling out her name, although they remained very much unseen, partly out of choice, and partly because of how heavy the snow… Read more

The snow whipped everything in its path, and in turn, George snapped his tail as if making a stand against the kiss between what was real and what was not. Most of the trees had now passed, although the watchful eyes of the animals were still very much on Prudence as she flapped her wings… Read more

Pecking at the ground, X fought back the tears that were threatening to fall. Not that she was afraid to cry in George’s presence, but because she didn’t know what it would be like to do so in her new body. She was worried it might hurt somehow. Sensing her unease, George nuzzled his nose against… Read more

“Every time we meet, I find you in the strangest of predicaments,” said George, his nose sniffing X’s feathers as if they were coated in the most alluring of perfumes. Looking over her shoulder, he spotted little Herbie sprawled out on his belly twitching his nose in his sleep. Smiling to himself, the cat eyed… Read more

With one eye on Herbie and the other on the imaginary donuts that were dangling before her in the cruellest most taunting of ways, X shivered and ruffled her feathers. She was the hungriest she’d been in her entire life, so hungry that she was even thinking of pecking at some of the fallen berries… Read more

Tired from having flown for so long—and it being her very first time—X sailed through the air looking for a safe place to land. She also intended to give Herbie a rest. The poor thing had been dangling beneath her kicking his legs the whole way, and although she knew he was scared, he hadn’t… Read more

Swimming through a wandering sea of animals and trees, George sniffed the air and caught her scent. It was unmistakably hers, and yet it was different somehow. She was still the same soul, and yet her body had changed. It tasted exotic. Less of this world and more of another, although she hadn’t been of… Read more

Clinging onto the trunk of the tree, George narrowed his eyes and gazed into the forest. At first, he thought maybe it was his mind playing tricks on him, but the longer he remained, the more he realised what he saw was real. The trees below him were moving. They weren’t simply swaying in the… Read more

As the snow swept about the forest and the animals rushed towards the source of the music, the tortoiseshell cat named George climbed through the undergrowth. It was dense and almost too difficult to manoeuvre through, yet the sweet sounds that filled his heart willed him on with the energy to continue. His furry and… Read more

Further into the woods and closer to the source of the music, the light left no space for shadows. Washing over us in a wave, it poured from each door, and from a place beyond—the place Rusty was taking me to. I tried calling to him, but his ears were alert only to the song… Read more