Haven
You walk beside the white picket fence, running your hand lightly over the pointed tops. You reach the gate, and reach over the top to unhook the latch, then push it open easily. Step into impossibly green grass, let the gate swing quietly back into place.
Dogs come romping up to meet you, sniffing your legs and licking your hands, nudging you forward across the lawn, towards the castle.
The castle walls are a bright shining white, and clean as if there were no such thing as dirt or dust. Towers mark each corner, and windows open up in every direction. You are walking along a faint path in the grass, heading straight for the tall, reddish-brown double doors.
A small building connects to the front wall close to the doors. Cats are sunning themselves on the flat roof of this little house. Little doors and windows indicate that this is the animal house – a Boogle house for the dogs and cats of the front lawn.
As you reach the doors, the dogs leave you to go and play again. A guard stands on either side of this entrance: upright blue canines wearing gold-trimmed red robes.They incline their heads to you, their black-tipped ears flipping in acknowledgement. There is a black mask around their eyes, and their long, almost feline, black-striped tails wave gently.
They open the doors for you, and you step forward into a spacious, high-ceilinged lobby. The floor is tiled as a black-and-white checkerboard, and each tile gleams as if it has never seen a speck of dirt. To your right, a white staircase curves away and up, to a balcony from which one can get to each room on the second level.
To your right is a wide doorway, leading into a large, comfortable bedroom. Peeking in, you see a red velvet cover lying atop the king-sized bed, and white silk pillows piled at the head. At the far wall, a great chestnut dresser claims the spot underneath the window. In the corner to the left of this stands a tall polished wooden partition, which turns this corner into a private dressing room.
Standing in the middle of the lobby again, you see a kitchen area straight ahead. There is a woman cooking at the stove against the far wall with her back to you, humming loudly. The aroma of a finely-cooked meal begins to reach you, and you begin to walk forward.
Then from a hall to the left of this kitchen soft footpads can be heard, and a large tiger comes bounding towards you, its feline mouth curved in a smile. He stops before you and paws gently at your leg, wishing to be greeted. You kneel down and hug his warm, furry neck, hearing him rumble happily.
When you stand up, he leads you to the kitchen, to a round white table where another blue wolf sits, reading a newspaper. As you approach, he looks up and smiles at you.
“Welcome home.”