"29" :: Chapter- 7

The heavy breaths let out by Scruffy seemed like heavy blows of air coming out from a furnace. He sure was hungry. The brown furred rabbit leaped out and Fabrice moved back. It moved in leaps that only look adorable if the creature is of a much lesser size. Fabrice bent down and moved beneath the cradle with the little girl (who still looked less frightened than Fabrice)

Scruffy repeatedly bumped the cradle letting our shrill squeaks. The cradle moved a little with every push. “On the count of 3, start crawling from the other side” said Fabrice, the girl nodded in a silent response.

“1…2…3” they began crawling towards the door. Fabrice felt his body shivering but Scruffy did not notice them. They got up once they reached the corridor outside and began running. “Stupid hamster” shrieked Fabrice and there was a noisy response from the room. As they were climbing down the stair case, Fabrice sensed from the noises above them, that the hamster wasn’t so dumb after all. He was right behind.

Out through the door the road was as serene as it was before. Fabrice began running holding the little girl’s hand. The road seemed endless and the line of similar houses on either side was never ending. There was a weird sound of hooting, right behind. Fabrice turned back, spotting the same red dots following them and then there was scruffy right behind. Those dots, those pair of eyes of something flying, there was no time to figure out what it was. The little girl was breathing heavily. Fabrice picked her up and ran towards one of the houses by the side. He went all the way to the backyard and things were a little different on the other side.

Fabrice looked at the structure of dry stone right in front, it looked like a church. Similar structures stood on its adjacent sides. The hooting returned, Fabrice looked back and flying creatures were right there, flying in completely random patterns, like bats, under an influence. There were a couple of them, and then a swarm descended from the skies joining them, to form a massive swarm. Fabrice wanted to run but it was too late. They cast shadows above him and he bent down with a little girl. With eyes wide shut, he held shielding her. The hooting was right above him, and then… it reduced a little.

Fabrice felt something touch his shoulder. His heart beat ran like an elephant. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

He looked up and an old man was smiling at him, “Come now, we must leave at once, son”. The swarm was flying back as Fabrice glanced in the other direction. Fabrice wanted to thank the old man and maybe even ask the key to reality. But for now he just followed him, to another mysterious scenario.

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