By Lily Liu
Kim quickly turned around the Washington Memorial, and waited for Katrina to come. “So, do you have a ‘cat world’ too?” she asked.
“Yes, but you have to tell me the passcode, though. What word starts with a ‘c’, and means feline, who is ‘tac’ if you are talking about it backward. Its favorite food is fish,” Katrina replied.
“A cat, of course!” Kim laughed. “So, can you show me where the cat world is since I’ve answered the passcode?”
“It is correct…” Katrina said thoughtfully. “Yes. All right. Come with me.”
…
They walked over rooftops and up some stairs. Then, Katrina turned and started balancing on a wall, which seemed like so long, that you could not see the end of it. Kim sighed. She carefully stepped on. She was nervous, though, since there was only a foot or two of wall underneath her. The wall connected two buildings. There was a ninety-six-foot plunge if you fell, and you would fall into the middle of the street and get run over by a car, motorcycle, dirty garbage truck, bus, school bus, or anything else that drove on the street. They finally crossed the wall, and Katrina climbed a set of bricks sticking out of a building, pulled herself onto a roof, and made a thirty-foot plunge to get to the ground. Kim followed. Everything seemed so easy for Katrina! Finally, they saw what Katrina was looking for.
…
A guard stood at the entrance of a large iron gate. “So this is Kartina?” He looked at the name on Kim’s schoolbag. “And you brought a visitor named Milk?”
“I’m Katrina, Oat! And that’s Kim, not Milk!” Katrina said, annoyed. “Why do you have to mix everyone’s name up!”
The guard started again. “I’m sorry, Kartina—”
“Katrina! Not Kartina. For the seventy-millionth time, Oat! Can you please remember?” Katrina interrupted.
“You’ve been counting???!!!???” Oat said in shock as he took out a big key and unlocked the iron gate which immediately swung open. “Signature?” he asked. So Katrina signed a little scrap of paper:
Kat Corel: Second in command of Jewel Castle
“You’re the second in command?” Kim asked. “How come you’ve never acted like it?”
“Because, what says I have to act like a second in command even when I am a second in command,” Katrina replied calmly.
They went through the gate and they came to a chimney.
“Wait— aren’t we going to land in someone’s fireplace?” Kim asked.
“Definitely not. This isn’t a fireplace, anyway. It’s a shortcut. Unless you want to go through all the security scans, but I don’t think so. I think you’ll like it better this way,” Katrina said, pulled Kim in with her, and they slid down together.
…
After they slid down the slide, there was a poster. Katrina tried to ignore it, but there was something important on it that she just couldn’t ignore. Katrina looked at the poster, and here is what she saw:
Jewel Thievery at Jewel Castle
Breaking News! Breaking News!
Jewel thievery occurred last night at 12:30. Suspect is a black cat with an outline of a white mask. Police cats suspect it is Fog, the cat put to jail more than 150 times a year. Or it could be one of his brothers. We don’t know at this point who it is, but we do know it is not a female cat. If anyone catches the thief, they will be rewarded! Meet at north police station to receive your reward. If you did not actually catch him, but you got a reward, you will be sued and put to trial. Thank you for reading.
Kim gasped. “The Jewel Castle! Isn’t that where you’re second in command?” she asked.
“Yes.” Katrina jumped to her feet. “We can’t go this way,” she said. She grabbed Kim’s hand and ran.
Kim didn’t appreciate being dragged. She tried to run, but suddenly, she wasn’t. She was hovering! Then she really got dragged. She was suddenly grabbing on to an athletic-looking Siamese cat, and in that same row, was an athletic-looking Bengal cat. “Wait—but—but…” Kim couldn’t argue. The sight was too shocking, and she just had to stay silent for the rest of the astonishing ride.
“Look,” Kim looked seriously at the two cats. “I appreciate that you— like saved my life by getting me back on the ground. But, however, where is Katrina Corel Ex?”
The Siamese cat just meowed.
“Tell me, please. You’re cats so I suspect you know Katrina Ex. Please tell me. WHERE IS KATRINA EX?” Kim nearly shouted at the innocent cats.
The Siamese yawned and meowed. “Meow, meow, meow mew!” Then the Siamese stretched. She purred.
Suddenly, Kim understood! She stood still looking at her sneakers. Only she didn’t have any. She didn’t have any feet either, it seemed. She had paws!
“Cats…!” She growled, confused, furious, and shocked, all at the same time. “What did you do now? I asked you where my friend was, and all you tell me is ‘you’re gonna turn into a cat’??? I’ll get back! RETURN ME TO MY HUMAN FORM AND TELL ME WHERE KATRINA IS! NOW!” Kim growled furiously, not knowing what fate this new land had given her.