Rishi awoke suddenly. Voices still rang in his head, but he couldn’t distinguish any of them apart. The noise in his head buzzed, and one voice suddenly rang above all of them “The draw!” Rishi decided he should at least sit up and stop breathing grass, unsure of where he was. He sat up and looked around, “the draw” he couldn’t see at first but slowly his eyes adjusted to the blinding sunlight. “The draw!” the voice boomed and suddenly Rishi recognized it.
   “Fine…” he finally answered, “although a location might be nice”
   “Inside Mustafa” the voice called back, fading.
   “Mustafa?” Rishi asked thinking hard. He could remember that name, like it was carved into his skin, and he felt as though it had something to do with home, but couldn’t be sure. He awaited an answer but none came, so he struggled up and took a good look at the environment he found himself in. There was a flock of what looked like white sheep, with long woolly fleeces and long droopy ears. They looked friendly, but he didn’t approach. He turned around and was blown away. Like it had been placed there by a hand, in the middle of a grassed area with no road leading to it, stood a magnificent house. It was bordered by a hedge, fence, and gate. The fence was a white picket, and looked brand new and the gate had a plaque on it. The black lettering on the golden plate took a while to sink in, but once Rishi realized it said Mustafa, he started running towards it. The sun was intense, but he could see clearly the gate enclosed a courtyard with a fountain in the middle and elaborate gardens. Cautiously he opened the gate and stepped into the courtyard. The courtyard was cobbled, and the fountain was made from these too and as he walked past he had to stop and look closely. There were strange fish in the water; they looked like Koi with longer tails. They looked peaceful and inquisitive, blowing bubbles up at Rishi. He was startled to find the bubbles didn’t pop at the surface, they continued to rise popping in the air. Despite the shock from the bubbles, Rishi felt oddly at peace, relaxed even at the sight of these fish. He decided to move on because he was uncertain about the fish’s’ intentions, and his own. “Where am I?” he asked, but the voice wouldn’t be lenient towards him. “Come on! You are supposed to guide me!” he called out. His worry about where he was, and why, was beginning to bubble over.
   “Go to the draw” the voice answered, “open it.” He felt all his answers were inside the mansion house, and was drawn to it with a force so strong it was almost physical. It was like the magic in dreams, the kind that pulled you onwards no matter how much you resisted. He climbed the steps to the mansion, and beat the simple horse shoe brass knocker.
   “Hello?” he called, “is there anyone home?” he felt strange like he knew what the answer would be. A muffled noise came through the doorway and he called out “hello?” again. This time the noise was louder, and he recognised it as a cat meowing. He opened the door and sure enough there was a cat sitting in the center of a circular rug in the middle of the hall. The cat was pitch-black and sitting politely watching him. “umm…” he felt so strange under the cats stare, it startled him, “hello? Is anyone here?” he called around the cat, whom looked very amused.
   “The door was open…” the cat seemed to smile. Rishi was alarmed, he felt scared but he wasn’t sure why exactly. He hadn’t felt like himself since he woke up. Rishi moved around the cat, who’s head swiveled to follow him until it wouldn’t turn anymore and then he simply padded after him.
   “I am really sorry to bother you…but I do not know where I am…” Rishi had the strangest feeling that the cat was laughing at him, and turned around. “what is so funny cat?” the cats eyes glowed with glee and he wheezed a few times, but managed to compose himself. Rishi was perplexed by this behavior, and stood as though waiting for the cat to jump up and dance. The cat simply walked around him smartly and padded off into a room off to the right. Rishi decided to follow through the large double doors simply because he was at a loss of what else to do. The cat was sitting on top of a large oak desk, looking at him pointedly. He looked around to shake off the shock of the cat, noticing the room was a study, full of identical books on the shelves behind the desk. He wondered again if this was a dream. He listened still waiting for his guide to tell him what to do, but it was avoiding him. He noticed the cat staring him down intently. “what?” he finally retorted, “do you not have a spiritual guide?”
   The cat started to wheeze again like he was laughing. Eventually he stopped, shook his head and sat up straight again.
   “Why are you so strange?” he asked. The cat yawned loudly. “wh…”
   “The draw!” the voice boomed cutting Rishi short.
   “Why are you so cryptic? I cannot think straight and you are not helping me!” deciding to humor the cat he asked after a period, “In the desk right?”
   “Meow” the cat nodded and began to purr. Rishi stood still, rooted to the spot in the doorway. The cat seemed to notice his behavior and hissed loudly at him.
   “I was not asking you!” he whined not feeling at all like himself. The cat stalked past him and disappeared. He looked back towards the desk feeling drawn towards it. He obeyed his sense and walked over, noticing the key on top. He tried to open the draw before using it, and it slid open with ease. Inside he found a large leather bound book. Its gold lettering depicted the title “Mustafa. Read on the Second Day.” the cat was at the doorway purring as he read the title.
   “The draw!”
   “Thank you Mr. I talk in sentence fragments!” he was feeling agitated with the cats eyes boring into him. “Why did you want me to find this? I won't be here tomorrow, I will be awake…In the real world.”
   “THE DRAW!” the voice was so loud that Rishi immediately hit the floor covering his ears.
   The cat wheezed, seemingly amused while other cats would have fled at the sudden movement.
   “Stop” he glared at the cat. He looked in the draw again and there was a rather small book, pocket sized but still leather bound. The same leather bound cover and lettering as the last book depicted the title “the prophecy” Rishi wondered what all the fuss was about, and asked “anything else?” to make sure he wasn’t going to lose his hearing if he tried to leave. His guiding voice didn’t reply so he took that as a no, and decided to explore the mansion. He gathered the two leather bound books and walked out of the study with the cat trailing.
He had come through the front door into a foyer type area. The left foyer wall separated the foyer from the stairs, and he noticed they went up and down. In front of him was what could be a lounge room, but he couldn’t tell what the hanging orbs with tails were for. Part of the wall in front of them was painted black.  To the right, the way he had come, was a hallway leading to a bathroom, study and a large library. The opposite way, down the left hallway, were five large bedrooms, fully equipped with double beds, fireplaces, personal ensuite’s and a wall of books. Rishi noted that every room was royal looking, and looked extremely expensive.
He decided to go down first, and noticed the half stairs stopped their elaborate carpeting about halfway down, exposing the wood. The stairs led to a dirt hallway that looked like it belonged in a mine, not such a fancy house. There were lights on supports, and when he flicked them on the hallway went so far back he couldn’t see the end. He turned the lights off and moved up the stairs, to the second story above the ground. Upstairs he found a large kitchen and dining area, and a small bathroom at the back of the kitchen. To the right large double doors lead to a recreational room, sporting a bar, barstools and a jukebox. He came back to the stairs and continued to the left, and found a gym with locker-rooms. Rishi was amazed at the size and expensiveness of the mansion. It looked smaller on the outside, but clearly it wasn’t.  he felt out of place, and traveled downstairs to the lounge room. He didn’t trust the hanging orbs with tails. They had teeth and looked as though they would bite. Their tongues were hanging from their mouths, and they had spines down their backs. He noticed a glass door leading into a backyard, and he noticed the cat was waiting for him at it. Rishi sidestepped the hanging creatures quickly and headed outside.
   The air outside was cool, and smelled like ferns. Climbing ivy framed the entire yard, blocking out the sun almost entirely. The shafts of light that came through the gaps in the leaves made the yard look magical. There were flowers everywhere, sparkling in the light mist which only added to the magical effect. He could hear water running off in the distance somewhere, and walked into the middle of the yard. There was a pond, with a fountain and fish swimming around. They were the same Koi like fish he had seen in the fountain in the front yard. “wow” he breathed, walking towards a bench under an archway. He was surprised to see that it had no legs, but sat down in it heavily nonetheless. It flung him backwards and forwards until he fell off, his books falling on top of him.

   *                       *                       *

On his second day, Rishi awoke to singing birds outside his window. He could have sworn the curtains were closed when he fell asleep, but now they were open with sunlight streaming through the lace. It didn’t matter. He liked to wake up to the sun. he climbed out of bed, and stretched, turned to make it and almost died of shock. “whoa!”  it looked like the bed had never been slept in at all. The bed had made itself. He wondered if this was supposed to be heaven, and he was dead, or if it was a rather long dream. “maybe I am in a coma or something” he thought allowed as he pulled open the fridge door. The cat wheezed but Rishi pretended to ignore it. He pulled out eggs, milk and bread and began making eggs on toast. The cat was watching him like he was a great show. He watched him crack the eggs in the pan and flip them. He watched as Rishi journeyed to the fridge again to put the milk away, and he wheezed uncontrollably and he watched Rishi freeze up and gape at the egg holder. The eggs he had taken had been replaced. The cat had tears in his eyes as he watched Rishi climb into the refrigerator and push against the back looking for a secret door. The cat had to leave when he saw Rishi’s face as he encountered the milk jug refilling itself. Rishi couldn’t pretend to ignore the cat anymore and threw tuna in a bowl and placed it on the floor. The cat was still wheezing, so he picked up his food and went to the table. The cat joined him, sitting on a chair expectantly.
   “I am going to humor you.” Rishi whispered as he grabbed the bowl of tuna and placed it on the table. The cat seemed to smile at him, and Rishi smiled back. The cat ate slowly like he had manners, and when they had finished Rishi took his plate and made his way to the kitchen. The cat watched him freeze up again and knew he had noticed all the mess he had made was gone. He watched as Rishi checked the cupboards and finally the bin. “This house is amazing!” he breathed wondering if he would have to empty the bin. Guilt crossed his face and the cat exited the room wheezing.

   *                       *                       *

   “No! Please! He's all I have left in this cold world!” Philip moaned and begged, “Mirandah please!”
   “Philip this is how it has to be!”
   “No! No it doesn’t!” he protested at once.
   “It is the prophecy!”
   “He’s just sixteen!”
   “The prophecy says he will be knocked out around this time, and he won't wake up until we exit the world. If he doesn’t wake up I will take him!”
   “To hell with the prophecy Mirandah!” Philip yelled, “He’s a sixteen year old boy, and I own him! You cannot take away my boy!”
   “Mason…” she whispered. Mason sprang up, putting herself between Philip and the door and called her donkey to her side. Mirandah disappeared inside the church, returning with Rishi in her arms. “He will not wake Philip. The only way to save him is to take him to The Underground World…if we do not…he will never wake.” Her eyes teared taking Philip aback. Mason took the boy from her arms.
   “Let me come”
   “Philip, you will be killed the second you step foot in that world!”
   “Mirandah!”
   “Shut up you old coot!” Mason butted in, dumping Rishi heavily into the wagon. “ ‘es of’ to save the world!”
   “You’re a lot older than me!”
   “Philip!” Mirandah whined
   “Hush!” Mason spat, she thrust her hand to his forehead, his eyes widened and he sulked away from her hand shakily. The fire in Mason’s eyes still burned as she strapped the donkey to the cart feeling tall and mighty. She called to Mirandah, and she climbed into the back with Rishi. “g’up ‘ag!” she screeched. Mirandah waved dismally from the back as the wagon wheeled away. Mason and the donkey gave the impression that they had been around when the world was created. Ancient in age. They had formed such a bond that Mason didn’t need to touch her to talk. They should both be arthritic and crippled but they were surprisingly youthful in their old age. She had named the donkey Benny when the donkey was born in her barn. She was ten at the time and still stewing over such a boys name and decided to bully the baby donkey, giving it a boys name too seemed appropriate. It only found more ridicule and teasing from the other children who claimed it ran in her family.

An uncountable distance between the wagon and Philips pleading cries, Mason and Mirandah had set up camp and were finishing their meals by the fire. Benny was eating close by but still avoiding the flames. He was untied and when Mirandah noticed this she commented.
“Mason, how do you get your donkey to stay near you? Did you train it?” she watched the donkey eating the grass close by, “I have had many donkeys in my life but none as well trained as this one! I have had the finest trainers and still nothing that amounts to this…”
   “Benny aint trained. She just got a good bond wit’ me”
   “What do you mean?”
   “I can talk to ‘er without ‘avin’ to touch ‘er” Mirandah looked at the donkey eating the grass and then realized Mason didn’t push Philip, the talked to him.
   “What did you say to Philip?” she demanded, standing up.
   “Nothin’…”
   “I will not buy that Mason!” she clenched her fists.
   “I jus’ showed ‘im pictures!” she grimaced.
   “Of what?”
   “Life if ‘e didn’t give ‘is boy up” the two stopped talking. Mason was looking at her donkey and her lips were moving, the donkey turned and snorted. Mirandah climbed into the wagon next to Rishi and tried to sleep. Mason whispered to Benny to get some sleep and he snorted again. She put out the fire with dirt, and climbed into the wagon next to Rishi. She heard Benny laughing at some private joke. She decided to share and laughed “all aboard the band wagon!” Mason smiled and rolled over, Benny realized she wouldn’t fit in the wagon and stopped laughing suddenly. She snorted and wandered off to sulk.