Reaching the end of the tunnel Alfie is blinded by the scorching sun, climbing out he feels hot sand beneath his feet, after his eyes adjust to the harsh sunlight he is meet by a large sign that reads, “The town of TBD'' walking into the town a snake slithers up to Alfie, “Greetings traveler, the names Sly, welcome to Waston the land of dryness and death.” Alfie already feeling uneasy says, “I was just trying to get to the surface but I ended up here.” Sly shows Alfie around and asks if he’d like to stay, “We don’t get a lot of visitors any more not since we got taken off the map that is.” Alfie hesitantly decides to stay for a few days and Sly takes him to his house, “Sorry about the mess.” says Sly gesturing to the large amount of bottles and papers strewn around the place, “Been busy over the past few days, I’m a writer of books you know.” Alfie had never seen an author named Sly but wondered what he wrote about, Sly layed out a bedroll for Alfie and got him a blanket, “The hotel is usually open but the owner just disappeared one day.”

Waking up Alfie is covered in scrunched up paper balls, “Writing is hard you know.” said Sly brushing the papers off Alfie with his tail, “Can I ask you a question, how would you like to stay with me and live here instead?” Alfie thinks about his options, “I’m sure I could stay a little longer.” says Alfie “Great, it’s nice to have someone who isn’t terrified of me, I’ll be sure to keep you safe.” Sly said gleefully, Alfie now semi reassured, asked about Sly’s average day, “I usually just sit here and write.” Sly replies “What if we did something a bit more fun today?” asked Alfie Sly nods and Alfie takes him outside, to Alfie’s surprise the street is bustling with mice, at the sight of Sly all the mice rush into their homes locking their doors and shutting blinds, “Do you see why I stay inside now.” said Sly sadly, “Let’s just go back inside.” “No, I said we were going to have some fun, what do you enjoy doing?” asks Alfie “Wri...” Alfie cuts Sly off, “Apart from writing.” “We could always go to the saloon.” suggested Sly, Alfie and Sly went to the saloon the bartender cowered behind the counter, Alfie asked for some drinks, the bartender cautiously handed them their drinks, sitting Sly and Alfie made small talk, sharing their life stories, as the sun set Alfie and Sly stumbled back to Sly’s abode, “What a night!” shouted Sly as they both collapsed to the floor.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

In the morning Alfie woke up in Sly's firm grip, pulling himself out he woke Sly up, “Why were you squishing me, I could’ve died!” shouted Alfie, Sly tiredly responded, “You looked cold.” he yawned and started writing instantly, “You should get along now you want to get home don’t you?” asked Sly, Alfie forgot about his journey, he gathered up his things and went back to the hole he came from, crawling out into the miners caves, the ants led him to a different tunnel, “Don’t scare us like that frog, we thought the snake got you!” said the ants, confused Alfie asks, “You mean Sly, he just looks scary, he’s a real nice guy.” the ants shrug off Alfies somehow strange comment and send him to the next tunnel.