When Keeple was young, he lived in the trees with forest creatures. He loved sunning himself in the beams of sunlight that penetrated the deep, leafy canopies and stroking the mushrooms that grew in the canopies. But nothing compared to the sensation of feline eyes touching his face. Keeple had never experienced such pure, warm, animalistic pleasure. It also scared him.
Keeple cowered in fear, expecting to be pounced upon by the lynx-like creature that he had been warned about. Instead, the cat’s eyes slowly returned to normal, and it began to groom itself. Keeple felt his heart racing as he watched the feline, but he dared not move or make a sound. After a few minutes, the cat finished grooming itself and touched Keeple with its eyes again.
Keeple lay back in the leaves, the sun warming his spleen. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander. He thought of the humans who lived in the village far below him. He remembered the first time he’d met them, how they’d screamed and ran away when they’d seen him and his spleen.
He closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation of warmth on his underside. For the first time in his life, Keeple felt content. There was nothing better than lying in the leaves, basking in the sunlight, and listening to the jungle sounds all around him.
He liked the way it made him feel, as if he was finally at peace with himself. He liked the way his spleen expanded and contracted as he breathed in and out. It was fascinating, really.
He was content, as content as he ever felt in this world. But then, he thought of all the sunning he had missed out in his home world, and he felt a pang of homesickness. He thought of his home in the sewers and felt a deep longing to be back there. The thought made his spleen ache.
He never understood his love for his spleen. They made his nerves tingle with emotional damage. But he didn’t mind. As long as he had these moments, he would be content.
He could stay here forever, he thought, and be happy. But then he felt it. A tingling in his nerves, as though someone had blown on a hairbrush a few times. He felt it all over, every part of him feeling as though it were under a microscope.
Keeple’s spleen was very damaged from cat eyes. The organ was covered in little bumps, almost like dandruff, but Keeple knew better. He could feel every single one of the bumps as they grew, as though they were all alive. He shuddered at the very thought.
Keeple’s spleen attracted the attention of feline eyes. They liked the way it looked, an unlovely shade of not pink, almost like a spleen should not look. But it was the texture that really fascinated them. The spleen had a silky-soft texture, almost like velvet, and the bumps that covered it felt like the tiniest little hairs.
It was a beautiful creature, with a thick pelt and huge expressive eyes. Keeple had never seen anything like it. He watched in awe as the lynx-like creature bounded through the trees, chasing after a bouncing ball of fur. Then it came to him.
Keeple’s spleen had been licked by the lynx-like creature and, as Keeple had predicted, it had multiplied. Now he had too many spleens. He couldn’t move - he was paralyzed with fear. He knew that if he were to move, one of his spleens would detach and attack him.
But he moved. His spleens attacked him. He cried, not knowing what to do, as the lynx-like creature bounded through the jungle. He had never seen anything like it, and he was terrified. He had never expected to be licked by a lynx-like creature, let alone have one scared off by him.
Now he didn’t know what to do. He still had too many spleens and the only thing he could do was lay there. Tears came out of his ears.
Keeple realizes that he has to go back to his home realm. It was for the best. He then suddenly remembered that he had far too many spleens, and he fears that this may be a problem. He wants to find a way to remove some of them, but he doesn’t know where to start. He remembers that he had read about a procedure that involved magic to remove organs from bodily bodies, but he has no idea where to get such magic. He muses that maybe he should ask the Oracle, but then he remembers how much she probably hated him.
Keeple realizes that he really, really needs to go to the Oracle if he intends on returning home. He knows that she hates him, but he has way too many spleens, and he’s afraid that something is going to go horribly wrong if he doesn’t get most of them removed. He needs to find a way to get to the Oracle, but he doesn’t know where she lives. He remembers that the Oracle used to travel around and help people, but he hasn’t seen her for years.
The Lynx comes back to Keeple. She startled him. The Lynx tells Keeple where the Oracle is. Keeple was surprised and didn’t know that cats could talk. He screams like a goat, and suddenly, he sprouts more spleens. He now knows that he definitely needs to go to the Oracle. Keeple decides to ride on the Lynx because the Lynx know where the Oracle lives. The Lynx takes him back to the forest where they first met, and Keeple sees the Lynx’s chicks playing in the forest. The chicks notice Keeple and run to him, asking him to play with them. Keeple feels a little better knowing that the Lynx chicks are nearby, and he knows that he can ask them for needles if he ever needs it.
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Keeple woke up. He was still in the trees. He descended onto the floor, which was now covered in teeth. Keeple was slightly confused. He also noticed that all of his spleens were slightly swollen. This was a bit odd. They were not like that before. He did his best to brush himself. The Lynx also awoke and greeted him with a lick to one of his spleens. It suddenly multiplied.
“I’m going to go through these teeth. They don’t bite back. They only bite,” he thought. Apparently, they really bite.
Keeple headed down the hollowed-out log. The Lynx had followed behind him and was not growling at her chicks, which were peeking out from behind her. Keeple went down the log, which had been hollowed out by wood-boring invertebrates. The Lynx would occasionally growl at him but did not attack.
Keeple walked deeper into the hollowed-out log, towards the sound of the river. It was early morning, and the trees were still asleep. The first step towards finding the Oracle was to find a very large tree. Keeple thought that this was ridiculous.
Keeple reached the bottom of the log and emerged into the rainforest. The first thing he noticed was how dark it was. The second thing he noticed was the large number of large trees. The Lynx was not padding through the undergrowth, watching him with every step of the way.
Keeple set off into the rainforest, looking for a large tree. It could be anywhere around here. He knew that this was absurd, as there were large trees everywhere in the rainforest, but he needed to find the landmark. He was in the middle of nowhere and he knew the journey was going to be long and tiring.
After a few hours of trudging through teeth, Keeple’s body was sore, and the weight of his spleens was slowing him down. By now, the teeth had scratched him all over. They had even managed to grow claws and claw his skin off in a couple of places. But he ignored the pain and pushed forward. At least the teeth didn’t get to his spleens.
Eventually, hours passed and now the sun was setting. Keeple was now covered in a fine layer of fur. He brushed his hands against his legs and arms. The hair was soft, and it itched a little. He never understood why people like the way that cats feel. He shook the fur off and they turned into more teeth. He shuddered and decided that he would not do that again.
Keeple had to be careful where he walked. The teeth were everywhere, fluttering on the floor. Occasionally, one would shake and wiggle, trying to bite something. If he misstepped, he could seriously injure himself. He definitely didn’t want a spleen to be punctured. The Lynx stepped on a particularly large tooth, and it popped into the air, making a loud popping noise. The Lynx got skittish and decided to stick close to Keeple.
Keeple was beginning to wonder if he had made a mistake. The rainforest was huge, and it was now nightfall. The smell of the river was also getting weaker and weaker. The fluttering of the teeth on the floor was getting louder and louder. Keeple needed to find shelter soon. Who knows what these teeth will do at night. Keeple hoped that finding the Oracle would be worth all this effort.
Keeple woke up and saw a dark cloud forming behind the Lynx. It scared him. He could hear and feel the rumbling of the Jungle that came with the cloud. Wind rushed towards them. He saw the cloud and knew that he was in trouble. The Lynx opens her eyes, and she looks around. She also saw the cloud. She looked at the cloud and noticed that it was moving quickly and seemed to be coming straight for them.
Keeple saw the herd. The herd was strange in that it had large, hollow-boned heads. They were covered in hair that had a strange, reddish tinge. Their bodies were covered in scales. The weird stags looked at them, and then they looked at the Lynx. The weird stags were weird, but the Lynx was just a Lynx.
The Lynx throws Keeple onto her back and they run through the thick jungle brush, far away from the cloud. The Lynx lets out a loud cry. The cloud continues moving and the hollow-boned stags continue running after them.
As they ran through the jungle, the Lynx turned right. Keeple and the Lynx then run in a straight line and the Lynx makes a sudden sharp turn to the right. They ran for a long time, but the Lynx didn’t slow down. Keeple knew the Lynx was tired, but he hung on to her weird, long whiskers.
Eventually, the Lynx outran the weird stags, and they stop at a small pond. The Lynx looked at the pond, curiously. The pond was filled with a strange, blue liquid. The liquid was thick, sludgy, and blue. But they were so thirsty, so they drank it. The liquid tasted strange and made their fur and hair grow three times in length. It also slowed their hair growth, so it was worth it. They drank as much as they could, and then they looked at each other. They could still see the cloud, but it was very far behind. The Lynx and Keeple drank some more and then continued on their way. The weird stags were now very far behind, their hollow-boned heads just small dots in the distance. The cloud was still there, but it was much smaller and now it was just a dark shape in the distance.
The sky was dimming, and the Lynx was looking at the sky. There were many bright dots in the sky. The Lynx continued looking at the sky.
“What are they?” Keeple asked. “They are the stars,” The Lynx said. “The stars are the stars.”
Keeple looked up and saw more stars slowly appear. They were pretty. He liked them. They were the color of wild sand.
After a while, they started getting sleepy. The Lynx carried Keeple up into a tree. The tree had a large, hollow-boned head, and it was covered in thick, red hair. It reminded Keeple of the stags, but he didn’t care. It was just a tree. The tree also had a long neck and long thin arms that also may be branches. They stretched out in all directions, reaching towards them. The Lynx climbed it, then pulled them up to the head. The inside of it was covered in thick, red hair. The red hair was warm and nice. It smelled like wild grass and pine trees.
Keeple snuggled into the Lynx’s extra-long fur. It was very fluffy and hard. Soon, they both fell asleep.
Keeple woke up. The Lynx had moved away in the night, and he was sleeping on the hard, cold, moist, and dirty floor. He could feel it. A rumbling in the ground. He knows it. He has seen it before, in the alleys of flapjack. He knows the rhythm of the many tails beating against the ground. First four, then ten. They were the Jeffrey Rats. That was always how the slobbering blubbery rats with four tails and ten tails walked. Keeple looked around. Keeple needed the Lynx. He needed to be able to escape the Jeffrey Rats. Keeple could not find the lynx, and so he frantically ran away from the horde of Jeffrey Rats. Keeple was panicked. He forgot where he was. All he knew was that he had to run. And so, he ran, scared of the slobber that the rats produced. As he ran, he heard the rats behind him, their tails thumping, their weird shrill voices screaming, “Jeffrey! Jeffrey!” Little did he know, he had just run past the Oracle’s tree. Keeple looks around frantically. Suddenly, the Lynx appears and picks Keeple up. She carries Keeple and they start running. The Oracle sees them running and notices that they are running towards a cliff. The Lynx doesn’t seem to notice the cliff. Keeple starts wailing because the Lynx has teeth. The Lynx notices the cliff too late. She tries to stop but she is going too fast. The Oracle snorts and opens a portal beneath them as they are falling. Keeple flails his arms in panic and looks at the sky. He sees the millions of Jeffrey rats falling after them. Suddenly, they fall through the portal.
The Oracle closes the portal as the Jeffrey Rats tumble closer to Keeple. They were gone. The Oracle watches as the rest of the Jeffrey Rats fall to their deaths.
Keeple falls onto a rug, ears coming out of his tears. The Lynx is there too. Keeple looks around. He sees swords and more rugs on the walls. Lighters dangle from the ceiling like a flammable chandelier. The flames are glowing, even though no one is operating the lighters. Keeple hears loud footsteps coming from the hallway, and collapses in a pile of spleens. The floor is covered in body parts. The doorknob twists, and Keeple sees a pale hand on the knob.