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“Mrawr,” was the only response.
Grabbing two handfuls of treats, Merry closed the door and stalked around to the driver's side, examining what she held along the way.
Snickers—so good.
Reeses—always fabulous.
Raisinets—under normal circumstances, raisins were disgusting. However, in this case, Raisinets served as proof that chocolate made everything better.
Oreos—delicious bits of goodness that got stuck in her teeth, turning them black. Snacks for later!
She settled into the driver’s seat, tossed most of the snacks onto the dash, retaining a box that apparently held Milk Duds inside.
She didn’t understand the use of the word Dud in relation to chocolate, nor milk, to be honest.
After all, milk was rather disgusting. More proof that chocolate made everything better. Chocolate milk. Yum.
Five minutes down the road and Merry pulled onto the shoulder, executed a u-turn and returned to the gas station.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she said to the kittens as she climbed back into the car, dumping an armful of Milk Duds on top of the other treats on the floorboard. “If you’d tasted them, you’d have gone back too. Trust me, they’re divine. But not good for kittens, which is good news for me, because that means, these are all mine. Paws off, kittens!”
Back on the road, she spent the next hour eating her way through pack after pack of Milk Duds—chewy, divine caramel covered in the greatest substance on earth, chocolate—and chatting with the kittens.
“Look, I know some humans are probably going to be terribly disappointed when they go into that gas station and realize that someone bought their entire stock of Milk Duds, but honestly, I deserve them more than any human on earth. After all, I have an entire lifetime of eating these treats to catch up on. How many years is that, anyway?” She thought about it a moment, trying to count, but decided she really just didn’t care. “It’s a lot of years, all right? And that means, a lot of Milk Duds still to consume before I’ve caught up to even one eight-year-old human!”
“Mrawr.”
“Exactly! Oh, look. It’s a sign welcoming us to Jamesville. How polite. Although, there’s not much here to see, is there? Just woods and more woods.”
According to GPS, if she kept going straight, she’d eventually reach the town square and a bit past that would be Hotel Shenanigans, where she had a reservation waiting.
The only problem was that Merry was more interested in exploring the creepy woods.
“What do you think, kittens? Should we just stay on the nice, safe-looking road or go on an adventure? Oh, look! A turn-off. Adventure calls!”
She turned onto the narrow gravel road and followed it through the very spooky-looking woods. Darkness was just beginning to fall, which gave the towering trees an extra dose of sinister gloom. “Exciting, don’t you think?”
A few moments later, she came upon another road and without thinking much about it, made the turn and wasn’t even surprised when that road ended in a small parking lot.
Right in the middle of the woods.
“Well, this is rather bold for the humans.”
A glance in her rearview mirror showed that darkness had fallen just enough so that she really couldn’t even see the road she’d followed anymore.
“Creepy road, check. Spooky woods all around, check.”
She glanced around, taking note of the only two cars in the lot. “Deserted parking lot, check. Honestly, this is how every horror novel begins, not to mention horror movies. I’m just thrilled.” She leaned forward and grabbed several handfuls of chocolate from the dash and the floorboard, stuffing them into the pockets of her hoodie.
She then hopped out of the car, rounded the hood and grinned when she saw the path just beyond the headlights. It was even paved!
She hurried to the passenger side and opened the door.
Two of the kittens were racing around inside the box, chasing each other, pouncing on each other and wrestling one another to the ground.
The other four—no, five—no, six—were piled in a ball in the corner, sound asleep.
Before she could talk herself out of it, Merry reached into the box and scooped one of the wrestling kittens into her arms. Like all his other siblings, he was pitch black. The minute she drew him close, he started batting at her hair. She chuckled, kissed his forehead, then set him back in the box next to his sister, who pounced on him the minute he was within her reach again.
