[quote][color=gray]Quivering lips, he slowly turned towards the terrifying monster that was the cat. Then the walls. His eyes scanned the walls for any signs of a door. He refused to interact with the speaking animal. If he pretended it did not exist then maybe it would just leave.[/color][/quote]

The cat blinked its huge eyes. It tilted its head. It backed out of the boy's way and sat down again, curious.

What Arthur would see on the wall were quite a lot of straight lines and neat angles, like the wires on a motherboard, that covered the entirety of the coppery walls as well as the floor. The ceiling, of course, was water -- like an upside-down pool with no bottom in sight.

But also on the wall was a row of circles that might be buttons, lined up just low enough that Arthur could potentially reach them with small effort: 

[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/NUAWQUu.png[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/7tOhboh.png[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/d18c3Su.png[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/CFUT97x.png[/img][img]http://i.imgur.com/CfdI35v.png[/img][/center]

"You wanna get out of this little room, huh?" the cat went on with a fangy grin. "Why not push one of those buttons? I bet they'll take you someplace neat."

[hr][quote][color=gray]"I . . . I don't understand," she says, trying to hide her confusion. "I'm not late for anything. You don't know me, you don't even know my name . . . right?"[/color][/quote]

"Your name's not important," the hostess said testily. She suddenly tossed an apron at Riley's head. "What's important is you get to work. Grab some dirty plates and take them back to the kitchen, and don't talk to the clients no matter what. Skedaddle!"

The monsters, meanwhile, paid no attention to Riley -- they were far too invested in devouring all the food in sight, as quickly and as messily as possible. The room was filled with slurping and chewing and grunting noises.

Suddenly there was a crashing commotion. A few of the monsters lunged over their table, grabbing for something that was running away between the plates. A little white fuzzy animal sprinted along the table, leaping away from their grabbing claws and tentacles -- it tumbled to the floor and skittered away again just out of reach of a hungry monster. The little poofy animal skidded and hid inside an oversized cup on the floor, shivering, unsure what to do.

"Pick up the pace!" the hostess hollered again, and threw a wad of paper at a passing waitress.