Cats are a girls best friend

[curiously_cora]

Coraline Jones, or Carter as she was hopefully soon to be, was not a very cheery girl for once. Taking refuge in the Helter Skelter, Coraling hung up the No Grown Ups Allowed sign on the outside of the twisty slide before climbing up to the top. Curling up in the corner, Coraline sighed as she took out the knife and began to carve something into

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[loveintriangles]

Nessa had seen the sign but, considering herself young of spirit, had ignored it. To be perfectly specific; Nessa had seen the sign but, seeing a small girl on top of a large construction, had ignored it. She had no doubt that it was a strong construction, built by capable hands and resistent to a great many of nature's disasters, but that did not mean she was entirely certain the girl should have climbed it on her own. Particularly since Caro- no, Coraline was hugging her cat in a very unhappy way.

"Are you all right?" she called upwards.

[curiously_cora]

"Yes, no, I don't know. Maybe?" Coraline said, feeling very miserable. She just wished her friends and the people she had grown up and was growing up with would stop disappearing. "I cut my thumb."

[loveintriangles]

Nessa too had lost some of her dear friends in a recent and short period of time, and worst of all her son, Julian.

Coraline's doubts did not seem to refer to her thumb, or perhaps she was just trying to be brave. "Come down, dear, and I can have a look at it. I'm afraid I can't climb. Is it bleeding badly?"

[curiously_cora]

"I stopped most of it, I think." Coraline said, looking at her thumb. Coraline picked up Cat and put him down beside her. Looking at her curiously, Coraline gave him a look before pushing herself to the edge of the slide. Grabbing her bag, Coraline slid down the slide before coming to a stop right at the bottom. "I was trying- trying to write Peter's name. In the wood but the knife slipped."

Cat creeped down the slide, his tail going back and forth before he jumped onto a tree stump and began to clean himself.

[thedescent_into]

Standing at the base of the slide, mindful of the sign, Sarah can hear Coraline's voice drifting down from her perch. Even at this distance, she can hear the pain in it.

"Cora?" she calls, stepping back so that the girl will be able to see her, "Am I allowed to come up?"

[curiously_cora]

Coraline took a moment to consider, stroking Cat's head before she called down to Sarah.

"Yes," Coraline said. "There's a Sarah clause in the sign. It's just really, Really small. Besides you're not a normal grown-up."

[thedescent_into]

"Is there a clause that says you'll come down to save the pregnant woman from having to toddle up the ladder when she can barely keep her balance on the ground?" she ventures hopefully, because she could do it, and she would, but dragging her increasingly large arse up all those rungs was not something she looked forward to.

[curiously_cora]

"Nope, there's no clause but there might be a footnote." Coraline said, scratching Cat before putting him down beside her and shushing him down the stairs. Scooting over to the edge of the slide, Coraline pulled her bag onto her lap and pushed herself down the slide. Coraline whizzed around the tower and came to a sudden stop at the bottom. Pressing the handkerchief against the cut, Coraline waved with the tips of her fingers. "Hello baby, hello Sarah. I cut my thumb. By not doing anything that Adam would disapprove at all."

[polly_okeefe]

I couldn't help but smile to see the sign. Still, Coraline seemed to need a hug. Maybe I could help.

"Does this sign include me?" I called up.

[curiously_cora]

"Don't be silly Polly, you're not a grown up." Coraline said sighing in a bored, sad tone. Kissing Cat on the head and giving him a tight squeeze, Coraline was glad that for once he wasn't trying to run away. He didn't like much affection and he tended to do what he liked but sometimes he was really affectionate.

[polly_okeefe]

As I came up, I thought: how I wished that were true. Though, perhaps it was true that we never really grew up. Ever. Life remained as frustrating, agonizing, terrifying and beautiful, no matter how old you were.

"So, what have grown ups done now?" I asked, setting in near her.

[curiously_cora]

There were names up the stairs. Hidden right down below out of eyesight but there if you looked properly. They were names. Names of the children, teens, friends that Coraline had lost. She'd put them there when she was bored one day and kept up the tradition. They were still here with her in a way even if it made her sad sometimes too.

"Nothing. They haven't done anything, Adam's extra nice in fact. He's- I'm going to be Coraline Carter, I'm going to be Adams' daughter properly." Coraline said, though that thought didn't make her very happy. She just wanted her friends back. "Peter's gone. I didn't notice."

[provincialbelle]

"Careful," Belle warned, leaning in with a playful smile on her face, even though she was being tentative. "One day you're going to look at him and he will talk back." At least, that, or suddenly the ottoman would start barking. Belle was never sure anymore what would happen on the strange Island they all lived on.

[curiously_cora]

Coraline half-smiled at that vague hope even though she knew what Cat talking would probably involved. He had told her he could always talk, he just chose not to but Coraline thought it was more than that. Coraline thought that it was the Other Mother's realm that helped him speak his mind.

"That would be nice, if he did start talking I mean. He used to talk but he doesn't anymore." Coraline said scratching Cat's head and beneath his chin like he secretly liked. Cat might have been a haughty, distant cat to most people but not always to Coraline.

[provincialbelle]

"Did he run out of things to say?" Belle wondered as she glanced up and tried to figure out how she was supposed to maneuver a strange object like this. "Can I come up?" she wondered, even though her hand was only mildly gripping one of the supporting bars near her.

[curiously_cora]

"No, I don't think so. He always had lots of things to say when I was being silly. I think the island did it or he just doesn't want to talk to me anymore," Coraline said, hugging Cat and rubbing his chin. Seeing as he was being particularly friendly Coraline thought she would treat him. "Okay but only if you promise not to be too grown-up-y."