“Bagheera!” You snap yourself away from the lamia’s eyes and spin around. You rush to the panther; surely the two of you together can deal with her tricks. But he seems spaced out, a grin stretching his face with . . . all-too-familiar rings of colors in his eyes. The lamia must have put him under her spell like she had you. You call out his name again to try and wake him but he doesn’t budge.
“Now, now, don’t bother the big guy,” the lamia says as if admonishing a pet. “He’s having a nice nap. Why don’t you turn around and let me help you back to sleep, too?”
Your entire body tingles at that word, sleep. But no, you can’t fall for her again. She sounds close, though—you only have time for one shot at waking Bagheera. What do you do?
–28a Shake Bagheera awake!
-28b Slap Bagheera awake!
-28c Forget it, no time, it won’t work! Just get out of there, it’s you she wants! (unfinished)
-28d Wait, wait, wait, what do I mean you can’t fall for her again? It was nice, wasn’t it? You know, maybe you’d just gotten off on the wrong . . . er, lower appendage, so to speak. Maybe if you turn around and apologize and strike up a conversation she’s not so bad after all. (Maybe you’re not THINKING STRAIGHT but fine if you wanna try this . . .)
Duth Olec's Cuckoo Cosmos 