p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-top: 0px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" "Promise me you'll be careful. You promise me."/em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" "Please, mom. Don't make this harder than it has to be. /emI'mem style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" the one leaving!" The brunette settled her suitcase more comfortably beside her. "Don't rile me up." Her tone turned cold, trying to cover her rising emotions with stubbornness, but the girl's mother knew her firstborn well. She grabbed her daughter's hands and held tight like she suddenly changed her mind about the entire trip. Her aged eyes were sad and watering while her husband stood idly by, waiting his turn to speak to his daughter one last time in person before he let her go. His own eyes brimmed with tears, too - tears he'd always blame on the dust in the air./em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" The girl's little sister was there as well, not quite sure what to make of the send-off. She held something in her hands: a drawing, just for her big sis - one of mom, dad, and her, on a tiny, tiny, blue and green planet far off in a distance of black colored pencil space, waving to their family member who returned the gesture from the moon./em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" The younger girl thought about all the chores she'd have to make up for her sister's absence. All the annoying lectures about science and dating she'd get to escape. All the family dinners with just three members. All the back-flips on the trampoline she wouldn't get to show her. All the dance shows she wouldn't be able to come to./em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" It hurt to let her big sister go./em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" The family wound up crying that day, hugging and kissing until others began to stare. The ride from home to the college was three hours away, and the newly accepted student promised she'd visit every month or so. However, the fact that a new chapter in her life was opening - the chapter of true adulthood - didn't help anyone accept that their little girl, their big sister, was growing up and leaving the nest./em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" The sun beat down on the campus, and its people, causing them to squint through the harsh lighting, and, to the brunette, gripping her luggage handles' with sweaty palms and tugging them to the front doors of a new world, it all felt like a dream./em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" _/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The first thing Brittany felt was the weight of many fabric layers covering her body, almost pushing her form into her bed. Odd. She only used em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"one/em blanket to sleep./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Turning her head to the side, she noted that the air felt off, too. The atmosphere in her dorm room was never this thin or chilly. It was a pleasant feeling border-lining on discomfort. Maybe her roommate cranked the air conditioning to overdrive during the night, and em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"also/em remodeled the ceiling to be five hundred feet higher than it should be. Everything just felt more stretched out. Lighter, em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"bigger./em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" So, what was going on?/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" As she moved her head back upright, Brittany's brain finally came to, and she immediately put it to work in retracing her steps from the day before. But, for some reason, she couldn't come up with anything. All was blank except for the memory of her dream. Therefore, that had to be the reason why she felt a lone tear slip steadily down her cheek, uncomfortably down the underside of her ear, and soak into the pillow. Her neck stiffened then, trying not to move so she couldn't feel the wet spot./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" Why would I dream about that?/em Brittany thought. Well, of course, she em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"was/em in college at the moment, in her dorm room, so very far away from what she still considered her rightful home. It was probably just that subconscious form of homesickness knocking on her door again./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" And homesickness she felt when honey brown eyes cracked open to, in horror, not see the pale cream ceiling of her dorm room, but a rocky, cave-like one, dotted with stalactites and illuminated by soft hues of green and blue./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Despite the calming nature of her surroundings, the woman was suddenly thrust into a panic, body springing up and eyes darting to and fro like bullets to try and em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"remember /emwhere she was and how the em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"hell /emshe got there./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" And then, it clicked./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" It all came crashing down like a bolt of lightning, like rushing water breaking a dam, like a jump scare in a movie. Her mouth moved to curse out, to make a sound, but the muscles constricted, and any noise was caught in her throat./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Camping trip. Falling unconscious. Snow. No service. Rock Climbing. Bloody fingers. Singing. A talking dog. An old mattress./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" The Grinch./em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" No. That was...impossible! It had to be! All of it! None of that em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"really /emhappened, right? Either she was lucid dreaming at the moment, or all that schoolwork was finally getting to her head./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" In the end, though, no matter what she thought to herself, the unmistakable pointed rock and movie hues of the cave were enough to convince her. So was the dirty mattress she was lying on, and the slight smell of dog on her hands from petting Max, and the bandages on her fingertips, and the ratty blanket from before currently clutched in her fists./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" A part of her wished none of this was real, even though it was a dream come true at the same time. The feeling of her heart being raised to the ceiling in elation and sunken to the deepest pits of her stomach mixed into a disgusting concoction that left a bad taste in her mouth. The girl swallowed it down, smacking her tongue to rid the taste. It didn't help./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" She thought about talking because maybe she could convince herself that she was still dreaming. However, she supposed that wouldn't really be of any use. Everything she went through was real, she knew deep down. If anything, talking would only bother her sleepy ears, and possibly alert anyone else close by. She needed time to compose herself./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" So, Brittany didn't dare make a sound, didn't sigh, didn't really move much. She only stared around at what she'd be forced to call her new room, her new home, for now. Or forever./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Her heart fell out of her body and sunk to the floor./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The woman guessed it didn't really click up until now; she was so caught up in settling in and marveling at the wonder of the foreign world around her. Now she was crying, feeling extremely hopeless and not even making an attempt to at least wipe her tears away./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Huh, and to think that moving to em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"college/em was daunting. At least Brittany's family had been in the same em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"universe /emas her./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" After letting the pity party go on for a bit longer, the pained brunette felt the tears cease. Crying was an excellent emotion reliever, but that wouldn't get her home./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" After some long, shaking breaths, the girl knew that she needed a game plan of sorts. Wallowing in panic and helplessness would only make her go insane. Even if the young woman didn't go to school long enough to learn the art of portal crafting, she had to try em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"something. /emAll of what she learned as a scientist-in-training would be put to the test, but it was a challenge she would have to take./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" One step at a time, though, /emBrittany reminded herself when her stomach suddenly rumbled loudly. The human girl frowned, worried that she'd have to dig through that wretched dump for food, but was relieved when she remembered the various snacks she had packed for the camping trip. Hungry eyes darted around the space for her possessions, and at last, found them lying against the wall adjacent to her bed. She knew the Grinch wasn't in the mood for helping her settle in last night, so she and Max must have put them there./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Chilly fingers wrapped around her coverings before pulling them to the side, and even with thick pajamas and a sweater, the frosty air still bit through the fibers and dug into her flesh. A shiver ran up the brunette's spine, and she made a mental note to tell the Grinch to build a heater for her or something. That was, if he ever wanted his new sidekick to stay alive for more than a week./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Flinging her legs over the mattress, Brittany slowly stood up to full height and flinched when the cold fought through her fuzzy socks as well. At this rate she wouldn't be surprised if she caught hypothermia in the next hour./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The woman sighed in annoyance and changed plans to warm up first before eating. After some quick rummaging through her suitcase, she found a pair of salt and pepper sweatpants and a dry bra. She slipped the articles on, with the pants resting on top of her pajama bottoms. Because everything was packed for a em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"summer /emgetaway, most clothes were very thin - layering was the best option until she could travel down to Whoville (How strange it was to say that unironically) to buy proper attire./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Next were the damp clothes from the night before. Until she settled in further and learned where she could wash her wear, wet ones would have to be laid out to dry. Brittany did just that, then, trying her best to place them anywhere that wasn't on the dirty ground./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Brushing her teeth wasn't very tricky, as she had the proper materials for it, but she just hoped that the Grinch wouldn't find out about one corner of the room that she decided to call her "spitting corner."/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" At last, with the makeshift morning routine done, it was time for a mediocre breakfast. Her stomach whined and groaned but was satisfied when its owner found a freshly-bought bag of animal crackers inside of her backpack. Brittany's eyes closed in bliss after eagerly shoving a handful into her mouth./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Before she could finish the entire bag, though, something shiny caught her attention. The girl suddenly recognized it as her phone, and her heart leaped at the possibility of any new messages. Even though it didn't seem possible, she knew, it didn't hurt to check anyway. The college student sighed deeply in dread, munching on another cracker. With her recent breakdown and all, anything coming through had the potential to lift her spirits./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Grabbing for the device, she stared at the black screen as it lay in her hand. It was an ominous feeling, wondering if the very last tether tying her to her home had snapped. She stood up./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" Please, please, please, please…/em she thought, but it was to no avail. The only thing that showed up when she pressed the home button was the lock-screen wallpaper showcasing her cat. The woman had a feeling that would happen, but her heart sank anyway./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" And then the glitching started./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The sight startled Brittany out of her disappointment and she gaped at her phone screen. The date and time seemed to bug out at random intervals. There was no pattern either - at some moments the glitches were so small she had to squint to notice them, and at other moments they were so big she couldn't even recognize what was supposed to be there. Not only that, but the date and time, when em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"able/em to be seen, was frozen, and that freaked her out for more reasons than one. She contemplated what it read./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" July 3sup style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"rd/sup, 2:20 PM./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Her mind filled with questions. Just when did she arrive in this story? Was it July in Whoville currently, and if so, did that mean it was like this all year round considering it was in a snowflake? Or, maybe, was it that her phone just couldn't find any connection to satellites and update itself and it was actually December in Whoville?/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The questions rattled in her skull until they became too confusing, and so Brittany shook her head to get rid of them. Unfortunately, her phone was now more proof that she had universe-hopped. Or, would the better term be "world-hopping?" Maybe, considering one world just couldn't consist of everything that makes up a universe. Then again, the snowflake Whoville was in seemed to be surrounded by what could be other worlds, so maybe she em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"was/em in a universe, which was in a snowflake, which was in em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"her /emuniverse?/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Had she discovered the very first em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"micro-verse with sentient beings?!/em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Ho boy, if only she weren't in a man-made em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"Grinch/em movie, of all things. Then maybe this discovery would really knock her world's socks off./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The young woman put her phone back into her backpack, along with the animal crackers, too tired to think about the logistics of her situation anymore. Instead, she quickly ran a brush through her hair to make herself look at least mildly presentable, realized she wouldn't look that way with how greasy the strands were, and felt a bit self-conscious as she put the brush back./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Taking a step out into the "hallway," for lack of a better term, Brittany began to search for her new green roommate. She noticed how her room was the closest thing to the living area, which was only some feet down the rest of the winding walkway of the cave that lead to the front door. Shoving her hands into the large belly pocket of her hoodie, she took a couple steps down to survey the area. As before, random spotlights of blues from the sky filled the cracks in the mile-high ceiling and blanketed the floor, while yellow Who-made lights were strung about like some kind of teenager's bedroom. It was pretty, as usual, but there was no Grinch. It also just felt rather…strange to just…wander around a movie set, but it em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"wasn't/em a movie set. This was real life. Brittany was in a movie, and she wasn't daydreaming this time./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Brittany wondered how many times she'd say that before it either sunk in or pulled her further from reality and made her go insane./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" A bark broke the brunette's gaze from the interior design of her new shared living room, and she locked eyes on Max, who had been sleeping in a dog bed but sprang up to meet his new playmate. He panted happily, tail wagging as he trotted over. He ran circles around the human before stopping to let the girl scratch behind his adorable floppy ears./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Hey, Max!" She greeted. "Thank you for helping with my new room last night. That was very sweet of you," she finished, finding it silly to talk to a dog in full sentences, even though she was well aware Max wasn't like normal dogs./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The brown canine only licked her hand in response, and Brittany looked around the room again. It was too quiet. Still no Grinch./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Well, looks like the Grinch isn't in this room," she said to Max. "Do you know where he is? I have to talk to him." About what, she had no idea. She just hoped it would come to her./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Max turned his head to point with his nose to the highest peak of the cave, which was past the winding staircase and leading to the front door. Ah, so he was outside./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Thanks, buddy," she praised before giving him one last pat. The dog yipped before trailing off somewhere to do whatever sentient dogs did./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Brittany wondered how the Grinch would take seeing her again as she began to walk up the spiral path. She hoped he had cooled off since his little mood from the night before, but if the reason of anger was because of her very presence, then she doubted he was peachy. Then again, when was the Grinch ever peachy? The thought made her giggle a bit./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" At last, the young woman made it to the front door. It stood tall (well, to her, at least), the sloppy craftsmanship of the wooden planks comical, but somehow ominous, too./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" That must have been because of what lied on the other side./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Brittany took a breath, laid her hand on the doorknob, and pushed the barrier to the outside world open./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Just as Max had gestured, the green Who in all his grouchy glory was right where he was said to be. Maybe it was the slight howl of the wind that covered up the creak of the wooden door, or perhaps it was the Grinch's uncanny ability to ignore sounds for the sake of cinematic presence, but whatever it was, the Who stood Hunchback-of-Notre-Dame style away from the approaching human girl, not moving an inch. In fact, the only sign that he wasn't frozen into a statue was the heavy rise and fall of his torso when he breathed with a growl. Even his arms were crossed tightly against his chest./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Needless to say, now wasn't a good time to talk to the Grinch./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" But, because Brittany was so good at breaking the ice, she thought it to be a good to do it anyway at the worst possible time. It was that or never find the bravery to bring the issue up again./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The brunette shut the door behind her as gently as possible, even though she could bet that grouch knew she was there anyway. She then sunk her hands into her hoodie pocket and kept her eyes trained on the Grinch's back as she took some steps forward. Her shoes compressed the snow loudly, and the girl prayed he couldn't hear. The Grinch's angry huffing only got louder as she got closer, and she half expected him to tear his attention away from Whoville below to strangle her or something./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" At last, the small trek was finished after what felt like one thousand years with only a few feet left to go to stand beside him./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" She didn't dare make that distance, though. Instead, she thought hard of something to say from behind./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Hi."/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Wow. Clearly, if em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"that /emwasn't going to sweep the Grinch off his feet, she didn't know em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"what /emwould. While the girl mentally face-palmed, all she got was a low grunt from the Who in response. Well, at least there was em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"some/em acknowledgment. A pissy one, but one nonetheless. She decided to say something else other than "Hi" while sheepishly drawing swirls in the snow with the tip of her shoe. /p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Uh, what's wrong? You've…been in a bad mood since last night," Brittany managed to say, and before she could take a red pen to what went wrong with em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"that/em new sentence, she realized she wouldn't have to, because something managed to set the Grinch off anyway. Without warning, the mountain bum spun around to snarl at the other./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "YOU'RE what's wrong!" /p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Ouch. That stung./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "I don't get it!" He continued. "em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"Portals?!/em Those ridiculous clothes?! That nose?!" As any self-respecting asshole would do, the towering male gestured rather dramatically to the objects in question just to lay it on thick, and so while Brittany understood the Grinch's concerns, she had to force her body from shrinking in on itself./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Grahh, Whoville's trying to mess with me! After all these years, they really think they can just throw me off this mountain, MY mountain, with some sort of em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"spy?!" /emHe spun around again to face theem style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" human/em girl after glaring down at the gleeful town below he so hated. The wind blew his fur this way and that, as well as Brittany's hair. She felt cold and uncomfortable, her heart squeezing in panic. Would he decide to throw her out, right then and there?/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "I shouldn't have let you in! And so quickly, too! I wasn't in my right mind - maybe because I'm-"/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" He cut himself off, but that did it, and Brittany suddenly understood him better. She knew exactly what he wanted to say, but something inside of him ground that slimy, green tongue to a halt. Something inside that demanded he isolate himself from the rest of the world because no matter what he did, the Grinch knew he'd never be accepted. Something inside that prided in, well, pride. /p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" He was going to say, "lonely." She could tell by how silent the mountain had suddenly become, by the Grinch's tight-lipped expression, by his slumped posture, and by the hurt in those yellow eyes hiding behind all the walls he'd set up over the years./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The atmosphere was just as tense as before but for a different reason this time./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "You really don't believe me, do you?" Brittany started out slow, almost honey-like to hopefully keep things cool. She tried to not directly address the nerve the Grinch had hit, but still eluded to it. The green Who's eyes hardened again. /p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Of course I don't!" He got silent, then almost laughed, but it was in a mocking kind of way. "Having nothing but a dog for company must have finally pried some screws loose."/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" "Finally?" /emWhat did "finally" mean? Mr. Humbug there was being a bit too generous with himself, Brittany thought, because she knew that those screws had been pried loose long ago. Of course, that was kept to herself, especially when she was in perfect throwing distance from the edge of the cliff. Instead, she took his pain into account and continued that calming, pleading tone./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Let me prove it to you. Please. It'll all make sense after I explain." She took a cautious step forward. The Grinch was silent, his back to her again./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "That is - if you'll let me," she continued. "Even em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"you/em know something's not right here."/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Don't tell me what I know!" The Grinch retorted quickly in a weak attempt to keep his dignity intact after revealing a very private side of himself to her. After a few short seconds of thought, the Who crossed his arms and gave in./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Fine. If you can prove to me you're not from Whoville, then you can stay em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"forever, /emfor all I care!" A balloon of hope inflated in Brittany's belly, but the Grinch wasn't finished./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "But, if you're wrong…" He took a haunting step forward. "If you're really a no-good liar that dared to venture into the Grinch's lair…" Brittany didn't open her mouth to mention that em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"he/em was technically the one that took her in. /p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Then you'll be out in the snow faster than you can say, em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;""Christmas cheer," /emHe finished with a growl that, this time, meant business. Still, though, even through the fear that made the hairs on the back of Brittany's neck stand up, she knew deep down that she could make it work. The girl managed to smile cockily, right in front of the Grinch's nose./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Trust me, Mr. Grinch, I think you'll be pretty convinced," she said with a shrug. "Would I lie to you?"/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The Grinch squinted suspiciously at her./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "I don't know. em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"Would you?"/em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" A vision of the lost human girl seeing her family again came in a flash, and through the whipping winds at the top of Mount Crumpit, Brittany was filled with determination./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Let's find out."/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" "Please, mom. Don't make this harder than it has to be. /emI'mem style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" the one leaving!" The brunette settled her suitcase more comfortably beside her. "Don't rile me up." Her tone turned cold, trying to cover her rising emotions with stubbornness, but the girl's mother knew her firstborn well. She grabbed her daughter's hands and held tight like she suddenly changed her mind about the entire trip. Her aged eyes were sad and watering while her husband stood idly by, waiting his turn to speak to his daughter one last time in person before he let her go. His own eyes brimmed with tears, too - tears he'd always blame on the dust in the air./em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" The girl's little sister was there as well, not quite sure what to make of the send-off. She held something in her hands: a drawing, just for her big sis - one of mom, dad, and her, on a tiny, tiny, blue and green planet far off in a distance of black colored pencil space, waving to their family member who returned the gesture from the moon./em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" The younger girl thought about all the chores she'd have to make up for her sister's absence. All the annoying lectures about science and dating she'd get to escape. All the family dinners with just three members. All the back-flips on the trampoline she wouldn't get to show her. All the dance shows she wouldn't be able to come to./em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" It hurt to let her big sister go./em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" The family wound up crying that day, hugging and kissing until others began to stare. The ride from home to the college was three hours away, and the newly accepted student promised she'd visit every month or so. However, the fact that a new chapter in her life was opening - the chapter of true adulthood - didn't help anyone accept that their little girl, their big sister, was growing up and leaving the nest./em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" The sun beat down on the campus, and its people, causing them to squint through the harsh lighting, and, to the brunette, gripping her luggage handles' with sweaty palms and tugging them to the front doors of a new world, it all felt like a dream./em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" _/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The first thing Brittany felt was the weight of many fabric layers covering her body, almost pushing her form into her bed. Odd. She only used em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"one/em blanket to sleep./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Turning her head to the side, she noted that the air felt off, too. The atmosphere in her dorm room was never this thin or chilly. It was a pleasant feeling border-lining on discomfort. Maybe her roommate cranked the air conditioning to overdrive during the night, and em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"also/em remodeled the ceiling to be five hundred feet higher than it should be. Everything just felt more stretched out. Lighter, em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"bigger./em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" So, what was going on?/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" As she moved her head back upright, Brittany's brain finally came to, and she immediately put it to work in retracing her steps from the day before. But, for some reason, she couldn't come up with anything. All was blank except for the memory of her dream. Therefore, that had to be the reason why she felt a lone tear slip steadily down her cheek, uncomfortably down the underside of her ear, and soak into the pillow. Her neck stiffened then, trying not to move so she couldn't feel the wet spot./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" Why would I dream about that?/em Brittany thought. Well, of course, she em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"was/em in college at the moment, in her dorm room, so very far away from what she still considered her rightful home. It was probably just that subconscious form of homesickness knocking on her door again./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" And homesickness she felt when honey brown eyes cracked open to, in horror, not see the pale cream ceiling of her dorm room, but a rocky, cave-like one, dotted with stalactites and illuminated by soft hues of green and blue./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Despite the calming nature of her surroundings, the woman was suddenly thrust into a panic, body springing up and eyes darting to and fro like bullets to try and em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"remember /emwhere she was and how the em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"hell /emshe got there./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" And then, it clicked./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" It all came crashing down like a bolt of lightning, like rushing water breaking a dam, like a jump scare in a movie. Her mouth moved to curse out, to make a sound, but the muscles constricted, and any noise was caught in her throat./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Camping trip. Falling unconscious. Snow. No service. Rock Climbing. Bloody fingers. Singing. A talking dog. An old mattress./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" The Grinch./em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" No. That was...impossible! It had to be! All of it! None of that em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"really /emhappened, right? Either she was lucid dreaming at the moment, or all that schoolwork was finally getting to her head./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" In the end, though, no matter what she thought to herself, the unmistakable pointed rock and movie hues of the cave were enough to convince her. So was the dirty mattress she was lying on, and the slight smell of dog on her hands from petting Max, and the bandages on her fingertips, and the ratty blanket from before currently clutched in her fists./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" A part of her wished none of this was real, even though it was a dream come true at the same time. The feeling of her heart being raised to the ceiling in elation and sunken to the deepest pits of her stomach mixed into a disgusting concoction that left a bad taste in her mouth. The girl swallowed it down, smacking her tongue to rid the taste. It didn't help./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" She thought about talking because maybe she could convince herself that she was still dreaming. However, she supposed that wouldn't really be of any use. Everything she went through was real, she knew deep down. If anything, talking would only bother her sleepy ears, and possibly alert anyone else close by. She needed time to compose herself./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" So, Brittany didn't dare make a sound, didn't sigh, didn't really move much. She only stared around at what she'd be forced to call her new room, her new home, for now. Or forever./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Her heart fell out of her body and sunk to the floor./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The woman guessed it didn't really click up until now; she was so caught up in settling in and marveling at the wonder of the foreign world around her. Now she was crying, feeling extremely hopeless and not even making an attempt to at least wipe her tears away./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Huh, and to think that moving to em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"college/em was daunting. At least Brittany's family had been in the same em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"universe /emas her./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" After letting the pity party go on for a bit longer, the pained brunette felt the tears cease. Crying was an excellent emotion reliever, but that wouldn't get her home./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" After some long, shaking breaths, the girl knew that she needed a game plan of sorts. Wallowing in panic and helplessness would only make her go insane. Even if the young woman didn't go to school long enough to learn the art of portal crafting, she had to try em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"something. /emAll of what she learned as a scientist-in-training would be put to the test, but it was a challenge she would have to take./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" One step at a time, though, /emBrittany reminded herself when her stomach suddenly rumbled loudly. The human girl frowned, worried that she'd have to dig through that wretched dump for food, but was relieved when she remembered the various snacks she had packed for the camping trip. Hungry eyes darted around the space for her possessions, and at last, found them lying against the wall adjacent to her bed. She knew the Grinch wasn't in the mood for helping her settle in last night, so she and Max must have put them there./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Chilly fingers wrapped around her coverings before pulling them to the side, and even with thick pajamas and a sweater, the frosty air still bit through the fibers and dug into her flesh. A shiver ran up the brunette's spine, and she made a mental note to tell the Grinch to build a heater for her or something. That was, if he ever wanted his new sidekick to stay alive for more than a week./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Flinging her legs over the mattress, Brittany slowly stood up to full height and flinched when the cold fought through her fuzzy socks as well. At this rate she wouldn't be surprised if she caught hypothermia in the next hour./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The woman sighed in annoyance and changed plans to warm up first before eating. After some quick rummaging through her suitcase, she found a pair of salt and pepper sweatpants and a dry bra. She slipped the articles on, with the pants resting on top of her pajama bottoms. Because everything was packed for a em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"summer /emgetaway, most clothes were very thin - layering was the best option until she could travel down to Whoville (How strange it was to say that unironically) to buy proper attire./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Next were the damp clothes from the night before. Until she settled in further and learned where she could wash her wear, wet ones would have to be laid out to dry. Brittany did just that, then, trying her best to place them anywhere that wasn't on the dirty ground./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Brushing her teeth wasn't very tricky, as she had the proper materials for it, but she just hoped that the Grinch wouldn't find out about one corner of the room that she decided to call her "spitting corner."/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" At last, with the makeshift morning routine done, it was time for a mediocre breakfast. Her stomach whined and groaned but was satisfied when its owner found a freshly-bought bag of animal crackers inside of her backpack. Brittany's eyes closed in bliss after eagerly shoving a handful into her mouth./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Before she could finish the entire bag, though, something shiny caught her attention. The girl suddenly recognized it as her phone, and her heart leaped at the possibility of any new messages. Even though it didn't seem possible, she knew, it didn't hurt to check anyway. The college student sighed deeply in dread, munching on another cracker. With her recent breakdown and all, anything coming through had the potential to lift her spirits./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Grabbing for the device, she stared at the black screen as it lay in her hand. It was an ominous feeling, wondering if the very last tether tying her to her home had snapped. She stood up./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" Please, please, please, please…/em she thought, but it was to no avail. The only thing that showed up when she pressed the home button was the lock-screen wallpaper showcasing her cat. The woman had a feeling that would happen, but her heart sank anyway./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" And then the glitching started./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The sight startled Brittany out of her disappointment and she gaped at her phone screen. The date and time seemed to bug out at random intervals. There was no pattern either - at some moments the glitches were so small she had to squint to notice them, and at other moments they were so big she couldn't even recognize what was supposed to be there. Not only that, but the date and time, when em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"able/em to be seen, was frozen, and that freaked her out for more reasons than one. She contemplated what it read./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" July 3sup style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"rd/sup, 2:20 PM./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Her mind filled with questions. Just when did she arrive in this story? Was it July in Whoville currently, and if so, did that mean it was like this all year round considering it was in a snowflake? Or, maybe, was it that her phone just couldn't find any connection to satellites and update itself and it was actually December in Whoville?/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The questions rattled in her skull until they became too confusing, and so Brittany shook her head to get rid of them. Unfortunately, her phone was now more proof that she had universe-hopped. Or, would the better term be "world-hopping?" Maybe, considering one world just couldn't consist of everything that makes up a universe. Then again, the snowflake Whoville was in seemed to be surrounded by what could be other worlds, so maybe she em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"was/em in a universe, which was in a snowflake, which was in em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"her /emuniverse?/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Had she discovered the very first em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"micro-verse with sentient beings?!/em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Ho boy, if only she weren't in a man-made em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"Grinch/em movie, of all things. Then maybe this discovery would really knock her world's socks off./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The young woman put her phone back into her backpack, along with the animal crackers, too tired to think about the logistics of her situation anymore. Instead, she quickly ran a brush through her hair to make herself look at least mildly presentable, realized she wouldn't look that way with how greasy the strands were, and felt a bit self-conscious as she put the brush back./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Taking a step out into the "hallway," for lack of a better term, Brittany began to search for her new green roommate. She noticed how her room was the closest thing to the living area, which was only some feet down the rest of the winding walkway of the cave that lead to the front door. Shoving her hands into the large belly pocket of her hoodie, she took a couple steps down to survey the area. As before, random spotlights of blues from the sky filled the cracks in the mile-high ceiling and blanketed the floor, while yellow Who-made lights were strung about like some kind of teenager's bedroom. It was pretty, as usual, but there was no Grinch. It also just felt rather…strange to just…wander around a movie set, but it em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"wasn't/em a movie set. This was real life. Brittany was in a movie, and she wasn't daydreaming this time./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Brittany wondered how many times she'd say that before it either sunk in or pulled her further from reality and made her go insane./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" A bark broke the brunette's gaze from the interior design of her new shared living room, and she locked eyes on Max, who had been sleeping in a dog bed but sprang up to meet his new playmate. He panted happily, tail wagging as he trotted over. He ran circles around the human before stopping to let the girl scratch behind his adorable floppy ears./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Hey, Max!" She greeted. "Thank you for helping with my new room last night. That was very sweet of you," she finished, finding it silly to talk to a dog in full sentences, even though she was well aware Max wasn't like normal dogs./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The brown canine only licked her hand in response, and Brittany looked around the room again. It was too quiet. Still no Grinch./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Well, looks like the Grinch isn't in this room," she said to Max. "Do you know where he is? I have to talk to him." About what, she had no idea. She just hoped it would come to her./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Max turned his head to point with his nose to the highest peak of the cave, which was past the winding staircase and leading to the front door. Ah, so he was outside./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Thanks, buddy," she praised before giving him one last pat. The dog yipped before trailing off somewhere to do whatever sentient dogs did./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Brittany wondered how the Grinch would take seeing her again as she began to walk up the spiral path. She hoped he had cooled off since his little mood from the night before, but if the reason of anger was because of her very presence, then she doubted he was peachy. Then again, when was the Grinch ever peachy? The thought made her giggle a bit./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" At last, the young woman made it to the front door. It stood tall (well, to her, at least), the sloppy craftsmanship of the wooden planks comical, but somehow ominous, too./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" That must have been because of what lied on the other side./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Brittany took a breath, laid her hand on the doorknob, and pushed the barrier to the outside world open./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Just as Max had gestured, the green Who in all his grouchy glory was right where he was said to be. Maybe it was the slight howl of the wind that covered up the creak of the wooden door, or perhaps it was the Grinch's uncanny ability to ignore sounds for the sake of cinematic presence, but whatever it was, the Who stood Hunchback-of-Notre-Dame style away from the approaching human girl, not moving an inch. In fact, the only sign that he wasn't frozen into a statue was the heavy rise and fall of his torso when he breathed with a growl. Even his arms were crossed tightly against his chest./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Needless to say, now wasn't a good time to talk to the Grinch./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" But, because Brittany was so good at breaking the ice, she thought it to be a good to do it anyway at the worst possible time. It was that or never find the bravery to bring the issue up again./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The brunette shut the door behind her as gently as possible, even though she could bet that grouch knew she was there anyway. She then sunk her hands into her hoodie pocket and kept her eyes trained on the Grinch's back as she took some steps forward. Her shoes compressed the snow loudly, and the girl prayed he couldn't hear. The Grinch's angry huffing only got louder as she got closer, and she half expected him to tear his attention away from Whoville below to strangle her or something./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" At last, the small trek was finished after what felt like one thousand years with only a few feet left to go to stand beside him./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" She didn't dare make that distance, though. Instead, she thought hard of something to say from behind./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Hi."/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Wow. Clearly, if em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"that /emwasn't going to sweep the Grinch off his feet, she didn't know em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"what /emwould. While the girl mentally face-palmed, all she got was a low grunt from the Who in response. Well, at least there was em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"some/em acknowledgment. A pissy one, but one nonetheless. She decided to say something else other than "Hi" while sheepishly drawing swirls in the snow with the tip of her shoe. /p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Uh, what's wrong? You've…been in a bad mood since last night," Brittany managed to say, and before she could take a red pen to what went wrong with em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"that/em new sentence, she realized she wouldn't have to, because something managed to set the Grinch off anyway. Without warning, the mountain bum spun around to snarl at the other./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "YOU'RE what's wrong!" /p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" Ouch. That stung./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "I don't get it!" He continued. "em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"Portals?!/em Those ridiculous clothes?! That nose?!" As any self-respecting asshole would do, the towering male gestured rather dramatically to the objects in question just to lay it on thick, and so while Brittany understood the Grinch's concerns, she had to force her body from shrinking in on itself./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Grahh, Whoville's trying to mess with me! After all these years, they really think they can just throw me off this mountain, MY mountain, with some sort of em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"spy?!" /emHe spun around again to face theem style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" human/em girl after glaring down at the gleeful town below he so hated. The wind blew his fur this way and that, as well as Brittany's hair. She felt cold and uncomfortable, her heart squeezing in panic. Would he decide to throw her out, right then and there?/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "I shouldn't have let you in! And so quickly, too! I wasn't in my right mind - maybe because I'm-"/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" He cut himself off, but that did it, and Brittany suddenly understood him better. She knew exactly what he wanted to say, but something inside of him ground that slimy, green tongue to a halt. Something inside that demanded he isolate himself from the rest of the world because no matter what he did, the Grinch knew he'd never be accepted. Something inside that prided in, well, pride. /p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" He was going to say, "lonely." She could tell by how silent the mountain had suddenly become, by the Grinch's tight-lipped expression, by his slumped posture, and by the hurt in those yellow eyes hiding behind all the walls he'd set up over the years./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The atmosphere was just as tense as before but for a different reason this time./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "You really don't believe me, do you?" Brittany started out slow, almost honey-like to hopefully keep things cool. She tried to not directly address the nerve the Grinch had hit, but still eluded to it. The green Who's eyes hardened again. /p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Of course I don't!" He got silent, then almost laughed, but it was in a mocking kind of way. "Having nothing but a dog for company must have finally pried some screws loose."/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;"em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;" "Finally?" /emWhat did "finally" mean? Mr. Humbug there was being a bit too generous with himself, Brittany thought, because she knew that those screws had been pried loose long ago. Of course, that was kept to herself, especially when she was in perfect throwing distance from the edge of the cliff. Instead, she took his pain into account and continued that calming, pleading tone./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Let me prove it to you. Please. It'll all make sense after I explain." She took a cautious step forward. The Grinch was silent, his back to her again./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "That is - if you'll let me," she continued. "Even em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"you/em know something's not right here."/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Don't tell me what I know!" The Grinch retorted quickly in a weak attempt to keep his dignity intact after revealing a very private side of himself to her. After a few short seconds of thought, the Who crossed his arms and gave in./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Fine. If you can prove to me you're not from Whoville, then you can stay em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"forever, /emfor all I care!" A balloon of hope inflated in Brittany's belly, but the Grinch wasn't finished./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "But, if you're wrong…" He took a haunting step forward. "If you're really a no-good liar that dared to venture into the Grinch's lair…" Brittany didn't open her mouth to mention that em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"he/em was technically the one that took her in. /p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Then you'll be out in the snow faster than you can say, em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;""Christmas cheer," /emHe finished with a growl that, this time, meant business. Still, though, even through the fear that made the hairs on the back of Brittany's neck stand up, she knew deep down that she could make it work. The girl managed to smile cockily, right in front of the Grinch's nose./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Trust me, Mr. Grinch, I think you'll be pretty convinced," she said with a shrug. "Would I lie to you?"/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" The Grinch squinted suspiciously at her./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "I don't know. em style="line-height: 1.7em; white-space: inherit; clear: none !important; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important;"Would you?"/em/p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" A vision of the lost human girl seeing her family again came in a flash, and through the whipping winds at the top of Mount Crumpit, Brittany was filled with determination./p
p style="line-height: 1.7em; color: #222222; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "Let's find out."/p