19 Chroma

Part Two ...in which Peanut discovers the city

19 Chroma Nervously Peanut stepped through the door and closed it behind her. A wave of freezing cold air hit hard as her eyes struggled to adapt to the brightness. When they eventually began to adjust, she saw that she was standing alone in a vast, snow-covered landscape. It was hard to tell where the ground ended and the sky began. Everything was completely white except for a few jagged trees that punched through the snow like spiky, black fingers clawing at the heavens. They looked like they had been drawn very quickly with a piece of charcoal. Peanut tightened her dressing-gown cord and started to trudge through the ankle-deep snow. After a minute or two, she glanced back over her shoulder

and was relieved to see that the door hadn't crumbled away to a fine, silvery grey powder, like the apple she'd drawn earlier that day. Maybe the magic worked differently because she was inside the drawing? she wondered. But was she inside it, or had she gone through the picture to another place entirely? Then something else caught her eye just beyond the door. She started to walk back. As she got closer, she saw two signposts, one short and wide, and one tall and thin. They too looked like drawings. She broke into a jog. She got to the shorter one first. CHROMA CITY LIMITS The other sign was much taller, about half the height of her house on Melody Road. It consisted of a thick central pole with lots of flat, arrow-shaped arms coming off of it, all pointing in different directions. Each arm had words painted on it. Peanut read a few. 'Ink District 'Warholia,' 'The Strip At the very top was a much larger panel sporting the words 'You are in The North Draw'.

As she was deciding which arrow to follow, she noticed some small pawprints in the snow by the base. They looked just like the ones that Giles often left in the kitchen after a walk in the Great Woods. Instinctively she started to follow them. They led down through the valley from a ridge in the distance, before passing the signpost and continuing towards a small cluster of charcoal-coloured trees. As she got closer to the trees, she thought she could hear something. Maybe it was just the wind? She reached the first tree and leaned on the trunk. It felt strangely dusty and left a thin layer of black powder on her hand. She wiped it on her dressing gown and held her breath to listen. Yes. There it was. And again. A soft crying sound. A whimper, almost. There was definitely something in among the trees, and that something was definitely alive. Peanut swallowed hard and headed into the copse. Treading as quietly as possible, she moved slowly. The footprints zigged and zagged before disappearing around the back of the largest tree.