The Piano
                                                                   ~Part 9


     The foxes crouched, preparing to strike. Tom cringed, covering his head and turning away, expecting the fatal blow to land any minute.
      "Wait!" a voice called. Tom looked up, fearfully, then gasped. Another fox appeared, slightly limping.
      "Slerge? But, I thought..." Tom trailed off. Finally, he finished."I thought you were the bad guy. But, somehow, I'm not sure a bad guy would save me."
      "Correct, and incorrect. Yes, I am Slerge, but no, I am not the bad guy,"Slerge affirmed. The other foxes bounded off. Slerge motioned for Tom to follow him which Tom did, cautiously.
      "Let me guess. Zaro told you that he's the good guy and I'm the bad guy, right?"
      Tom nodded. Slerge smiled.
      "That Zaro! Always mixing things up. Though he really must have meant it this time. Poor guy." Slerge shook his head sympathetically.
      "What do you mean 'poor guy'?" Tom asked.
      "Well, a while ago, Zaro was a really nice guy, always helping people. But, then, one day, he went out into the woods alone on an errand. He didn't come back for a while so a search party was sent out and found him lying, unconscious. When he woke up, he was different, distracted. He got confused a lot. He went out into the woods by himself a lot, but he never said what he did. He was more mean, snapping at foxes when they asked him to do something. Then, one day, he stole something. I caught him and then when asked, Zaro blamed me. Well, they banished him and no one heard from him for a while. After a while, I went out to see how he was and he kept running away until he vanished in the bushes by the lake where I followed him and found you."

                                                             The Piano
                                                                   ~Part 8


      "Hey!Where'd he go?" Tom exclaimed. He moved closer, noticing that there was no sign of the fox or the rope.
      "I wouldn't go near that if I were you," Zaro warned., advancing a little.
      "Why?" Tom asked, curious, as he knelt down in front of the piano leg.
      "Don't touch that!" Zaro exclaimed, as Tom reached a hand out towards the piano leg. As soon as he touched it, Tom felt a strong tugging. He fell forward but never hit the floor. He shot forward, bright light streaming by. A few minutes later, he fell onto tall grass. He stood up slowly, rubbing his eyes. Tom opened his eyes and looked around. His back was to a immense lake, but tall grass was all he could see for miles in all other directions. On the other side of the lake was a forest. Tom looked around and then, seeing that there was nowhere else to go, started around the lake toward the forest. After ten minutes of  walking in tall, scratchy grass under a blazing sun, Tom was grateful for the cool shade of the forest. He rested for a few minutes under a tree near the beginning of the forest, debating whether to go on or not. Suddenly, Tom stiffened. Then it came again: a rustling in the thick bushes. Tom realized the danger of the situation. He didn't know where he was, in a strange forest, not knowing what kind of animals lived there.He slowly started inching toward the lake. Three black foxes leaped out of the bushes, snarling warningly as they advanced on Tom. Tom kept backing up until he put his left foot back and heard a splash. He swung his head around, panicking. The foxes circled around one in each direction. Tom gulped, frantically searching for an escape. He was trapped at the edge of the the lake by the three growling foxes with no escape.