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All I wanted was a nice warm place to XXXX for the night and there didn't seem to be anyone around in this old building I found. So I found myself a nice spot, spread out my blanket roll, and I was just starting to XXXX off when I began to hear these strange noises. Somebody was moving things around and I thought I could hear somebody whistling.

At first, I was scared that maybe it was the police. So I got up really quiet and started tip-toeing from room to room while my ears followed those really strange sounds. And then I saw him!

He was a big guy in a black field jacket and a ball cap who had his back to me. And he was whistling quietly while he was arranging a bunch of things on this big table. I moved a little bit closer and peeked around him to see what he was doing. And then I could see a bunch of candles, and boxes of those curly-Q things, and lots of old rags, and a big can of ether. An arsonist! He was going to torch this place!

I got really scared, took a quick step back, tripped over my own big feet, and went crashing down to the floor. He whirled around and then he saw me. I tried to jump to my feet, but he was on me in two big steps. He grabbed me up by the front of my shirt, pulled me up to him, and clamped his big gloved hand over my mouth.

I started struggling and tried to pull away from him, but he was just too big for me. He dragged me over to the table and then changed his grip on me so that now his arm was wrapped all around my shoulders and his glove was pressing over my mouth. And then he held me there with one hand while his other hand opened that can of ether and started pouring some of it on an old rag.

I knew what ether was, and I knew what it could do to you, and I didn't want him doing that to me. So I tried shaking my head from side to side and screaming behind that glove for help, but I couldn't get loose, and nobody could hear me. And then he spun me around to face him, his gloved hand grabbed me by the back of my neck and pulled me close to his hard body, and then his other hand mashed these cold folds of damp cloth all over my nose and mouth.

"Mmommease Mmon'tmon't make me"

I gasped for breath and, as soon as I did, these sharp fumes all started rushing into my nose and mouth, shocking my eyes, paralyzing my brain, and making me all dizzy.

"Mmo-omease. Mmo! MmI mon't mell mo mo-mone."

But he just wrinkled his boxer's nose, smiled at me with his thin lips, and then began gently stroking the back of my neck with his big fingers like he was rocking me to XXXX while more and more of those sharp fumes filled my head and made my whole body heavy and weak. Then his smile got just big enough for me to see one gold tooth before everything started to go really dark.

When I woke up again, I was lying back on my blanket roll. It took me a few moments to shake my head clear, and then I remembered ­ the arsonist! I tried to jump to my feet, but my head started spinning from the leftover effects of the ether. So I tried to call somebody for help, but nothing came out of my mouth. My mouth was all taped over! I reached up to pull the tape off, but my hand didn't move. I was tied up!

Oh, no! That guy was going to set fire to this place! I had to get somebody to help me get out of here!

I started kicking my shoes really hard on the floor, hoping that maybe somebody downstairs would hear me. It was a bad idea. Somebody heard me all right. It was him! He grabbed another piece of rope and tied my ankles together really tight.

"What's a matter, kid? You want some more of that XXXX-juice?"

I shook my head "No." at him and then started begging him behind the layers of tape plastered over my mouth to please let me go.

"Hey, you ain't gonna have long to wait. You be a good boy and maybe I'll take you with me when I go."

Then he left me and went back to do his Devil's work.

I didn't believe for a minute that he was going to take me with him. What was he going to do with a live witness? No. If I was going to get out of here, I was going to have to do it myself. And then I remembered something I saw in a movie once.

If I could just slip my hands down past my legs, then I could get them in front of me to pull this tape off of my mouth, and then maybe I could use my teeth to untie these tight knots. It was worth a try so I struggled and struggled until finally I did it!

I was just starting to peel the tape off of my mouth when up jumped the Devil!

"You're just full of tricks, ain't you kid? Well, let's see you get out of this!"

He rolled me over onto my stomach, pulled my feet up behind me, and then tied my wrists to my feet really tight.

"Any more tricks an' you don't get to go with me."

The Devil went back to his work.

I watched him go and I could feel tears building up in my eyes. These ropes were really tight now, and it felt like my arms were being pulled right out of my shoulder sockets. And then I thought I smelled something.

Was that smoke? Did he start that fire already?

I struggled and strained and twisted my bound body every way I could. There had to be some way out of this! I just couldn't believe I was really going to die.

And then I thought I heard something! I listened carefully. No, it wasn't that big guy's heavy steps. It was something else!

"I'm in here! In here! Oh, please! Please help me!" I screamed behind the layers of tape.

And then I saw it. It was a pussycat.

At first I thought, "Run pussycat! Run! There's going to be a fire!"

But then my thinking turned a little desperate. "Here kitty, kitty. Come on, Kitty. Chew on the ropes for your nice Uncle Jamie."

But it was no use. This poor pussycat probably never saw "Lassie" or "Fury" or "Rin Tin Tin." She didn't know what I was talking about so she just curled up beside me so that she could keep me warm.

The smoke was getting heavier now. It was getting hard to breathe and to keep my eyes open. And I was just drifting off into another deep XXXX when I thought I heard the sound of sirens. And then from far off, I heard a voice say:

"Hey, you guys! There's a kid in here!"

THE END

Jamie the kid played by Angel

The Cat played by Hades

Photography by Caitiff