"So cat's end begins.

"My small feet slip down easily. For a moment it feels like falling. Heart's in my mouth... Then the panic passes. The mud's holding my feet firmly but gently, and I'm going into it bit by bit by bit. I have no trouble relaxing now; peace seems to well up through me out of the mud. Around me the mud's rucking and rippling into near circles; the Forest's living ground reacting to my entry, beginning the process of swallowing me. I imagine it taking my legs, hips, chest, shoulders, closing cool over my head; I won't need to imagine that for long."

Start
Part 18
Part 20