Today was going to be the day! Rusty knew it. Mom was doing laundry, and he was ready. He’d packed some kibble in a bandana, threw in his favorite ferret toy, and some catnip, which he was going to offer up to his hero, Aslan once he found him. Aslan, he’d heard, was huge, and the King of a fabled land where kitties had everything their hearts could ever desire.

Rusty just needed for his mom to turn her back one moment while hanging her shirts and he was going into the closet. It was the way, he’d heard, to the land where Aslan lived. A closet was the same as a Wardrobe, surely?

Narnia. The dream world of worlds, and it was going to be Rusty’s. All Rusty’s, once he got there. He’d serve Aslan like the king he was, and one day, maybe he could be a king also.

But, he’d have to grow a majestic mane like Aslan’s. That could take years. Until then, he’d just have to hope.

There it was… his chance… Rusty hunkered down, his bum wiggling in concentration. His mom moved over, took a few steps away to fetch more hangers. He was off!!

Rusty sprang into action, speeding through the open closet door like he’d tried so many times. He squeezed between the suitcase and the container of gaily colored wrapping paper. Pushed through some clothes that had fallen off their hangers to the floor.

Up over his mom’s old CD collection, and he carefully pressed his nose against the white wall of the back of the closet. He huffed, he chuffed and took his paw to trace his claws down. But there was no give.

Was there no Narnia? No fabled Aslan, his hero?

Then he heard it, a voice from the suitcase.

“Silly kitten,” the voice announced and he felt a paw tug at his tail and pulled him into the suitcase. No wait, it pulled him into Narnia.

Rusty let out a gasp of aww, his eyes widening and taking all the splendor that surrounded him. “Welcome,” a calico cat said sweetly, “I’m Patches, and I’ve been sent to greet you.”

“Is this really Narnia?” Rusty asked once he took his eyes off the array of cat trees, crinkly tubes and toys spread over the glade. The scent of tuna and salmon whispered through the air and tantalized his senses. This was like kitty heaven to him. He was never going to want to leave, even as his heart twinged at the thought of not seeing his twin, Ginger, his mom or his dad again.

“Yes, and Aslan awaits you!” Patches announced, her tail swishing pleasantly behind as she walked.

“This is amazing!” Rusty said, starting to pause to bat at a crinkly ball. But then he remembered, Aslan awaited him.

“Quite frankly, you arrived sooner than I expected,” Patches admitted, “I’ve been expecting Missy forever so long, and I’ve been lonely without my sister. How is she?”

“Missy’s my friend,” Rusty announced proudly. “She lets me sit with her on her blanket on the chair.” Then, with a start, Rusty realized just who stood before him, and he bowed. “She speaks often of you, and how you suddenly left her. If she’d only come with me through the closet…”

“It’s not her time then,” Patches said and cheshire cat grinned, “When it is, you can greet her with me!”

“Of course!” Rusty agreed happily, and they passed through a curtain of yarn. He playfully batted at it with his paw. He purred loudly and made a couple of passes through it before looking back at Patches.

“You ready?” she asked and nodded her head towards a huge, fluffy bed before them.

“Oh yes!” Rusty cried out and zoomed towards it and then stopped. Inside it, laying peaceably was the biggest cat he’d ever seem! Orange, like him, and the fluffiest mane circling his head was Aslan. Aslan was a lion.

“Hello there, Rusty,” Aslan rumbled out, purrs coming from all around them. His paws were huge and Rusty couldn’t take his eyes off them. Would his paws be as big as Aslan’s when he got older.

“Aslan!” Rusty exclaimed and bowed before the king of lions. The bandana he’d tied around his neck fell to the ground and opened. His most prized possession lay between them. With one paw he gently nudged his black ferret toy towards Aslan.

“Oh, no, Rusty, I can’t take it,” Aslan said and stood up and stretched. His mouth opened wide in a yawn. “You’ll need it when you go back. But I will take some of that catnip. It doesn’t grow well here in Narnia.”

Rusty was grateful that Aslan refused his first offering, and then gladly popped open the plastic holding the catnip and it spread over a large expanse. He watched as Aslan at first put his paw in it, then his nose and with a swish of his tail joyously rolled in the catnip.

“This is great,” the big cat said with dried catnip now covering him. “You have earned yourself a boon, young cat. What is it that you seek most of all?”

Rusty thought for a moment, glanced at the calico, Patches and then back at Aslan. As much as he wanted to stay in Narnia and possibly become a king like the lion before him, he knew that it wasn’t his time yet. He faintly heard his name being called as if through a haze.

“To be with my mom, always,” Rusty said softly, realizing it was true. While Narnia was fantastic and all, it had nothing on his family. “She likes when I play with her hair with my paws. When I snuggle up to them when they sleep,” he purred out. Yawning, he felt his eyes close, and he laid down to stretch.

Rusty felt his back feet hit the suitcase and the scratchy sound it made had him prying his eyes open slightly. He felt soft hands pick him up gently.

“There you are!” his mom said and cuddled him close. “Having an adventure, were you?”

Rusty rubbed his chin to hers, he was home again. Just where he was supposed to be.