The Trench
You stumble into unfamiliar territory, it is foggy and stinks of death and decay. The air burns your eyes and throat, the ground soft and muddy, you sink with your every step. You press on further with your eyes closed, the smell is only getting stronger. A few minutes further and- you slip! You fell right into the heart of the abominable smell. You begin to gag uncontrollably and attempt to climb your way out, but the walls are too slick. Your panic had almost distracted you from the fur and sound of crunching beneath your paws. Your eyes shoot open and search for an escape but all you can see is the deep trench you’re trapped in that’s filled with mangled rats as far as the eye can see. You sit down in the filth, already given up after a few minutes of trying. There’s a faint echo of paws on the soft earth. Whoever it is, walks with the grace of a swan and the speed of a hare. Before you know it, there’s another lion peering down at you with a grin across his face. “I’ll help you out if you buy something.” He leans forwards to reveal the necklace of beguiling bobbles, his smile as wide as can be. “What the hell kind of scheme is this?”
