 Help us we're a bunch of letters stuck in this box !!
Tino never realized just how far it was from the Hospital Wing to the first floor. Of course, he'd never hotfooted the whole place in pursuit of a Hogwarts fugitive before, but holy cheese, this castle was big. He was starting to feel like a competitor in the 200K hurdle event. The sad part was that Tino didn't even like to run. He was a 'wanderer', a 'lazy meanderer', and a 'mosier'. Why couldn't Bunbury 'mosey' away? Because she's an evil psycho murderess, that's why, Tino reminded himself.
He reached the main first-floor hall, whose walls were stacked with animated portraits. "Which way did she go? The PINK freak?!," Tino shouted at a pair of old men playing dice. The first looked rather affronted, but his partner jumped up and waved his cap in one direction. "She hadn't no shoes, Buster Brown," he replied. "But she runs like a madcap and she were talkin' to herself. Strange lady." He hiccuped. "Thattaway!"
In his haste, Tino forgot to thank the painting people, but he didn't particularly appreciate being called anything but his own name, either. It reminded him of great-great-grandparents who called all their offspring by general terms like 'Munchkin' and 'Short Stuff'. Let's all remind children of their inherent disadvantages, shall we?
Tino's mind was distracted even as he loped along the corridor, approaching another staircase. Now he was considering the mould content of cheese. He supposed Bunbury hated cheese, too.
__________________ 
His glass is half-empty. And it's not what he ordered. |