There was once a cat who lived in the forest. He would climb the tallest trees so that he could see far and wide.
One day, the cat saw a group of animals walking in the forest. They were all different colors, and they were all making strange noises. The cat was curious, so he climbed down from his tree and followed the animals.
The animals led the cat to a clearing in the forest, where they all sat down in a circle. In the center of the circle was a big, shining object. The cat had never seen anything like it before.
The animals all started to talk at once, and the cat couldn't understand a word they were saying. But he could tell that they were all very excited about the object in the center of the circle.
The cat didn't know what the object was, but he knew that he wanted to see it up close. So he crawled into the circle and walked over to the object.
When he got close, he realized that the object was a mirror. He had never seen his reflection before, and he was surprised to see that he was a different color than the animals.
The cat liked what he saw in the mirror, and he decided to stay in the clearing with the other animals. From then on, he was known as the Mirror Cat.
One day, Mirror Cat and his best friend Purrface were playing a game of chase very near the mysterious mirror. Purrface jumped and — oh no! — he vanished into the mirror. Mirror Cat was stunned! How had this happened? But then Mirror Cat knew what he had to do: he had to save his friend Purrface no matter what the cost. So he jumped into the mirror after him.
As Mirror Cat leapt into the glass, he saw his reflection jump in after him. Then everything went black.
Time seemed to pass like a river, lazily, and then rushing and full of anger. The blackness slowly lifted, and Mirror Cat found himself in a new dimension of magic and wonder. He was in a place where up was down, left was right, and time moved in strange ways.
But that didn't matter, because he had to find Purrface.
He searched and searched, but he couldn't find his friend anywhere. Then he heard a voice calling to him, and he followed it until he came to a huge castle.
In front of the castle was a cat woman with long, flowing cat hair. She was the most beautiful woman Mirror Cat had ever seen.
"Welcome, Mirror Cat," she said. "I am the Queen of this world. Your friend Purrface is inside my castle. If you can solve my riddles, I will let you take him home with you."
Mirror Cat was so excited to hear that Purrface was inside the castle. He agreed to the Queen's terms, and she led him inside.
The Queen took Mirror Cat to a room full of clocks. Each clock was ticking at a different speed, and the hands were moving in different directions.
"What is the time?" the Queen asked.
Mirror Cat looked at all of the clocks, and he thought for a long time. Then he said, "There is no time. Time is an illusion. But that illusion has been removed from me."
The Queen looked surprised; she hadn't expected Mirror Cat to answer the first riddle correctly! But she was gracious, and said "very good, Mirror Cat, it seems you are quite capable of learning. I am happy that you solved this first riddle. But I warn you: my second riddle will be much more difficult."
The Queen then took Mirror Cat to a room full of books. There were so many books that the shelves were taller than Mirror Cat could see.
"How many books are in this room?" the Queen asked.
Mirror Cat didn't know how to answer this question. He had never seen so many books before! He didn't even know how to count that high.
The Queen saw the confusion on Mirror Cat's face, and she smiled. "I will give you a hint," she said. "The answer is in one of these books."
Mirror Cat looked at all of the books, and he didn't know where to start. Then he had an idea. He walked to the center of the room and started to meow.
"What are you doing?" the Queen asked, surprised.
"I'm trying to attract Purrface's attention," Mirror Cat explained. "He's in one of these books, and I know he'll come to me if he hears me."
Sure enough, after a few minutes of meowing, Purrface popped out of one of the books! He was very excited to see Mirror Cat, and he told him that the answer to the riddle was that there were more books than stars in the bright night sky.
Mirror Cat gave his final answer to the Queen. Once again, she was stunned that he had been able to answer such an impossible riddle with what seemed like a minimum of effort. "You are full of surprises, Mirror Cat. Your answer is most impressive, and it is correct."
But the Queen's game was not done. Not yet. A mischievous grin grew across her face as she lifted her paws in the air, gesturing towards the sky. "I am locking Purrface into a crystal dimension. He will never be free unless you can answer my final and most difficult riddle."
Suddenly, Purrface floated into the sky. He howled in confusion, but he could not stop his ascent. A massive wall of crystal appeared from above and quickly enveloped Purrface. He was trapped!
"Now, Mirror Cat, you will confront my final riddle," said the Queen. "If you can answer it correctly, your friend will be freed and you can both return home. But if you answer incorrectly, or if you take too long to answer, Purrface will be trapped forever in the crystal dimension."
The Queen then gave Mirror Cat her final riddle: "I am what you are, but you are not me. Who am I?"
Mirror Cat thought for a long time, but he could not figure out the answer. He paced back and forth in the room, wracking his brain for the answer. But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't figure it out.
The Queen smiled as she watched Mirror Cat pace. She knew that he would never be able to answer her riddle. She had won, and Purrface was hers forever.
Suddenly, Mirror Cat had a brilliant idea. He rushed to the center of the room and yelled, "I give up! The answer is you, Queen. You are what I am, but I am not you."
The Queen's jaw dropped in surprise. She had not expected Mirror Cat to figure out the answer so quickly. "Very good, Mirror Cat," she said. "You are correct. Purrface is free, and you may both return home."
Mirror Cat and Purrface said goodbye to the Queen and they left the castle. They were both very happy to be back in the forest together. And they both learned a valuable lesson: never give up, because you never know when you might find the answer you're looking for.