“Smuffins, run!”

As much as Rolo wanted to go home, he wasn’t ready, not yet. So he ran from Zira and Riffa, who were half a block away and closing fast.

But Smuffins just stood in place, smiling. “They can take us home now!”

Rolo halted, frustrated. “But we need to find the museum first!”

“Rolo, think this through, dawg. Why’s this so important?”

This question stumped Rolo. He realized there was no particular reason to learn about the earthling planet. What was the point? And yet, it felt so important, at least to himself. He was certain. “I don’t … I can’t explain it. I just need to know.”

Zira and Riffa were almost at the corner. “Rolo!”

Quiggles tugged on Smuffins.

“Besides,” said Rolo, “we had a deal!”

“Rolo!” yelled Zira.

Smuffins groaned. “Yeah, we had a deal.”

So they ran.

Quiggles led the way, turning down a narrow alley. They dodged dumpsters and debris while Quiggles did acrobatic parkour stunts with his five limbs, just to show off. But Zira and Riffa were getting closer.

They turned onto a crowded sidewalk. Here they had the advantage. They were small enough to weave around and between the bustling blorxlings’ legs, where they could not be seen. But also, they could not see how close Zira was.

They turned onto another street, where they came across an old, abandoned warehouse. They ran inside the open doorway and hid against the wall, panting.

Rolo stood on his tiptoes to spy out a dirty window. Zira and Riffa ran past.

“Rolo!” Zira called.

He held his breath.

“Rolooo!” she whined. “Where did they go?! Do you see them?”

Riffa shrugged.

“Rolo! C’mere, boy.”

Zira turned back toward the warehouse.

“Let’s hide!” Rolo whispered hoarsely.

They ducked behind a cluster of old barrels.

Zira stepped inside the warehouse. “Rolo?” she yelled. Her voice reverberated in the vastness till it faded to silence.

Time seemed too slow as Rolo waited for her to leave—or grab him.

Zira groaned.

Then finally, he heard her footsteps recede out the doorway.

The abandoned warehouse was an open emptiness, with tall columns lifting the roof high overhead. The hollowness echoed with nothing inside but a pile of wooden pallets, a few battered barrels in one corner, and bits of litter strewn in scattered heaps. All the doors were torn off their hinges. The windows were cracked or shattered. It was dirty. And yet it was quiet, peaceful. Thickets of flowering foliage grew from cracks in the floor and climbed the columns, breathing life into the air. Sunbeams shined from the skylights, slanting through the haze to touch the colorful graffiti on the walls, giving the space an unexpected warmth and glow.

Rolo peeked out the doorway to double-check. “Okay, they’re gone.”

“This is crazy,” huffed Smuffins, still trying to catch his breath. “I’ve never run so much my whole life!” He and Quiggles crossed to a stack of pallets to sit and rest. “You got any more of those snacks?”

Rolo smirked and tossed him the bag.

Quiggles inflated Riffa’s giant phone and chuckled. Rolo looked over and saw he had apparently snapped a selfie in the subway, with the bot in the background charging them, Rolo’s face in a state of terror, and Quiggles up close, making a goofy face.

“Very funny, Quiggles,” he sarcasticated. He took the phone, deflated it, and tucked it into his pocket.

Rolo was eager to move on, but Smuffins was sprawled on his back. “You ready to go now?”

“Let’s jus’ rest here a bit more, ’kay?” said Smuffins, still chewing his treat.

Rolo was too excited to feel tired. His curiosity fueled him.

“Okay. I’ll try to see where the museum is.”

He speed-walked to the back doorway to survey the area. Outside was an alley lined with dumpsters, garbage cans, boxes, pallets, heaps of garbage, and a curled-up old mattress. He ventured down the alley to look for the museum somewhere on the next street.

But he made it only halfway when a voice shouted out, “Freeze!”