"Yeah, right.  Listen, if you see anyone who looks kinda like the Wicked Witch, sing out.  I really don't have the time for those creeps."<br/><br/>Sunny can't quite keep from bumping into her guide now and again, because the teen keeps stopping without warning, sometimes to change direction (stepping carefully around 'noisy' bits of trash, like cans and plastic containers that crunch loudly when underfoot).  She also ignores Sunny's repeat references to her 'cat' motif, even after she reattaches the cat-ear hairband to her bright green hair.<br/><br/>"Ladies in Hating are bad news," she finally said as the pair reached the last glowing circle of weak light at the far end of the alley.  A busier street wasn't far ahead, which inspired a sigh of relief that just as quickly turned into a sucked-in gasp of horror, as there tall, cloaked figures with broad-brimmed pointy hats loomed out of the darkness.<br/><br/>"That's right, dearie," one said with a voice like an unoiled hinge.  "We're bad news! And we hear tell there's a truant hereabouts."<br/><br/>"And here she is, with another lovely morsel of something Awake!  How delightful," cackled another.  "Surrender and it will only hurt a lot."<br/><br/>"Now, now.  Mother will be so disappointed if we bruise this one first," the third scolded.  "Surrender, Awakened One, and we will not harm you."<br/><br/>"Ladies in Hating," Sunny's guide hissed, backing up...but with Sunny behind her, there was nowhere to go for the moment.  The girl's warm, firm rump pressing against her belly was no doubt a bit distracting, under the circumstances...