A well-intentioned but confusingly executed story of a nonbinary child taken to a magical realm.
Robin is alone in their Uncle Miles’s basement. Like every other night, Miles isn’t home, and Robin ate leftovers alone for dinner. Suddenly, “a tall figure in a thundery coat” bursts in—the Cat-Headed Wanderer, an anthropomorphic feline, who invites Robin to come with her to “someplace warm and colorful, where all your friends will be.”
Magical horses and a carriage take them to a magical treehouse, where whimsical, anthropomorphic creatures (and a few humans) from Robin’s dreams are having a party and wish them a happy birthday. Then two friendly shadows beckon Robin to another room, where pictures from Robin’s life hang in the branches. We see Robin’s mother, pregnant; their father dancing with them when they were a toddler; and Uncle Miles in his office. Robin says they remember their parents and love them, and love Uncle Miles, too.
Robin adds, though, that they’re happy now that they’ll never have to leave this place—at which point the Cat-Headed Wanderer explains that they will. “But we exist in the real world,” the Wanderer adds. “There are so many of us, you have no idea. You just have to find us.” She helps Robin into the carriage.
Back home, Robin is surprised by Uncle Miles with a birthday cake and the present of their mom’s old sketchbook. Robin sleeps contentedly that night, happy that there are friends in the world whom they just have to find.
There is a positive message here about there being friends for everyone, although it loses impact since we aren’t told whether Robin has any friends to begin with, just that Uncle Miles leaves them alone in the evening. A second message is about remembering loved ones, but we don’t know whether Robin’s parents are dead, detained, jailed, or otherwise (although this perhaps leaves room for readers with various family histories to see themselves). Additionally, we don’t know why Robin has been left repeatedly without adult supervision; then, Uncle Miles goes from irresponsible to thoughtful without any explanation. And does the Cat-Headed Wanderer’s final statement mean that Robin will find magical creatures to befriend in the real world? Or are the whimsical creatures some metaphor for like-minded and/or queer people? It’s unclear.
There’s also a negative (though probably unintentional) message here that seems to encourage leaving the house with an unknown stranger. (Contrast Good Dream Dragon, another story about a nonbinary child having a magical adventure, in which the child’s parents tell them in advance that it’s okay to call on the dragon.)
Overall, the story raises many unanswered questions, while wrapping its point in too much metaphor, and the message about going with a stranger feels unwise.
Robin has tan skin and black hair, as does Uncle Miles.
