Chapter 1. Our story begins with **Rasmus's house.** Rasmus is the happiest boy in Denmark, in spite of the fact that his father is an overworked tax lawyer and his mother is always busy with the kids' school and after-school activities. Rasmus loves school, and everything about it, from playing soccer in the yard with his friends to visiting the school cafeteria to getting his lunch—except for one thing: the school computer lab. There, he has to share his work time with a crowd of other students and sit alone at a computer, which he finds way too slow. Whenever Rasmus gets stuck on a problem, he always heads for the computer lab to see if there are any new clues there. That's how he ends up at the computer one day when the computer lab is empty. There he happens upon a new and amazing world in which he makes new friends and saves innocent people from the evil plans of bad guys like Vortrag and Drac. With the help of the mysterious computer, he discovers that there is a war going on in the world around him, a war that one day may affect him in a big way. **Chapter 2. ** A few months later, Rasmus is having breakfast with his little sister, Anna, when all of a sudden he notices that their old cat, Fluffy, isn't in his usual spot by the computer in the kitchen. Rasmus looks for him everywhere. He checks the backyard, then the garage. Not finding him there, he heads for the yard next door, hoping that Fluffy has wandered over there. But he doesn't find him there, either. So Rasmus asks his mom, who tells him that Fluffy never goes outside. She explains that Fluffy is getting older and is really getting forgetful, and so they had to take him to the vet last week. When Rasmus asks where Fluffy is now, his mom says they were lucky to find a home for him at the hospital. The day after that day, the good news is that Fluffy is alive and well and no longer has a spot behind the ears, either. But the bad news is that he has a huge gash on his back and can't be taken out for a walk around the block. The next day, Rasmus sees Fluffy across the street in the neighbor's yard. He gives him a lot of pats. The cat appears to be confused by Rasmus's sudden affection for him. On the way home from school, he sees Fluffy again and takes him home. Fluffy seems to be in really good shape now. Rasmus finds a nice corner for him by the door to the computer room. He then goes to his room, gets some books from the bookshelf, and takes a walk to see some of his friends from class. When he gets back home, Fluffy is no longer there. Rasmus goes over to the neighbor's house to see if they have seen his cat. No luck there either. Not even the mailman saw Fluffy on his route. So Rasmus tells his mom about Fluffy's absence. She takes him into the basement and gets a big box for him. "Let's see if he comes back for this," she says, smiling. Rasmus takes Fluffy's big box home. His mom offers him some help putting it away. Rasmus lets her do it herself, but while they're working, he slips into the box and opens the top flap, which has a lock. "Hey, that looks like the cover of one of those new big notebooks we had in school the other day," he thinks to himself. Rasmus takes the notebook out of the box. It is the second-largest notebook they have. It has a lock. But Fluffy can't fit into the box because of the big book, so Rasmus puts Fluffy back in the box. After reading all his schoolbooks, Rasmus sets the notebook aside. It's time for dinner, but before he leaves the room, he takes the notebook with him, and that's how he ends up sitting in the garage, waiting for dinner to be ready. At around four o'clock, Rasmus is sitting in the garage with his new notebook on the table in front of him. It's nighttime outside, and soon it's time for him to go to bed. Rasmus gets his sleeping bag, his pillow, his pillowcase, a flashlight, and his notebook and heads upstairs to bed. Soon he is sound asleep. He can't fall asleep. He wakes up. He goes over to his desk and takes out his big notebook. He sits down at the desk. He starts to think. He checks his math homework. It's in the book. Then Rasmus starts to imagine that it's morning. He's not sure what time it is, but it's already daytime and he really wants to get to sleep. He grabs his pillowcase and quickly dons it. His pillow is there too. Then he takes his flashlight out of his pillowcase, switches it on, and goes to bed. He wakes up at about 4:30 a.m. He's not sure what time it is. He pulls the sheet up to his chin, tiptoes to the door, and peers into the hallway. It's still dark. He grabs his pillowcase and his big notebook and walks back to his bed, gently sliding the door shut behind him. Rasmus takes off his boxers and tucks his notebook under his body. He lies on his back with the flashlight in the palm of his hand. He breathes deeply. And then it hits him. He wakes up in the middle of the night and starts to cry. Later that day, Rasmus is still thinking about that night. All he can think about is how strange it is to sleep. It's strange to sleep. He is afraid to close his eyes and think about his dad's old work laptop or how Fluffy is not there. Rasmus can't help but think about Fluffy. He can't stand the fact that Fluffy is not where he belongs. And it's not like Fluffy is just anywhere in the world. Fluffy is not only somewhere near, but also everywhere, wherever Rasmus goes. Sometimes he wants Fluffy to be in one place, and then Rasmus thinks that Fluffy is there, right by him, in the kitchen, and all Rasmus has to do is turn around to find Fluffy standing right there. Rasmus doesn't like Fluffy missing. He doesn't understand it. But it's not that Rasmus doesn't want to know where Fluffy is. What he doesn't like is that he doesn't know where Fluffy is. He would like to know where Fluffy is, and when he doesn't know where Fluffy is, Rasmus has to stay in bed, because he knows that Fluffy is out there somewhere. That's the whole story of the missing cat in the basement of a house where Rasmus and his family live. It's the only thing on his mind these days, and it makes him feel a little sick. "Why can't he just come back, the stupid cat?" Rasmus mutters to himself. This particular night it feels to him as if Fluffy is gone forever. This is a bad night. But it doesn't help him get to sleep. He just keeps thinking and thinking. Rasmus knows that it's impossible for the cat to be there—impossible for the cat to be somewhere when he's here—impossible for Fluffy to be out there—because Fluffy is somewhere here, in the dark, by the window, behind the headboard, and all Rasmus has to do is turn over to reach him. And when Rasmus finally does turn over, Fluffy is there—Rasmus can feel the pillowcase vibrate. There's a cat in bed. A cat is lying by his head. A cat is lying by his head. It's impossible, because Fluffy is somewhere else. Then Rasmus gets up from his bed and goes to Fluffy's old space under the dining room table. There's nothing there, of course. Nothing but Fluffy's empty bowl. **Chapter 3. ** **It is not possible for Fluffy to be out there.** There is no way. Fluffy is out there. That's the way Rasmus can hear it in the middle of the night. "It's your fault!" he shouts to himself, throwing a pillow at the window and waking up his mom and dad. "You forgot to put him out back. You forgot your cat!" Rasmus can't fall asleep that night. He just can't. Because it's not possible for Fluffy to be there and not be out there at the same time. Fluffy is there. Fluffy is somewhere else. "I'll never see you again, Fluffy!" Rasmus starts to cry. When he can't fall asleep because Fluffy is lying by his head in bed, he gets up. He grabs his pillowcase and his flashlight and runs downstairs to the basement. He finds a pillowcase and a notebook and lies down on the floor. Then he reads some of the book. The story has a secret that no one would know if they didn't know that Fluffy is gone. It's the last