I lay on the couch, contemplating whether or not to believe what I had just witnessed. The events of the past few days have been extremely strange. Everything has been disappearing! My parents, that rainbow van, that boy with the top hat, the strange cat and now I think I'm losing my mind. At this point I didn't know what to do. After considering my choices I finally chose to go to the park with Max, my dog. He was exactly were I would expect to find him, out the back, asleep in his kennel.
"Max! Come here boy!" I called. The chubby 5-year-old Staffy came running from his kennel to greet me.
"Lets go for a walk boy! It might help clear my mind." He started to wag his tail happily, and we ran to the park. It wasn't very far at all. I never bothered with a lead, no one around here did. Once we reached the park we played fetch for a while. The park was practically empty. I guess that's normal though, not many people around this neighbourhood go to the park. Many of the residents' don't have children, or pets. I continued to play fetch with Max until he suddenly ran off towards the road.
"MAX! Where are you going?" I screamed as I chased the surprisingly fit, chubby dog. He ran the whole length of the park before he finally stopped in front of a tree, barking frantically.
"Max! What the hell do you think your doing?" I yelled as I came to a stop. I bent over with my hands on my knees, catching my breath.
"Be quiet!" I lifted my head to see a boy with his cat in the distance, probably the source of Max's barking. Max looked at me and he was shaking all over, trying to contain himself. The boy's cat came flying past us, causing Max to no longer sit still. Instead he flew after the cat, barking loudly.
"MAX! GET BACK HERE!" I screamed in pursuit of the cat and dog. I followed as quickly as I could, circling the oval and screaming out to my dog to stop. He never was very obedient. The cat lunged into a large shrub, max stopping an inch before. I on the other hand didn't stop in time resulting in me tripping over and landing in the shrub. I could hear Max's barks from inside the shrub. It was dark inside the shrub, but I could still make out two large eyes glaring at me.
"Damn cat," I said murmured to get to my feet, but failing. My feet were tangled with vines and I had landed in a puddle of mud. Bad luck just seems to follow me!
"You always meet people a second time," I jumped at the sound of the voice, only tangling my hair with leaves.
"Who's there?" I questioned, trying to untangle myself.
"Take a wild guess," the voice insisted.
"J--Josh?"
"You sound surprised"
"Why wouldn't I be surprised? You vanished!" I said a little confused, STILL trying to become untangled. "Wait hold that thought, could you give me a hand?"
"I help those, who help themselves," he said confidently.
"Oh stop it with the phrases and help me outta here!"
"Oh Josh, don't be daft help the girl out!" grinned the strange cat as he walked past me.
"Fine," Josh answered.
"So, start explaining!" I lectured as Josh helped untangle me from the shrub.
"Want to be more precise?"
"Explain," I began as I ripped vines from around my waist, "How you and your rainbow van could just vanish! And how 'kitty' here vanished after being hit by a car! Oh and how its possible for him to talk!"
"Impatient aren't you," he said calmly.
"No, I just want some answers!" I yelled, almost free.
"Good things come to those who wait!" Josh exclaimed. I crawled backwards out of the shrub, finally free. I was covered in leaves and mud though.
"Ok Josh, know give me some answers!" I snapped, finally standing on my feet. I hadn't noticed before but Max had stopped barking. I turned around and Josh was gone again.
"Man this is getting really annoying!"
"You'll get used to it, Josh can never stay for long periods of time," the cat whispered.
"Why not? What's up with him?" I questioned, brushing leaves and dirt form my clothes.
"Ask the right questions, if you want the right answers."
"How do you want me to phrase it then?"
"You have to figure that out on your own," laughed the cat as he vanished, leaving behind a rainbow puddle.
