FicWad

Joy was sitting on the couch doing some last minute homework while she waited for Chris to come over. She could hear her cousins in the next room, laughing. Joy glanced out the window at the setting sun which had turned the sky a shade of purple and orange haze. The doorbell rang. Weird. Chris never rings the doorbell. He just knocks, Joy thought as she jumped up to answer. A tall man with a worried expression on his face peered inside. “Where are your parents, miss?”he growled. “Uhhhh... I’ll call them. Wait one second.” Joy backed away from the door and quickly called her mom who came running. She talked with the man for a long time. “What’s going on, Joy?” Herman, Joy’s five year old cousin asked. “I don’t know. I answered the door thinking it was Chris but instead there’s this guy that Mom apparently knows” Joy answered. “Oh....she looks worried. Do you think something’s wrong, Joy?” Herman asked, anxiously. “No. You go back and play with Carrie. Where’s Samuel and Bridget?” Joy asked. “Outside, I think” Herman replied. “Good. Nothing’s wrong, ok?” Joy looked back over at her mom who was saying goodbye to the man and shutting the door. “Joy? Where are your cousins?” Joy’s mom asked as soon as the door closed. “Everywhere. What’s wrong, Mom?” Joy said, following her outside. Her mom didn’t reply and instead called for Samuel and Bridget to come inside. Joy sighed and returned to her homework in confusion. Ten minutes later, her dad came out of his room with all four of her cousins who were looking absolutely terrified. Joy sat up and stared at their panic filled eyes in bewilderment. “Joy? Go with your mother”her dad ordered in a tone that meant every word. Joy jumped off the couch and followed him outside to where her mom was stuffing suitcases in the trunk of the van. Her dad then got in with her cousins and drove off so quickly that the tires squealed. Joy turned her attention to her mom who was motioning for her to get in the car. “But Mom...” Joy started but was interrupted by the car engine. “Get in and don’t ask any questions” her mom instructed, firmly. Joy obeyed still not understanding and her mom drove quickly off. It seemed like hours when it really was just half an hour when the car pulled up to the harbor across town. A huge ferry was beside the dock with thousands of kids filing in. This was starting to really make Joy nervous and she glanced at her mom in confusion. “Get out and in the trunk is your backpack. Get it and go get in line. Stay safe!” With that, her mom rolled up the window and once Joy had done what she had ordered, she drove away leaving Joy to stare after her until a woman approached and lead her to the line. “I hope you enjoy your ride! Here is a little companion for your trip.” The woman set a retriever puppy on the ground beside Joy with a smile. “Wait. What?” Joy exclaimed, suddenly aware of what was going on. She looked at the puppy in surprise. “He’s yours now. We had to clear the shelters” the woman explained. “Why?” Joy asked. “No questions, dear. Just take the puppy and have a good trip.” The woman disappeared into the crowd and a strict looking man directed Joy to the ferry. Joy picked up the puppy and glanced behind her. Many of the people were driving away hastily while others were running into the forest. Joy hesitated then ran into the ferry and sat down in one of the many seats with the puppy in her lap. Finally the ferry started to pull away but as it got farther away, shrieks erupted from the shore. Joy looked out the window, curiously and saw trucks pulling up in the harbor. People were racing into the woods and more evil ones were leaping from the trucks and pursuing them while others were being dragged into the trucks. The ferry headed into the ocean and the shore disappeared. Joy sat back down, confused, shocked and feeling rather scared. Before she knew it, she had started crying, the puppy licking her hand, trying to figure out what was wrong. It whined, softly then louder until it was barking like crazy. “Joy? What’s wrong? Are you ok?” Joy looked up, her eyes full of tears and saw Chris staring in surprise at her from across the isle of seats. “No! I’m not!” Joy sobbed, crying harder, mostly out of relief. Chris glanced around then came over and sat down beside her, looking worried. “Well? What happened?”he asked. “I don’t know! That’s the problem!” Joy replied. Chris didn’t say anything and only took her hand, comfortingly. He glanced down at the puppy who was whining, anxiously. “To be completely honest with you, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again” Chris said, gently. “Me neither”Joy murmured, started to calm down a bit. “What do you think happened?” Joy continued, looking out the window then back at Chris. “I don’t know. I don’t think we’ll ever know”he replied, quietly. Joy sighed. Chris tried to change the subject and asked about the puppy. “I don’t know. Remember. Neither of us knows a thing including the puppy. It’s probably scared. Joy picked up the puppy, gently and it sat down, wagging it’s tail, happily with no sign that it was frightened. “Doesn’t look scared. In fact, it looks excited. Anyway, I know who is rather scared” Chris gave Joy a knowing glance. “And why wouldn’t I be?” Joy retorted. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t be. Just that I know you are” Chris replied. Joy looked back down at the puppy who was staring out the window, both paws up on the chair. “You named her yet?” Chris asked. At this the puppy whirled around and barked,”No! Don’t name me! Why would you want to do that?! I love my name!” Chris and Joy stared at the puppy in surprise then glanced at each other. “Dogs don’t talk”Joy pointed out. “That’s what you think! Isn’t this fun?!” The puppy bounced down off the seat, in excitement. “No, it’s not and be quiet!” Chris whispered. “Why?!” The puppy yelped even louder. “Because if you don’t, you’ll be put in a zoo! Now be quiet!” Joy explained. “Oh. Ok. Shhhhhh!” The puppy jumped onto the seat again and lay down. “But please don’t change my name. I like biscuits”she pleaded. “Biscuits? The dog kind?” Joy exchanged a confused glance with Chris who shrugged. “Yeah! Biscuit! Don’t change it please!” The puppy, Biscuit, looked worried. “We won’t, don’t worry. I’m more interested in the fact that you can talk” Chris said. “I just can. Isn’t that how everyone can talk?”Biscuit inquired. She stared at the puzzled expressions in both of their eyes and barked. “Forget it. Where are we going?” Biscuit asked. “I don’t know. How many times am I going to have to say that” Chris sighed, annoyed. “That makes it more exciting, right?” Biscuit’s eyes lit up and her tail wagged. “No. None of this is exciting or fun. Don’t you get that?” Joy retorted. “What I don’t get is that you don’t see this the way I do. Anyway, what are you guys? Are you one of those teams that go places and stuff together? Like....I forget.” Biscuit grinned up at them, curiously. Joy knew what she meant but Chris apparently didn’t which was why Joy answered with a definite”No!”at the same time that Chris said,”Maybe?” Joy stared at Chris in utter surprise and he glanced at her in confusion. “What exactly do you mean?” Chris asked. “Ummmm....trying to remember. Oh yeah! The thing where you’re boyfriend and girlfriend. Is that what you are or is it a helpless question?” Biscuit blinked, innocently. “Oh! No.” Chris gave Joy an apologetic glance. Joy just smiled, a little amused and looked out the window at blue water that now stretched for miles with no sign of land. All three were quiet for the rest of the night and finally fell asleep long after the moon had risen.