Memories

Wind whistles through the air, as it winds up and down the abandoned playground’s rusty metal bars. The swings sway back and forth as if the kits still played on them, wrestling for the last available swing, laughing, tussling. Now it's nothing but a rusty metal structure, untouched by any feline.

Rustling comes from the bushes nearby.

“Blue!” a voice says, popping their head out from the green. “It's still here!”

Outcomes 2 cats, one red, one blue, with various other accessories, amazed that their childhood park still stands. “No waay!” Blue responds, after a long period of silence.

As Blue hops onto the upper level of the play structure, one paw gracefully stepping in front of the other, he exclaims, “Mer! C’mon!”

Merengue, or Mer for short, was caught in a daze. She was brought back to her earlier, simpler years. How she and Blue would run off together to just walk, or their favorite snack shop they went to every Saturday, when Mer got her weekly allowance.

“Mer!” Merengue jumps, her thoughts broken.

“Sorry, sorry.” She responds, still startled. Taking a deep breath, she places her left paw in front, tail swinging slowly. She misses those days, those days where it was cupcakes and rainbows. In a way, it still was, at least for Blue. Blues tail is gradually swatting the air faster and faster, impatiently waiting for his friend to snap out of it.

“Merengue!”

It has now been 5 minutes since the cats entered the park.

“Blue..” Mer whispers.

“What?” blue snaps back, clearly agitated by Mer’s lack of awareness.

“Why? How?” Blue tilts his head, tail slowing down.

“Why did things change the way they did? I- I want that carelessness we had years ago, I want the fun.”

Blues eyes widen. “Merengue, I lived on the streets, I lived off scraps, and you.. You..”

Silence takes over.

“Just remember why we left Mer. We have friends now, family.”

Drop. A tear falls. Drip. Another one. Merengue, for the first time since her parents said goodbye, was crying.

“Oh, no.. don’t cry.. Please..” Blue gets up and sympathetically rubs his back against hers.

More tears fall, and Blue is now grooming Mer’s neck. Meanwhile, Merengue’s mind has traveled back to her younger years.

“No,” Merengue's father says, sternly. Mer looks up at her only family, tail firmly between her legs.

“How could you do this? Those foul cats belong on the street, not you!” Her mother says, tears falling on top of the already dried up showers of tears. Her father takes a stern step forward, making a thumping sound. Merengue takes a step back, away from her parents and towards the door.

“Mer, this is your last chance. Us, your parents, who raised you and cared for you all these years, or them, who can’t seem to choose a home and live off the streets. Choose Merengue, it's not that hard.”

Mer thought to herself. Her parents certainly gave her a home, and cared for her, but not the way she liked it. There was no going to the park, only reading. No hanging out with friends, only one on one classes with her teacher, Sprout. With Blue, though, she had fun and freedom that she didn't think she’d ever get. Her Father clears his throat.

“So?” Merengue’s eyes filled with tears. She was only a small kit, having to bend her neck to look the other cats, bending theirs to look at her back. Mer looks at the towering cats, angry. Angry that they made her choose. Angry that they have no heart, angry that they treat her friends like that. As the tears fall faster, she abruptly stops the silence.

“Goodbye,”

That's it. She walks out, finally able to choke up what she needed to say.

"Blue?"

Blue hums in response, still grooming her best friend.

"Let's find the others"