The silence was earsplitting.

The shock that ran through the home was indescribable. Right after that painful phone call, every single soul in the Miller household was silent. And for a long time it stayed that way.

They had just received the news that their beloved White Shepard had been blown out of existence by some lightning that afternoon. His body wasn't found anywhere near the area it took place.

Tears welded in Penelope's eyes, as she leaned into her mother's arms, crying over the news. Her dog was gone, and there was nothing to do. No way to have stopped it. All she could think was it was her fault. She was the one who caused this accident, by simply not being around to warn her canine companion that a storm was raging. And that it had the power to simply disintegrate a close friend.

Mittens the black feline lay on the couch, with her front paws dangling off the edge of the cushion. She was stoked beyond words, and couldn't muster a single thought in her head. It was all so confusing that Bolt wanted to run into the open field in the first place. She should have warned him, but she had a feeling that he didn't know what he was doing. The thought had engulfed her with a knot in her throat, and a close to tears emotion that she hadn't experienced ever since she was left by the only family she knew.

The brown hamster, next to her was indeed petrified. Gawking, and staring at the man who stood in the room. The investigator who had given the news to them. The unfortunate news of the incident. The witness stood next to him, him being the only one who had seen it that they knew of. He nodded and made unorthodox hand gestures as he spoke, but no one in that home was able to make words out of the noises from his mouth. If anything, he was just as loud to their ears as a tap of a pencil, on a padded tablecloth.

The investigator put his hand on the man's shoulder. "I think our work here is concluded." He turned to the rest of them. "I'm truly very sorry about this. I even wish I had been there, to have stopped this from occurring. Even I feel guilt, from that one time I knew that dog."

He remembered. That walk he took with his giant partner German Shepard police dog. The time when he stopped near a park, sometime when he was off duty. Running right up to him was a white canine, with a ball in his mouth.

He leaped next to the man, and let go of the ball, once it was placed unexpectedly into his hand. He smiled and when he saw the girl running up to him, she took a breath, and laughed. "Oh, hey Mr." She looked around. "Bolt, where did you put the ball? Don't you still want to play?"

The man looked down at the Shepard as and winked. Bolt's tail wagged. He loved to do pranks like this on his person. She was the finest to prank, but in a good way.

"We'll have to find it then." He said, as he rubbed his dog's head. He arched over his German Shepard, and whispered, still loud enough for others to hear. "Have you seen it, Julia?" At that time, Julia reached her head behind the man, and took the ball from his hand, and dropped it to the ground as it rolled to Penny's feet. The man laughed. "Ha, she always has a little crime solving in her, even if she's off duty like me. He patted her head again. "She's a very good girl."

Penny picked up the tennis ball, giggling as she bounced it. "You've done a very nice thing today, Julia. Thank you." She laughed again. "Bolt put you up to this?"

He shrugged, but playfully sighed. "He had but one choice. And apparently I was the one he chose to hide it." He rubbed Bolt's head with his free hand. "He does that a lot, huh?"

Penny smiled. "Aw, he's just a silly dog. My best friend, what else to do?" She motioned for Bolt to come, and he stepped off the porch. She waved at the man. "Bye." She said, as she ran off to play with Bolt.

*

This however was too much to bear. The dog that treated him like a friend, running up to him, and immediately letting him into a part of a little game, as if he had known the man to be a playful person, instead of a stranger on a park bench.

He may have even gotten to a new level of emotion when he stopped himself. "We'd better get going." He slapped the Witness's back twice, before exiting the front door, followed by the other man. The house was now empty of all possible noise. What seemed to have formerly been quiet with the men's talking, was now exploding a silence in Penny's ears.

***

Mittens was awakened by a soft nudge on her side. She looked over seeing that hamster ball right next to her. The lights were out, she realized everyone in the house must be asleep right now. Only the moonlight shown through the windows.

She turned toward Rhino, trying to act casually she nodded her head upward, in a greeting manor. Rhino slumped in the ball. "I- uh," He wiped his face with his stubby arm. "I couldn't sleep."

Mittens nodded again, "Not blaming you." She tried to smile, but it wasn't an easy task.

Rhino moved in closer. "It's crazy isn't it? That he..." He chocked up while speaking. "That he just...disappears?"

Mittens slumped back. "It's absolutely ordinary." She shook her head and sat up. "I don't want to talk about this." She confirmed leaping off the couch before Rhino could say anything. He sighed, and tried to get comfortable in his ball. And fell into a completely awake slumber.

*

Mittens saw that Penny's door was opened a crack.

Looking around skeptically, she paced toward the door, slowly, and slipped through it.

The room was dark as usual, but there seemed to be something odd about it. The natural sensation that filled it would have been slumber. Sleep, or at least the fact that Penny would be breathing steadily through her pillow, not a care in the world with her unconscious body.

But, this wasn't a time like that. Mittens leaped onto the bed, soundlessly, and made her way slowly next to Penny.

She looked up to see Mittens, and put her head down again. Mittens realized she had been crying. Her pillow was wet from tears. Her breathing was accompanied from sniffles constantly. She reached an arm over to Mittens, and she walked over to her, and laid beside her.

Penny's tears kept arriving, making Mittens feel all the more, emotional as well. The thought that she was out there, turned around for one second, saw a flash behind her, turned again, and Bolt was no where to be seen. The regret had built up inside Mittens that entire day. And she realized how hard it was to lose someone like Bolt, the same way she had almost lost him in the fire...and now in an unexplainable storm.

Penny tired to sulk in silence, but she couldn't handle the pain. It was an awful load on her shoulders, and unimaginably imposable to take. She had just lost her best friend in the world. And now he wasn't coming back, like all of those times when he did. All of those times when Bolt had returned from the presumed deaths he has had. It wasn't going to happen now. Penny knew it. She had lost him forever.

With that thought, in both of their minds, Mittens put her small nose up to Penny's face, trying to sooth the pain in any way possible. Penny put her hand around Mitten's small, delicate body, and ruffled the fur up and down her back.

For a long time, until the pain had subsided, they both laid side by side, something Mittens realized had never happened before. She never had a true opportunity to be there for Penny, but at this time, Penny needed her company, and Mittens noticed a calm in Penny's crying. And soon, they both had relaxed their emotions, their muscles, and dedicated the rest of the night to try and get to sleep. Mittens stayed next to Penny, not even satisfied if she had stopped crying, but maybe for a longer time. She knew Penny needed somebody, but no one else was around.

Penny rubbed Mitten's forehead with her thumb softly. Before she closed her eyes. Mittens held in her emotions well, but in this case it was harder to do. But, she kept her sadness, and sorrow hidden from this girl, who was already in a heap of a lot.

Mittens rested her head on her paws. "It'll be okay, Pen." She than closed her eyes. "Stay strong."


A/N: I guess I'll continue more in chapter 2. I was hoping for this to be longer...but I haven't figured much more of the story out just yet. Hope you're not too confused about this, I plan to explain further how Bolt got into this world, so hang tight.

My apologies, but I hope you enjoyed reading. This chapter wasn't too easy to write. But I needed a shorter chapter. I hope the beginning of part two was a fairly good one. If there's anything I need to improve on, please let me know. And thank you so much for reading.