Merry Christmas!


Whilst Garfield sat on the stage watching David, he heard a whisper.
"{Hay, you want to go somewhere else? It isn't good to just watch.}"

"{Um... Sure...?}"
Uncertain, he stood up and headed for the back of the stage towards the darkness in which he normally took solace when he wasn't hosting.

"{Not that way. This way...}"
Fur brushed against his hand, causing him to spin round. He stared at the young lioness for a while, before his brain made the connection.
"Nalia?"
"{Yes. Now, follow me!}" She turned and headed for the audience. "{Don't look at anyone. Keep your head down and focus on my tail.}"
It was like some random rule from a Japanese movie, said to create jeopardy. Besides, even if he wanted to look at who was in the audience, their faces were always obscured by the combination of darkness and spot lights. With each step he felt the uncertainty rising. Where are we going? What's going to happen?

They got to a corridor illuminated with dim lights along the floor, leading up to what seemed like a dead end. As the end of the path approached, two great doors opened up into a painfully bright hallway.
It was wide, with a range of miss matched chairs around random tables. The carpet was patterned red, the wall were blue, and garish gold details adorned the corners. There was a jumble of art: abstract, realistic, wooden carvings, marble, paintings, statues, even the occasional toy- but they shared one theme. They were all animals.
Now he could see Nalia properly, it was obvious she was the same shade of green as him. She led him down to the concession stand, past the arcade games in the lobby, and eventually to the door leading out the theatre. Gulping, he pushed the handle down and was greeted by a rush of heat. Outside were the grass lands of Africa. Nalia and Gar stepped into the familiar environment of their childhood. It was so strange to think this was all in someone's head!
He looked back at the theatre. The now showing board read

Live!- The Garfield Show!

Gar couldn't help but cringe as he thought about the large, orange cat.
"{So... what exactly are we doing?}" As he looked about for the lioness, his eyes were playfully covered by someone from behind. "{Hay! What do you think you're doing?}"
"{Guess who!}"
"Wait..." The voice was familiar. As he turned around a green girl came into view. "Nalia?!"
She was green, slightly taller then he was, with a slimmer face and three tribal scars on each cheek. The biggest difference was her hair. Which, unlike his 60's mop, was a Mohawk of loose, dark green curls that bounced in the wind.

"{You're a human?}"

"{Some of the time. I prefer to be animals!}" She expressed this by turning into a gazelle and trotting around him. "{Now you do it! Turn into something and be free!}"
There were so many possibilities. As he racked his brained Nalia became impatience. "{Don't think about it! Just change!}" Flustered, he chose to be a flamingo. "{That's the way!}!"
Nalia joined in and lead them on a flight above the world. Past the clearing with the theatre was a watering hole, and a small village of huts, and it was all surrounded by an eerily quiet jungle.

Nalia took them down to the huts and turned back into a lion, prompting Gar to be human again. It wasn't empty like he had expected; people went about their small tasks. There was the clatter of a loom, people beating fabrics, a pot of food bubbling away over a fire. All small things Gar could remember feeling safe around as a child.

As they walked towards the water, there was a slight smell of popcorn. It was coming from the guy laying on the grass staring up at the sky. When he sat up, Garfield was pleasantly surprised to see it was Craig.
"Hay! There you are!"
"What the hell? Garfield?! What the hell are you doing- … Oh. Nalia..."
The lioness growled.

If they're both from the same person, how can they not like each other?
"{Why don't you like him?}"
"{I can't stand how scared he is of doing things. Always thinking the worst of people, keeping everything to himself. It's like he doesn't know how to relax.}"
Craig rolled his eyes. He couldn't quite speak Swahili, but he knew enough to understand it. "Nalia doesn't know what I went through to keep her safe... I want to keep it that way. She doesn't get that people want to hurt us, and make us hurt others." He flopped back into the grass and reached his hands out to the sunset sky. "I never want any of us to have to go through that, again."
Confused, Garfield sat down. The three of them were quiet as a slight darkness came over the world.
"In the village were some people... are they...like us?"
"Oh, no. They're like . Just another part of this world so we feel more at home..."
"This place is nice... "
"Um, Right...Garfield. Don't go into the jungle... O.K? There are things in there that...that you don't want to see..."
"Like ghosts?" Why would there be ghosts?
"Um, yeah. Ghosts. Like ghosts... so promise us you wont! Seriously!"
"O.K O.K, I swear I wont go into the jungle."
"Fine. Well, I'm going to my room."
"You have a room? Do you live in the village?"
"Oh, no, I live at the theatre with David. Well, not with David, we're just flat mates. With three dogs that just wander the theatre..."
"{What's he talking about, Gar?}"
"{He lives in the theatre with David and the dogs.}"
"{The dogs!}" Nalia scoffed. "{You tell him the dogs have names!}"
"{Oh, right.} Nalia says the dogs have names..."
"They have names?"
"{They are called.} Timber, Wingman {and} Marley."
Craig dusted himself off. "Oh, that's actually pretty useful to know. So, um, Gar. I'm heading back. Do you want to join us? I'm sure we can figure out how to make a new bed. Some how..."

"{What's he saying?}"
"{If... if I want to go back with him to stop at the theatre...I don't know if I should, though.}"
Standing up, Nalia became human and offered her hand to Garfield. Once he took it she helped him to his feet, and abruptly walked towards Craig. Without hesitation, she grabbed his hand too and brought all three of their hands together.
"{We have to look after this place... this body... and we have to help the parts of it that are hurting. I don't know what you have been through... so I'll share my joy with you, if you will let me...}"
It was as though Gar had come in half way through their story. How long has this all been here? Why hadn't David explained earlier? There was so much to learn.
"{You should go with Craig. I'll be staying up late.}
"{Oh, O.K. I'll see you about, I guess?}"
"{You sure will!}"

The boys headed back to the theatre. The light from the board and the smells from the concession stand were warm and inviting.
"Home, sweet home!" Grinned Craig. "Don't get me wrong, I like the village just fine, but this is where I belong."
Each archade game blinked Start Game and there was a warn chair pulled in front of pac-man. Quickly, Craig took the stairs two at a time, right to the top, with Gar in tow. They got to the top hall way and the atmosphere was different. Framed posters of bands and movies covered the walls from top to bottom, with the occasional shelf holding figurines.
"So, Craig... You like movies?"
"No shit..." He stopped and looked back. "I mean, yeah. I like classic movies... That's why we ended up with that Top Gun poster."

That was interesting to know. Gar had always wondered why there were random new objects turning up round the house.
"So, this is our flat."
For some reason, Gar was half expecting the flat from Friends. Instead, he was greeted with neon signs on the pastel walls, a breakfast bar tiled with white and black, odd pieces from different sofa sets round a resin table with old toys trapped inside, and a dinosaur skeleton used as a coat rack. Craig had been staring at the bedroom doors.
"Hay. So, um, this happened..." He pointed at a rainbow door with the word Garfield graffitied over it, surrounded by animals. "Don't ask me how, don't ask me when. But looks like you're part of the flat... There's food in the fridge, bathroom is down the hall. Make yourself at home... I am going to bed..."
"Wait. I can eat and sleep here?"
"Yeah... you can pretty much most daily things here. Check out a mirror!" Craig made a one handed mind blow gesture as he slipped into his own room.
Gar's room was exactly as he hoped. There was a pot plant on the windowsill (that made no sense because his room shouldn't have had a window) the whole wall around his bed's head board was built in cupboards and shelves in different sized rectangles. The wall was white, the shelves and frames were black, and the doors were either red, blue or yellow. Some shelves had records, others books, and there was generic clutter here and there. When he opened the wardrobe he recognised the cloths as ones he'd already worn when talking to David (before getting to know the rest of the system). Maybe he could get a rug? Or some decorations from the villagers. He sunk into the bed and folded himself into the yellow submarine comforter.


The world is growing! I hope it makes sense. Time to rush through the next bit and get to Raven. AT LAST. Thank you for reading this! I LOVE reading your comments!