Our story begins, as many do, in the future, with a boy and his dog. This story is a tragic one. Before the dog, there was a little boy and his parents. The boy’s father was an inventor. He had just finished working on a new improvement to his greatest invention, the self-driving car. Before he had made this improvement the self-driving cars were not safe. Now he had made it so that the cars were completely safe to drive. One day he took his family on a car ride in the new model. The family of three got into the car, and instantly the car turned itself on and started driving. The father was sitting in the front with the calm toddler in his lap and the mother was in the passenger’s seat. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and a gentle breeze that drifted in through the car’s open sun roof. The boy felt safe and relaxed. He was laying down with his feet up and his thumb in his mouth. Just then a car came speeding down the road heading straight for them. The two cars collided in a colossal crash, causing the license plate of the family’s car to fly off. The boy saw the license plate fly through the air. He felt that his face was wet and when he look at his hand now covered with the wetness he saw that it was red. He then shifted his gaze to the right of him and saw his mom. She was upside down, there was blood running down the side of her face and her eyes were wide open. It looked like she was staring right at him. From that moment on the boy’s life would never be the same.
Nine years later.
He remembered nothing from that night. All he knew was growing up without a mom had been horrible. All he had was a devastated father who only was worrying about his own grief and who isolated himself from his son and the rest of the world. During this time Boy was scared and spent most of his days crying alone in his room. Then one day he woke up and his dad was gone. He had already lost one of his parents and now he had lost another. At first he was confused. He couldn’t imagine how his father could do this to him. Slowly his confusion turned into rage. Everyday Boy would wait by the door for his father to come home. After all that happened how could his father have left him? He was an orphan, and all his father had left behind was a dog to take care of him. Ok, let me explain. You may be thinking that a dog can’t take care of a boy, but this was 2033 and dogs had been trained to take care of kids. Anyway, let’s get back to the story.
It was the boy’s 10th birthday. The day his dad ran off he had left him a gift hidden in the basement of his building. He instructed Cat (yes, that was the dog’s name) to give it to Boy on his 10th birthday. That morning he jumped out of bed and put on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. He went to the bathroom and activated his toothbrush. The toothbrush jumped up, floated to the tooth paste, opened the cap, and squeezed out toothpaste onto itself. After that it floated up to his mouth and started moving its bristles back and forth against his teeth. After that he washed his face and went down to eat breakfast. When he got to the kitchen Cat was already eating her breakfast and his was being made. Waffles were cooking in the iron and bacon was sizzling on the stove. The orange juice had already put itself on the table along with the syrup and silverware. When the waffles and bacon were done they put themselves on a plate. Cat barked letting him know that breakfast was ready. He walked over to the counter, picked up his warm plate of food, and threw Cat a piece of bacon as he walked back to the table. He sat down and drenched his waffles with syrup, picked up his fork and knife and started wolfing down his waffles. “When can I open my present from dad?” he asked Cat with a mouth full of waffles. Cat responded with a series of barks that meant he could go after he was finished eating. He quickly finished his bacon and swallowed his juice. His plate then rinsed itself and floated into the dishwasher.
“I’m ready,” he said eager to see what was in the basement. Cat got up, stretched and walked over to the elevator. Boy follow him into the elevator and press B for basement. It seemed like an eternity but finally they make it to the basement. The elevator doors slowly open and he walked into the room. He switched on the light and looked around. In the centre of the room there was a big long shape with a white cloth draped over it. Cat walked over to the centre of the room, bit the white cloth and pulled it off. Right there in front of him was a model of the self-driving-car. It was shining red with red and black tires, it smelled like paint, and when he touched it it felt smooth and cold. Cat barked one loud bark that meant “why would he give you this?”
“I don’t know buddy,” the boy responded. “This is the model my mother died in,” boy said “why would my father put me through the pain of her death again?” Boy continued. “Look! There’s a note on the hood of the car.” He walked over and took the note. He opened it and read: “come and find me on the top floor of the building I’ve marked on the map, love dad.”
Come and find me. He kept repeating his father’s words in his head. After two long years his father wanted him to find him? He wanted to see him? He wanted to be his father? The boy turned over the card and looked at the back. There was a map of New York City and a red dot marking a street corner. That’s only 20 miles from where we live, Boy thought. “Look, Cat after all this time he’s been so close to us,” he said. Cat was silent for a moment and then barked twice, which meant “what are we waiting for, let’s go.” She was right, he thought. It was time to see his dad. He picked up Cat and opened the door of the car. He then stepped into the car and placed cat in the passenger’s seat. He pressed on and the car came to life. The car asked “where do you want to go?” Startled, he told it where to go and they were off. The car zoomed through the city, passing cars and buildings. They passed kids walking down streets with their parents. What would happen? Would he get his father back? Did his father want him anymore. All of these questions waiting to be answered flowed through the boy’s head until the car said, “You have reached your destination.” He opened the car doors and helped Cat get out. They walked to the building his father said he would be in. Boy opened the door and pressed the penthouse level and waited. After a while a voice spoke. “Who is it?” said a gruff voice. The boy froze. This was the first time his father had spoken to him in two years. “It’s Boy,” boy said. His father paused and then buzzed him in. He stepped into the lobby where there were armchairs and gold statues. He walked into the elevator and pressed the PH button. Why had his father spoken to him in such an unfriendly tone? Was he angry or was the boy just not used to his father’s voice? Sweat ran down Boy’s neck as the elevator ascended. Cat put her paw on his foot letting him know that it was going to be ok. After a minute they had reached the top floor. Boy walked out of the elevator and knocked on the door. Immediately the door flew open and he saw his father.
