take your chances (random)

Untitled Part 1

A child skipping down a cobble stone street passing coffee shops, boutiques, chasing a yellow butterfly. Adults smiling at him as he passes by. The joy of carefree, the sense of security, the wonders to explore. Gradually, a squirrel started running next to him, then someone else's dog with a rat riding at its collar. The child looks at his new companies and more joy comes to his face. The butterfly become a balloon, sailing smoothly across, avoiding obstacles. The child is growing. His accompanies evolve with him. As the squirrel retires to a tree, a fox takes its place, befriending the boy. The rat got thrown off as the dog was making a big leap. The dog got tired and was tailing behind. A leopard joined the gang, offering the boy a lift from time to time. The balloon sometime rises high and was out of sight or it's grazing the ground about to rupture by friction. The boy never stopped following the balloon. The leopard provides a sanctuary for the boy to rest in when the balloon is out of sight. The dog curls up at his leg when it finally catches up. The fox hide and hunt. The boy kept growing. Sometimes he forgets how it all begins, more times he wonders why he is chasing a balloon that suddenly doesn't seem all that appealing. He was ever so grateful for his companies, the ones next to him and the ones that are not, even though they couldn't solve his questions. When the teen decides to take a long break from all that running, the balloon came floating in front of his face, teasing him. Even when he closes his eyes he can still see the balloon right in front of him, circling him, bobbing up and down. He shuts his eyes harder. He could still feel the balloon taunting him. He open his eyes wide suddenly and grab the balloon and burst it with the force of his hand. Bang! He feels even more lost than before staring what remains of the balloon. Part of him blames himself for being impulsive. The other part of him was glad that he has no reason to run anymore. His companies remain silent the whole time, when he needed answers most. The fox came back with a dead pigeon in its mouth leaving by his side. A gentle pat praised the fox. Then the teen let out a loud cry at the sky and lounge back against the leopard drifting off to sleep. When he wakes up, he couldn't remember anything. All his companies were gone with only the dog's collar remain at his feel. He could feel a beard has grown on his face. Flashes of memories comes back when he holds the collar. He remembered adults around him smiling at him but now they don't look at him, they couldn't see him. He became invisible. A cat is trotting towards him, at first with caution. After a while, it is playing with his dishevelled hair. The man smiled, first in a long time. The man stood up and headed in the direction of the cobble stone street where he remembered from a very distant memory. As he was walking in big strides, his beard started shrinking, soon his face is smooth and his height is dwarfing. The lady sitting outside the coffee shop is smiling at him again. He similes back that's when a butterfly distracted him. He ran after it again but he kept running. Running pass it. He kept running. At a point, he paused, he recognized the cat, the same cat that played with his hair. The cat recognized him too despite his boyish appearance. There were no beard on his face. He is still short. He doesn't care anymore. The squirrel, the rat, the dog, the fox, the leopard all slowly centered towards him. The boy feels elated. He rests, surrounded by all.