Chapter 3

“It all began several months back when a friend had dragged me out of the house to head to a party at a mutual friend’s house.” he started. “Well party is a bit of a stretch, let’s say a gathering," he continued. “Anyway, the vibe was relaxed, the food was good, the games were fun, and oddly enough they had a cartoon playing in the background for the whole event. Some nonsensical, disjointed, and frankly weird adventures of a girl and her cat…” he trailed off in thought. “Or was it a dog?” he wondered aloud.

“Semantics.” the voice chided him.

“Right, right,” he replied. “Well, that part didn’t matter so much. What did matter, was that I found myself entranced by it, which just didn’t make sense. I really didn’t like how this show was making me feel, but I couldn’t seem to tear myself from it. There was a magnetism to it, some unknown attraction that I couldn’t seem to shake. After I left that night, the cartoon lived in my head, like those embarrassing memories from high school that play on repeat.” he told the voice.

“Oh, I am very familiar.” the voice cooed.

“I figured this was a situation like when a song gets stuck in your head.” he continued “I remembered reading something, somewhere that said if you listen to the song in its entirety, it will stop playing in your mind. Maybe because your brain keeps trying to finish it, and doesn’t know how to. So, when I got home, I fired up my laptop and resumed the show. I figured that if I watched more, I could shake this new obsession”

“I’m following so far.” stated the voice in response.

“Well,” he continued, “the problem is that I don’t remember watching any more of the show. I guess I fell asleep, because next thing I knew I was awake and staring at recommendations for new shows…I guess I slept through all of the rest.”

“Hmm” mused the voice, almost humming, “And then what happened?” it asked curiously.

“Well..” he started.

“Well, then I showed up!” another voice interrupted, giggling happily.