“ Hey, Mia-”

“ May’s bust right now.”

Annie raised a brow. “ Uh……. Mia-”

“ I’m busy, June- Bug.”

Annie sighed.

" My birthday isn't even in June, Mia."

" My name is May!"

Annie groaned.

" And my names Autumn!" Emma said cheerfully.

Annie sighed. They were playing their random game where they would be a random month and pretend to be that month.

" August, how are your leaves doing?" Mia asked in a British accent.

" Quite well. Only they are falling rapidly from the trees. And you, May?"

" Oh-"

" MIA EMMA THERE'S A SLOTH STUCK IN SOME FENSE!" Annie yelled.

Mia jumped off her rolling chair and ran out of the room. " Why didn't you tell me this is no time to play!"

Emma harrumphed, disappointed. " I'm disappointed in you, Annie."

Annie just sighed and walked out of the room.

" EEEEK! DRIVE SLOWER!" Annie yelled as she gripped onto the dashboard.

The tires screeched as Mia narrowly avoided two cyclists and a tree in the middle of the road.

Emma turned to the tree, confused. " Why was that there."

" Probably some idiotic person put it there." Blackie meowed.

" Who do you think it was?" Emma asked

" The old man."

Emma blinked. " You mean master Wu?"

" No. He's an old man."

Annie gripped the dashboard with both hands, her knuckles white as Mia’s car rocketed forward. The speedometer needle had long since maxed out, and Mia was steering with a gleeful grin plastered on her face.

“Uh, Mia…maybe we could slow down just a little?” Annie squeaked, glancing out the window as buildings and trees whipped by in a blur.

Mia laughed, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Slow down? June-Bug, I thought you wanted to save that sloth!”

Annie squeezed her eyes shut as they zoomed past a row of cars, barely missing their bumpers. She could feel her stomach lurch every time Mia made another wild swerve. “I do! But I don’t want to end up as roadkill in the process!”

Emma, sitting calmly in the back seat, looked amused as if they were just out for a casual ride. “Oh, Annie, where’s your sense of adventure?”

Suddenly, Mia spotted something up ahead—a steep incline that led to an old ramp, half-hidden behind a bush. Her eyes lit up as she pointed. “Hold on, I have an idea!”

Annie’s eyes snapped open, and her jaw dropped as she realized where Mia was heading. “Mia, no! That’s not a road—that’s a ramp!”

Mia floored the gas pedal, ignoring Annie’s protests as they soared up the incline and launched off the ramp. They were airborne, the car lifting high above the ground as they sailed through the air, wind whipping past them. Annie screamed, gripping the seat so tightly she could feel the fabric straining under her fingers.

“Oh, this is amazing!” Mia yelled, her voice lost in the wind as they flew over a row of buildings.

Emma laughed from the back. “We’re flying! Look at us, Annie—we’re birds!”

Annie was too terrified to respond, her stomach dropping as they soared higher and higher. She could barely believe it when she spotted a tiny building coming into view below them—a public restroom. Mia’s grin widened as she steered toward it.

With a loud crash, they came barreling straight into the bathroom, bursting through the flimsy walls and shattering tiles as the car skidded across the floor. The car finally slowed, smashing into a sink that exploded in a spray of water.

“Mia!” Annie shrieked, wiping water from her face. “You destroyed the bathroom!”

Mia shrugged, looking around at the chaotic scene with a satisfied grin. “Eh, it needed a makeover anyway.”

Before Annie could respond, Mia threw the car into reverse, speeding back out of the destroyed bathroom. The tires squealed as Mia turned sharply, aiming them at the nearest building, which loomed tall and gray in front of them.

“Don’t tell me we’re going up that building!” Annie yelled, her voice trembling.

“Oh, absolutely!” Mia replied, laughing as she gunned the engine once more. The car lurched forward and hit the side of the building at an angle, climbing up the wall as Mia skillfully maneuvered. They spiraled around the building, climbing higher with every loop.

Annie clung to her seat, her heart pounding wildly as the car wove a dizzying path. “Mia, this is insane!”

“Insane? This is art!” Mia shouted, guiding them into a daring figure-eight in midair before rocketing back down the building’s face.

With a final screech of the tires, Mia hit the brakes, and the car skidded to a halt in front of the same ramp they had jumped from earlier. She looked back at Annie and Emma, a huge grin on her face.

Emma burst into laughter, clapping her hands. “Bravo, Mia! That was the ride of a lifetime!”

Annie, however, was still gripping the dashboard, her face pale. “Never…again,” she managed, her voice barely a whisper.

Mia chuckled, reaching over to give Annie a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Aw, come on, June-Bug. It wasn’t THAT bad!”

Annie glared at her, breathless but unable to hide a small, shaky smile. “Let’s…just get to the sloth. At a normal speed.”

Two hours later, the car sat parked on a narrow dirt road surrounded by thick trees and underbrush, their branches casting eerie shadows over the group. The air was filled with the chirping of insects and the occasional rustle of leaves, as if small creatures were watching them. Emma sighed dramatically from the back seat, folding her arms.

“Yeah, we’re lost,” she announced, glancing around at the dense, unfamiliar forest that seemed to stretch endlessly in all directions.

Mia, seated behind the wheel with a determined expression, shot her a look of pure defiance. “We are not lost! We’re… just… in an area that’s temporarily unidentifiable.”

“Unidentifiable?” Annie repeated with a smirk. “Mia, that’s just a fancy way of saying we’re lost.”

Emma, sitting in the front passenger seat and holding a crumpled, slightly tattered map, turned to Mia, clearly looking a bit skeptical. “I think Emma’s right, Mimi. I mean… we don’t even know which way we’re supposed to go.”

Mia rolled her eyes and sighed, leaning over to look at the map. “Emma, let me see that map. Maybe we missed a road or something.”

Emma handed over the map, her eyebrow raised in amusement. “Yeah, maybe that’s it. Or maybe it’s because we’ve gone in circles three times?”

As Mia squinted at the map, Emma pointed out a small, faint line on the paper. “Look, according to this, we’re supposed to go this way.”

Annie looked over Emma’s shoulder, and after a few seconds, she burst out laughing, pointing at the map. “Emma! You’re holding it upside down! We’re supposed to go the other way!”

Emma’s face turned red as she flipped the map around, studying it again. “Oh… I… well, that explains a lot.” She laughed sheepishly, looking over at Mia, who seemed caught between amusement and exasperation.

Mia sighed, rubbing her temples. “Okay, so, instead of backtracking, we’ve been going completely off course for… how long now?”

Blackie, who had been sitting calmly in the back seat, gave an exasperated huff. “Idiots,” he muttered, flicking his tail in annoyance. His amber eyes fixed on Emma and Annie as if they were an endless source of disappointment.

“Hey, watch it, Blackie,” Annie snapped back, giving him a playful glare. “It’s not our fault the map didn’t come with instructions.”

Blackie rolled his eyes. “A map doesn’t need instructions if you have a brain.”

The_Sage_Ninja_Morro and DumbassWriter17 now would be a good time to start to scream into a pillow

Or just laugh 😂

Because Blackie is being very very very.... I'll just let you fill in the blank because there isn't just one word to describe him

Anyway

Mia stifled a laugh as she folded the map properly. “Okay, no more excuses. I’ve got it now. We just follow this road, make a left, and we should be back on track. Simple.”

Emma tilted her head. “Are you sure this time?”

Mia flashed her a confident grin. “Positive.” She revved the engine, shifting the car into gear and heading back onto the narrow path.

They drove in silence for a few minutes, the forest growing denser, branches scraping the sides of the car as they went. Annie nervously watched the trees, casting a glance back at Emma every so often. “This… doesn’t exactly look like the way back to town,” Annie murmured, her voice tinged with doubt.

“Relax, Annie,” Mia reassured, gripping the wheel with determination. “We’re not lost. I know exactly where we are now.”

Emma leaned forward, glancing at the map in Mia’s hand. “Well, I sure hope you do, because the map says we’re going straight into uncharted territory. See that big gray area? That’s where we are.”

Annie’s eyes widened as she looked out the window at the increasingly wild landscape. “Uh, Mia… maybe we should turn around…”

Mia, however, had no intention of stopping. “Trust me. I’ve got this!”

But as they rounded a bend, a massive pothole appeared out of nowhere. Mia swerved, narrowly avoiding it, only to plunge straight into a deep puddle that splashed mud onto the windshield. She wiped it off with a look of determination, speeding up once again.

“Are you sure you’re not just guessing?” Annie asked, gripping her seat tightly as they bumped along the road.

“Guessing?” Mia shot back, her tone indignant. “I am never just guessing!”

Emma chuckled, leaning back with a mischievous glint in her eye. “Uh-huh. So if I say the forest is getting thicker, that’s… intentional, right?”

Mia frowned, her expression stubborn. “Maybe the road’s just taking us on a scenic detour.”

Annie shook her head with a sigh. “You know, I’m starting to think we should’ve asked for directions before we left.”

Mia grinned, unfazed. “Where’s the fun in that?” Just as she said this, they hit another bump, causing the car to lurch and everyone to grab onto something.

Blackie yawned, looking thoroughly unimpressed with the whole situation. “Humans,” he muttered under his breath. “If I could drive, I’d have us there by now.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Sure, Blackie. Because a cat driving wouldn’t be at all suspicious.”

As they continued down the unmarked path, the trees began to clear a little, giving them glimpses of the horizon, a faint sign that they were finally heading in the right direction. Mia couldn’t help but look triumphant as she pointed. “See? We’re almost there.”

Annie, despite herself, broke into a smile. “Well… maybe you’re right this time.”

Emma grinned as she glanced out at the sunset peeking through the trees. “About time. Let’s just get that sloth and go home. This has been enough adventure for one day.”

Mia laughed, shifting the car back onto a familiar road as the distant outline of the town appeared on the horizon. “See? I told you we weren’t lost!”

Emma stood knee-deep in the middle of a lake, looking around at the vast stretch of water and dense trees that circled them. She let out a dramatic sigh, placing her hands on her hips.

"Yeahhhh, we're lost," she declared with an exaggerated tone, wading back toward the shore.

Mia sat on the hood of the car, scrutinizing the now thoroughly crumpled and mud-streaked map. She furrowed her brow, tilting her head this way and that as if a new angle might magically reveal their location. “We’re not lost,” she insisted, tracing a line with her finger. “I just… need to get my bearings. We’re probably right about… here?”

Annie, leaning against the car with her arms crossed, raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Mia, you’ve been looking at that map for an hour now. I think it’s safe to say we have no idea where we are.”

Emma finally reached the car, dripping lake water and looking thoroughly unimpressed. “I can’t believe you got us lost in the middle of nowhere. What are we even supposed to be near? A lake? A mountain? A forest? Everything looks the same here.”

Mia waved her off, squinting at the map as though it would somehow start making sense if she glared hard enough. “Relax, guys. We’re probably just… a little off-track.”

Blackie, perched on the dashboard, was muttering under his breath, his eyes half-closed in disdain. “Humans are so… predictably lost.” He shot a withering look at the three girls. “Honestly, it’s like watching a bunch of headless chickens wander around.”

Annie shot him an exasperated glance. “Oh, really, Blackie? And I suppose you know exactly where we are?”

Blackie’s tail flicked, and he let out a dramatic sigh. “Actually, yes. I do.” He jumped down from the dashboard and strutted over, giving each of them a judgmental once-over. “Give me the keys. I’m driving. Clearly, you humans are hopeless at it.”

Emma crossed her arms and smirked. “Oh, really? A CAT is going to drive us out of here? What’s next, Blackie, are you going to read the map, too?”

Blackie huffed, flicking his tail dismissively. “Honestly, I’d probably do a better job than any of you. Now, hand over the keys, or you’ll be wandering in circles until sunset.”

Mia and Annie exchanged glances, trying not to laugh. Annie shook her head, pretending to be serious. “Alright, Blackie. But remember, no speeding. You tend to have a lead paw.”

Mia chuckled, tossing the keys to him with a wink. “Fine, Blackie. Lead the way—show us how it’s done.”

Blackie glared at them, completely unamused, but he settled back on the dashboard, watching with a look of pure resignation. “Oh, I’ll show you how it’s done, alright. Humans… so hopelessly clueless.”

" Really? You drove us to a car store?"

Blackie sat primly on the dashboard, his tail swishing back and forth with smug satisfaction as the car rolled to a stop. Mia, Annie, and Emma looked out the window, their eyes widening.

Mia looked at him. " Care to explain?"

Blackie flicked his ears back, not even bothering to look at her. “Obviously. I figured you three could use a lesson in actually knowing where you’re going.”

Mia leaned forward, squinting at the large sign above the store, which read ‘Larry’s Auto and Map Emporium.’“A car store that also sells maps? That’s… kind of convenient,” she muttered, trying to decide if she was more annoyed or impressed.

Annie shook her head, stifling a laugh. “Blackie, we don’t need a new car, we need directions!”

Blackie rolled his eyes and turned to face her. “Oh, and what do you think Larry’s selling in there? Pineapples? He’s got maps. If you’d listened to me an hour ago, we’d already be home by now.”

Emma groaned, slumping back in her seat. “I can’t believe we let a cat drive us here.”

Mia shot her a look. “Yeah, well, he’s still doing better than we did.”

Annie sighed, giving Blackie a pat. “Alright, fine, genius. Let’s go buy a map… and maybe a compass this time.” She smirked, glancing at Mia. “Or better yet, an old-fashioned GPS. Just in case the cat’s not available next time.”

Blackie lifted his chin, utterly unbothered. “Finally, some common sense.”

Mia slammed her hands against the steering wheel, frustration visible in her clenched jaw. "Oh, great."

Emma looked over at her, raising an eyebrow. “What’s wrong now?”

“The engine’s not starting. We’re out of gas,” Mia said, her voice thick with exasperation as she popped open the hood and gave a quick glance. “Of course. Just what we needed.”

“Great. We’re officially stuck in the middle of nowhere,” Annie muttered, rubbing her temples.

But Emma's face lit up with an idea. “Wait! I have a GREAT idea!”

Mia pushed hard against the rear of the van, her sneakers slipping on the gravel beneath her. Annie and Emma followed suit, each of them leaning in with all their might. The wheels screeched slightly as the van inched forward, barely moving at first.

“Come on, let’s go!” Emma shouted, her voice strained. “One more push, girls!”

The van crept up the hill, slow but steady, as the girls dug their heels into the dirt and gritted their teeth. Sweat trickled down their foreheads, but they kept pushing, determined.

“Seriously,” Annie panted, her legs starting to burn, “this is so ridiculous.”

“Just focus!” Mia grunted, wiping the sweat from her brow. “We’re almost there!”

Emma looked ahead at the top of the hill, her eyes sparkling with hope. “Just a few more steps! Push, push, push!”

" idiots." Blackie muttered.

Annie groaned and pushed. " One.... More..... Push....."

With one final push, the van crested the hill, teetering at the top for a moment before starting to roll down the other side.

“We did it!” Emma cheered.

Annie collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion, breathing heavily. “I think… I think I’m dying.”

Mia straightened up, a proud grin on her face despite the exhaustion. “We made it up the hill. Now we just have to pray it works on the way down.”

“Who needs a car? We’ve got legs!” Emma said, winking as the van picked up speed.

Annie shook her head, a smile breaking through her exhaustion. “Next time, we really need a plan B.”

But before anyone could answer, Blackie’s voice rang out from the top of the van. “Idiots.”

As the girls leaned against the side of the van, catching their breath from the exhausting uphill push, there was a brief moment of stillness. Their bodies sagged in relief, but the van, seemingly deciding it had had enough of their efforts, gave a slight lurch—just enough to make them all look up with widening eyes.

"Uh... guys?" Emma started, her voice a mix of disbelief and horror. "I think it’s moving."

The van didn’t stop. It crept forward, ever so slightly, and then, as if guided by some invisible force, it started rolling down the hill.

“Oh no!" Annie gasped, stumbling back and trying to grab onto the bumper. "Get the brake! Get the brake!"

But the van had already gathered enough momentum. The wheels rumbled louder as it rolled faster, picking up speed with a terrifying inevitability.

“MOVE!” Mia shouted. Without thinking, she bolted toward the van, but not fast enough to catch it. The wind rushed past her as the van continued its descent, the three girls running in pursuit, but it was clear: they were not going to catch it.

Just as the van neared the bottom of the hill, headed straight toward a large tree, Mia heard a rustling sound above her. She looked up just in time to see Blackie, who had been perched on top of the van, leap into the air.

"BLACKIE!" Mia yelled, arms outstretched as the sassy cat sailed through the air, landing perfectly in her arms with a soft thud.

"Gotcha!" Mia said, gripping Blackie tightly against her chest, feeling his soft fur against her face as he gave her a disapproving glare.

But there was no time to savor the victory. The van was heading straight for the tree, and Mia’s mind raced as she snapped out of her brief moment of relief.

“AFTER THAT VAAAAAN!” she shouted, her voice piercing the air as she sprinted after it. Her heart pounded in her chest, adrenaline surging through her veins. “I am not letting that stupid thing get away!”

“Seriously, Mia?!” Annie huffed, her voice frantic, as she followed closely behind. "We’re gonna crash into a tree at this rate!"

Mia barely registered her words. Her focus was locked on the van, which was now a mere few feet from colliding with the tree. The sound of the tires screeching against the gravel was deafening. It felt like everything was moving in slow motion, and Mia knew if they didn’t do something fast, it was all over.

“Someone stop it!” Emma screamed, her arms flailing as she too ran down the hill with all the energy she could muster.

At the last moment, the van veered to the side, narrowly missing the tree by mere inches. The girls skidded to a halt, their breaths ragged, eyes wide with shock.

Mia, still clutching Blackie against her chest, stopped in her tracks. Her heart was racing, but a smirk slowly spread across her face as she realized they had just narrowly avoided disaster.

“Ha! You can’t get away that easily, you dumb van!” she shouted at it, hands on her hips in defiance.

Blackie meowed loudly, unamused, but Mia barely noticed, too busy trying to catch her breath.

Emma, who had almost fallen flat on her face in her attempt to catch up, glared at the van, a little annoyed. "We should’ve just called a tow truck," she muttered under her breath.

Annie, her chest heaving from the run, finally caught up with Mia. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and took a moment to breathe. “I think... I think we almost died,” she said, laughing nervously. "But at least Blackie’s okay.”

“Yeah,” Mia said with a grin, looking down at Blackie, who was now curled up in her arms, his tail flicking irritably. “And it’s still rolling.”

They all turned in unison to see the van, having gained a surprising amount of speed from the hill, now heading toward the edge of a steep incline. It was too late to stop it now.

“Oh, great,” Emma groaned.

“After it, girls! Let’s go!” Mia shouted again, her voice full of determination, before taking off after the van once more.

Blackie gave a resigned sigh and muttered to himself, “Idiots.”