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Friday, January 8, Central Time Zone, GMT

The Boom-Boom Kitty Portable Stadium, North of Houston, Texas, USA

Though like the tens of thousands of other fans, ten-year-old Tara McNaughton was stuck in line, flanked by her parents, she was already bouncing with excitement. To keep the fans in the lineups from getting bored, huge jumbotrons had been placed at each entrance. And there on the screen was her hero, Yelina, talking about kitties, and how it was only a good idea to get them if you planned to take good care of them, and rescue them from animal shelters like the SPCA, and have them spayed and neutered. Like hundreds of thousands of Boom-Boom Kitty fans, she had dutifully done just that, just as she had dutifully donned her Yelina kitty costume, had dutifully tied her hair in pigtails, and dutifully wore a brand of prescription contacts endorsed by the Boom-Boom Kitty organisation.

Her parents exchanged a broad smile. Despite all the hype and the marketing and the commercialism, everything about Boom-Boom Kitty was good and wholesome and entertaining, and downright good fun!

A roar went up from the crowd as the sky was suddenly ablaze with fireworks! Yet another sign that their idols were thinking of them, spending money they didn't have to on making every aspect of a Boom-Boom Kitty concert as memorable and enjoyable as possible.

Though the wait in line had taken hours, to ten-year-old Tara the time had flown by, and now they were inside the giant portable stadium, which from the outside looked like a gigantic ball, a cat-toy. Everywhere she looked there were kids her own age, kids wearing Boom-Boom Kitty cat costumes and great big contacts and Boom-Boom Kitty cat makeup. And there were parents and grandparents and ridiculous-looking teenagers and adults caught up in the Boom-Boom Kitty craze. And the floor was littered with popcorn and ticket stubs and food wrappers, and there were vendors hawking Boom-Boom Kitty paraphernalia and memorabilia and food.

Her parents noticed, as she did not, the heavy level of security. They had heard of this, that all of the security people and a large number of the staff were native people from Canada. Each child received a unique ink bar-code on their left wrist, as did each parent or guardian, and the warning that the bar-code would take a few days to wash off. And every parent and guardian and child was instructed on a simple procedure, should they become separated, of finding one another. Lost people trying to find each other were to go to any security person, who would scan them and wait for a response.

To cap it off, everyone would be scanned upon leaving. No one could leave without their child, or with someone else's.

The main reason for these security precautions became apparent once they passed into the inner domes. There was a huge stadium-like seating area outside the dance floor where parents and non-dancers could sit and watch. The children, on the other hand, headed straight for the dance floor.

As Tara and a mob of kids her own age swarmed onto the dance floor, many of them began bouncing on its springy surface. Tara stopped to inspect it, but soon lost interest. After all, it only looked like translucent greyish, rubbery plastic. But it was incredibly bouncy! Everywhere she looked there were young girls like herself in kitty costumes, bouncing across the floor. Looking around, she could see that up in the semi-darkness, high, high up, there were things hanging everywhere so that they made a ball around the dance floor.

She looked towards the stage area and beheld a mob-scene! Everyone, it seemed, wanted to get as close to the stage as possible! But that was where she wanted to be, so off she went, bouncing along the springy floor-

And stopped in surprise as the lights came on, and there was pandemonium! She was about to rush towards the stage, when a voice stopped her! It was her hero, Yelina, who had appeared on the stage wearing a headset-microphone!

'Listen up, fellow Boom-Boom Kitties! I want you to spread yourselves out on the Boom Floor! That's it . . . make sure everyone's got room! Now, we're going to turn on the Boom Floor, and while we do that, I'm going to explain what it does.'

There was a collective catching of breath as the Boom Floor was turned on. To Tara, it looked as though she were standing high, high up in the air. Below her, seemingly forever, were repeated and shifting geometric shapes.

'Now,' said Yelina, 'I want all of you to bounce when I say THREE! One, Two, THREE!'

Tara gasped in amazed pleasure as she landed on the floor's surface. She was rewarded with a pulsing light that gave her the illusion it was bouncing her off the floor and into the air, even as its perceived reflection seemed to go downwards where it coruscated into the depths.

'Wo-ow!'

And then, Yelina was at her massive drum kit, and the band was ready to go, and the huge stadium was suddenly pulsing with light and sound! Tara burst out laughing as she realised what they were singing.

"Meow- meow- meow- meow,

Meow- meow- meow- meow,

Meow- meow- meow- meow,

Meow- meow- meow- meow!"

At once, tens of thousands of bouncing, kitty-costumed kids began singing along, and suddenly the older ones didn't quite feel so silly, and joined in, laughing.

Tara paused a moment to take stock. Everything was astonishment and delight! The band, the lights, the Boom Floor . . . and the sound! It came from everywhere! Each and every note and sound came from a different place inside the great ball, and it made you feel like you were inside the music, and when you jumped you were bouncing on the light; bouncing on the light inside the music!

And then the song was over, and everyone began chanting, "Rock-ET! Rock-ET" . . . and soon the words became "Rock-IT! Rock-IT," and then the familiar opening began as the girls began singing in high pippy voices like a sequenced synthesiser, punctuated by thundering haymakers supplied by Yelina and her massive drum kit. And then, they began to sing:

"Come fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e!

Come fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e!

What new worlds of wonders, do you think we'll see?

How far will you trust me? Will you come with me-e-e-e?

"Come fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e!

Come fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e!

Place your hand in my hand, I won't let you fall!

Lets fly through the Heavens, let's answer the call!

"Let's ride the rocket, ride the rocket, ride the ro-cket!

Let's ride the rocket, ride the rocket, ride the ro-cket!

To the stars! To the heavens and back,

See the stars? See the galaxy spinning,

Spinning on its track, oh,

What do you see-e-e-e?

What do you see-e-e-e?

How do you fe-el?

Is it all real? Oh,

Let's ride the rocket, ride the rocket, ride the ro-cket!

Let's ride the rocket, ride the rocket, ride the ro-cket!

"Come fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e!

Come fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e!

The new worlds of wonders, do you realise?

The new worlds of wonders, are stars in your eyes!

"Come fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e!

Come fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e!

We'll both go together, we'll go, you and I!

We'll fly through the Heavens! We'll fly through the sky!

"Let's ride the rocket, ride the rocket, ride the ro-cket!

Let's ride the rocket, ride the rocket, ride the ro-cket!

To the stars! To Heaven and beyond!

See the stars? See the Great Beyond? Oh,

What do you see-e-e-e?

What do you see-e-e-e?

How do you feel?

Is this for real? Oh,

Let's ride the rocket, ride the rocket, ride the ro-cket!

Let's ride the rocket, ride the rocket, ride the ro-cket!

"Come fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e-e-e!

Come fly away, Co-me fly a-way with me-e-e-e-e-e!

With me-e-e-e-e-e!

With me-e-e-e-e-e!

With me-e-e-e-e-e!"