"Roger! Roooggggeeeeerrrrrrr!!!!! You're back!!!" The blazing orb flew across the empty landscape and collided with the dull red orb that had just appeared. "You're coming back! I'm so glad; you're back!"

Oliver slumped down on the ground beside the two orbs, and Pipsqueak followed a second after. "That was exhausting."

Pipsqueak purred slightly in her throat as she rolled onto her side and sprawled out. "Yes. This is the last time I will ever come here."

"Heh. If only. Just be glad you won't feel any of this when you wake up."

"Oh, good. I was wondering if I would have to deal with this limp later." Pipsqueak yawned and closed her eyes. "That's probably the only good thing about this place."

"Pretty much." Oliver chuffed and stretched his head out to rest it on the floor, closing his eyes while the two spirits went through their reunion.

He grumbled when he felt something nudging at his side and realized Pipsqueak was speaking to him. "Oliver, wake up. Roger is asking me questions, and I don't know what to tell him. And it's kind of annoying."

Oliver grumbled again. "Yes. It's very annoying when somebody asks you a bunch of dumb questions they should already know the answers to." The orange cat stretched out on the ground, then sat up and opened his eyes.

The blazing orb was bouncing happily, but Roger's dull gray orb was hovering in front of him. "I'm sorry to wake you. I was just wondering what will happen next."

Oliver yawned and shook his head. "Now we go back back to the land of the living."

"Err... but I'm... um... what's going to happen to me?" The dull orb wobbled uncertainly between the two cats. "I'm... you know. Dead."

"Oh." Oliver flicked his tail behind him. More explanations. And of something he had already explained to Pipsqueak earlier, no less. "You'll be back at an earlier moment. Whenever it was that you made the choice to come here. You'll get the chance to make that choice again. And since you've changed your mind and willingly left this place, you might actually make a different decision." The orange tabby stared up at the dull sphere and slowly blinked at it. "I strongly suggest that you do. Pipsqueak and I went through a lot. I'd hate to know it was for nothing."

The red orb dipped and rose in a slow imitation of a human nod. "I will. Um. What's going to happen to the rest of you?"

"We go back to when we would have woken up, right?" Pipsqueak glanced at the blazing orb behind Roger, then looked back at Oliver. "That's what you said before. That thing with the dirty spot that we can't see?"

"Yes. If Roger makes a different decision and changes things, then we might wake up in a different place, and with a second set of memories, depending on how much of a difference his new decision causes. But it's not that big a deal. You get used to it." Oliver stretched, arching his back and tensing his muscles... then he relaxed and meowed up at the two orbs. "Are you ready? I think we're all tired of this place."

The dull spirit gave another 'nod' of a dip and rise, and the blazing orb zipped back to his side. "We're ready."

"Okay then. Back to the land of the living we go..."

~

Oliver yawned and uncurled from his comfortable position on the couch cushion. He stretched out his forelegs, meowing cutely as his sleepy brain kicked slowly back into gear. He didn't remember falling asleep on a comfortable couch...

...and then after a second, he did remember it.

Instead of running into that mean lady while out on his afternoon stroll, like he had originally remembered happening, now he could also remember that it had actually been a completely uneventful trip. He had come back home, greeted Madeline with a happy meow and a pleasant rub against her leg, and then curled up on the couch for a nap.

That was good. That meant things were different. His and Pipsqueak's efforts hadn't been for nothing.

He yawned again and stood up on the couch... then walked a few paces down the couch, towards where Madeline was sitting. The woman giggled as he climbed into her lap, sprawled back out, and began drifting back off to sleep.

A rumbling purr filled his throat as Madeline's warm hand came down to pet him, and he flicked his tail in satisfaction.

Life was good.

~

"Come oooonnnn, you've been asleep all day! Wake up already, wake up, wake up!" Something cold and wet bumped against the black cat's face. She grumbled, then growled, then reached up to swat at the annoying thing.

She didn't feel nearly as rested as she should feel after a nap... but she opened her eyes anyway. That had been the weirdest dream...

"Yay! You're finally awake! Good!" A large golden dog stared down at her, looking far too excited. His tail wagged as if it was trying to put out a fire with it, and his ears perked higher as he stretched out into a play-bow. "Come on! I found something neat that you'll like!"

The black cat yawned and settled back down in her curled position. The sunlight had made this spot nice and warm when she had picked it for a nap, but the angle of the sun had changed at some point, and now it was sadly cold. Which did not mix well at all with the annoyance of being woken up so rudely, or the lingering confusion from her strange dream. "Go awaaaaay, I'm tired. I don't want to see whatever silly thing your humans have done now."

"You're always tired! You've slept half the day; that's too much sleep! And it has nothing to do with the humans; it's on the far side of the farm! Come on already, kitten!" The dog rose back up and began turning in circles. "You've got to see this, you've got to see this!"

The small cat flattened her ears again. "I am not a kitten. I am grateful that you pulled me out of the river when I was a kitten, but that doesn't mean you get to call me one now. I am a cat."

"Heh. Okay, whatever you say. Come on, 'cat'." The dog wagged his tail even faster, and the silvery tag on his collar jingled as he danced around. "Come onnnnnn! I found something that smells disgusting, but it's attracted gobs of those squeaky mice things you like chasing! Come on, come on, come onnnnnn!"

"Hmph. Fiiiiiiine." The cat yawned again, then slowly climbed to her feet. "You know, other cats would not be as nice as I am. They would not be willing to put up with you interrupting their naps like this. They would probably be huge jerks, and make fun of you for not being able to climb trees." She yawned once more, then looked back at the excited dog, and the shiny tag dangling from his collar. "You are lucky that I like you, Champ."

"Heh." The dog turned back and gave a sloppy, saliva-filled lick over the black cat's fur. "I like you too, little pipsqueak."

The dog turned and dashed away... and after taking a second to smooth her fur back out, Pipsqueak followed after him.

~

Roger held his hand over the bottle and closed his eyes. You're a failure. It's been months since you were fired, and you've got nothing. You're going to lose your house. You can't even afford more food. You did everything you were supposed to. Everything that everybody else did. But it didn't work.

Everybody else can manage it. The people you grew up with all had better jobs than you. Most of them have been married for years, and even have kids. But you don't.

The problem is you.

You are a miserable, pointless failure.

There's no sense in trying anymore. It's too hard, and you can't do it. You will never succeed. All you can do is be a drain on the people you care about. All you can do is make them miserable.

The best thing you could ever do with your life would be to end it.

He slowly closed his hands around the bottle and pulled it out of the medicine cabinet.

A whine from outside of the bathroom made him look up. A German Shepherd stood in the hallway outside with her head tilted as she stared up at him. She whined again and started slowly wagging her tail when she saw Roger looking back at her, then turned in a half-circle and took a step down the hall.

"I know, I know. It's bedtime." Roger closed his hand around the top of the pill bottle, then twisted the top off. "I just need to get some water to take this medicine with, and then we'll go to bed." He reached down to pet the dog, holding the bottle's cap with his thumb while he brushed his hand over her back...

A vivid image suddenly filled Roger's mind. He saw his bedroom very clearly, and saw himself sprawled under the blanket. Lying on his chest, face smushed in the pillow, and... not breathing.

He saw the German Shepherd sleeping on the bed beside his body, then saw her waking up. Saw her shifting closer with a worried whine, then a nervous bark. Nudging at his arm with her nose. First a slow motion, confused, then more nudges. Desperate shoves of her nose against the blanket, pushing his arm again and again, then moving to his side.

His dog began digging at the blanket, pulling it away with her paws. She licked at his arm and nudged him more, and her whines grew more panicked as his body remained just as motionless. She turned in circles on the bed, whining more as his body refused to move no matter how much she begged for it to.

He saw it as his dog's ears and tail drooped miserably, then saw her stretch back out on the bed beside him, give one final nudge of his arm, and let out a sad, heartbroken whine.

The image cleared just as suddenly as it appeared.

Roger closed his eyes as he started to shake. That had felt so real. It hadn't felt like he had just imagined what might happen, but instead like he had lived through it. Like he had remembered what his dog would have to go through if he went ahead with his plan to take these pills.

The bottle fell from his hand, scattering the pills, as he slumped against the wall and dropped to the floor. He closed his eyes and started to shake, hugging himself as he sobbed alone in the empty bathroom.

A concerned whine came from the German Shepherd, and she turned and stepped into the bathroom. Her paws slipped a little on the tile flooring, but she made it to her friend. She wagged her tail slowly and nudged at his arm, whining again.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry..." Roger unwrapped his arms from around himself and hugged the German Shepherd instead. He buried his face in her side and leaned against her, still shaking as he continued to cry.

The German Shepherd whined and gave a slow, confused wag of her tail. She didn't know what was going on or why Roger was so upset, and she hated that he was crying... but she could tell that holding her was making him feel better. She sat up slowly, being careful not to slip more on the tiles, and tried to lick at Roger's face. That usually made him feel better, or at least grin...

It didn't seem to help much this time. Roger didn't stop crying or shaking, and he didn't try and stop her like he usually did. He just sat there and hugged her tighter for a long moment... then he moved one hand up to pet at her head. He took a deep breath and spoke in a shaky, trembling voice.

"Thank you. Good girl, Lady."