kai

...Lydia is playing with a chonky black and white cat that's running around chasing a laser pointer on the floor.

“I don't freakin’ get it!” Betelgeuse's voice floats from the cat. “I know it's just a stupid red dot, but I gotta catch it! C’mere, you sonofa–”

Wearing a massive smile, Lydia squeals as she points the laser beam up the wall. The chonky cat runs after it, defying gravity as he bounds higher and higher until he's on the ceiling.

Astrid’s giggles draw Lydia's attention.

“Hi, sweetie!” Lydia laughs.

“Hey, kid!” BetelCat says, dilated eyes focused on the fast red circle as he gallops after it.

“Is that Beej?” Astrid asks.

“Uh huh,” Lydia answers, still grinning wide.

Now Astrid’s grinning, too. “And how's it going, Dad?”

“Can't talk! Your mom’s makin’ me work my fluffy ass off!”

Giggling again, Astrid looks down at her canine companion, expecting him to be amused. But he's sitting stock still, his eyes also dilated and locked onto his feline sibling.

“Donny?” Astrid says.

His ear pivots towards her for a second, but he's still staring right at BetelCat. Finally, Donny’s voice floats from his dog mouth.

“Betel.”

“Yeah?” BetelCat says as he jumps and bats at his elusive glowing prey.

“You're a cat.”

“No shit, Sherlock.”

“I'm a dog.”

“Yeah, so wha…” The cat stops chasing the laser and his head snaps to the canine. “Uh oh.”

DonnyDog takes off like a shot, bolting up the wall and onto the ceiling as BetelCat flees, yowling and hissing in his race down the opposite wall.

“We haven't played tag since we were kids!” DonnyDog cries with pure joy.

“This is not tag!” BetelCat yells. “I'm tryin’ not to get eaten!”

“I wouldn't eat you! Just shake you violently back and forth until your skin rips off!”

“HOW IS THAT BETTER?!”

“It’s instinct!”

***

Lydia was finishing going through the old, thick roll of photographs under the dim light of the old tavern.

Once she reached the end, she let out a sigh and slid the roll into the ancient camera she had pulled out from who-knows-where. Carefully, she set it down on the seat beside her. She touched it gently, as if saying goodbye, and then left it behind.

She walked toward the exit with her head down, her steps halted by a voice behind her:

“-Where you going, sweetheart?”

She turned, and upon seeing her date, her eyes lit up. “-Took you long enough.”

“-Sorry, I had to take care of a couple of things first…” -He said, moving toward her with a smile. Once in front of her, he tenderly brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, wanting to see her face better. “-Thirty-one years, and you seriously couldn’t wait five more minutes?”

She smiled shyly. “-I was afraid you wouldn’t come.”

“-And miss our date? Never, my dear.” -He replied, offering his hand.

Touched, Lydia took it, resting her other hand on his shoulder. He placed his free hand around her waist, not taking his eyes off her for even a second.

To the rhythm of a slow, steady dance, they returned to the center of the tavern, which at that moment was completely empty; just the two of them and a low, warm light that stopped time right there for them.

Only for a few seconds, their reflection in the bar’s mirror caught the boy’s eye, and he saw himself in Bet’s skin; cheeks flushed, as was typical of someone alive and in love, dancing with the woman he adored.

Having confirmed the perfection of the scene, he looked back at Lydia and vowed never to look away from her again.

***

There was no way to know how long he had been wandering through the sand; that was impossible to measure in the Timeless Dimension.

He walked and walked, possessed by the film running in his mind, ignoring everything around him.

It wasn’t until he reached a rocky slope that he stopped, taking a moment to look ahead.

There wasn’t much more than what he already expected: sand everywhere, a greenish-blue sky, and rock formations scattered all around.

Every so often, a gentle gust of wind would move sand from place to place, and once it settled, the distant roar of the creatures inhabiting those lands could be heard.

Indifferent to the sounds and the desolate environment, BJ let himself collapse onto his knees, then onto a stone column beside him. His gaze lost in the void. He drifted in and out of dissociation.

He knew perfectly well what would happen sooner or later. And that certainty, far from saddening him, brought him peace, one he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

“This time I get to choose, and this is how I want to go.”