Tonya

6

OLLIE

"Hey, is this accurate to you?" I handed to picture to Connor and his smile widened in victory.

"Yes! Let's go show this to my mom! Maybe seeing a picture of him will make her remember. Maybe not having any other proof of his existence magically makes her forget so maybe showing her this will make her remember."

"Yeah, let's go." Connor grabbed the keys off of the counter and we headed to his parents' house. Once we arrived, we noticed that there was an extra car in the driveway.

"Whose car is that?" I asked and he shrugged.

"I don't know. But let's go. It's creepy to the neighbors if you just sit and don't do anything." I quietly chuckled because for some reason I found that rather humorous. We made our way to the front door, drawing in hand, and took a deep breath before knocking.

"Come in!" his mom called from somewhere inside and we let ourselves in. As always, we were greeted by her three yappy yorkie terriers and the usual smell of vanilla candles.

"Mom, we brought you something." Connor said and she came from around the corner.

"Oh, thank you. By the way the cousins paid a visit today, they're in the kitchen if you'd like to go say hi."

"Okay I will." With that we made our way to the dining table where, as implied, the cousins were.

"Connor!" his uncle said and they hugged each other tightly. Greetings and hugs were shared throughout the rest of the family as well.

"So, what do you have for me?" Connor and I sat down at the table across from them and I slid the drawing onto the table for everyone to see. They observed the picture and praised me for the talent.

"Who is it?" his mom asked and my heart sunk. Of course, it didn't work. I looked to Connor and I could see the defeat in him.

"That is just a random person." I said in a lower tone than previously.

"Yeah, now you can tell anyone who comes over some story about some made up son in the military with his war dog or something." Connor saved the moment with this comment. Everyone laughed and his mom took it.

"That's a hilarious idea. I think I'll do that." She said and hung it up on the wall. We spent the evening talking about random stuff, but ultimately, we just wanted to go home. It was after 9 when we finally did.

"So, remember when Jason asked you what you saw?" I asked, finally questioning the thing that's been clouding my thoughts for a long time. Connor stayed silent. I took that as my que to continue with the question. "What did you guys see?" he was silent momentarily, but he finally explained.

"My reflection was telling me to step into the mirror and something inside of me just knew that that would be the worst thing to do. The mirror started rippling and shifting and I just somehow knew that it was a portal. I don't know how or why, but I just did. I didn't want to tell him because you know him, he's curious and would want to see it too." He said and I got chills. That explains why I couldn't pass through the mirror when it looked normal. If it isn't rippling, then it's okay right?

When we got home, I went to my room, aka the other spare room in Connor's house, and crashed into my bed. I was pooped after the day. I decided to go through my camera roll and look through all of the pictures that had replaced the pictures of Jason and Tonya. I missed them so much. I wish they hadn't gone away... I was drifting off when I heard a thump. I quickly became awake and alert and began searching for the sound. When I found nothing, I decided to get up and go get a glass of water. I chalked it up to Connor doing his nightly work out and just knocked his bottle off of his table. Walking past a mirror, I noticed that my phone was still on. I was going to turn away when I noticed something particularly odd.

"Connor!" I yelled as I ran to grab my phone. He entered my room in a hurry, wearing only a pair of sweatpants, confirming my earlier suspicion.

"What? What's going on? What are you doing?" He asked as he approached. By the time he reached me, my eyes were lighting up with excitement.

**********

JASON

Tonya and I have been in this void for years and years, yet not a single second has passed. Tonya should've been dead years ago, but she hasn't aged a day. Her bite wounds have healed and now she has scars where hair doesn't grow anymore. I'm nowhere near as crazy and messed up as I should be. Spending what feels like decades in a black void with nothing or anyone else but a dog should definitely cause your brain to go crazy at some point, right? We haven't eaten or drank anything since getting here which means no bathroom use and we don't sleep either.

Sadly, we can't even see stars. It's just black and there's no floor, we just magically walk on nothing the way we do. Tonya is wise beyond her physical mental compacity. She knows every command you can imagine since she's had all the time in the void to learn them, she knows how to do cool moves like backflips and we can coordinate movements together like they do in the movies, she knows to bark once for yes, two for no, and she even understands basic math. Not going to make a stretch and say she'll bark a thousand times for you if you ask her what a hundred times ten is, but if you ask her one plus two, she barks or will do whatever you want three times.

We've definitely gotten used to the void and have accepted life the way it is now. Don't get me wrong, I miss home. I miss it so much. I miss Ollie. I miss her hugs and kisses before work, her cuddles at night, and the smell of pancakes in the morning to go with her cheerful songs that she sings in the kitchen. I'm sure she's moved on and is probably married, has four kids, probably has another dog like Tonya or maybe her dog is a small chihuahua so it doesn't knock over her toddler. Tonya would've been such a perfect dog to have when we had our first kid together. She also would've made some gorgeous wedding pictures.

I liked and hated thinking about marrying Ollie so much. I hated it because I want it so bad. It hurts to think about her not loving me anymore. But I love to think about it because it makes me smile. Ollie, in her white wedding dress would have been so beautiful. I sometimes pretend that I am in the wedding with Tonya sat right next to me, tongue sticking out and her smile lighting up the whole picture. Oh, how I miss it.