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I sighed. The Doghouse couch creaked slightly from my shift in weight. “Too many adventures, not enough time. I have hero duties, schoolwork, chores, and I’d like to have something that resembles a social life.” I scratched Bandit behind the ears then sighed again.

“Hiya,” said a voice.

I jumped out of my seat. “Zak?! What are you doing here? Didn’t we like…merge into one person?”

The teen ran his fingers through his white hair. “Yeah. So, how can I say this delicately?…You’re shedding.”

“What?!”

“It’s all right,” said the two-years-younger-than-me-parallel-counterpart. “Dogs do it all the time. And you’re half dog.”

“But they don’t shed a whole other being,” I said trying not to speak too anxiously.

He tilted his head in a goofy way. “Are you sure? Have you ever cleaned up after a shedding dog?”

I glanced down at Bandit, who was still sitting on the couch. “You have a point. With all the fur I collected from Bandit just yesterday, I could build another dog.”

Hey! said Bandit telepathically. It’s a medical condition!

Zak held his hands straight out to me. “There you go! You wanted some help…here I am. The others and I can drop in and help you with missions, chores, and other things.” He pretend to nudge me with his elbow; he winked. “I’m sure there are other Shards that’d love to go on a date with Sally.”

I rubbed my chin in thought. “Hmm…”

Bandit rolled his eyes. Oh yeah, this’ll end well.

Copyright Joe Rover 2021. All rights reserved.

Until the next wormhole…thanks for reading!