• My head was thick with blood as I hung upside down from the tree branch. I stared into the Omega Nebula, watching as stars winked in the nebulosity, illuminating the gaseous brilliance. Tears ran up into my hair, and I couldn't breathe through my nose. The ancient apple tree gave a shudder and an apple dropped. My clawed hand lashed out and I swallowed the fruit whole.

    ...Ollie, my pet pygmy dragon, had loved apples.

    It was about around the time when my sobbing returned full force that my mother dinged me. I tried to control myself as I twisted my right curved horn to my mouth and said, "Ma?"

    "Orevelo, are you still crying over Ollie?" Ma was always so caring.

    "He just died yesterday, Ma..."

    "Well you better get over it!"

    "Yes, Ma." I grit my teeth and tugged at my curly black locks.

    "Where in the devil are you, anyway?"

    "I'm Thinking, Ma."

    "Well you quit Thinking and get over here, quick. Your father and I are going to the pet store."

    My breath caught. "What?"

    "It's time for a new pet!"

    "You've got to be joking!"

    Ma's voice got real hard, like thick bolts being shot into titanium. "Orevelo, this isn't up for discussion. Get over here, now."

    My body bunched up, and I flipped out of the tree. I fell through the beauty that me and Ollie had once meditated on together. There were so many precious moments we'd shared, Thinking. Our thoughts became one, and we'd dreamed of the future. As I fell past the roots of the suspended apple tree, it hit me all over again that things would never be the same.

    I hit the metal floor of the chamber, and the projections vanished. The room was domed, the curved walls covered in lenses that could produce anything from the surface of Mars to a racing stadium. My clawed feet stomped to the chamber door, and I could see the Thinking monitor watch me from his observation booth. I ignored him as I shouted into my horn tip, "I don't WANT another pet, Ma!"

    "Tough!" I could hear a clatter on the other end. "We're getting a bigger, cheaper pet this time! One that you can't swallow in your sleep!"

    She said that just as my hands started releasing the chamber lock. I went weak and hit the floor, shuddering. "I didn't mean to..." I gasped out. "It was an accident! I was dreaming about apples!"

    "Well it serves you right for Thinking so much! You should be with us, and Living." I could hear something strange creep into my mother's voice, and I frowned as I wiped at my damp face. "You always shared more with Ollie than you did with us, and he was only a class 3 sentient species!! What did you two Think up that you couldn't Live out with your family?"

    The only thing I could say was, "Goodbye, Ma."

    I reached up and ripped the horn out of my head. I stared at the base end where the adapter could be seen blinking in standby. I turned back to the domed chamber behind me. After a moment I stood.

    I went outside and asked the Thinking monitor to give me the recordings for my past sessions. I went into the Reflection Room and uploaded the data. A shaky smile appeared on my face as I saw Ollie and I sitting in the apple tree, watching the universe. He snorted happily, his slim head butting me under the chin, his leathery wings giving a flutter.

    ...But then he did something strange.

    I saw myself point out a star in the nebula...but Ollie turned his head with a droop. In the recording, I didn't seem to notice.

    "Ollie?" I breathed, touching the screen. "What's the matter, boy?"

    Then the answer hit me like a neutron bomb.

    ...Ollie was looking toward the chamber door.

    I covered my mouth and bowed my head. I took in a deep breath, the air rushing past my sweaty palm as the realization seized me. Ollie hadn't wanted to spend all that time in the Thinking chamber. I could see it in his coal black eyes, his dejected tail, his thinned nostrils.

    I didn't move for a long time. I could hear the Center for Intellectual Betterment begin to close--the groan of gears, the dying hum of server towers, the jangle of keys echoing through empty hallways... I ended the upload link and stood from the swivel chair, my nose sniffling. Ollie had loved Thinking, but he had wanted to Live, too. Was it possible to do both?

    I had to see my parents. Not because I wanted to get another pet, but just...to be there.

    I let loose a bittersweet smile, my fangs showing in full.

    Even after his death, Ollie was still teaching me new ways to Think, and for that, he could never be replaced.