My mornings usually start with my 10-pound orange tabby standing on my chest, meowing for his breakfast. But something just feels different today. I don’t remember waking up. But I notice I'm already sitting up in my bed. And Biscuit was sitting just at the edge of my feet. Staring at me.

“Hi Katie. We need to talk”.

“WHAT THE FUCK” I screamed, as i scrambled from the bed, running to the corner of the room. “Wha– what the hell? What is happening? Yo– you can ta– talk? Holy shit. You can talk”.

“It’s okay Katie. Don’t be scared”. He replied calmly.

“Wh– what’s going on? And why do you sound like Idris Elba?” I asked, still hyperventilating.

“My people don’t have voices as you understand them. So I chose the familiar voice of your favorite actor hoping you wouldn’t freak out. Guess that didn’t work”. He giggled nervously.

“Your people? What are you talking about?”

“Would you like to take a seat? I would be happy to answer all your questions”.

His feline face couldn’t make complicated expressions like a human, but I could feel him smiling. Along with a well of sadness behind those blue eyes. 

“Am I dreaming?” I asked, as I tried calming my breath and walked back to the bed and took a seat.

“Kind of. It’s difficult to explain”

“Holy shit, am I DEAD?” I yelled.

“No no. Not at all. You’re still asleep and will be waking up soon. This is a sort of in-between world that allows us to speak”

“To speak. You said we need to talk. What’s going on?” I asked, feeling concerned now.

“I’m leaving Katie”.

“What? Leaving? Where? … Oh no. Are you dying?” I asked, befuddled.

“Do you remember how we met?” he asked.

I was a little taken aback because I wasn’t expecting the question. I thought for a bit.

“Yea” I replied. “It was around 3 years ago. I was sitting in the kitchen bawling my eyes out after my ex, Tyler, left after stealing $10,000 from me. That was when I heard a little rascal meowing in the backyard. And that’s where I found the cutest kitten I had ever seen” I said smiling. This was the first time I had thought about that morning in years.

He just looked at me for a while. All I could feel from him was a warm wistful smile.

“It’s difficult to explain where I come from” he started. “But my people have one mission. To provide companionship and support to people going through hard times. To help bring joy back into their lives for as long as we can. Sometimes we show up just before a tragedy occurs. Sometimes, after. And when our companion is in a better emotional state, we move on to the next person”.

I wasn’t sure what to say. Mostly, I was still stuck on the fact that my cat was SPEAKING.

“I was assigned as your companion because I was told the months following your breakup with Tyler were going to be some of the roughest months of your life” he continued. “Since then, it has been an absolute honor and pleasure being by your side and watching you grow as a person these last 3 years. Even though you relapsed a little with that asshole Michael, I’m proud of you for finally seeing through his bullshit and kicking him out”.

“So that’s why you always pissed in his shoes?” I said, laughing. 

“Wait” I exclaimed excitedly. “What about dogs? I had a dog growing up. My parents told me it ran away, but I suspect it died. I just wanted to know if they are like you”.

“Kind of. The canine department is more about lifelong companionship. My department is the only one I know of that has rotating workers”.

“THE CAT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM” I blurted out excitedly, nearly jumping off the bed.

“I do wish you humans came up with a better name for it. But yes. That’s the system that brought me to you. The same system, which requires my attention elsewhere”.

Suddenly, it started to feel too real. Tears were starting to well up now. “Where will you go?” I asked through a shaky voice.

“There’s a girl who just turned 18. She’s supposed to have her whole life ahead of her. But she’s about to be diagnosed with cancer. She has maybe 6 years left. 8 if she’s lucky”.

“Oh my god. That’s horrible” I said, unable to hold back the tears now. “I know this girl needs you. But I don’t know if I’m ready to let you go just yet. What if I still need you? Why can’t another cat be assigned to her?”.

He just looked at me with that warm wistful smile. “Oh honey. You’ve been doing incredible on your own for a while now”.

The walls of the room started melting leaving just a blank void behind. I guess I was waking up. I quickly reached over, picked him up and held him tightly against my chest. “I’m going to miss you”. I said, still sobbing.

Then, remembering this is a dream, a thought occurred to me.

“When I wake up, will I remember this dream?” I asked, wiping tears from my face.

“Some people do. Most people don’t. It’ll just look like I ran away when you wake up” he answered. “But I’ll always be with you. And if you ever go back to dating any more assholes, I’ll be sure to make a dream visit to reprimand you” he teased.

And as the dream world faded into nothingness, the last thing I heard echo before I woke up is "You've got it from here".