"Why are you always waking me up so early?" I asked Mae as I picked up my mattress. I'd leave all the animal's mattresses alone though. No one wants a cranky bear walking around town.

"I'm just trying to help, Teddy," said Mae in her motherly tone.

"Well maybe just waking up naturally once in a while would be good for me as well," I said.

"It isn't like you need the extra sleep with that magic mattress," she began before continuing under her breath, "and we both know it isn't beauty sleep."

"That wasn't very nice," I said after an appropriate amount of glaring at her in unamused silence. Two can play at this game I thought as I also continued under my breath, "and you're no Tinkerbell."

I smiled, turned, and started walking out of the barn to find Jen. Mae flew by me and I think she said something about finding someone else to heal me next time. I bet she was joking. I mean, it's part of her job. She can't just not heal me. I think all things considered she got the upper hand of our little exchange after getting in my head.

I found Jen standing in the middle of town next to a brown horse with a small trailer-looking device attached. It reminded me of the little, two-wheeled trailers that a sedan would pull behind it, but in medieval times. She waved as I approached but didn't wear a smile this morning.

"Good morning. Are you doing alright?" I asked Jen as I approached.

"I'm just a bit nervous about the trip. The last time I traveled we had a slightly larger group and we were attacked along the way. No one was seriously injured, but it was scary," she said. Her body language changed to where she made herself as small a target as possible. I guessed that it was a fairly vivid memory and the same emotional response was happening on the inside.

"Would it help you to feel better if I helped you talk to your horse? As far as responses go it is limited to yes and no answers," I said trying to distract her with something that had made her so happy before. She really had wanted me to talk to her horse. It made sense as they had been together for a good, long while.

"Yes please," she said with a smile sweeping across her entire face. A real smile can be seen in the eyes.

I taught the horse the one tap for yes and two taps for no convention and was ready for the initial salvo.

"What do you want to ask her?"

Jen pondered for a moment and said, "This might sound dumb but could you ask her if she enjoys being my horse?"

I asked Gwen and she tapped once. Jen's face lit up and she smiled again. Why am I punishing myself like this? Every smile was like a dagger. Each time I was reminded that my choice left Paige alone.

She asked a few more mundane questions which I'm sure meant a lot to her but I tried to avoid seeing her smile as much as I could. I didn't want her to be sad, I just didn't want the constant guilt trip. Why was I being so stupid about this? I decided we should head out and promised to ask more questions for her later.

I don't blame Jen. She was excited to be able to communicate like she never had been able to before. I just had to get my mind off of Paige for a little while.

We headed north out of town and towards the junction where the road split. I saw the familiar path leading up to my starting point in that very first camp up the mountain. Approaching the junction was fairly uneventful although I did hear something I hadn't heard before. It was a chittering noise and I didn't recognize it. I tried calling out to it.

"I am not a threat. If you are a friendly animal come out and join us on the path," I said out into the shadow of the surrounding forest.

A squirrel jumped from branch to branch then to a tree trunk and skittered down it. He or she, I wasn't privy to that information yet, was a good-sized squirrel.

"Good morning, friend, would you like to travel with us?" I asked the squirrel. What has my life become? I feel like I was just going with strange happenings more than questioning them at this point. I wasn't mad at my current predicament though because I was an animal lover before I died and enjoyed squirrel watching.

He ran over to me and sniffed me a bit.

"It's okay, buddy. I'm not a threat," I said to the little chubby-cheeked critter.

I held out my hand and he scrambled up my arm and sat on my shoulder. Mae had been fairly quiet this whole time after our talk this morning. Her stoic expression changed when the squirrel perched on me. It was like a muddy dog jumped onto her favorite chair.

"That's my spot!" she yelled as she flew over shaking her tiny fist.

"It's my shoulder," I said extending my hand at her in a stop gesture. "What if this guy, or gal, gets the left where he, or she, currently is and you get the right?"

"First of all, it's a boy squirrel. Second, why should a wild animal get any shoulder?" she asked calming herself down. I had a feeling it was just an overzealous protective instinct that she could turn off. I was more curious why she was more concerned about the squirrel than the giant bear.

"Look, I have the final say on who rides on my shoulders, and don't worry, this little guy isn't going to take your job," I said with a smile.

"You're right, Teddy, it's fine. I'll go scout ahead for enemies and continue being a good, flealess guide," she flew up ahead on the path towards Bettyford.

The squirrel had absolutely no idea what had just transpired and was calmly sitting on my shoulder still. We continued walking and I went over some ground rules including the signal for yes and no.

"Is it okay if I give you a name?" I asked the squirrel.

He tapped once on my cheek. It was adorable.

"How about Pips?" I asked.

He indicated a positive response in the same fashion as before.

"Pips, she was just saying she wants you to have this shoulder and she gets the other one. Does that work for you?" I asked the little guy.

He gave me a face tap of affirmation and we kept walking. Pips had solidified his place as my favorite squirrel of all time and we had only just met. I quietly recounted everything I had gone through thus far with my little shoulder jockey but about 15 minutes in he did something strange.

"So I named the bear honey," I paused as Pips tensed up. "I know it's a little cliché." He stopped me from talking by putting an adorable tiny hand on my face. His other was outstretched pointing out in front of us.

I whispered for Gwen to stop. Jen was beside her horse and also knew something was up at this point. We guided the horse and cart backward along the path until we found somewhere to tuck into the trees safely.

"Don't come out until I come back for you. If it is longer than a couple of hours ride back to Roseglen as quickly as possible while there is still light," I said to Jen as she placed a hand on Gwen to calm her. The horse was also spooked about something up ahead.

I walked back out towards the path where Pips had tensed up. Mae flew back with a surprised look on her face.

"All I can tell you is that it is large and dangerous," Mae said then quickly flew off behind a tree. I know it wasn't her fault that she had to be vague. She had explained that I had to discover some things for myself and that I'd have to fight my own battles.

"Danger is my middle name," I said turning toward the forest behind me where she had flown off to. I was mainly talking to myself at that moment. I still felt invincible from defeating a dragon. As if nothing could stop me from completing this afterlife quest I was on. The error of my overconfidence hit me in the spine like a 50 pound stone.