All right, Meche told herself as the nurse dropped her off at the Sun Room door, on with the campaign of meeting new people. It sounded as though this room was pretty much the only game in town this shift other than therapy, so she already had a pretty big crowd to choose from when she arrived--although she had to wonder again where Manny and Senna were. Sleeping late? Meche caught herself getting apprehensive and stopped. It was probably nothing. Maybe she was just early.

She glanced around, looking for someone who didn't seem too busy for some company. It didn't take long. A young girl (with pink hair again, but even that was starting not to seem too unusual by now) was plunked down on one of the sofas nearby, playing with one of the kittens. The little darling was obviously really loving the attention; Meche could hear him purring from here. Another animal lover! Yep, she was sold.

"Looks like you've made a friend," she said as she came around the sofa, smiling at both the girl and the cat. Boy, what an adorable pair; you could put them on a Christmas card. "Oh, just look at him. He probably thinks he's in kitty heaven right now." Her voice ended in a coo as she bent down a little to get a closer look at him.

"Kitty heaven" was supposed to be just an expression, but Meche found herself wondering if a place like that really existed. Well, there were birds in the Eighth Underworld, right, so it seemed likely that there was room for animals in the Land of Eternal rest, too, if they could find a way to get there. Too bad that wasn't the kind of question her travel agent ever seemed to have any answers to.