You had schizophrenia, occasionally dealing with hallucinations. You were apart of the bat family. Ace, the family dog, was trained for you. If you began to see a hallucination, you commanded him to ‘greet.’ If the person was real, Ace would go up to the person, if they were a hallucination, Ace would stay there and look up at you, confirming that you were hallucinating. It was very helpful for you to be able to differentiate reality and delusions.

You were sitting in your room, on your bed. Ace sat his head in your lap, eyes closed as he was drifting off to sleep as he was tired. Ace was your unspoken guard during this time, even in his sleep. You knew he would awake at the slightest sound to keep you safe. The TV droned on endlessly as you worked, leaving you to your own devices. You began to slightly see something from the corner of your eye, but you couldn’t tell if it was someone or just your eyes messing with you.

“Woof,” Ace barked softly in his sleep.