"That's who I felt like I should be missing earlier," I explain. "Ferris. I don't know yet what happened to him, but I'm sure it must have been something bad…"

I can feel my shoulders begin to shake. Perry puts his arms around me and hugs me reassuringly. "It's okay, Judy. I'm here."

He seems to realise that I need reassurance because he says, "Hey, my boys are having a movie marathon tonight. Want to sit in and watch?"

"Won't they mind?" I ask worriedly.

Perry shakes his head. "No way. Phineas and Ferb love you almost as much as they love me."

I nod slowly. "Okay, then."

"I'll be with you."

"Okay."

A few hours later, it's all dark. The two boys are sitting in the living room of the house with a blanket over them and a bowl of popcorn between them. Perry and I are lying on the floor beside the couch, watching the first movie with them.

"So what exactly is this about?" I ask. "I'm not really following."

"You can understand English, right?"

"Oh yes. I just find the plot kind of hard to follow."

Perry gives me an explanation about how shapeshifting aliens take the place of people and keep their heads in jars. For the rest of the marathon, Perry describes everything that's happening that I don't understand while I focus on the dialogue. It's actually rather funny; there's a subplot in the third movie of two people who "hate" each other (though it's more like they love each other but they just like arguing all the time) and their dialogue is hilarious. It's like they deliberately come up with the stupidest ever insults and reasons to be mad at each other.

It helps me forget about my worries for the whole night and makes me feel normal, which is a pleasant change. I feel happy; I'm just sitting inside, watching a movie with my mate, and I love it so much.

When the third movie is over, the boys decide to have a break. One of them goes to replenish the snacks while the other goes to the toilet.

"Did you understand everything in that last movie?" Perry asks.

I nod, yawning. "I think so." I check my pocketwatch, which says the time is nearly midnight.

"If you're getting tired, we can go," Perry offers.

I shake my head. "It's fine. I'm really enjoying myself."

Perry smiles. "Me too."

"I actually feel like I'm normal," I smile. "It's really nice. I'm not anxious, I'm not depressed, I remember everything. It's amazing. I feel completely normal."

Perry gives me a hug. "I'm glad."

The boys come back at the same time. One of the boys puts down a bowl of popcorn in front of us.

"Is this for us?" I ask in astonishment.

Perry glances up at his owners, who have sat back down on the sofa. "I guess so. They have their own."

"Cool!" I sit back on my haunches and use my front paws to eat some popcorn. "How many movies are there left?"

"I think we're halfway through. I think there's three left."

"How long are they?"

"Two hours each."

"That's going to take us to six am," I say.

Perry grins. "Yep. But you're not the one who has to go to work at seven."

"Oh." I pause. "Are you going to leave at some point?"

"Only if I get too tired to carry on," Perry replies. "And I don't get that tired easily."

"Okay."

The next movie starts. I find it easier to follow this one and, while it's nowhere near as funny as the last one, the fact that I can follow the plot makes up for the lack of hilarity. I don't even need Perry's explanations.

Once the penultimate movie has finished, one of the boys stands up and stretches. "Hey, Ferb? Don't we have to take Perry to the vet later?"

Perry grimaces. "I was hoping they'd forgotten."

"What happens at the "vet"?" I ask.

"Oh, don't worry. They're just going to give me a vaccination. It won't really hurt."

"Vack-sin-ation?" I repeat in confusion.

"It's just a series of injections. You know, with needles."

That word makes me shudder. My heart sounds pounding and I don't know why. Then an image of a terrifying needle comes to my head.

Perry seems to notice that I've started shaking. "Are you okay?"

"I-I just remembered something else," I stammer. "A memory…of an injection…"

"An injection? Can you tell me more?"

I do.