🎢 Am I going to talk a little about Perry? Yes. Yes I am.
I should say something about the funky little guy who I coexisted with for so long. It feels wrong not to honor him with my thoughts and memories of a time long past before I make peace with circumstances how they are now, in my mind. If anyone deserves joy and admiration, it's Perry. With every fiber of his soft pelt made of teal.
Perry, you know you were the coolest pet, ever. Before I was even aware of your secret agent persona. You had an opposable tail and nifty electrolocative senses! That's undeniably cool. Things being as self aware and drastically different as they are now have completely shaken my perception in ways that aren't just about your being an awesome spy guy. I don't know if you think much of me at all anymore, but when I think of you out there having your own life now, I think about how small and inadequate my picture of you really was. If I never really knew you at all, how could I say that I was your friend? I'm having trouble describing who we were to each other, definitely not who we are now. Any memories I have of you or longing for your comfort feel so hollow, outdated like it's forbidden for me to visit them anymore. It's too infantilizing to you for me to call you pet names and play silly games with you because, that's what it is. Silly. How should I be thinking about you now? You're so much more grand than I ever knew. You've rappelled out of helicopters and traveled the globe, dove through water pipelines filled with treacherous traps like it was your morning coffee routine and you averted so many disasters by lunchtime. You were there for the family, kept a watchful eye on everybody in Danville for that matter, yet the part we as your family played for you loses its luster by comparison. There were always barriers to authenticity between us, so as a consequence I don't really know you at all. I'm sorry if I ever made you feel small or mundane, I was tossing popcorn kernels at your nose when you're worthy of so much more dignity and reverence.
I'm trying to think what I have to offer, now that we're in our respective reality and our paths cross at moments like this letter to you. I would swallow my sadness and give you a hug if you ever needed it, even if my job as pet guardian is moot now, I would still want you to be well cared for. The Phineas you know might have even given you pet names like Perrbear. (I promise you never have to hear another little nickname from me again!)
I really do miss you, buddy. The world is so magical with you in it.