Metal scrapes into and through dirt, picks it up and throws it away. Schlkk, chuck... Schlkk, chuck. Night's long since descended, and the full moon now sits directly above all. Its brightness is overpowered by headlights. The sounds of the forest, too, are shushed by an idling engine. Her thoughts follow suit, drowned by panic: She couldn't believe she'd forgotten. How could the passage of time take such a solid grasp on her? How could she let this go without a farewell? She can't dig faster.

CHUNK! Metal on wood. She throws the shovel and clears the coffin's lid of dirt with her hands. Standing on its edge, she pulls open the lid, slamming it against the dirt wall she's dug out, causing a small pile to fall in. Eyes dart, and fear sets in along with the stillness inside. Nothing but dirt.

Before the weight of having missed it presses itself completely on her shoulders, the dirt rumbles and falls to the sides of the coffin.

"You know- I- I just don't it /works/ this way!" Meowch chuckles, shaking off the last of the dirt on him. "I mean, really, I don't think it's that simple. I guess by the sixth coffin you oughta know as much, right? Guess this is karma for trying the same thing over and over again- And hey, thanks for the help by the way-" he pauses, concern expressed through only his voice. "...You okay, Doctor?"

She stands over him, shocked and breathing tiredly. Panic subsiding and the aftersting of misplaced worry spreading all over her body. "I THOUGHT I MISSED MY CHANCE!" She yells with a laugh, turning her head up and planting her dirty glove on her forehead. "I COMPLETELY FORGOT TO COME CHECK ON YOU!" she lets out through a relieved smile. "Listen, I had to- I was on a trip, I was on the Toontanic-," she stumbles through the excuse. "I needed some supplies for an experiment- Look," she stops to breathe, looking back down and reaching an arm out. "Meowch, I thought you'd be /dead/ by now, dude."

He takes hold and gets helped up. There's an audible smile in him. "I thought so, too!" He laughs. "Guess my soul carried a 'Return to sender' label on it when I first kicked the bucket, huh?" Now they both stand over his original coffin, the last place they tried sending him back to the spiritual plane from. They'd have tried it sooner, but it took a bit of research to find its location. "Hey, wait, you /forgot/ about me?" he says, putting his paws on his hips.

"I- Listen, I get busy," replied Dr. Flowergrin. "By the time I remembered I had to check on you, we were halfway through the voyage! It was a week's worth of travel- Aaargh! I'm so sorry, man!"

"I'm just joshing around! It's no biggie. An extra day, week, it's all the same when you're in that box. You kinda lose track of time, y'know?" So he doesn't know she's a month late, then. She won't disclose that.

...

The idling of an engine fills their silence. The full moon's light pours into the hole. Their thoughts, washed of minor impatience and tremendous panic, land on appreciation. Meowch wanted to go back to rest, but it looked like he still had 'unfinished business' to work on, as common knowledge on ghosts dictated. Dr. Flowergrin, too, wanted him to rest in peace! It's what her friend wanted; naturally, she wanted to help... But the price of not being able to ever see each other again was something they were both unspokenly appreciative of not having to pay tonight.

"...So... what experiment were you up to?" Meowch asks, a bit awkward to mentioning that. Dr. Flowergrin replies, sharing a similar sentiment. The two chat and climb out of the hole, leaving it for Dr. Flowergrin's RV. Warm lights wash out into the forest from behind the windshield and between the gaps in the window shutters. From the outside, a gentle murmur of friendly conversation muffles out from the RV, and the night carries on.