A/N: Those of you who know me will get a kick out of this. ...and the name Benny has nothing to do with Benny Carson of In The Dark.

First There Was Chad

First there was Chad. I never really appreciated him, not until it was too late, but I should have known how much he meant to me from the very beginning--he gave my Ripley the energy to go on, and Ripley is such an important part of my world. But then Chad started having problems--'internal difficulties' would probably be the technical term--and he wasn't able to give Ripley the support we both needed. Slowly but surely, he slipped out of our lives, until he was just an empty shell, of no use to anyone, especially himself.

Ripley was so upset that he wouldn't even get out of bed in the morning, he just slept all the time; there was nothing I could do to comfort him. I spent so much time and money trying to replace Chad, but there was no one like him to be found anywhere in our little part of the city, and I didn't have the resources to go beyond that. Friends offered their help as well, but there was nothing they could do.

Finally, my father called Chad's parents and found out that he had an identical twin named Benny, who was perfectly willing to fly down to help me take care of Ripley. We awaited the twin's arrival with anticipation on par with a child's waiting for Christmas; the days passed like years. And then one day, I opened the door and there he was, exactly like Chad in each and every way--minus the scars that Chad had acquired in my service. As if it were no effort at all, Benny cheered up Ripley right away; and all was right again. Now I have a renewed respect for the ones who take this job. But I'm also all too aware of how fragile and limited their existences are, and I wonder how long it will be before Benny fades into nothing like his predecessor, and another will have to be called upon?

...In retrospect, I should probably have bought a spare A/C adapter when I first got my laptop instead of waiting until the first one stopped working. If you're confused, shrug it off--this was meant as a joke for me and my friends.