My dog Jim explains reincarnation to me

Jim, my talking dog, will go long periods of time without saying anything.

But then...

One night we were both on the floor near the fireplace. There was a nice fire burning. Jim was gnawing on a bone. I was reading A Voyage to Arcturus for the 12th time, still trying to understand it.

I said, “How many times have you come back as a dog?”

Jim paused his chewing, looked over at me. “A few hundred. I don’t keep count.”

“Why don’t you come back as a human?” I said.

He grinned. “Why would I? Am I missing something?”

I shrugged. I’ve learned not to assume I’m superior to Jim.

“Have you tried anything else?” I said.

“Well, yeah. A tiger in India. It was exciting. But you know, they’re not very friendly. They seem to have an ax to grind. But you’re not asking the real question, which is…why come back at all?”

“OK,” I said. “Why?”

“Because I have a secret.”

“Which is?”

“Someone you haven’t met. Ella.”

“What?”

“She lives in the mountains. Farther than you’ve ever hiked. She keeps coming back. So I do, too.”

I said nothing for a minute.

Jim stood up, trotted over to the couch, jumped up on it and sat there looking at me.

“You’re in love with her,” I said.

“Of course I am. For as long as I can remember. Which is quite a long time. And I always will be.”

“Why haven’t you told me about her?” I said.

“Because I enjoy being a little mysterious. That’s all. It’s fun. I never had to let you know I could talk. I could have kept it a secret. But I decided to let that cat out of the bag.”

“Can Ella talk?”

“Of course. As I’ve told you many times, we all can talk. But some of us aren’t all that fond of humans. I make a few exceptions. You, for instance. Coming back a few hundred times as a dog makes me very familiar with dog life. It’s good to know your way around. It brings a sense of peace.”

“Really.”

“Yes.”

“What about dying?”