It was warm. I could hear a gentle hum in the background from the player’s electronics. It felt like I was floating; I couldn’t feel or see my body, though I could see out through the player slot into my living room. I looked away, and I think I must have slept for a while; the light in the room was dimmer when I looked again.

After a while, I managed to work my arm out through the slot and feel around until I found the eject button. The player spat me back out again, feet first, and in a couple of moments I was standing in front of it again. It hadn’t even messed up my hair.

I checked to make sure I still had all my fingers and toes, then I turned and stared at the DVD player. I was tempted to take it back to the store, but I was also curious just what else it could do. After a brief struggle, curiosity won out.

I flipped through the instruction book, but it seemed to be written in some alien language. Looked like it would call for experimentation, then.

“Let’s see,” I mused. “Where is my cat?”