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Charlie tried to run, and fumbled into a roll, collapsing in a heap. He looked backwards as the dog catcher readied some kind of metal grabbing device.
Cooper bit on a tuft of Charlie's neck fur, and hauled him to his feet. The dog catcher sprang the grabbing arm around Daisy's neck, and she yelped. Charlie froze, but Cooper jumped up and bit hard onto the dog catcher's leg.
"Curses upon you stupid mutt!" the dog catcher yelled, doing his best to shake Cooper off.
Daisy wriggled out of his grip, and to the ground. Charlie was frozen still.
^Run Charlie!^ Daisy barked, rushing past him.
The dog catcher tried to catch Charlie in his grabber, but Cooper let go of his leg, and chomped down onto the metal, yanking it from the man's grip. Charlie finally got a hold of himself, and began to clumsily run as the dog catcher chased them.
^Charlie!^ Daisy called, ^follow me!^
She split off from them as they crossed the street between houses, while Cooper ran the other way. Charlie followed her, ducking uncomfortably beneath a wooden post fence, and into someone's backyard. Slowly the sound of the dog catcher's angry cries faded into the distance—but Daisy kept them running. They went randomly through people's yards, wherever there was a way they could cut through, until finally, she slowed to a stop in a thicket of trees on the edge of someone's yard.
Charlie dropped onto his bottom, and panted like crazy. He hated sticking his tongue out like a dog, but he felt too tired to try and resist. He felt tired in weird places, particularly his arms... well, forelegs. Augh, he hated being a dog.
^I hope that Cooper will find us,^ Daisy said, settling down next to Charlie, a bit deeper into the shadows of the trees.
Charlie glared at her.
^What?^ she said, her pointed ears twitching.
^What were you two thinking?^ he growled. ^Cooper's always been a crazy dude but you too? I always figured you for a smarter girl, but—^
^I was being reckless, okay?^ she scowled back. ^I thought it sounded fun in the moment...^
^Fun? Turning ourselves into animals is fun?^
^It is for people who have imaginations Charlie.^
Charlie felt himself shrink inward. What? That... she thought that about him?
No. It didn't matter what she thought. She was a weirdo who wanted to be a dog. He didn't care... he... he didn't care if she liked him. No. He didn't. Not at all.
Charlie sank down onto his belly with his dog paws out in front of him. What an absolute mess this was. The minutes passed by, and they didn't talk to each other. What if Cooper didn't get back? What if he was caught by the dog catcher and taken to the pound? Charlie felt pretty sure they could easily get back to the dog house... but what would they need to do to get Cooper, a dog without an owner, out of that place? Charlie hadn't ever dealt with something like that. Augh, he felt mad at Cooper, but also... the thought of his friend being trapped as a dog, his family wondering where he'd disappeared off to...
But what about Charlie's family? How late was it now? His parents had to be wondering where he was. He quietly groaned. This was such a scary, confusing mess. He wished he could convince himself it was a dream, if he hadn't been able to feel just how real the fur was on his body, and that stupid tail sticking out of him.
Daisy shot up to her feet, and sniffed at the air. She turned around, and stood in a tensed position. Was she... okay?
Then Charlie caught the scent. It was... a dog. Somehow he remembered that it smelled like Cooper. A minute later, the terrier rushed into their hiding spot, and with a big grin on his face.
^Man, that was so much fun. Sucks growing up that you don't get to do stuff like play tag anymore.^
Charlie stared him down. Cooper's smile vanished, and he looked to Daisy.
^What's his problem?^
^I am not the problem,^ Charlie said. ^You two are the problem. If you'd just let me change back to my normal self, none of this would've happened.^
^Augh," Cooper said. ^You're no fun. Where's your sense of adventure? If you were in some fantasy story, you'd never leave the farm and hope someone else would fight the dragon.^
^And you would inadvertently release the dragon on the peaceful kingdom.^
^Stop it you two,^ Daisy barked. ^We have been acting a bit crazy. Let's get back to the dog house, and change back.^
Cooper stiffened. ^Uhhh...^
Charlie jumped to his feet. ^What.^
"The dog catcher... he's kind of... staking out the place. I don't know what it is with the guy, but he's like waiting in the bushes nearby. Thinks he's really sneaky, but I could smell him pretty easily—"
^So we can't change back,^ Charlie barked, stamping a paw. ^Great. Because of you and some loser dog catcher with nothing better to do, I'm stuck as a dog.^
Cooper's brow furrowed, and Daisy stepped between them before he could get a word in.
^What's done is done,^ she said. ^Insulting each other isn't going to get us anywhere. It's getting dark, and we need to weather this until morning, when hopefully he leaves.^
^Morning!^ Charlie exclaimed. ^We can't just hide in these trees until morning. What if the owner of this property finds us and shoos us away?^
^Well...,^ Daisy said, thinking things through, ^I guess... we could go back to our homes—and just kind of hide in our yards.^
Charlie's pulse was finally beginning to slow. ^I... I guess. My parents will be super worried, and probably angry with me.^
^Let's head home,^ she went on, ^and tomorrow morning, we'll meet up at the dog house, sound good?^
Cooper nodded, and Charlie grudgingly did too. Charlie didn't give them any formal goodbyes or anything. He simply began walking his own way, trying not to trip over his four legs. The jingling of his dumb dog collar began to pound repetitively in his mind. He was not an animal, despite how this magic nonsense made him look. Tomorrow, he was going to change back, and then he wasn't going to interact with Daisy or Cooper ever again.
He gritted his strange different teeth as he kept having to carefully think about each step he took. Was he really making that ultimatum? Turning away from his best friend and his crush because of this? Charlie tensed his strange new muscles, and walked more confidently. Yes. He was making that ultimatum. Even if they hadn't inadvertently trapped him as a dog forever, they'd still trapped him as one for at least a day. He was a gross, slobbering, shedding dog, and when he changed back, and he would change back - he was going to stay far away from them, and try to convince himself that this whole experience had been a hallucination from stress, or chemicals in the air, or something.
Charlie finally reached home. He felt a sense of relief come over him, even though he was trapped in this stupid dog body. Getting into the backyard was easy enough, with no one outside. The lights were on in the house, and he yearned to be able to go inside, safe from dog catchers, and to be able to just sit on the couch and watch a movie or something... and he'd do that. Tomorrow. Now, he just needed to find a finding place.
"Charlie!"
He nearly leapt out of his skin.
"There you are Charlie!"
His mom came down the back steps... and casually walked up to him. He stood fixed in place as she hugged his neck and petted his fur.
"We were so worried about you! I though we trained you better than that, just running off, probably chasing some other dog again."
What? No! He wasn't a dog! He was her son! Charlie barked angrily, but... she didn't understand.
"C'mon boy," she said, dragging him by the collar to the back door, "let's get you inside."
Charlie was so confused. She was acting like he'd always been a dog! Was... was this some magic nonsense? Aughh...
He followed her inside, and a moment later, Roxie was on top of him, licking his face.
^Ugh! Get off me you stupid dog!^
That's what he meant to say, but all that came out were more dumb barks. Mom shook her head, but... but Roxie stopped. She backed away, and looked shocked.
^You... do you understand me?^
Roxie turned away, and left the room. What had that been about?
"You probably need something to eat, don't you Charlie?"
Charlie watched in dread as his mom poured some of Roxie's dog food bag into a plastic bowl - a bowl that had his name on it. It sat right next to Roxie's, as though he had always been their second dog. It was revolting.
"Go on boy," mom said with a smile, "there's the food."
Charlie timidly walked closer, and smelled the kibble. Ugh. Not very appetizing.
He stared down at the food, unsure of what to do.
Mom sighed, and opened the cupboard. She shook a bag, and suddenly Roxie came running back into the room.
"Look, I'm sorry that I got mad at you Charlie. If you eat your dinner, I'll give you a bacon snack."
She then got out one of the dog treats... and it actually smelled good. Never as a human would he have ever considered eating one of those things, but he was so hungry...
Charlie finally submitted, and took an experimental bite of the dog food. It did not taste great. It was really tough to chew as well - but he got it down, and it didn't taste as bad as he'd expected. Slowly but surely, he ate a good deal of the dog food. Now thirst hit him, and he struggled to get a drink from the water bowl. Trying to slurp it up didn't work... so he was forced to try to lap it up like a dog.
It took several tries of awkwardly positioning his tongue and splashing his face, but somehow, it worked. Soon he got the hang of it, and it worked better than he expected. Before he knew it, he had eaten all of the dog food and gotten all the water out of the bowls.
"Ah, good job Charlie," Mom walked over and smiled. "As promised..."
She tossed him the bacon snack - and Roxie snatched it from him first! He turned on her and growled.
"Bad girl Roxie!" Mom said. "That was Charlie's treat."
She dug back into the bag, and this time when she tossed it, Charlie made sure to jump up before Roxie, and he caught it like a pro. He landed back down onto the floor, chewing his reward with satisfaction. Gosh it tasted good to have some actual meat!
^Ha!^ Charlie barked to Roxie as he chewed, ^take that!^
Charlie savored the taste of the bacon for a moment... and then stopped dead in his tracks. He'd... he'd been wagging his tail. He'd just demeaned himself by eating a whole bowl of dog food, and eating a dog treat! What was he doing?
"Aww, you're such a cute little guy," Mom said, scratching behind his ears. And it... it felt really good. Oh... yes... he found himself leaning into it as she scratched his fur all over, and he seemed to lose total control over his tail. Something in him told him he should resist, but... gosh! It just felt so good to let himself be free, to happily pant and wag his tail, all while he got satisfying scratches.
Suddenly she stopped, and walked over to the couch to watch TV with dad.
^Oh c'mon!^ Charlie barked with a smile, ^why did you stop? That was feeling great!^
All that came out were wimpy little arfs. He once again realized he'd been wagging his tail, and he became drenched with embarrassment. It... it had felt good. He'd enjoyed being scratched. He'd enjoyed wagging his tail.
Was this what Roxie felt like all the time? No wonder she was always in such a good mood. Speak of the devil, a moment later, she was getting all up in his face, and he found himself laughing, and licking her back.
"There's still a bit of daylight," dad said, standing up from the couch, "you two need to get a bit of energy out?"
Charlie barked and wagged his tail, running after Roxie as dad opened the door. Soon Charlie was chasing her around, racing against her as dad threw Roxie's squeaky plastic ball to them. Roxie could jump well, but Charlie found he was much faster than her, and he'd run back to give dad the ball just as fast.
Soon Charlie began to get tired, and his mind began to focus again. He... he was playing fetch. Like a dog. He half heartedly ran for the ball, as Roxie got to it first. Charlie once more felt ashamed. The magic... it was doing something to him. No. That was an excuse. He wished he could pretend that the magic was just controlling him... but... he was actually having fun. He was actually enjoying playing fetch, and wagging his tail.
And that seemed to be what Mom, Dad, and Roxie expected. To them he was just their happy little border collie named Charlie. Daisy and Cooper were nowhere to be found to laugh at him for being a hypocrite.
Just... gosh he'd had no idea he would actually like this. And he had admitted it to himself. He was having fun being a dog. Honestly, it was the most relaxed he had felt in ages. The most carefree and enthusiastic he had felt in years.
Just for tonight, he told himself. Just for tonight, he would not be afraid to enjoy being a dog.
He shook off his brief embarrassment, and now fully let himself happily pant and wag his tail. He let the sounds and smells wash over him, and the thrill of charging across the grass on four legs.
Eventually, he descended into wrestling the ball from Roxie, laughing as he licked her face. For the first time, Roxie felt like a friend, and not just a responsibility.
"Okay dogs," dad called, "time to go inside!"
What? He could still see just fine. Why did it have to stop? It occurred to him as he reluctantly went back inside, that humans didn't have the kind of night vision that dogs did. But he obliged anyway, and found himself cuddling up to mom on the couch as she and dad watched some baking show. He didn't protest as she scratched him more. His old resistance to all this whispered to him that he wasn't a dog, that he needed to stop this... but he felt happy. He just... he just let himself enjoy it.
As an episode of the show ended, mom turned to look into his eyes with a smile, but then she sighed.
"What is it?" dad asked.
"Just... I know we've discussed this so many times, but... I still kind of regret not having kids."
Dad sighed in turn. "I do too, but just... we were so busy then... and it's too late now."
Charlie's ears perked up. He... he should've guessed from how they were treating him, but... gosh. In this weird, alternate reality... Mom and Dad had never had any kids? And now... he was just their dog? The human part of him resurfaced, and he felt... he'd just gotten so used to taking his life with his family for granted, he never had really thought of how his parents felt about him. But were these really his parents, or some sort of duplicates from an alternate universe?
"I just...," Mom said, "I wish that I could've had just a little boy and a little girl... I love the dogs, but..."
Dad reached over Charlie, and pulled Mom closer to him. Charlie got off the couch, and walked to his room. The door, fortunately, was open. Unfortunately, it was not his room. There was no bed in there, none of his movie posters - only a bunch of plastic storage tubs. Charlie the human did not exist.
With a melancholy gait, Charlie walked back to the living room, and settled down. Okay, he got the message. He needed to appreciate his family, and his dog more. In the morning, he was going to change himself back, and make sure to live life more meaningfully.
After another episode of their show, mom and dad began to get ready for bed, and Charlie found a second dog bed in their room. He still felt a bit uneasy about living like a dog, but after curling up like Roxie did, he found it wasn't too uncomfortable.
Tomorrow, he would change back. He would dial back how he viewed animals, would figure things out with Daisy and Cooper, and everything would be alright.
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Chapter 7
Charlie tried to run, and fumbled into a roll, collapsing in a heap. He looked backwards as the dog catcher readied some kind of metal grabbing device.
Cooper bit on a tuft of Charlie's neck fur, and hauled him to his feet. The dog catcher sprang the grabbing arm around Daisy's neck, and she yelped. Charlie froze, but Cooper jumped up and bit hard onto the dog catcher's leg.
"Curses upon you stupid mutt!" the dog catcher yelled, doing his best to shake Cooper off.
Daisy wriggled out of his grip, and to the ground. Charlie was frozen still.
^Run Charlie!^ Daisy barked, rushing past him.
The dog catcher tried to catch Charlie in his grabber, but Cooper let go of his leg, and chomped down onto the metal, yanking it from the man's grip. Charlie finally got a hold of himself, and began to clumsily run as the dog catcher chased them.
^Charlie!^ Daisy called, ^follow me!^
She split off from them as they crossed the street between houses, while Cooper ran the other way. Charlie followed her, ducking uncomfortably beneath a wooden post fence, and into someone's backyard. Slowly the sound of the dog catcher's angry cries faded into the distance—but Daisy kept them running. They went randomly through people's yards, wherever there was a way they could cut through, until finally, she slowed to a stop in a thicket of trees on the edge of someone's yard.
Charlie dropped onto his bottom, and panted like crazy. He hated sticking his tongue out like a dog, but he felt too tired to try and resist. He felt tired in weird places, particularly his arms... well, forelegs. Augh, he hated being a dog.
^I hope that Cooper will find us,^ Daisy said, settling down next to Charlie, a bit deeper into the shadows of the trees.
Charlie glared at her.
^What?^ she said, her pointed ears twitching.
^What were you two thinking?^ he growled. ^Cooper's always been a crazy dude but you too? I always figured you for a smarter girl, but—^
^I was being reckless, okay?^ she scowled back. ^I thought it sounded fun in the moment...^
^Fun? Turning ourselves into animals is fun?^
^It is for people who have imaginations Charlie.^
Charlie felt himself shrink inward. What? That... she thought that about him?
No. It didn't matter what she thought. She was a weirdo who wanted to be a dog. He didn't care... he... he didn't care if she liked him. No. He didn't. Not at all.
Charlie sank down onto his belly with his dog paws out in front of him. What an absolute mess this was. The minutes passed by, and they didn't talk to each other. What if Cooper didn't get back? What if he was caught by the dog catcher and taken to the pound? Charlie felt pretty sure they could easily get back to the dog house... but what would they need to do to get Cooper, a dog without an owner, out of that place? Charlie hadn't ever dealt with something like that. Augh, he felt mad at Cooper, but also... the thought of his friend being trapped as a dog, his family wondering where he'd disappeared off to...
But what about Charlie's family? How late was it now? His parents had to be wondering where he was. He quietly groaned. This was such a scary, confusing mess. He wished he could convince himself it was a dream, if he hadn't been able to feel just how real the fur was on his body, and that stupid tail sticking out of him.
Daisy shot up to her feet, and sniffed at the air. She turned around, and stood in a tensed position. Was she... okay?
Then Charlie caught the scent. It was... a dog. Somehow he remembered that it smelled like Cooper. A minute later, the terrier rushed into their hiding spot, and with a big grin on his face.
^Man, that was so much fun. Sucks growing up that you don't get to do stuff like play tag anymore.^
Charlie stared him down. Cooper's smile vanished, and he looked to Daisy.
^What's his problem?^
^I am not the problem,^ Charlie said. ^You two are the problem. If you'd just let me change back to my normal self, none of this would've happened.^
^Augh," Cooper said. ^You're no fun. Where's your sense of adventure? If you were in some fantasy story, you'd never leave the farm and hope someone else would fight the dragon.^
^And you would inadvertently release the dragon on the peaceful kingdom.^
^Stop it you two,^ Daisy barked. ^We have been acting a bit crazy. Let's get back to the dog house, and change back.^
Cooper stiffened. ^Uhhh...^
Charlie jumped to his feet. ^What.^
"The dog catcher... he's kind of... staking out the place. I don't know what it is with the guy, but he's like waiting in the bushes nearby. Thinks he's really sneaky, but I could smell him pretty easily—"
^So we can't change back,^ Charlie barked, stamping a paw. ^Great. Because of you and some loser dog catcher with nothing better to do, I'm stuck as a dog.^
Cooper's brow furrowed, and Daisy stepped between them before he could get a word in.
^What's done is done,^ she said. ^Insulting each other isn't going to get us anywhere. It's getting dark, and we need to weather this until morning, when hopefully he leaves.^
^Morning!^ Charlie exclaimed. ^We can't just hide in these trees until morning. What if the owner of this property finds us and shoos us away?^
^Well...,^ Daisy said, thinking things through, ^I guess... we could go back to our homes—and just kind of hide in our yards.^
Charlie's pulse was finally beginning to slow. ^I... I guess. My parents will be super worried, and probably angry with me.^
^Let's head home,^ she went on, ^and tomorrow morning, we'll meet up at the dog house, sound good?^
Cooper nodded, and Charlie grudgingly did too. Charlie didn't give them any formal goodbyes or anything. He simply began walking his own way, trying not to trip over his four legs. The jingling of his dumb dog collar began to pound repetitively in his mind. He was not an animal, despite how this magic nonsense made him look. Tomorrow, he was going to change back, and then he wasn't going to interact with Daisy or Cooper ever again.
He gritted his strange different teeth as he kept having to carefully think about each step he took. Was he really making that ultimatum? Turning away from his best friend and his crush because of this? Charlie tensed his strange new muscles, and walked more confidently. Yes. He was making that ultimatum. Even if they hadn't inadvertently trapped him as a dog forever, they'd still trapped him as one for at least a day. He was a gross, slobbering, shedding dog, and when he changed back, and he would change back - he was going to stay far away from them, and try to convince himself that this whole experience had been a hallucination from stress, or chemicals in the air, or something.
Charlie finally reached home. He felt a sense of relief come over him, even though he was trapped in this stupid dog body. Getting into the backyard was easy enough, with no one outside. The lights were on in the house, and he yearned to be able to go inside, safe from dog catchers, and to be able to just sit on the couch and watch a movie or something... and he'd do that. Tomorrow. Now, he just needed to find a finding place.
"Charlie!"
He nearly leapt out of his skin.
"There you are Charlie!"
His mom came down the back steps... and casually walked up to him. He stood fixed in place as she hugged his neck and petted his fur.
"We were so worried about you! I though we trained you better than that, just running off, probably chasing some other dog again."
What? No! He wasn't a dog! He was her son! Charlie barked angrily, but... she didn't understand.
"C'mon boy," she said, dragging him by the collar to the back door, "let's get you inside."
Charlie was so confused. She was acting like he'd always been a dog! Was... was this some magic nonsense? Aughh...
He followed her inside, and a moment later, Roxie was on top of him, licking his face.
^Ugh! Get off me you stupid dog!^
That's what he meant to say, but all that came out were more dumb barks. Mom shook her head, but... but Roxie stopped. She backed away, and looked shocked.
^You... do you understand me?^
Roxie turned away, and left the room. What had that been about?
"You probably need something to eat, don't you Charlie?"
Charlie watched in dread as his mom poured some of Roxie's dog food bag into a plastic bowl - a bowl that had his name on it. It sat right next to Roxie's, as though he had always been their second dog. It was revolting.
"Go on boy," mom said with a smile, "there's the food."
Charlie timidly walked closer, and smelled the kibble. Ugh. Not very appetizing.
He stared down at the food, unsure of what to do.
Mom sighed, and opened the cupboard. She shook a bag, and suddenly Roxie came running back into the room.
"Look, I'm sorry that I got mad at you Charlie. If you eat your dinner, I'll give you a bacon snack."
She then got out one of the dog treats... and it actually smelled good. Never as a human would he have ever considered eating one of those things, but he was so hungry...
Charlie finally submitted, and took an experimental bite of the dog food. It did not taste great. It was really tough to chew as well - but he got it down, and it didn't taste as bad as he'd expected. Slowly but surely, he ate a good deal of the dog food. Now thirst hit him, and he struggled to get a drink from the water bowl. Trying to slurp it up didn't work... so he was forced to try to lap it up like a dog.
It took several tries of awkwardly positioning his tongue and splashing his face, but somehow, it worked. Soon he got the hang of it, and it worked better than he expected. Before he knew it, he had eaten all of the dog food and gotten all the water out of the bowls.
"Ah, good job Charlie," Mom walked over and smiled. "As promised..."
She tossed him the bacon snack - and Roxie snatched it from him first! He turned on her and growled.
"Bad girl Roxie!" Mom said. "That was Charlie's treat."
She dug back into the bag, and this time when she tossed it, Charlie made sure to jump up before Roxie, and he caught it like a pro. He landed back down onto the floor, chewing his reward with satisfaction. Gosh it tasted good to have some actual meat!
^Ha!^ Charlie barked to Roxie as he chewed, ^take that!^
Charlie savored the taste of the bacon for a moment... and then stopped dead in his tracks. He'd... he'd been wagging his tail. He'd just demeaned himself by eating a whole bowl of dog food, and eating a dog treat! What was he doing?
"Aww, you're such a cute little guy," Mom said, scratching behind his ears. And it... it felt really good. Oh... yes... he found himself leaning into it as she scratched his fur all over, and he seemed to lose total control over his tail. Something in him told him he should resist, but... gosh! It just felt so good to let himself be free, to happily pant and wag his tail, all while he got satisfying scratches.
Suddenly she stopped, and walked over to the couch to watch TV with dad.
^Oh c'mon!^ Charlie barked with a smile, ^why did you stop? That was feeling great!^
All that came out were wimpy little arfs. He once again realized he'd been wagging his tail, and he became drenched with embarrassment. It... it had felt good. He'd enjoyed being scratched. He'd enjoyed wagging his tail.
Was this what Roxie felt like all the time? No wonder she was always in such a good mood. Speak of the devil, a moment later, she was getting all up in his face, and he found himself laughing, and licking her back.
"There's still a bit of daylight," dad said, standing up from the couch, "you two need to get a bit of energy out?"
Charlie barked and wagged his tail, running after Roxie as dad opened the door. Soon Charlie was chasing her around, racing against her as dad threw Roxie's squeaky plastic ball to them. Roxie could jump well, but Charlie found he was much faster than her, and he'd run back to give dad the ball just as fast.
Soon Charlie began to get tired, and his mind began to focus again. He... he was playing fetch. Like a dog. He half heartedly ran for the ball, as Roxie got to it first. Charlie once more felt ashamed. The magic... it was doing something to him. No. That was an excuse. He wished he could pretend that the magic was just controlling him... but... he was actually having fun. He was actually enjoying playing fetch, and wagging his tail.
And that seemed to be what Mom, Dad, and Roxie expected. To them he was just their happy little border collie named Charlie. Daisy and Cooper were nowhere to be found to laugh at him for being a hypocrite.
Just... gosh he'd had no idea he would actually like this. And he had admitted it to himself. He was having fun being a dog. Honestly, it was the most relaxed he had felt in ages. The most carefree and enthusiastic he had felt in years.
Just for tonight, he told himself. Just for tonight, he would not be afraid to enjoy being a dog.
He shook off his brief embarrassment, and now fully let himself happily pant and wag his tail. He let the sounds and smells wash over him, and the thrill of charging across the grass on four legs.
Eventually, he descended into wrestling the ball from Roxie, laughing as he licked her face. For the first time, Roxie felt like a friend, and not just a responsibility.
"Okay dogs," dad called, "time to go inside!"
What? He could still see just fine. Why did it have to stop? It occurred to him as he reluctantly went back inside, that humans didn't have the kind of night vision that dogs did. But he obliged anyway, and found himself cuddling up to mom on the couch as she and dad watched some baking show. He didn't protest as she scratched him more. His old resistance to all this whispered to him that he wasn't a dog, that he needed to stop this... but he felt happy. He just... he just let himself enjoy it.
As an episode of the show ended, mom turned to look into his eyes with a smile, but then she sighed.
"What is it?" dad asked.
"Just... I know we've discussed this so many times, but... I still kind of regret not having kids."
Dad sighed in turn. "I do too, but just... we were so busy then... and it's too late now."
Charlie's ears perked up. He... he should've guessed from how they were treating him, but... gosh. In this weird, alternate reality... Mom and Dad had never had any kids? And now... he was just their dog? The human part of him resurfaced, and he felt... he'd just gotten so used to taking his life with his family for granted, he never had really thought of how his parents felt about him. But were these really his parents, or some sort of duplicates from an alternate universe?
"I just...," Mom said, "I wish that I could've had just a little boy and a little girl... I love the dogs, but..."
Dad reached over Charlie, and pulled Mom closer to him. Charlie got off the couch, and walked to his room. The door, fortunately, was open. Unfortunately, it was not his room. There was no bed in there, none of his movie posters - only a bunch of plastic storage tubs. Charlie the human did not exist.
With a melancholy gait, Charlie walked back to the living room, and settled down. Okay, he got the message. He needed to appreciate his family, and his dog more. In the morning, he was going to change himself back, and make sure to live life more meaningfully.
After another episode of their show, mom and dad began to get ready for bed, and Charlie found a second dog bed in their room. He still felt a bit uneasy about living like a dog, but after curling up like Roxie did, he found it wasn't too uncomfortable.
Tomorrow, he would change back. He would dial back how he viewed animals, would figure things out with Daisy and Cooper, and everything would be alright.
<<< Previous Chapter | First Chapter | Next Chapter >>>
Category Story / Transformation
Species Dog (Other)
Size 79 x 120px
File Size 18.9 kB
Listed in Folders
So, reality change. And the dogcatcher is a red herring (maybe).
Of course, Charlie *thinks* he will change back,but *something* would delay him. What exactly - we'd know.
As I see, Roxie still did not speak with Charlie. And, when he sniffed the doghouse, he did not spot any human smell. Still wonder about her, he also was in the doghouse.
Of course, Charlie *thinks* he will change back,but *something* would delay him. What exactly - we'd know.
As I see, Roxie still did not speak with Charlie. And, when he sniffed the doghouse, he did not spot any human smell. Still wonder about her, he also was in the doghouse.
hmmmmm you got me thinking. This is a reality change right? I think maybe with Roxie she's just a dog. Human Charlie reality she is a loving pet, enter the magical dog house and in dog Charlie reality she's still a dog that maybe can understand fellow canines perfectly. Just a hunch maybe I'm completely wrong we'll see as the story continues :)
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