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Chapter 8

It had not been a dream. While Charlie hadn't tried to convince himself of that the night before, the fact that he had dreamed about being a dog, and chasing Roxie, Daisy, and Cooper around had not helped his confusion. Waking up and seeing paws in his vision left him feeling a bit disappointed that it hadn't turned out so easy. Oh well.

Charlie stood up on his four legs, and shook himself a bit awake. Roxie stretched as Mom and Dad left their bedroom, and Roxie gave Charlie a curious look.

^Do you understand me Roxie?^ Charlie asked in whispered barks.

Roxie barked back, and he gathered a bit of meaning, though it wasn't as clear as when Daisy and Cooper had spoken to him as dogs - Why are you acting so weird Charlie?

^Because I'm not a dog, I'm a human.^

Roxie tilted her head. She barked - no, you're not. You're a dog, always have been.

Charlie looked down at his forepaws. It was hard to argue against it when he was in fact, currently a dog.

You're acting so weird, she let out several more quiet barks, and you're making me feel weird.

^I'm... sorry,^ Charlie said. ^I'll get things fixed soon, don't worry.^

That seemed to make Roxie even more perplexed.

He walked out of the bedroom and to the kitchen, where Charlie found that his dog bowl was filled once more. He took a breath, and began eating the kibble once more. Did it... actually taste good? No, not good, but it did taste better than it had last night. Lapping up the water was also easier now that he had some practice.

After his breakfast, Charlie sat down next to the couch as mom and dad ate their oatmeal. Thankfully it was a Saturday, so he wouldn't have to worry about trying to change back before school. Perhaps now would be a good time to sneak out and get back to the dog house. But how would he open the front door with his paws?

Dad finished his oatmeal, and held it out to Charlie. It took a second for Charlie to realize that he was letting him lick the bowl clean. Charlie decided to give in, and happily lapped up what was left, catching a nice berry taste with it.

"Well dogs," he said, "you want to go for a walk?"

Charlie's ears perked up, and he wagged his tail. He and Roxie barked as Dad laughed, and walked over to a cupboard where he pulled out two leashes.

Okay, this could work, Charlie thought as Dad clipped the leash onto his collar. He could try to lead them past the old home with the dog house, break out of Dad's grip, and... what if his dad watched him transform back to his human self? This was clearly some kind of alternate dimension, but how would things change back in such a circumstance? A part of Charlie worried if he'd even be able to change back after being a dog for so long.

Dad opened the door, and Charlie became distracted with the excitement of getting to go on a walk. He and Roxie pulled Dad out the door and to the street, Charlie wagging his tail the whole time. He should've felt super embarrassed right then, the human part of him said, but... he was having fun. Was that even the "human" part of him, or was it just the stubborn, anxious part?

Charlie could tell that these dog instincts were somewhat separated from his normal self - but he also was fully aware that he was the one letting himself give into those instincts. He was the one choosing to wag his tail. He was the one who was trying to absorb every scent in the air through his snout.

As they walked down the street towards Cooper's house, Charlie finally let himself admit it. He enjoyed this. He enjoyed being a dog.

Yesterday he'd been fuming at Daisy and Cooper, at how weird they'd been acting... but could he honestly say that he wouldn't have wanted to do the same thing when he was in elementary school, back when he'd been obsessed with animals? Back before a bunch of "friends" had mocked him into believing it was lame to be interested in something?

Gosh Charlie felt so mixed up. He pushed aside his thoughts, and just let himself enjoy the walk. No one was going to judge him, and he let his tongue hang out without restraint.

They passed Cooper's street, which led to the old abandoned house. Charlie paused as he caught Cooper's scent. He had to get over there. It was now or never.

Up until now, Dad had kept a relaxed grip on Charlie's leash, and Charlie used that to his full advantage. He snapped forward, and broke free.

"Charlie!"

He sprinted down the road without regard for Dad's shouting behind him. Unlike yesterday, he'd now gotten a lot better at running as a quadruped, and bounded at top speed as the clasp of his leash skittered along the asphalt. This time he got to the house much quicker, since he wasn't trying to do an obstacle course through people's yards. He continued at a racing sprint, determined to get back to the dog house. He caught the smell of two humans before it came into his view - Daisy and Cooper must've changed back.

He turned one last corner, and now it was in his view. He sprinted even faster now, and saw his friends, now human again, standing on the edge of the yard waiting for him. He slid to a stop, as Daisy laughed.

"Well someone is in a hurry."

"I'd be too," Cooper said, "if I knew there was risk of a dog catcher around - but we made sure to look around carefully, and I didn't see or smell any sign of him."

^I didn't want any chance of my dad seeing me change back,^ Charlie barked. They had blank stares on their faces.

"Sorry dude, can't understand you," Cooper said.

Oh, right. Charlie wasted no time. He ran up to the dog house, and got inside.

A few agonizing moments of nothing, and then - change. He felt his fur suck slowly back into skin. His spine shortened, his ears shrank and traveled back down the side of his head. His bones popped, his eyes squirmed slightly, and he felt fabric wrap around his body once more.

"Is... is it over?" Charlie said hesitantly.

"Clear as I can tell," Cooper said.

Charlie crawled back out, and shakily got to his feet—his normal human human feet. Thankfully he was wearing shoes again, and the rest of him was fully clothed too. His collar and leash however, had vanished into thin air. The world was shockingly vivid with color again. On the other hand, his sense of smell... it felt like he almost couldn't smell anything, like he suddenly had a bad cold. Everything seemed more muffled to his ears as well.

"I get it dude," Cooper said.

"Get what?"

"I saw you sniffing at the air. It... it feels different going back."

Charlie felt that old stubbornness rising up to protest, to deny that he'd liked any part of this. Instead he just nodded. "Yeah."

The three walked back to the sidewalk, just as Charlie's dad turned the corner.

"There you are," he called, jogging over with Roxie. "Why'd you just run off like that in the middle of me talking to you?"

"I... I don't know," Charlie said.

"You don't know?"

"I... I heard my friends nearby?"

"From all the way down the street?"

Charlie shrugged.

"Well don't just leave me like that again," dad said. "I feel like I barely get a chance to just chat with you - and I want you to take care of Roxie more."

"Sorry Dad."

Charlie stooped down and scratched Roxie behind the ears, and she smiled at him - but her smile faded, and to confusion - just like yesterday.

"So...," Charlie's dad said, "I know Cooper, but she's also from your school?"

"Yeah," Daisy said, "I'm Daisy. I've been helping Charlie with some homework stuff."

"Well that's good to hear. He definitely needs it."

Charlie thought that his dad was casting Cooper a disgruntled look for a moment there. His parents weren't shy in that they thought Cooper wasn't a great influence in helping Charlie do well in school.

"Hey dad," Charlie said, "I'm sorry, but do you mind if I talk with my friends for a second? I promise I'll catch up to you."

Dad looked like he was going to put up a fight for a second, but then sighed. "Alright. I'm going to walk to the park, I'll play with Roxie there for a bit, you meet up with me there, and we'll walk back."

"Alright."

His dad gave Roxie the go ahead to get running, and soon she was nearly having to drag him along. Charlie turned back to his friends once he was out of sight.

"Well," Charlie said, sitting down on the curb. "That... was a strange day yesterday."

Cooper laughed as he and Daisy sat down with him. "Yeah. I was a bit surprised to get home to find I was now the family dog."

"Did...," Daisy started, "did you guys have to eat dog food too?"

Charlie squirmed. "Yeah."

"It was like we were in an alternate universe or something," Charlie said, "where we're dogs instead of humans, and everyone treats us that way."

"Yeah," Cooper said, "you think I have an evil twin or something?"

"Oh sweet naive Cooper," Daisy gave a playful punch, "you are the evil twin."

"I'll have you know," he made a smug look, "that my mom called me a very good boy last night. So there."

"Ugh," Daisy said. "My family gave me a bath. Would not recommend it."

"What about you Charlie?" Cooper asked. "What dog adventures did you have last night?"

"Nothing much," Charlie shrugged. "I played fetch with my dad and Roxie."

Cooper smiled. "I played fetch with Leo. It was so much fun running around with my little brother. He's so energetic."

"Yeah," Charlie said. He imagined he was wagging his tail again, feeling his legs pump back and forth beneath him.

"Sooo," Cooper said, "you liked it then?"

"No," Charlie said quickly.

"Very convincing," Daisy said.

"Augh, you guys... this is weird. We just... we just need to forget about any of this."

"You had fun," Cooper grinned, "I can tell. I saw you wagging your tail when you ran up here."

"I just... running... running is kinda fun, alright," Charlie quietly admitted.

"So," Daisy said. "You liked being a dog?"

Charlie folded his arms and buried his face in them. "Yes."

Cooper laughed. "Sure you don't want to duck back in that dog house real quick, and go play at the park?"

"I..."

Charlie looked up at him, and Cooper gave him a knowing smile. To his internal horror, Charlie realized that he wanted to. He actually wanted to be a dog.

"Stop teasing him Cooper," Daisy said, resting her hand on Charlie's. "If you had fun Charlie, that's cool. I had a fun time too... well other than the bath."

Charlie let out a nervous laugh, which he cut short as he realized that Daisy was now firmly holding his hand.

"Maybe we could try having some fun with transforming into dogs again sometime," Daisy suggested.

"M-maybe," Charlie said.

She and Cooper had acted really weird yesterday... and maybe he was a little weird too.

"But it's probably best we go back to human mode for a while," Daisy said. "You don't want to get stuck as a dog the whole weekend, right?"

"Yeah," Charlie laughed, though he was sure it was not convincing.

"You should probably catch up with your dad," Daisy said, breaking off her hand hold.

"Y-yeah," Charlie said.

"We'll all talk about this on Monday," Cooper said. "I don't know about you guys, but I need a bit of time to process the fact that, y'know, magic is real."

They said bye to each other, and Charlie checked his pockets to find that his phone and wallet were perfectly intact. He sat back down on the curb for a few minutes, trying, like Cooper had said, to process everything.

Daisy had held his hand. How did he feel about that? He'd had a crush on her for a while, and now when he finally starts to see her take interest in him, it's... it's after all this crazy stuff.

Some twigs snapped nearby. Charlie shot up to his feet, afraid it was the dog catcher, but instead...

He saw that old sheepdog again. It stood on the edge of the trees at the back of the abandoned yard, watching him. How long had it been there?

"Um..., hi?" he called out to it.

The dog did not move. He walked up closer to it, and it turned around and bounded back off into the trees. Weird. The dog had looked at him... not the way dogs usually did. He shook off the chill going through him, and began jogging down the road to the park.

Charlie did his best to chat with his dad, but his conversation wasn't very focused. He was... he was thinking about it. About how fun it would be to run around with Roxie on the grass, and smell all the interesting things at the park.

He had enjoyed being a dog. Despite his embarrassment, his stubbornness, and his prior aversion to being around animals - he really wanted to do it again. Buried down in the secret recesses of his mind, he planned on doing it again. This time though, he wouldn't let embarrassment ruin his fun.

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