Rat Dustin turned and held his breath. A girl stood in the shadow of the alleyway. She couldn't have been much older than him, with soft dark black skin and deep blue eyes. Her hair was long in braids down her back, and she wore what looked like a catholic school uniform and new converse sneakers. She had a backpack on, and Dustin realized he'd walked past a school earlier where kids studied late at night.
He scampered back into the shadows. "Go away!"
The girl stared, and took a step forward. "Hey. Don't be afraid." She reached out a hand. Dustin felt instinctive fear, and then a soft elation. Her hand stroked his sopping wet fur. "Wow.....what are you?"
"I....I'm Dustin," He answered, sniffing. "I'm a human!"
The girl looked at him incredulously. "You don't look like a human, you look like a rat kid."
Dustin shook his head. "I'm not! Not really. My brother, he got some kind of magic power and changed me into this...thing. I tried to change back, got close too but now, now I'm stuck like this..."
"Magic?" She said, giving him a dubious glare.
"Can you explain a talking rat that is the size of a human kid?" He asked.
"Good point," She said. "But what are you doing here then?"
Dustin told her the whole story, as best he knew it, leaving out certain details he knew a kid shouldnt hear. For her part, the kid listened and looked at him with sympathy. "So you don't have a home then, well why don't you come home with me?"
"What? I cant do that!" he said.
"You'd rather stay out here, on the street?" She said.
Dustin frowned, she did have a point, he didnt want to stay here. "But what about your parents?" She asked.
"Oh, they're hardly home most the time. Im a latchkey kid, take care of myself." She said, offering a hand. "My names Lelisha. My friends call me Lily."
Dustin looked at her hand and then took it in his paw. "Nice to meet you Lily. Well, If you dont mind, I guess I could stay, just for a night until I can figure things out." He started for the alley entrance when he caught his arm.
"Hey, you can't go out naked silly." SHe said.
"Nakked wh..." Dustin suddenly realized he was and quickly tried to cover himself.
Lily laughed, "I have some clothes in my bag, if you don't mind stuff I wore of course."
Dustin grimmaced, but beggars couldnt be choosers. "Please tell me it's not a dress."
"Oh heck no, I hate dresses. I only wear this because the school makes us." She dug in her pack and produced a pair of overalls, a t-shirt and a pair of old grungy red sneakers. "Hmm we'll have to make a hole for your tail," She said. "One sec."
Dustin was surprised to see her whip out a pair of scissors and cut a hole for his tail. She handed them to him and he put on the shirt first. It was a little big, surprisingly, but she was actually a little bigger than him now. The overalls fit perfectly though it took him a second to get his tail through the new hole. "These aren't half bad..." He said
"Right, now for the shoes," She said. "Hmm, your feet are different from human ones, I dont know if these would fit."
"I could go barefoot," he said, balancing on his toes. "I have so far."
"Well, try them out. They're too small for me now, but they might fit you." Dustin pulled them on, and his toes poked out the tips, the rest of the shoe fitting snuggly to his new paw feet. He laced them up and bounced around. IT was strange to wear shoes again. "Hey, these actually fit!"
Lily stuck out her tongue. "Toldya. Ok, come on Dustin. We'll get you home and get you a bath!"