By the time he reached the backyard, leash in hand, Jared entertained a few second thoughts about his volunteering to walk Shaggy. Perhaps it would be more advisable to stay as far away as possible and practical from any and all dogs, particularly Shaggy.
But Shaggy saw him and greeted him with some excited "woofs" and ran out the length of the lead staked into the ground in front of his doghouse.
"Be patient, boy," Jared said. "I'm here to walk you."
He got the leash fastened to Shaggy's collar, although he felt a definite shiver as he did so. He shrugged it off, blaming an unavoidable glimpse of the identification tags that had transformed from the original amulet. Nevertheless, he resolved to complete the walk in a timely manner and get back to Kevin. He hoped his kid brother was having some luck in finding useful information about Wepwawet.
Shaggy tugged on the leash, wanting to get ahead of Jared's slow, distracted pace as they traveled the neighborhood sidewalk that led to the community park. Shaggy stopped at every phone pole and fire hydrant to give the object a good sniff. After the fourth such stop, Jared's patience wore thin.
"C'mon, Shaggy. Just choose a place already and go."
He thought the dog might have listened to him when Shaggy began to raise a leg over a small shrub planted at the edge of one of the neighborhood lawns. A passing car, however, distracted the sheepdog, who began ambling along the sidewalk again instead.
"You're not very patient, human," the familiar yet unwelcome voice of Wepwawet sounded in Jared's ears. He spun around to scan the vicinity for the intruding entity.
The being's cold laughter sounded in Jared's thoughts. "I have no need to manifest my form in order to communicate with a mind so far beneath my own glorious intelligence," Wepwawet said haughtily.
"Give me a break," Jared groaned.
"I think that animal's form suits you," the despicable being said.
At that moment, Shaggy sniffed a dropped cigarette butt and scratched at his hindquarters. He turned, looked up at Jared, and woofed.
Jared walked farther along the walk, hoping Wepwawet would simply go away and leave him alone.
"There's small likelihood of that happening," the entity taunted. "Of course, you could save us time and simply admit that life on all fours suits you and I could arrange..."
"No!" Jared stoutly rejected the suggestion Wepwawet had started to advance.
The being chuckled, but the sound resembled dry reptilian scales being rasped along a rock wall. "Did you get plenty to drink earlier, human?"
Jared felt his heart skip a beat. "Yes, I did," he said, fearful of what Wepwawet might have in mind.
"You did drink a lot of water," Wepwawet said. "I'm surprised you're not racing that beast for the best place to relieve yourself."
As the entity pushed its thoughts directly into Jared's mind, he instantly felt an urgent pressure from his bladder with such intensity he knew he had to gain immediate relief or face a humiliating accident. He had reached the entry to the community park, which offered an abundant supply of trees, shrubs and saplings.
"Still modest?" Wepwawet asked.
At that moment, Shaggy had found an acceptable shrub, lifted a leg and had let go. The sight of Shaggy taking his pee, finally, pushed Jared almost beyond endurance.
"Just pick a spot and be done with it," Wepwawet commanded.
The entity re-doubled his pressure on the teenager's bladder. Jared started dancing from one foot to another, almost desperate. There were public restrooms on the far side of the park, but he would never make it that far. He made a dash for a stand of trees. He barely had time to conceal himself behind the trees before he pushed down pants and shorts, then lifted a leg and aimed himself awkwardly. The position felt perfectly natural, but when he splashed his other leg in the process, he realized he had more to learn about doing it in doggie mode. The breeze caressed his bare butt as he kept his public urination at full force.
Finally relieved, he sighed and started to reach down and pull up his pants when he saw two open-mouthed young boys, who didn't look old enough for kindergarten, staring and pointing in bemusement at him. Jared lost his temper and basically growled at them. The two kids ran screaming, no doubt to find their parent or guardian and report a near-naked teenager taking a public leak in the park.
Wepwawet faded in a burst of laughter, adding to Jared's mortifcation. That's when Jared discovered that, in his distracted attempt not to wet himself, he had dropped Shaggy's leash and the dog had disappeared.
"Shaggy!" The teenager shouted.
Damn! Now he had to track down the dog. He started walking through the park, calling Shaggy's name, hoping that he could just find the dog and get back home before something else even more humiliating happened to him.