The walk home, even on four paws, took a boringly long as poor Jared tried to figure out how he had been tricked back into Shaggy’s sheepdog body.
He kept thinking of his obsession with the frisbee. His brain now had no impulse control. Absolutely none, which went a long way explaining why the relatively short walk home was taking so long.
His former human body led the way with the leash attached to Jared’s collar firmly in hand. They walked past a trash can that had been rolled to the curb for pickup. Jared’s nostrils flared as he detected some overpowering odors that caused him to start drooling. He stopped, his mind yelling “Food!” at him.
The “new” Jared jerked on the leash. “Come along, boy. You can have something to eat when we get home.”
Jared whimpered. He wanted, very badly, whatever it was in the can that smelled so great. His droll fell onto the sidewalk pavement, making little puddles. His master tugged at the leash again, and with a sulky huff, Jared fell into line and followed without any other interesting diversions for the rest of the trip home. He spent the rest of the time worried that, once again, his lack of impulse control upon smelling that tempting odor in the trash can had seized control of his thoughts.
Now, as the scent faded, he tried to think important thoughts, like how to get Kevin to think of another clever means to get him back in his human body. He would be embarrassed to admit that he had been tricked, but he could suffer a little humiliation to get Kev to help him. He would just explain that…
He almost tripped over his front paws as he came to a sudden halt. How could he explain anything? He couldn’t even talk to him now. He would have to hope that, knowing the situation, Kev would see right through the fake Jared, who at that moment, however, jerked the leash again, a little impatiently.
“Come on, boy,” said the former dog now in his human body.
They finally arrived, but instead of taking the front walk to the front door, the “new” Jared unlatched the gate and led the sheepdog into the backyard. He fastened the collar to the lead that allowed access to most of the backyard and shelter in the doghouse. “You stay here and be good,” he told the befuddled canine.
The fake Jared turned to walk away, so he barked and got his attention.
“This is your new home, boy. I will be taking your room upstairs.”
The charlatan turned to leave again, and the sheepdog barked, louder and for a longer time.
The impostor walked back to the sheepdog. He scratched behind the dog’s ears, which set one of the canine’s back legs to thumping on the ground. “Now, listen closely, boy,” the fake Jared explained. “You are going to accept your new life or there will be consequences.” He kept scratching at the dog’s sensitive ears to keep him distracted as he delivered his message.
He turned to leave, but Shaggy barked again. He turned, but didn’t walk any closer to the sheepdog this time.
“If you persist in this bad behavior, I will have to call the vet,” he said. “You know how mom’s always saying we should get you neutered.”
This time when the impostor walked away, Jared whimpered sadly, unwilling to test the impostor’s patience. His ears perked up when he heard Kev greet the impostor at the back door.
“Jared, I am glad you’re home. You’ve got to hear what I have learned about ol’ Wepwawet!”
In the yard, Jared heard the back door slam closed as the brothers went upstairs for Kev to spill all he had discovered to the impostor.
This wasn’t going well at all, Jared realized, but sadly he had nobody to blame but himself.