Jared crunched down the second bacon strip, but the treat rested uneasily in his stomach as the teenager-turned-dog worried about how easily he had been duped again by the impostor who had stolen his body, his identity, and his life. He realized that, if he didn't want to spend the rest of his life in the form of an old English sheepdog, he needed to get the upper hand and control the canine impulses that kept surfacing to overwhelm the part of his mind that still retained a hold on his humanity.
He had never been the brightest student in class, but Jared felt the sting of humiliation upon reflecting that all of his setbacks had been inflicted by his own dog. He chafed at the thought that he was dumber than his own dog. There had to be a way he could outsmart Shaggy. After all, Wepwawet had revealed that Jared could get his body back if he could persuade Shaggy to go along with the idea. Of course, he remained suspicious of the obscure Egyptian deity, who hadn't done anything so far to deserve the benefit of the doubt.
He was still lost in his thoughts when his keen ears picked up the sound of a car pulling off the road and into the carport adjacent to the house. He stood and tugged on the lead as he watched his parents step from the car. His father, tall like his oldest son, walked to the back of the car and removed the luggage from the trunk.
Seeing his parents triggered a flashback to some memories of them. Mom taking him for dog grooming appointments and Dad taking him down to the ballpark to watch...
No! Jared shook his head, dislodging some of the fur that had fallen across his eyes. Those were Shaggy's memories, not his! Yes, his dad had walked Shaggy to the school's baseball park, but they had always gone there to watch Jared play in one of his games. Before he got his driver's license, mom had driven him places like the salon, where his favorite stylist, Angie, cut his hair. He needed to hang on to those memories, not let other ones like being bathed, dried, and brushed by a dog groomer, gradually take their place.
As they walked the path to the back door, Jared's mother turned and spoke to him as he whined and strained on the lead. "Hello, Shaggy," she said. "Have you been a good boy while we were away?"
Jared felt incredibly excited and wanted to run to her. He tried to blurt out that he wasn't Shaggy, but it all came out predictably in a burst of arfs and woofs.
Toting the luggage, his father barely glanced his way. "I just hope the boys have walked him like they were told," Dad said. "I don't want to find surprises all over the lawn."
"Mom! Dad! You're home!" Kevin said in way of greeting at the back door.
The impostor stepped outside the door. "Dad, let me help you with some of those bags!"
Jared's father looked surprised but pleased as he handed one of the heavy bags to his oldest son.
"Has everything gone smoothly while we were gone?" Mom wanted to know.
The impostor wore a big smile on his face and lied through his teeth, as far as Jared was concerned. "No problems at all, Mom. It's been an ordinary weekend."
Was it Jared's imagination or did he see Kevin give the impostor a strange look after hearing the reply to their mother's question?
Jared panted excitedly as he clung to hope. Yes! Good ol' Kevin! He will see through the impostor and help me get my body back!
"Yea, mom," Kevin backed up the impostor. "Just a typical weekend."
Jared felt crushed. What about the amulet? What about him telling Kevin about his weird dream about Wepwawet? How could he think all of that amounted to a typical weekend?
His family stepped into the house and let the back door slam closed, shutting out Jared to his exile in the yard and out of their lives.
Jared let anger, resentment, and self-pity percolate. "I'm not a dog!" Jared thought to himself. "What can I do to get them to see that?"
Then he felt an itch behind his left ear and lifted a hind leg to dig awkwardly at the irritation.