In his room, Shaggy opened his eyes.
Colors confused him. They made everything brighter. He considered going back to sleep, but Kevin flung open the door and burst into the room. With a wild leap, he landed on the bed.
"Mom and Dad are home," Kevin announced. "Mom says to get a move on. She's cooking breakfast."
Sure enough, the sheepdog-turned-boy smelled an appetizing aroma that drifted through the now open door. He pushed back the covers, got out of bed, and walked toward the door. He froze in his tracks when Kevin whistled. He turned and waited, expectantly, for a command.
"Where do you think you're going?" Kevin asked him.
"Kitchen," he said. "Mom. Breakfast?"
Kevin laughed. "Yeah, but you're just wearing your shorts!"
He looked down and saw the boxers around his waist.
"Don't you want to shower and get dressed?" Kevin asked, giving him a funny look.
"Yeah, I want to shower and dress," Kevin's brother answered.
Kevin laughed. "See you downstairs in ten."
Confused, Shaggy walked into the bathroom. He looked into the mirror over the sink. Jared's summer tanned body kept him from looking too pink and pale. Shaggy reached one of his new hands and bumped into the mirror in an attempt to touch his reflection. He contemplated a moment and then touched his right pec. In the mirror, he watched his image do the same. His mouth fell open and he gave his butt a little shake.
He felt a little apprehensive about the shower. He hated getting wet, but he had seen the human boys numerous times get in and out of the shower. He stepped into the cramped chamber and soon made a new discovery. The feel of warm water on his nearly hairless body felt incredible. He opened his mouth and let the rushing water from the shower head fill it. Instead of that heavy, damp feeling he got with water on his fur, he loved the way the relaxing, warm water felt as it glided and splashed over his body. Lower down, he felt a tingle. He looked down and then touched his growing penis with his right hand. The sensation would have produced a howl if he had still been in his dog's body.
He would have explored more, but Kevin knocked on the door and told him to hurry. "Mom's getting breakfast on the table!"
He sighed, ignored the fun feelings taking place down there, and finished his shower. Five minutes later, dressed in a wrinkled, badly buttoned shirt and a pair of Jared's jeans, he arrived at the kitchen table and found the rest of his family seated and staring at him.
"Morning, sleepyhead," Mom said.
"I hope you enjoyed your fall break," Mom said. "It's back to the books for you two."
"Especially you, Jared," Dad said. "I want to see those grades higher next term or you'll have to turn over the keys to your car."
Kevin, who disliked the prospect of losing his brother's chauffeur services, assured Dad that Jared would do better.
Dad looked like he expected Jared to confirm his brother's optimism, but the smells of breakfast overwhelmed Shaggy. So much food! So many smells!
"I'm so hungry!"
Dad chuckled. "Guess you boys missed your mom's cooking, huh?"
Jared kept eating. As he ate, he heard a beeping noise and glance toward the window. He saw men in blue uniforms get out of a big truck and lift the family's trash can into the back of their truck. Mom asked him if he wanted more bacon, and he looked away from the scene and completely lost interest in the men and their truck.
"Yes, please," he answered his mother about wanting more bacon.
When he finished off the bacon with the last slice of buttered toast, he looked around to find only crumbs left. His mother laughed at his disappointed look. "Didn't I fix enough for my growing young man?"
With no more food forthcoming, Jared stood. His mother stopped him. "Did you get dressed in the dark?" Mom asked as she unbuttoned the top buttons of the shirt, then re-did them. "Looks like I need to do laundry, too. Was this the best shirt you could find?"
"Yes," her son said.
"Well, you don't want to be late for school," she said.
Kevin, ready with his backpack, told his brother to hurry. They exited the kitchen through the back door. He saw his former master standing on four paws at the doghouse.
"Go," he told Kevin. "I must see... Shaggy."
Kevin walked toward the car port as his brother detoured into the yard for a stop at the doghouse.
"Master," Shaggy said in a soft voice. "Do I have to go to school?"
Jared, who had been waiting, tormented by the delicious smells from breakfast, barked. "No. Change us back and you can stay here."
"Yes, master." Shaggy bent over the sheepdog to grab the shiny tag and make the exchange.
"Master, where is it?"
Jared barked. "Where's what?"
"The magic, master. It's gone."
It came back in a rush. How had he forgotten? He remembered his father and the new collar.
He barked. "It was dad. He got me, I mean you, a new collar."
"Where is old collar?"
Jared froze. He realized he had no idea. Distracting him from his thoughts, he heard the garbage truck as it rolled to another stop farther along the street.
"I have no idea," he barked at Shaggy in his former body. "You've got to find it."
The garbage truck had finished with the street. It made a wide circle and pulled back onto the road. Picking up speed, it rumbled past the Webster home as Jared and Shaggy held their panicked confab.
"Where do I look, master?"
"Jared!" Kevin called from the car port. "We have to go, or we will be late!"
"I don't know," Jared barked, unaware the collar, dumped into the back of the truck with other trash, was rapidly getting farther and farther from their reach as the town garbage truck traveled to another street for more garbage pickups.
"I will take Kevin to school, Master, and then come back and help you look."
"No," Jared barked miserably. "You can't do that. You'll get into trouble if you skip school."
Shaggy looked equally miserable. "But master?"
"Don't worry. I will look for the old collar, and you can help me look when you get home," Jared barked.
He didn't feel the confidence expressed in his words, but he had to convince Shaggy to go to school and at least pretend to be him. "Just don't do anything too embarrassing," he said in one last bark.