Joe, a full-time student at the local community college, had been hired over the summer to walk Shaggy while mom and dad worked, Kevin attended camp, and Jared couldn't be bothered.
Joe wore Army green khaki pants and a baggy T-shirt. The 20-year-old college student stood about six feet tall and weighed about 175 pounds, which made him slightly bigger than Jared had been as a 17-year-old human. "Hey, Shaggy, boy," Joe said as he got closer. He clapped his hands on the front of his pants, which triggered an automatic response from Jared, who felt himself launch up on his hind legs with his front paws against Joe's T-shirt.
"Is someone ready for his walk?" Joe asked as he unfastened Jared's collar from the lead and re-attached it to the leash in his hand.
Jared felt his tongue loll right out of his head. Any time he felt happy or pleased with himself and the world, his tongue fell out of his mouth. Joe laughed, but he also took time to order, "Down boy."
Jared, obediently, got back down on all fours. He panted in anticipation as Joe led him toward the gate.
"I'm in the mood for a pumpkin spice chai latte," the college student announced aloud. "How about we visit that little coffeehouse near the park?"
Jared thought the place was a little pretentious, but lots of college students liked to hang out there, sipping overpriced beverages and socializing.
Joe tugged him back from his first choice, a public bench beneath a shelter for the bus stop, but he relaxed the slack in the leash when Jared chose a yellow fire hydrant for a quick pee.
Arrogant laughter interrupted the moment.
"I see you're adapting well, boy," the mildly malevolent and greatly bored Egyptian entity broadcast into Jared's thoughts.
"Wepwawet!" Jared barked and shifted the aim of his stream in an unfortunate direction, wetting the cloven hoof of the intimidating entity.
Wepwawet flared the nostrils of his jackal face as he shook off the droplets from his hoof. "You remember me!" The deity sniffed. "I'm touched."
Jared realized he still hadn't finished peeing. He tried to hurry. "Don't go," he barked in a panic. Perhaps Wepwa-whatever could help him regain his human form.
A creeping sensation like cold fingers scratched at his thoughts. "Why not?"
"Shaggy, what is it?" Joe asked, baffled by the usually well-behaved Shaggy's contortions and barks.
"He's right there," Jared barked. How could Joe be totally oblivious to the Egyptian god with a canine head standing right next to him?
Wepwawet, after another laugh, informed Jared that Joe couldn't see him. "I've deigned to allow you and you alone to behold my corporeal form," it explained.
"Your corpo-what?" Jared barked.
"Never mind," Wepwawet said. "May I go now? You're boring me."
"Wait, please," Jared barked. "Something went wrong."
"Indeed," it answered. "Tell me more."
"I... I'm stuck," Jared decided to confess. "Shaggy and I switched again, but it was supposed to be temporary."
"And you have decided that you love your new existence so much that you've decided to give it a go permanently?" Wepwawet questioned. "I find that so very uplifting."
"You what?" Jared barked. "No, I don't want to stay like this."
Wepwawet growled, or perhaps he simply guffawed. "What does any of this have to do with me?"
"The collar..." Jared barked, trying to explain. Something about the presence of the creature made him feel confused. "The collar with the medallion, well, it has sort of gone missing. Could you help?"
Wepwawet produced a dramatic gasp. "Oh, that is unfortunate," it quipped.
At some point, Jared had finally finished his pee and lowered his leg.
"Let's go," Joe tugged on the leash.
"I think your master is getting impatient," Wepwawet said.
"He's just some college guy," Jared barked a protest. "He's not my master."
"Oh, you do have some things to learn, don't you?" Wepwawet asked. "They are all your masters now, although I cannot think of a more ill-bred race less deserving of such status."
Joe pulled harder on the leash. "Shaggy, come."
Jared felt the command work its power over the new way his brain seemed to work.
"Goodbye, young whelp," Wepwawet said.
"What about me?" Jared barked one last question.
"While I do sympathize with you," the entity began an address, only to revise the start. "Actually, that's not true. I find your situation a source of considerable amusement."
Wepwawet tossed back his head and began to laugh, but as the noise grew louder it turned into a terrifying howl that sent shivers dancing along Jared's spine. In a swirl of autumn leaves, the entity disappeared.
"Heel, boy," Joe commanded.
Miserably, Jared found himself forced to obey. His body responded fully and completely with every order uttered by Joe.
"One more stop, and then we can visit the coffee house," the college student said.
"Just great," Jared thought to himself. No help would come from the strange being that seemed intent on stealing into his dreams and into his waking moments. "He probably plucks the wings off flies for an encore."