Jared's sensitive sheepdog hearing detected the car parking at the curb. He had been waiting for hours for someone in his family to return home and see his message.
His entire body shivered with anticipation as he waited near his doghouse, but his hopes took an immediate downturn when he saw the impostor accompanied by Cy Whalen.
"What he doing with Cy?" Jared wondered to himself. He'd always hated Cy, who returned the favor. They had been rivals since grade school, but Cy had never quite gotten the upper hand in any of their often competitive situations.
Cy, a tall, lanky redhead, pushed open the gate. Jared found himself hoping the impostor and Cy would simply walk into the house and take no notice of him.
No such luck.
"What's that?" Cy stepped off the walk and moved closer to the doghouse. With a quizzical look on his face, he read aloud the words scrawled on the wall. "Help. Not dog. Me Jared. Ask Kevin. He knows."
The impostor's scowled as he looked from the sheepdog to Cy, who looked genuinely puzzled by the message.
"Sounds like a plea for help," Cy said.
"Must be Kevin... he has such an imagination," the impostor said. "Let's go inside and I'll get us some soft drinks."
Cy stood his ground. "Hey, Jared. How far did our team get in last year's regional tournament?"
The impostor stopped in his tracks. "Huh?"
"Just answer me," Cy said and folded his arms across his chest.
"I don't remember right now," he said.
Cy chortled and looked down at the sheepdog. "It is!" Cy exclaimed. "This is Jared, isn't it?"
Jared listened, unable to believe that the person to figure out his true identity was his chief rival.
"What? Don't be crazy."
"We won regionals last year for the first time in 14 years," Cy said. "You struck out three of their best hitters. No way you forgot that, man. So, if this is Jared, who the hell are you?"
The impostor gave up with a great sigh. "OK. You're right. We switched bodies."
"Oh man!" Cy's green eyes widened and he started laughing. "I can't believe it. You were a dog? And now, Jared's the dog?"
Jared growled, but the impostor put a quick stop to that. "Down, boy!" The impostor said firmly.
Jared whimpered, but he ceased growling and sat back, cocking his head toward the impostor and then to Cy.
"Can he understand me?" Cy asked.
"Say hello to Cy, boy."
Jared whimpered.
"Do it!" The impostor repeated the command.
Jared barked.
"Oh my god," Cy reacted and laughed some more at his rival's predicament.
"Look, are you going to tell anyone?" The impostor asked.