Ronnie stood quickly in a panic. He didn’t want the boss to take another picture of him. Who knows how he might end up.
She grabbed his arm to stop him. But the boss didn’t photograph Ronnie. He turned the camera on himself and hit the button. A fresh photo fluttered from the Polaroid.
“See. Nothing...” the boss started to say.
Ronnie reaches forward and picked up the photo, marveling at his carefully painted finger nails. Instead of the boss in the photo, it was a Dalmatian puppy with a bright red bow tied around its neck.
Suddenly, reality shifted. The boss was gone. An onlooker would have only noticed a pretty young college girl standing at a construction site holding a leashes puppy.
Ronnie grunted in rage and shifted uncomfortably, noticing all the odd feelings from his body and the right clothing that gripped it. This was getting out of hand, he thought. The boss barked in panic and started rubbing against Ronnie’s leg. She looked at the dog.
“Sit, boss” she said.
The dog sat.
“If you can understand me then roll over.”
On command, the puppy rolled over.
“Ok. We need a system. One bark for yes. Two for no.”
The dog barked once.
“Are you the boss?”
The dog barked once.
“And I’m Ronnie your employee?”
The dog barked twice.
“I’m just a hot young girl?”
The dog barked once. Ronnie was putting it together. “I remember being me cause I was holding the camera when I changed. And that’s why you remember being you. And Jack don’t remember anything cause he wasn’t holding it. You remember Jack?”
The boss barked twice.
“Thought so. But then why do I remember you before you was a dog?”
The puppy started pawing at Ronnie’s foot. Ronnie thought for a moment. “Oh. Probably because I grabbed you when you took the picture. You want me to try to change you back?”
The dog barked twice. Hmm. Probably made sense. If Ronnie took the picture the boss might not remember changing.
“You want me to put the camera on the ground and you can try yourself?”
“Is that a good idea...” but before Ronnie could finish the thought she heard a man yell.
“Hey hot-stuff,” she heard. Turning, she saw a security guard approaching.
“You ain’t supposed to be here!” the gaurd shouted, his chubby face red. “You get out of here before I call the cops!”
Ronnie has to think quick.
She could use the camera on the gaurd. She could take her chances on the boss. Or she could retreat and try to find Jack and fix all of this.