Tim blinked and looked around with confusion.
He was no longer in Paul's attic.
Instead he found himself in the Hodgson family kitchen... crouched down on all fours... buck naked... with his
face buried in a bowl of wet, mushy dog food!
Startled, Tim instantly pulled his face out of the dog food bowl.
What was going on here, he wondered.
Then a new realization struck him – everything around him was in shades of gray. Tim had somehow lost the
ability to see color.
He tried to rise up on his feet, but found it a weird struggle. He knew he could still do it... but it felt
difficult and forced. Somehow, he was actually far more comfortable climbing around the floor on his hands and
knees.
What he didn't like though was being naked. And when Tim turned around to examine his surroundings and saw
Paul's Mom and Dad off in another corner of the kitchen, he let out a short yelp of panic and blushed bright
red.
“What's wrong, girl?” said Paul's Dad.
“Oh, she probably stepped on her own tail,” muttered Paul's Mom. “You know how clumsy and easily startled Lady
always is. She's such a flighty dog.”
Did he say dog, thought Tim. Had Paul's goofy, crazy magic spell actually worked? Was Tim now trapped in the
life of Lady – the Hodgson family dog?
Tim thought about trying to speak... but nervously decided against it. Part of him was worried he may have
lost the ability to use human speech, much as he'd lost the ability to perceive color – although he had still
been able to understand what Paul's Mom and Dad had been saying. But even if he could still speak, he knew it
wouldn't be a good idea to do so in front of Paul's parents who seemed to firmly believe he was their family
pet.
Tim quietly padded along on all fours and left the room. He still felt intensely embarrassed about being
naked, and tried to move silently as possible to avoid attracting the attention of one of Paul's sisters.
Reaching the stairs that led to the attic, Tim carefully crept up and used his nose to force open the half-
ajar door.