He heard it in the distance before he saw it. A truck off in the distance. The sound of the engine getting closer. His eyesight may be poorer, but his hearing is extremely sharp.
For several minutes his mother and sister were talking unintelligibly about his future and making fun of him. He can still recognize the sound of laughter as laughter. But he couldn't understand what they were saying or laughing about. He could only guess they were laughing at him. And indeed, they were! They were trying to get him to follow simple verbal commands. Even their neighbor's dog could understand the word "sit!"
"Hhhaaww Hhhaaww Hhhaaww EEERRGGHH hhhhaaawww." Jeff was asking what was so funny in his mind. But the words died before they reached his donkey-style vocals. "Eerrrgghh hhhhaaww?"
They were giving him all sorts of commands. Testing his ability to understand speech. Giving him the chances to go back to his normal life before the Amish customer arrived.
They asked him to "sit."
They asked him what "2*2" equals.
They asked him to tap his right hoof 5 times.
All he was ever able to offer is just the blank look of a donkey, and a couple of brays. He seemed just as stupid as his species was supposed to be.
"Well, looks like your brother is good and stuck like that! No escape from him. You did good, honey."
With slight embarrassment of having a donkey be called her "brother," Kat reminded her mom that he was no longer her brother. Or her mom's son. That's just a dumb old fat, smelly donkey that will soon be only good for pulling plows on a farm somewhere in Amish country. His only pay he'll ever receive are bales of hay, slightly stenchy water from an animal's watering trough, and a stable without electricity. That's all he'll ever need, and all he'll ever receive. Donkeys can't have ownership over anything. They ARE owned.
Meanwhile, the truck was finally pulling up the driveway with a long horse trailer behind it. An Amish man got out to greet his former family. But to Jeff, it was just a black fuzzy blob.
Jeff tried listening in on the loud conversation between the man and his mom. But he couldn't make heads or tails of what they were saying! It sounded familiar, but he couldn't understand the spoken English words.
They were talking for a while, and Jeff, still frozen in place by his mom's spell, started growing bored. He had the urge to just want to walk away into the house and back to his bedroom. But that life is entirely lost to him now.
He was looking at that long trailer. He could still make it out, despite his terrible vision. He began to think that he'll soon see the inside of that thing, and never again see the house he grew up. He'll be taken to his new home, wherever that might be, inside that cage on wheels.
"No way! No way am I going into that thing!" He thought. "EEERRGGHH hhhaawwww" he said outloud. But the humans near him had different plans. And considering they were human and he was not, they will have their way with him.
"Well, mom will have to release that spell from me sooner or later. And when she does, I'm running!"
Little does he know, she already did release that frozen spell on him. She even told him earlier that she did, and he was free to go. To go back to being her son. But he didn't take that choice. He didn't know he had that choice. He couldn't understand the choice given to him. And so, he'll never have such a choice ever again. It was already too late.
She quickly cast the frozen spell on him again, as the man came up to inspect Jeff. He was pulling on his long ears. His tail. He was checking his sloppy ugly unkempt donkey teeth. He then grabbed his gigantic penis, and juggles his huge wobbly balls. All much to his consternation . He was, afterall, just property. No longer worthy of any sort of private dignity.
The entire time, he was smelling something coming from that trailer. Wasn't sure what it was. The man went over to it, and walked a large black horse out of the thing. He brought that horse over to Jeff, and had him spin around and face the same direction Jeff was facing.
He could smell it: the confidence. The domamince of this lowly animal. Now, not so lowly. Jeff's natural instinct was to cower in this magnificent beast's presence.
The man walk over to Jeff, and wrapped a leather strap tightly around his fat middle. He then tied a rope around the upper parts of his front legs. Went around back, and did the same. It wasnt too tight where he couldn't walk. But it wasn't loose enough to allow any sudden and wild movements.
He then tied a rope between the leather strap, and the reigns of the domineering horse. It was a VERY short leash. Jeff was forced to be physically close to this horse. Then the man slipped a bridle over Jeff's donkey head. "Hee hhaawrrrghhh" he gagged, as the man slipped a bit painfully between his teeth. He slid it into place behind his two furthest back teeth. It was a strange mind-numbing pain.
Eeerrrgghh hhhhaaww eerrgghh Hhhaaww Jeff uncomfortably said.
The the man placed a blinder over his left eye, so he couldn't see to the side. He could only see thought his periferrale vision ahead. But not much. Donkeys can't focus straight ahead very well. They have a large blind spot up there due to the shape of their skulls and placement of eyes. The man left his right eye free. But he could only see the side of that large black alpha horse. So he doesn't have much to look at.
Suddenly, the man said something, and the horse started moving forward. Jeff was forced to take a couple of steps, when he realized he was free of that spell! Time to run! But started surging forward, but all four of his legs were severely hampered. And that gigantic horse outweighed him by nearly a thousand pounds. At 1800 lbs, that horse was more than twice the weight of jeffs own hefty weight of 750!
He tried backing up, but he was forced ahead at the same page as the horse. He tried digging in with his hooves. But the powerful animal to his right was not bothered.
Clumsily walking forward as Jeff wildly tried to think of any escape, the back end of the trailer was getting closer and closer. The wide dark door looming ahead. A symbol that will officially take him into his new life.
All the while, the man was giving commands that the natural brain of the horse was able to somewhat understand. But Jeff's altered human brain could not. Up the ramp of the trailer they went. And a different smell was getting stronger.
"Clop clop" went their front hooves as they both stepped into the wooden floorboards of that trailer. Jeff couldn't even have the dignity of sitting in the cabin inside the truck. Much less have the front seat. He was relegated to only travel inside a trailer meant to haul animals like him.
The man took his left blinder off. Finally! But he was greeted by the dark steely gray wall of the trailer instead of being allowed to look at his home one final time. Then forward towards the nose of the trailer they went. This new smell getting stronger. Until finally, they stopped moving. He came nose-to-butt with another donkey already in there!
"Eerrgghh hhhaawww!" It sharply said. Nearly identical to what Jeff sounded like when he tried speaking.
"EEERRGGHH HHHAAWWW" Jeff said in response.
Jeff had a small amount of freedom to move back about a foot. So he did. The only view he got, was the ass end of another donkey! "Eeerrggh hhaaw! Jeff brayed in dismay. He wanted to back out further, but he was tied to this infernally stubborn horse!
He heard more talking outside the trailer. But again, he couldn't understand the words. Then he heard the back of the trailer slam shut. Completely trapping him inside. Then the doors of the truck opened and closed. Soon after, the engine started, and away they drove off. Jeff with a front row seat of the ass end of another donkey. An ass end that looked just like his now. Except not quite so fatty. That would be his view for the next four hours!