"I don't have to be human?"
"Not if you don't want to."
"Can I be a big, strong, hairy male wolf?" asked the slight middle-aged woman, growing more eager.
"Of course!"
"And can I just not have to deal with people at all? Like, is there a place you can put me where I would just never see a human being!" Rosa was increasingly excited.
"Yes, indeed. There's a time period in North America between the retreat of the glaciers and the arrival of the first humans across the Bering Strait that's ideal for that."
"Oh, wow."
"Now do you want to keep your memories?"
Rosa thought for a second. Were there any memories she cared to keep? A few, but the thought of completely starting over was more attractive. Why should a big, hairy male wolf be burdened with the memories of a female human failure?
"Can you remove them? I'd like to start fresh."
"That will be no problem at all. You may have a vague memory of being something other than a wolf once, but that's the extent of it."
Rosa was trembling. "Can we do this now?"
"Right this way."