The next morning, Freddy awoke from his relatively decent slumber. He had a terrible nights sleep the night before lying outside under the carport. Sleeping in his own bed again was a stark relief for him. He would have felt better about it except for noticing something stirring in his pajama bottoms. As Freddy briefly pulled up his covers and took off his pants, he noticed his erection throbbing wildly.
“Oh no!” Freddy thought to himself. “Morning wood! I have to find a way to get this under control.”
Freddy immediately got out of bed to run to the shower, taking his clothes off along the way. As he reached the shower, he quickly turned it on and stepped under it. The icy cold water served to whittle away at his erection and left his penis flaccid again.
“Phew!” Freddy thought to himself, relieved that he didn’t start dogging out again.
While he was in there, Freddy thought that he might as well clean himself off. He began to shower, taking care not to spend too long on his penis, his ass or his erect nipples. When he was nice and clean, he got out to dry himself off and made his way to his bedroom. When he got inside, he noticed a couple of things. For starters, the alarm clock read 9:00 AM.
“That’s a lot later than I normally get up” he thought to himself, taking the assumption that his parents were letting him stay home from school and chose not to wake him this morning.
The second thing he noticed was that a gardener or worker of some sort was out in his neighbors yard, taking down the old fence that split their properties and started to replace it with something that looked a lot sturdier than the rickety old gate.
“That’ll be a relief” Freddy thought to himself. “Ellie won’t be coming over here anytime soon.”
Still, even though Ellie would be prevented from coming back into his yard, at least in theory and only until she figured out how to dig a new hole under it, it still didn’t stop her erotic scent from getting to his nose. He’d still have to fight those urges, even if it was made easier by the lack of her physical affection.
Finally, Freddy noticed a text message from Michael as he checked out his phone.
“Hey Freddy. Hope you manage not to dog out while I’m in school. I’ll stop by later to bring you notes for your classes and get you out of the house. Bet you could use the fresh air. See you later.”
Freddy noticed the lack of “I love you” or heart emojis that Michael normally included in his messages.
“He must still be mad about me fucking the dogs” Freddy thought to himself.
Even though Michael seemed to be getting over it by the time he left that evening, it seemed as if he hadn’t truly forgiven him. As Freddy had already stressed to him, it wasn't really his fault. The dog within him was very strong. Still, even he admitted that he could have done a better job fighting it, but Michael put him in this predicament in the first place, so he had to own up to his part in this as well. This was going to have to come up at some point and Freddy debated how soon this afternoon he should press it, if at all.
Getting dressed, Freddy headed downstairs to find some toast and fruit on a plate in the kitchen, along with a note that read:
“Hi Freddy,
Sorry we didn’t stick around this morning. Josh’s school called us in today as he might be getting suspended. We need to plea with them not to do that as his being around would make things more complicated. This time, if you change back into a dog, don’t worry about getting the collar. We’ll put it on ourselves. We let your school know that you’ll be off today, so you can’t rest easy about that at least. Hope to see you, as Freddy, this afternoon.
Love,
Mom and Dad”
“Are they serious?” Freddy thought to himself. “Didn’t we just go over this last night?”
Freddy groaned out loud as he took the plate to the table and quietly ate his meal. It was hard to concentrate on his thoughts as Ellie’s loud barking, coupled with the construction noises coming from the new fence, made it hard to stay within himself. After an uneventful meal, Freddy cleaned up his dishes and then headed back to his room.
Once there, he sat down and began to do his homework that Michael had left behind before he went home that morning. Michael had left his knapsack in Freddy’s room accidentally, but he wasn’t too concerned.
“At least I know where the ring is” Freddy thought to himself. “That’s a relief at least.”
Freddy spent the remainder of the morning working on his homework before he heard the sound of a car approaching the driveway. Suspecting it was his parents, Freddy took a break from his studies to head downstairs to greet them. When they walked in the door, they had a look of relief on their face.
“Good news Freddy” his father said to him as he greeted him. “We were able to convince them to let Josh off with a warning, so he can stay at school and won’t be back until this evening.”
“That’s great to hear!” Freddy replied enthusiastically.
“Listen, Freddy” his mother added. “We’re sorry we left you home alone this morning, but it was important that both of us be there as it would better convince them not to suspend Josh. His being home all day would make things more complicated.”
“I wish at least one of you had stayed here” Freddy replied. “In case I turned back into a dog, but fortunately I’m starting to get the hang of it, so thankfully that didn’t happen.”
“That’s good to hear” his father said. “Were you able to get some homework done while we were gone, at least?”
“I did.”
“Good” his mother replied. “Important to keep up on your studies, especially since you won’t be in school for God knows how long.”
“Hopefully sooner rather than later” his father added.
“Agreed” Freddy concurred.
“Listen, I have to head to the office as the start of tax season is upon us. I’ll be back later when I pick up Josh from karate. Your mother will stay with you today to make sure nothing goes wrong. Remember, Freddy, you can’t leave the house unless you have supervision, understand?”
“Yes dad”
“Good. I’ll see you later.”
Freddy’s father kissed his mother as he waved goodbye and proceeded to leave out the front door. When he was gone, Freddy turned to his mother.
“So did you talk to him about…what I brought up last night?” Freddy asked.
“I did” she replied.
“And?”
“And he didn’t really give me much of a response. Hopefully, that means he’s internalizing it and will do better in the future.”
“I guess that’s the best I can hope for, for now.”
“Cheer up, Freddy.”
Freddy’s mother gave him a warm embrace and kissed him on the forehead.
“Hopefully, you’ll get through this curse soon and all will go back to normal.”
“I hope so.”
Freddy made his way up the stairs as his mother began doing chores around the house. In his room, Freddy spent the remainder of the morning and into the afternoon completing his homework. He had just about caught up when he heard a knock on the front door.
“I’ll get it!” his mother yelled.
After a few moments pondering who it could be, he heard the sounds of footsteps up the stairs and then a knock on his door.
“Freddy!” his mother called for him. “Michael is here!”
The door opened and there stood Michael with his mother by his side.
“You two try to stay out of trouble” his mother added before she began to close the door.
“We’ll try” Michael replied.
Freddy’s mother nodded as she closed the door and left the two boys alone.
“So” Freddy began as he nervously looked to Michael. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Not now” Michael replied hurriedly. “I have an idea.”
“What is it?”
Freddy seemed genuinely curious, so a confrontation about their issues could wait until later.
“I was thinking about this all last night to the extent that I couldn’t sleep and all through classes today…”
“Speaking of which” Freddy interrupted “you left your bag here overnight.”
“I did?” Michael looked in astonishment as he spotted his knapsack on Freddy’s dresser. “Oops.”
“Maybe the old man was right and you’re not meant to possess the ring.”
“Well, he’s wrong, because the ring isn’t in there.”
Michael snatched his knapsack and dumped out its contents.
“See” he pointed out. “No ring.”
“So then where is it?” Freddy asked.
Michael searched his pockets and discovered that he couldn’t find it.
“Uh oh. I took it home with me last night and…”
Michael became genuinely nervous before a strange feeling entered the air. When it was done, Freddy felt something glow in his pocket.
“What is this?” Freddy asked, only to discover that the ring was in his possession.
“How did that get there?!” Michael asked, shocked by the discovery.
“I don’t know, Michael. Maybe the ring is bonded to me in some way and I can call for it somehow. Didn’t the old man say it was alive?”
“He said it was sentient, not alive. And give me that!”
As Michael snatched the ring from Freddy, he felt a burning sensation in his hand.
“Ow”
Michael dropped the ring as Freddy reached down to pick it up off the floor.
“Maybe I should hang onto this ring from now on” Freddy suggested. “Besides, you have to go to school all day and it’s probably best that we know where it is at all times.”
“I guess” Michael replied hesitantly, still holding out his hand that felt a slight tingling sensation.
Upon composing himself, Michael grabbed Freddy and pulled him to the door.
“We need to take a walk” Michael said.
“As a dog?” Freddy asked, nervously gulping.
“Not necessarily. We just have to scope out the neighborhood. Remember what the old man said last night? That the wizard would be coming to us this afternoon?”
Freddy nodded, slightly unsure of what Michael was suggesting.
“Well” Michael continued. “If what the old man says is true, then that means that he’s going to be around somewhere in the neighborhood right about now. That means we need to start looking and see if we can spot the wizard.”
“Oh right” Freddy responded, remembering what the old man said after visiting him at his home last night. “Yeah, let’s get going. I just hope my mother will be alright with us going out.”
“I’m sure she will be.”
Freddy and Michael got ready to go. Not wanting to leave it unattended, Freddy stuffed the ring in his pocket and then headed with Michael downstairs to the front door. Before they could leave, Freddy’s mother called to them.
“Where are you two going?”
“Uh” Michael responded. “We’re going to take a walk. Freddy needs some fresh air and I have a plan for how to beat the curse.”
“Yeah” Freddy said in the affirmative.
“Alright boys” his mother answered back. “Just be careful.”
“We will” they answered jointly.
Freddy and Michael left the house and began walking around the neighborhood.
“You really think the wizard would move into a neighborhood like this overnight?” Freddy asked.
“I don’t see why not” Michael replied. “If he has as much power as the old man said he does, then it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for him to come here…or even come to us.”
After a bit of trek, it seemed like Michael’s suspicions were off. As they turned a corner, Freddy turned to Michael.
“Maybe you were wrong about your insights” Freddy said.
“Maybe you spoke too soon” Michael replied. “Look!”
Following Michael’s outstretched finger, Freddy noticed the sight of a moving crew quickly unloading tons of old antiques and other assorted furniture from their trucks into an old house. It struck Freddy as odd because this old house, abandoned and infamous in the neighborhood for its many problems, was on the market for over a year. How did such a terrible house end up getting sold overnight and now has a moving crew hurriedly putting stuff inside?
Freddy and Michael kept their distance, but remained firm staring at the scene before them from the other side of the street.
“That’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen” Freddy said as he turned to Michael. “That house looked like it would never sell and now there’s new people moving in?”
“That has to be the doing of the wizard” Michael replied, turning to Freddy. “There’s no other way that an old house like that that isn’t even habitable sold and is ready to be moved into so quickly. It has to be magic.”
Unbeknownst to the two of them, a voice off in the distance called to them. When they looked up, they saw…..