Freddy woke up the next day to his alarm blaring. Wiping his eyes, he look to see that the alarm clock said 7:00 AM.
“That’s early” Freddy thought as he motioned his hand to shut it off.
Freddy was about to fall back asleep before he heard loud knocking on the door.
“Freddy!” his father yelled to him. “Time to get up!”
“Dad” Freddy replied groggily. “I thought you said you weren’t going to wake me up this morning?”
“Come downstairs! We need to talk!”
Nervous about what this could be about, Freddy got up and headed downstairs. Breakfast was on the table, along with both of his parents.
“Honey” his mother gently called to him. “We need to talk.”
Nervously, Freddy sat down and began to pick little bits of food onto his fork and slowly ate them.
“Son” Freddy’s father began. “Where were you yesterday?”
“Uh” Freddy hesitantly replied, trying to stall for an answer.
He didn’t want to tell his parents about his whereabouts. He didn’t think it was a good idea to get them involved in this. It was bad enough that Michael defied his wishes in telling them about the curse in the first place. They didn’t have a right to more information, even though they were his parents. It was too dangerous. Freddy needed an excuse, and fast.
“Uh” Freddy continued. “I was going off of a hunch to try to cure the curse.”
“Where did you go off to?” his father asked.
“I’d rather not say.”
“Honey” his mother said. “It’s important that you tell us. I was only gone for ten minutes yesterday and then when I got back, you were gone without a trace. I was worried sick about you. I thought something happened to you or you got kidnapped or…”
Freddy’s mother didn’t wish to entertain the thought.
“The point is Freddy” his father interrupted “you left the house unsupervised and we told you explicitly not to do that.”
“I know” Freddy replied “but I couldn’t tell you, it’s too dangerous.”
“If it was too dangerous to tell us, then it was too dangerous for you to go out alone. Freddy, you have two choices. Either you tell us where you were yesterday or you have to go to school today.”
“But dad, what if I turn into a dog in the middle of class today?”
“And that wasn’t an issue when you bolted out of the house on your own, yesterday?”
“Honey” his mother continued to Freddy. “I think it would be best if you just told us where you were. I’m sure if we talked it over together, maybe we could help you out.”
“I don’t think it would be a good idea” Freddy responded.
“Then it’s settled” his father said as he got up to leave. “Get showered and dressed. You’re going to school today.”
“Dad!”
“No if, ands or buts, Freddy. Now.”
Freddy’s father got ready to go to work as Freddy sat at the table with his mother.
“Mom” Freddy said quietly. “Tell him. Tell him I can’t go. Tell him it’s too dangerous.”
“Honey” his mother replied “why can’t you just tell us where you were yesterday? If you could just do that, then it’d be easy to get your father off of your case.”
“Because, mom, it’s too dangerous. I don’t want you two getting hurt.”
“We’re in this together, Freddy. Why can’t you tell us?”
“Because I can’t.”
Freddy began to cry as his mother got up to put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.
“Freddy” she said “we were talking to the school yesterday and they were starting to ask questions about your absence. After more than three days, they start asking for doctors notes if you say your child is sick. If we’re going to keep you home until this curse is lifted, then we need some time to come up with an excuse that can cut it for a long enough period of time. If you don’t want to tell us where you were yesterday, fine. But just please give me a few days to think about what I can come up for a long term excuse.”
Freddy’s mother started to leave, before briefly turning back to him.
“And for all you know” she continued “maybe the curse will be broken by the weekend and this won’t be a problem anymore.”
Freddy’s mother went upstairs as he resigned himself to going to school. He was nervous about the many triggers that could happen there. He was nervous about dogging out in the middle of class. He was nervous about what Michael’s reaction would be. Or running into Sofya again. There were many ways this day could go wrong, but Freddy realized he had no choice in the matter. He had to go to school.
Quietly, Freddy composed himself, got up with his dishes and put them in the sink before going to the bathroom and getting ready for school. After freshening up, Freddy made his way out the door to find his mother standing in the hallway.
“Good luck Freddy” his mother said to him as she went to kiss him on the forehead.
Freddy nodded as he walked out the door. When he stepped outside, he heard a honking horn and turned to see his dad and brother, Josh, in the car in the driveway.
“Need a lift?” his father asked.
“Sure” Freddy replied.
Freddy got in the car and he was driven to school. After Josh was dropped off first, his father began to head towards Freddy’s high school. Before they arrived at the entrance, Freddy’s father turned to him.
“One more chance, Freddy” his father said. “Do you want to tell me where you were yesterday?”
Freddy shook his head no.
“Well” his father replied. “Good luck today.”
Freddy’s father gave him a pat on the shoulder before Freddy exited the car.
“If you change your mind…” his father called to him.
This caused Freddy to turn to his father.
“…or, you know, change into Fido again…”
Freddy cringed at the thought.
“…call us.”
Freddy turned and briefly stared at the school he hadn’t stepped into in several days. When he turned around again, he found that his father had driven off and was already gone without a trace. Composing himself, Freddy began to walk into the entrance as a friendly barrage of students yelling “Hey Freddy!” greeted him. Freddy smiled.
“Maybe this day won’t be so bad after all” Freddy thought to himself.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad….or would it….