Rose was at the kitchen sink cleaning the dishes from breakfast when Richard walked through the front door. She turned around to see her husband and asked, "How did things go at the college?"
Richard sighed and said, "Well, not as well as I thought. The college can't really do anything about the town laws." Rose frowned when she heard this as she turned back to finish washing the last of the breakfast dishes. "But I had a nice discussion with one of the professors," he added.
"So, one of us needs to give up our humanity?" Rose asked as she placed the dishes in the drying rack.
"Well, I'm not sure that's the case," Richard replied as he walked up to his wife. He put his hands on her hips and gave a quick peck on her neck.
Rose giggled and said, "Not now, Richard. Besides, we need to do some grocery shopping. I'm thinking beef stew for dinner tonight."
Richard smiled and said, "That does sound good. Shall we head to the grocery store once you're done with the dishes?"
Rose replied, "I'd like that. It'd give us a chance to talk."
"Sounds good," Richard said before giving a quick pat on Rose's butt. She squealed as she turned to look at Richard. Richard smiled as he walked away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a bit of time, Richard and Rose climbed into their van and drove off. "Do you know where the grocery store is?" Rose asked as Richard pulled out on to the street. "I mean I've seen a Target and a couple of restaurants on the way in, but I don't remember seeing a chain like Safeway or Kroger's or anything like that."
"Well, the town's not that big," Richard said, "And they'll likely have some local store if we drive around long enough. Besides, this'll allow us to get a good view of the town." The two of them drove around the town, passing by the Moon Lake Hospital, the college, and the middle school and the high school. They went through downtown before Rose noticed something.
"I think that might be the local grocery store," Rose pointed out to Richard. She pointed to a sign that read "Moon Lake Groceries". Richard pulled into the parking lot and parked the car. As the two of them got out, Rose remarked, "Well, it's not exactly Albertson's..."
"Well, for a small town," Richard replied, "I imagine it'll do. Let's go in and see what they have." The two of them went into the store and got a shopping cart. The first thing they saw was the vegetable aisle. Rose also noticed the other aisles and said, "Well, at least they're well-stocked. We shouldn't have too much trouble finding the things we need." Richard took a look at the prices and said, "But they're a bit pricey compared to what we've seen back in Michigan." Rose shrugged and said, "What do you expect from a small town like this?"
As Rose pushed the cart, she said to herself, "So, tonight beef stew...tomorrow some spaghetti...and meat pie for Friday. That sounds good..." At the same time, Richard could only imagine the dollar bills flying out of his wallet. This wasn't going to be a cheap trip. For the time being, though, he just followed his wife as she pointed out things for him to put into the shopping cart. After an hour of walking around and putting groceries in the cart, the two of them made their way to the checkout aisle and the worker started to ring things up. Richard grimaced as he watched the dollar amount of their shopping spree go up and up. He blanched when he saw the final total and pulled out his credit card to hand to the worker.
"Do you think we've got enough?" Richard asked as he watched the worker swipe his card.
"Considering we had next to nothing when we started, yeah. This should last us a week. Or at least until Saturday when we get our regular pattern of shopping down." As she said this, Rose was helping put things back into the shopping cart.
Richard looked at the final total on the receipt before he said, "Yeah, but I think we'll need to redo our budget a bit. The prices are a bit higher here, and although we got plenty of money from our shop back in Michigan, it's not going to last forever."
"I know," Rose said, "Just one of the things we need to talk about." The two of them made their way back to the van and they loaded the groceries into the back. Richard and Rose climbed back into the van to start their return trip home. "What do you think we should do about the...you know...law?"
Richard sighed as he answered, "The way I see it, we have two choices. Either one of us becomes one of those...things and we stay in town like we planned or we get out."
Rose thought for a moment and asked, "Could we make it back? I mean to Michigan?"
Richard thought for a moment and said, "Well, we technically still own our sports store back there. We didn't sell it, so we could take back our lease if we wanted. It'd mean going back on our plans to open a store here, but it wouldn't be impossible with the income we get from our first store. But it'd mean that we'll have to tighten our belts if we did so."
Rose then asked, "What about the town? If we tried to leave..."
"What's the worst they could do?" Richard asked, "I mean, they could fine us, but I'm sure we could cover it."
"But...I mean," Rose replied trying to get the right words out, "There's no other town that has laws like this. I mean, what if they have something...unusual for people who don't...you know...go through with this."
Richard sighed and said, "Yeah I know what you mean. And it's something that's been on my mind too. What are the risks if we leave? I mean, I imagine that there's not much they could do to us if we get out of town, but while we're here..."
Rose paused and said, "So...do you think that we'll...need to become..."
Richard interrupted, "I'm not sure yet. And frankly, I'm trying not to think too hard about that."
"And what about the kids? What if they get changed too?" Rose asked with a bit of concern.
"I don't know," Richard said while shaking his head, "I'm not sure what we'll do. What if they want to change? I'm not sure how to handle that."
The two of them drove up to their home and Richard backed the van up to the garage. He parked the car and opened the back. Frank heard the garage door open and came downstairs to help with the groceries. The three of them quickly unloaded the van and moved the groceries to the kitchen. Rose unpacked the bags and put the groceries into the right places as Richard went to the living room to think.
The chat with Harold did help alleviate Richard's concerns, and at least he got a better understanding of why the law exists. But could he really accept the fact that the only changes from normal to were is the ability to grow fur, fangs, and claws? I mean, Richard couldn't accept the fact that there might be other changes as well. What if his children were to make the change? Could Richard accept that as well? Or would that be the trigger for him to flee? And Richard wasn't sure how the town would react if he tried to leave town. What could they do? And what about their plans for opening a sports store here in Moon Lake? While there would be money to be made, is the price of their humanity worth it?
These thoughts filled Richard as he sat in his recliner and tried to figure things out.