Despite the twinge of guilt, I couldn't help feel how perfect this was. I had wanted a dog for so long, and it was always my mother who vetoed it. Now she was my dog herself. My mom's name was Laura...it would do fine for a dog's name too, I supposed. Still, I needed to slow things down and get my bearings...things had happened too quickly and I needed time to figure out what to do next. Laura barked. The sound caught my attention and I looked down at her. With that, she playfully started hopping back and forth and barking some more...she obviously wanted me to play with her or take her for a walk. This wasn't good...the noise would start to attract undue attention, and my new pet wasn't leashed or even house-broken yet, for all I knew. This was a new situation for my mom, but also for me.
"Down, Laura, please!" I gently scolded her. But the attention just made her want to play and bark more. I couldn't help but smile...she was a really beautiful, playful dog, but I had to get the situation under control, especially with the baby in my arms starting to cry and get increasingly agitated.
I looked at Laura and focused, and she calmed down. She went silent, stopped hopping, and took a normal stance on all fours, turning her head to look straight ahead before ceasing movement altogether. Her appearance changed slightly...she appeared less of a real dog, and more artificial or plastic. Then, very quickly, she shrank, smaller and smaller, until she was about two inches high. She became a small toy version of herself. I just needed her to be a bit more manageable for a little while, and buy myself time to think things through. I gently put the baby down and picked up the little toy dog. It wasn't even really registering that it was really my mother, shrunk, naked and transformed. I gave it a gentle kiss, put it into my pocket, and turned back to figure out what to do with the baby and my mom's things....