"You'll make a fine guard dog to keep other such hoodlums out of my humble abode! Including that silly accomplice of yours, if he dares to come back."
Chris's hard sank. He flattened his ears and let out a soft, moaning bray. She was supposed to change him back! Not change him into something ELSE. But of course, she had never technically promised that he'd ever be human even if he did return what he stole.
"Now, now, don't make such a fuss! Think about it, you're going to be a lot more dignified in your new form: a strong, stately canine, fierce enough to intimidate outsiders. And with a proper place to live (here with me!) unlike that wretched little shack you were hiding out in. And it's not like anyone is going to miss your human self: the dirty little fugitive who hides in the woods and steels geese from cottages."
That last comment hit Chris pretty hard. Sure, he liked to think that at least John would miss him--that coward who abandoned him so easily back at the hideout. But hardly anyone else even knew him, and Chris and John had both tried to keep things that way. And it was kind of tough hiding out all the time because of all the people they'd stolen from. They were practically homeless even though they'd managed something of a roof over their heads. Even so, Chris wasn't thrilled at the prospect that his "proper place to live" would be, for example, some kind of dog house in front of this witch's barely more impressive "cottage."
Still, Chris was intrigued to feel some mobility in his fingers and toes again. They had split up into little padded appendages with separate nails rather than just single hooves. The "nails," of course, were sharpening up nicely into claws. What a let-down: he'd been looking forward to getting his hands and thumbs back all the way here! Chris managed a deep, rumbly growl.
"See, you're already getting the hang of it! That's exactly the sound I want the next would-be robbers to here. And if you're thinking of applying the marvelously useful claws I've given you against me, just remember: you've lucked out! You really don't want to end up like Norman over there." She motioned to a naked stone statue at the northeast corner of the lawn.
It was at this point that Chris noticed he was quite substantially smaller than he'd been before. Indeed, he had become even smaller than the witch. His eyes moved a bit more forward on his head, closer to where they'd been as a human, and his muzzle was starting to stick straight out in front of him with a blackening nose at the end. And yes, his ears were smaller, both absolutely and relatively, than they had been in his mule form. They were still pointy and still bigger and more mobile than they would be on a human.
* I can't believe I'm going to stay here as this old woman's mutt. * Chris thought, grinding his sharpening teeth.