"Dude, I'm hungry!" announced Jack as he scratch his armpit.
"Dude same!" replied Sean "Lets hit up the mess, I haven't eaten all day!"
The three nodded and followed Sean, watching his thick squirrely tail twitching in anticipation of food.
As Rick trailed behind, he found his thoughts conflicted. In one regard, this was becoming a super cool day. While he was just 8, the cool older boys wanted to play with them. They were so mature and always did such cool activates 8 year olds weren't allowed to do like the ropes course and mountain hiking......In another regard, the old him, the HUMAN him remained to a degree. He couldn't help but watch the two former girls and marvel at just how boyish they'd already become. A loud burp from Jack punctuated that thought. They were loud, paid no mind to what and where they scratched, and had started saying things like 'dude.' He'd known Jackie for years and she'd have never used the language Jack the Skunk was using.
He also marveled at how quickly he'd begun acting like the 8 year old raccoon he was. The childish thoughts were...almost irresistible and came to him unbidden, if he didn't concentrate, it was hard to avoid slipping into that mentality and almost forgetting he was ever an adult human. A twinge of worry filled him, a worry that was quickly drowned out by an amazing smell wafting from the mess.
Upon entering, the three boys were amazed. The cafeteria had an excellent spread and the smells their now sensitive noses could pick up confirmed they'd be well fed here at camp. Rick and Jack, the scavengers they are found themselves hypnotically drawn to a complex yet heavenly scent. As they walked they sniffed the air like animals, following the trail of scent to its source. It didn't take long for them to discover what it was. A dumpster. Critter kids, it seemed, wasted little. For every critter kid that gorged on pizza or meat, there were leftovers that could be served up in a dumpster to the scavengers who would finish the meal.
Realizing what was creating such a heavenly aroma, jack and rick briefly paused, the idea of eating out of the trash creating enough of a jolt to remind them of their humanity and the bizarre bodies they inhabited.
"Dude....I dunno, y'think we should eat out of the trash?" Jack asked
Rick blushed a little, honored the older boy would ask his opinion. "I dunno, my mommy said trash has germs innit...an.." Rick paused to concentrate "....When I was human, I know this woulda been icky...butttt....it just smells so good! You're older, what do you think?"
"I say lets eat!" Jack replied, his reservations having melted as a half finished slice of pizza was deposited into the dumpster. The approval of the older boy was all Rick needed and the pair dove in, scurrying around to find the best scraps to fill their plates. Rick found himself in heaven. Somethnig about being in the dumpster, searching for scraps just spoke deeply to his racoon mind and filled him with a pride and pleasure he'd never felt before. He was a trash panda, and this was where he belonged.
A few minutes later, they emerged each carrying a plate of leftovers that would have smelled foul as humans but as critter kids, was heaven. Jumping out of the dumpster, they scurried to the tables, Rick even shifting on all fours, something his body was well suited for, to carry his overloaded plate on his back. Sean had already found a table and the two joined him. Sitting they saw Sean had pilled his plat high with acorns from the vegetarian section of the mess, his tail twitching in delight as he picked up on of the nuts and nibbled it down with his larger teeth.
"God, this is amazing! How did they know acorns were my favorite!" He said to the others.
"I dunno, but this trash is the best...there's a little bit of everything in here!" Jack replied, shoving a mix of salad, steak and ravioli into his mouth.
The boys chowed down, going back for seconds and even thirds as they found their new boyish metabolisms had few limits. About an hour later, they finally finished. Content, full, and humanity far from their minds each let out a loud belch in contentment.