Brendon doesn't know how it could be true that he is a dog now, but he has to admit he feels great! He has so much energy he could play with Triksi or somebody else for hours. Triksi gives a play bow, and Brendon returns it with a friendly yip. He isn't thrilled that his stuff is gone, but it's hard to focus on anything other than the speed and strength bursting at the seems of his young adult canine form. Oh yeah, and the food smells from downstairs are still there, making his tail wag just as fast as Triksi's.
"Brendon, Triksi, dinner!" his mother calls up from downstairs.
Brendon perked up his ears and thought, Why am I getting dinner so early? Triksi usually gets fed first so she won't beg TOO much, but the family always eats together. Did his mom already know he'd had a rough day at school? Had she found the report card already and thought she needed some time with him in private? He flattened his ears and tucked his tail a little bit, thinking he might be in trouble. Triksi was almost out of the room barking when she stopped for a second and looked back at Brendon, confused at his sudden worry when there was DINNER downstairs!
Brendon's stomach rumbled, and he was a little unnerved that he was worrying Triksi enough to distract her being fed. He decided he should go with her, maybe Mom would be able to help him and figure out why he turned into a dog and how to change back. And this new body wasn't going to be able to turn down food for much longer anyway. He wagged his tail to put Triksi at ease, and both dogs bounded down the stairs together. Brendon stopped at the kitchen doorway, building up his courage to let his mom see him like his, and heard Triksi slurping away at her dog bowl while Mom was calling her a good girl. He took a deep breath and stepped through the doorway slowly, where his mom was rinsing out two dog food cans and putting them into the recycling bag.
She heard his claws clicking on the floor tiles and looked at him. "And there's Brendon, you're such a good boy, aren't you Brendy?"
Brendon looked toward her feet and saw a bowl with the name BRENDON on it, right beside of Triksi's, and it had more of the same food Triksi was eating, the same kind they'd both been smelling from upstairs. He cocked his head to the side, wondering why that would be there. Triksi turned around to look at him, barked, and stuffed her muzzle back down into her bowl. Brendon knew she'd eat the second bowl of dog food if he didn't, but why would he? He wasn't REALLY a dog, right? He was just like this until he could change back somehow.
"Not eating today, Brendon?" Mom asked with concern in her voice. "What's wrong, boy?"
How could his own mother ask him what's wrong when she was looking right at her son standing in front of her in a cattle dog's body? Why was she already feeding him like one? Did she think he was really WAS a dog? How did she even know he'd change? Did she ... cause this to happen to him?!
Brendon growled suddenly, taking both Mom and Triksi by surprise. If this was some kind of practical joke or punishment for his grades, it had gone too far! Brendon's mother, of course, thought Brendon being a dog was normal, and had never known for him to seem mad at her during feeding time.
"Brendon, what's got into you?" she asked with a mix of anxiety and sternness. He tried to answer but couldn't get out anything more than a few whines and semi-barks. Seeing (and smelling) that Mom was legitimately confused and worried by his reaction, and remembering that all artifacts of his human life had seemed to be vanishing while he was changing, Brendon gave up on trying to make her understand. He sniffed in the direction of his food bowl a little more. That dog food still smelled inviting! He took an experimental taste with his long doggy tongue and soon had his whole muzzle chomping into it as enthusiastically as Triksi.