The harsh carpet rubbed against her cheek, bringing her back to consciousness in a gradual manner. Blinking, she looked at the pine wall that was mere inches from her face and tried to figure out why she was lying on the floor, staring at a partition that appeared to be rather flimsy. Rolling over onto her back, her thoughts muddled up, she tried to lift her head, and slammed her forehead into the underside of a bench made of the same material as the wall.
A noise that sounded sort of like, "Woof" escaped her and she dropped back to the carpeted floor. Rubbing the now sore spot with both hands, she stopped when she went she felt her fingers on one hand brush against one of her ears. Finding something seemed off, she used the appendage to explore the ear, in which discovered that, thought it was still on side of her head, it was now long, floppy, and definitely not a human ear. Trying to put it all together, and drawing a blank, she angled her head until she could see the bench above her, and noting its location, she rolled back over, pushed herself first up on her hands and knees, then to a standing position. Taking a look around the small room, noticing that there was a pile of clothes on a nearby bench, she turned to glance in the opposite direction, and almost screamed when she saw that she wasn't alone and that there was someone standing a couple feet away.
Hand clapped over her mouth, she watched as the other person did the same. Understanding coming to her that what she was looking at was a mirror, her name, Jodie, came back to her in rush, along with a titbit of things, which she found didn't mesh with what she was seeing. Staring at the image of herself, she felt certain she was female, but this didn't match with what she saw, as the person looking back at her was male, something she could easily tell by the penis sheath covered in white fur that had black spots. Her mind insisting she was in her mid-twenties, she found this was also contradicting as the person in the reflective surface looked to be around the age of seven. Confused, she touched her ears, covered in white fur that also had black spots, and which she could tell were canine, and after a moment she turned and stared at her tail. Watching it wag back and forth, noting that it to had fur, white, something came back to her and turning to face the mirror, she thought on how she'd done something with a necklace and it had transformed part of her.
"It was still changing me," she amended as she continued to stare at her reflection, noting that her hair was now short, had lightened, and when she leaned closer, thought it looked white at the roots.
Hand clenched, she peered at her reflection. Wondering how she'd gotten into a fitting room, why she was naked, and what happened to lead her to becoming a seven year old boy, she toyed with the idea that maybe it was the next step in her transformation. Dismissing the notion the moment it came to her, she shook her head, causing her dog ears to flop, and told herself, "No, that's not right," certain that she'd used the medallion on a dog collar and a piece of clothing that’d had been similar to something she'd worn when she was older than what she was now.
Thoughts still fuzzy, she turned away from the mirror and stepped over to the bench. Searching the pile of clothes, she found the ones she'd been wearing, able to tell that they were by how big they were, a few outfits that looked like they fit someone older than she was now, but younger than what she'd worn the adult clothes, and a pair of pants, underwear, socks, shoes, and shirt that would fit a child. Finding the tag on each piece of clothing, she guessed the stuff would fit her now, and starting with the underwear, a pair of white briefs with images of dinosaurs on them, she pulled them on. Taking a moment to adjust herself, finding there was a hole in the back for her tail, she looked down, and was unable to stop herself when she shuddered as she saw the bulge in the front that was created by her penis sheath.
"I'm a boy, a little boy," she thought to herself and finding it upsetting that somehow her transformation had gotten to the point she was now at, she grabbed up the jeans, but didn't pull them on.
Garment held firm, she wished she could recall what had lead her to waking up on the floor. Finding it wouldn't come to her so easy, she became convinced that somehow, what had happened to her, was so bad, it'd caused her to black out, as well as being another step in what she saw as the inevitable. Disliking what'd happened to her, believing it brought even closer to becoming a dog, she pulled on the jeans, tucked her tail back, and finding her younger fingers not as dextrous as her adult fingers, took a moment to do up the zipper and button. Sitting down on the bench and reaching for the socks, she wondered if Nathan had experienced any other changes and if they were as bad as what'd happened to her.
Hand held out, hovering above the socks, she looked at the pile of clothes as it suddenly came to her what she'd thought. More coming back to her, she remember the necklace was called the Amulet of Zulo, and that she'd had it on when she and Nathan had left the apartment. Jumping up, she pushed everything off the bench and with upmost care, pawed through the stuff. Not finding the necklace, she grew frantic. Pulling on the socks and shoes that now fit her, Jodie snatched up the shirt, a medium blue short sleeve with an image of Captain America on it, and pulled it on. Dressed, she cocked her head and whimpered, and unaware of how much like a puppy she sounded like, she reached down and picked up a shirt. Shaking it out, she folded it as best as she could, tossed it on the bench, and reached for the next article of clothing. Finishing that, and not finding the medallion, she started to whine as she paced back and forth for a minute before, deciding she no longer wanted to be in the changing stall, she scrabbled for a bit at the latch, got it open, and tore out of the small room.
Unable to stop herself, she ran out of the boy's section of the changing rooms, and didn't stop until she was almost halfway across the department store. Slowing as she became winded, it came to her as she passed a corpulent man that nobody seemed to be paying attention to her, even though she knew it was clear her ears were obviously not human. Wondering about, she looked at an elderly couple as she passed, shook her head so her ears flopped about, and noted that they didn't say anything. Wanting to tell Nathan what she discovered, she stopped.
It coming back to her how they'd agreed to meet at the front of the store after they'd gotten some clothes that fit, she asked herself, "Is he waiting for me now?" before she posed herself the question, "Will I recognise him if he'd transformed more," as, with a sinking feeling, she understand he wouldn't know who she was.
Distraught by this, Jodie found she didn't which was worse; that she'd lost the Amulet of Zulo, or that somehow her transformation had pushed her so far back, she was now a seven year old boy. A whimper escaped her and once more wishing she could remember what she'd done after leaving Nathan at the front of the store, she began to wander. Aimlessly making her way up to the front of the store, she scanned the people queued up to make their purchases, the people at the service counter, as well as those that were exiting and entering the store. Not seeing Nathan amongst them, or anyone she might have suspected to be him, she turned away and walked back into the department store. Ambling toward the area that sold clothes for a teenage girl, Jodie was unable to stop herself when she thought, "Sissy stuff," as she made a quick search for Nathan. Leaving when it was clear he wasn't there, she halted in the middle of the main aisle.
Not sure where Nathan might be, or even where else she could look, Jodie tried to bully her mind into coming up with an answer. Finding that it seemed her mind had in some ways had regressed backward like her body and age, that somethings were harder for her to sort out and come to resolutions on, she tried to think like Nathan, but found it was no good. Starting to walk, she tried to work out a solution in her mind, and soon found herself going back to her own predicament as she walked into the men's wear, left it, and wandered into the section for teenage boys. Knowing that she'd been here, that some of the clothes she'd found in the stall was proof, she made her way to each rack, display and table that had more of the shirts, jeans, and boxers she'd found. Nothing jogging her memory, nor seeing anywhere the amulet, she turned to leave, but stopped when she saw several piles of clothes lying on the floor. Gasping the instant she saw them, she took a step backward and looked wildly about as it came back to her.
After she and Nathan parted, she’d headed straight for the section of clothes aimed at teenage boys. Browsing through the options, she found it easy to figure out what she wore, something she'd found disturbing. Collecting a few pairs of boxers, the same number of jeans, and an equal number of shirts, she'd examined what she'd selected. Deciding the four outfits she chosen was enough, she mulled over what else she'd need for a moment before deciding she'd need socks, a pair of shoes, and something to carry all of her purchases in. Thinking a backpack might work, she wondered if the department store still had any on sale and where she'd find them as she headed back to the undergarments area to get some socks.
Lost in her thoughts, she was unaware of how close she was to a display table until, as she walked past it, she knocked over several piles of clothing that looked to have been stacked haphazardly. Frustrated that she hadn't been paying attention, Jodie almost walked away, figuring a floor attendant would clean up the mess. But changing her mind, she set her choices to one side and squatted down to clean up the mess. Having forgotten she still had on the Amulet of Zulo, and somehow managed to keep it from coming contact with the things she'd chosen, she scooped up a pair of jeans she could immediately tell didn't even belong in the section she was in and carelessly, not giving it a second thought, she hugged the garment to her chest as she reached down to pick up a couple more things. The trousers she held coming in contact with her bare skin and the necklace at the same time, she yelped, a noise that sounded too close to that a dog would make she observed, when a sharp, electric prick ran up her arm. Dropping the jeans, she gazed down at the necklace, unable to comprehend what had happened for a couple seconds until, with a soft mutter of, "Oh, shit," it came to her.
Things began to blend together as she felt like something was pressing down on her head and pressing up on the soles of her feet. With a sudden sharp sense of clarity, she found herself in a different section of the store, holding the things she'd picked up, plus an outfit for a person a lot younger. Perplexed by it, everything drifted away as the pressing sensation returned, along with a gentle tugging feeling on her ears. Drifting, the last she was aware of was somehow ending up in a changing stall, naked, and staring at her reflection. Finding what she was seeing didn't make sense, Jodie looked at the stuff she'd left on the bench, tried to recall what had happened to the Amulet of Zulo, knowing it was her and Nathan's ticket back to before they'd started to be turned into a couple of dogs, and failing that, the sensation of being squeezed getting too much, she dropped to the floor, unconscious before she even hit.
Now, as she recalled all of that, Jodie wanted to cry as she realised that because of her carelessness, it had lead to more trouble. Taking a couple more steps away from the scattered clothing, she shook her head and uttered a series of whining noises. Wanting to flee, to find some place to hide her face in shame, she was unable to stop herself as she barked out, "I've doomed us both," before she turned away, and not able to hold herself back any longer, she fled the teenage boy's section, and then the store.