A week passes, James is sitting in his room with his best friend Benji, the dog figurine “Rex” is standing on James’s bed side table. “Tell me,” Benji says, the boys are sitting on the carpet opposite each other, playing YuGiOh!, “how was it in Las Vegas?”
“It was cool,” James says, “especially at night, when all the buildings are lit up.”
“Man, I wish my parents would take ME someplace cool,” Benji says.
“They probably will,” James replies, “it took a long while, till my parents had enough cash to do that kind of trip.”
Benji sighs, “yeah,” he says, “my family is struggling so bad, I never have been outside of Salt Lake City in my life.”
“One day,” James says, “you will!”
Benji smiles, “I hope so,” he says. The boys continue to play in silence for a while, Benji then asks, “sorry for asking, but: have you found peace yet?”
James looks up at his friend, “you mean if I have overcome Rex’s passing?”
Benji nods, “yeah,” he says.
James lowers his head, “a little,” he says, “I miss him bad. He has always been there for me.”
Benji nods, “sorry that I brought it up,” he says.
James smiles, “no worries,” he says, “I am glad that you care about my wellbeing. You are a good friend.”
Benji smiles back, “man, I wish I had a dog,” he says, “I’d train him to do all sorts of tricks, cuddle with him a lot and take good care of him.”
James nods, “a dog is the best companion someone can ever have,” he says, “what kinda dog would you want to have?”
“Hmm…,” Benji says, “I really like German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, Dalmatians and Huskies.”
James nods, “what sort of coloring should the dog have?”
“I kinda like black,” Benji says.
“Would you prefer a puppy or a full grown dog,” James asks.
“A puppy,” Benji says without hesitation, “because I could train him from the start. With an old dog, I’d be to unsure.”
James nods, “I understand,” he says, “so, you’d like your dog to be male?”
“Yep,” Benji says.
The boys smile at each other, “one day, you’ll get a dog,” James says.
What the boys don’t notice is the figurines eyes starting to glow for a split second, after Benji said “I wish I had a dog”. They also didn’t notice James’s body being surrounded by a red glow for a split second. Benji, unknowingly, triggered the curse that resides in the figurine, since James is the only living person nearby, the figurine chose him to become Benji’s dog. The boys are unaware that the curse will slowly form James’s body to become Benji’s dream dog.
“So, what breed of dog would you prefer,” James asks.
“A black male Labrador Retriever,” Benji says, “I’ve heard that they are the best “beginner” dogs.”
James nods, “yeah, they are,” he says, “how old should he be?”
“Eight weeks,” Benji says, “best age to start training!”
“What would you train him to do,” James asks.
“Besides the basics, like “sit”, “stay”, “heel”, “down”, “fetch”, “quiet”,” Benji asks, James nods, “I’d teach him to play dead, roll over, high five, beg, stuff like that.”
“Sounds good,” James says, “but, you know, having a dog means that you have to be strict and let him know who’s boss. Do you think you’d be dominant enough to do that?”
“I…,” Benji says, “I guess I can try to be,” the boys don’t notice Benji’s body being surrounded by a red light for a split second. Benji suddenly feels light headed for a second, the feeling soon subsides and he just shrugs it off.
“I KNOW you can be,” James says, “the way you boss me around sometimes,” he grins.
“Hehe,” Benji says, “yeah, I guess I can be dominant when I want to be.”
James smiles, “I think you’ll make a great owner,” he says, as he absentmindedly scratches his arm, “what name would you give him?”.
“I think I’d name him “Milo”,” Benji says.
“That is a cool name,” James says, smiling as he continues to scratch at his arm, he also starts to squirm a little, suddenly a strange feeling of discomfort raising in him, he starts to tug on his clothes, “man... these clothes suddenly feel so uncomfortable! They feel so itchy and scratchy on my body!”