The familiar sound of the front door unlocking hit him hard. Jared's ears perked up, and his head snapped upright as he looked to where the sound had come from. His tail was held out stiffly behind him as he stared at his open bedroom door. In the last few minutes he'd managed to nose his clothes around the room, something that was hardly new for him, as well as the dog collar, but still he'd not found the medallion.
And now he could hear somebody dropping off bags downstairs, shutting the door behind them. His heart pounded frightfully in his chest. It sounded like his Mom had come home with the groceries. To his surprise, he realized he could smell the potatoes, the chicken, and a few of the other comestibles that she'd purchased while she'd been out. He found himself panting in expectation of something good to eat, and even took a step towards the door.
And then he stopped. What was he doing? He'd been turned into a dog, and now he was thinking about going downstairs to beg for some scraps from his own Mother? Had the medallion made him a dog in mind as well as in body?
As he stood there on all fours, body tense, Jared's ears were kept turned to the door, he could hear his Mom singing to herself as she put away the groceries. Eventually she'd finish with that, and then she'd come and check on the rest of the house. Sooner or later, she'd find him.
He had to find the medallion and change back, but he'd looked everywhere in his room. He knew he'd dropped it in here. Surely it would be somewhere on the floor.
But perhaps his Mom could help him. Surely there had to be someway he could explain to her that he'd been turned into a German Shepherd.