After thinking for a moment, your nerves get the best of you.
"How about you go first," you ask Paul.
"Sure thing," he responds "can you hold it for a second though?"
He hands you the bundle and you marvel at the weight of the fur and its softness. As you turn it over in your hands, you notice extreme detail in the coloring, with grey hindquarters and white shoulders, with grey ears. The paws even have leathery pads on the bottoms, and what's more, the costume is equipped with a realistic sheath.
Lost in awe, you hear Paul's voice: "Hey, buddy, you mind?"
"Huh, what? Oh, sorry," you respond, "I just can't get over how realistic this is!"
As you turn around you find Paul stark naked, standing with his arms out, "The costume please," he replies.
"Whoa, warn a guy if you're gonn do that, I could have left the room."
"Well, what dog have you ever heard of wearing clothes, can you give me a hand getting into this?"
Turning away, you shove the costume in his direction, "Sure, just tell me when it's safe to look again," you reply.
As he fiddles with the costumer, you try in vain to make idle chatter. "So, what do we do once you've got it on?"
"I was thinking we could go for a walk, what do you think about that?"
"A walk?," you ask in utter disbelief.
"Sure, it's safe now, can you help me zip up," Paul asks.
As you zip up his back, he places the sheepdog head on his own. As he turns around, you fall back on the bed in your surprise. It's like looking eye to eye with a real dog!
"Cat got your tongue?"
"not exactly," you reply, "more like dog."
"Can you put the collar on me?" he asks, pointing to a dresser with a red collar on it.
As you grab the color, you notice a shiny tag on it that read "HARVEY" and a city license. "What's this all about?" you ask Paul quizzically.
"Just to be on the safe side." Somehow his answer only brings more questions, but nonetheless, you fasten the collar around Paul's neck. As you slide the strap through the brass buckle, Paul drops like a furry bag of bricks. As he lies on the floor in a heap, he seems to be changing shape. What surprises you more, though, is the sounds he is making - like that of a dog whimpering.
You gently shake your friend and ask if he's okay. For a minute or two, there is little movement other than the apparent shifting of his bones and shallow breathing. Still, you stay by his side and pet him which feels a bit strange, but considering the circumstances, you are not sure what else you should do.
Slowly, Paul turns his furred head up and looks at you. At this point you notice something in his eyes that is quite different. They aren't even the same color as before, but rather a deep brown, and they do look like sad puppy eyes.
Before you can ask what happened, he jumps onto four paws, barks in what you can only guess is happiness, and begins licking your face. Sure, he's your friend, but right now, he seems more dog than anything and all you can think to do is laugh and scratch his head.
After a brief moment of this, he barks again, and jumps up, placing his hands on the dresser where the collar was, and nudges a piece of paper with his nose.
Picking up the paper, you see it's a note...