The strangeness of this mansion in the park had become something of an adventure for me. Walking through the glass doors marked Animals of the World, made the sense of adventure even greater and a whole lot more interesting. For I soon found myself in a room full of animal masks.
I spent the next few minutes just standing by the glass doors and staring at the closest animal masks next to me. These animal masks weren’t the cheap ones that anybody could find at a retail costume store. These masks were of the quality only a place like Hollywood with its’ special effects studios could make. For they were to my eyes, extremely life like. There were masks of the big cats and of house cats. Masks of various cattle breeds seen around the world, both with and without horns. I saw masks of horses ranging from ponies to the huge draft breeds. And I saw a wide arrange of dog masks of every breed known in this country. As I looked down the room, I saw that there had to be animal masks of nearly every species on this planet, both extinct and alive. They lined all sides of the room as far as I could see.
Just looking at all of these animal masks made me want to try one on for the fun of it. But which one did I want to try on first, there were so many to choose from. I panned the room again with my eyes and looked for the one mask that I really wanted to try on first. And after a minute, my eyes came to rest on the large array of dog masks hanging on the wall in front of me. I walked over to them and gave them a second look. And out of the wide range of dog masks hanging before me, one of the masks caught my eye and grabbed a hold of my attention. This mask was for me for its’ distinct shaggy looks offered me a chance to, if only for a short while, become something else. I reached out to the dog mask and rubbed my hands against its’ shaggy fur. Not only did the dog mask look extremely life-like, I found much to my surprise that it felt life-like too. I picked it up off its’ hook and brought it down closer to my face. I rubbed my face against its’ shaggy fur and breathed in its’ scent. It smelled like a real dog too. This was definitely a mask worth wearing.
The mask felt heavy in my hands as I looked into the dark confines of its’ inner regions. Holding it with one hand, I wiped away the sweat that was beading on my face. I then resumed my two-handed grip on it and bent my head forward to put it on.
The mask slipped down over my head and I spent a minute trying to get the mask into the right position on my head. The inside of the mask felt warm and moist and had more of that real canine smell to it. The eye ports of the mask aligned fairly well with my own eyes and my nose slipped into a grove. An inside lip touched my own lips and gave me a friendly comfortable feeling. And the shaggy neck of the mask immediately smoothed itself down my neck as if it became attached to it. My ears filled an indentation inside the mask and I found out that I could still hear very well with it on.
Looking through a shaggy veil, I spotted something I didn’t see before in my initial inspection of this room, a floor-to-ceiling mirror. I stepped carefully up to it and saw for the first time how neat I looked with the shaggy dog mask on. It must have been a trick of the light or maybe it was it was the presence of the mask on my head that gave me the impression but it looked as if my eyes were now the eyes of a dog. Yeah it had to be the mask giving me the illusion of having canine eyes. I then tried squiggling my nose inside the mask and was treated to the sight of mask’s black canine nose moving as well. After that I found that by moving my mouth inside the mask, I could open and close its’ muzzle as well. I tried to do a little pretend panting and was rewarded with the sight of my tongue sticking out through the mask. Wearing this mask and being able to do what I just did with its’ nose and muzzle made me feel giddy and extremely happy that I decided to try this mask on. It made me feel like I was a real dog and not just a guy in a dog mask.
My shirt began to get in the way of the mask’s furry neck, so I unbuttoned it. And being that it was still a hot afternoon outside and that I hadn’t bothered to wear a T-shirt today, I looked very animal-like with my hairy chest attached to this shaggy dog mask.
Walking alone in the room it seemed to me that the further I walked around, the warmer it got. The air began to feel stale and smelly and I began to breathe so hard that I sounded like I was panting, panting just like a real dog would.
My walk became more like a bear-like shuffle as I made my way back to the glass doors that led into this room. Still feeling hot and now tired for a reason I couldn’t explain to myself, I slowed down and looked into the mirror again.
"WHAT THE....?" I stopped walking and stared at myself in the mirror. Just standing there and looking at myself, I couldn’t help but remember that what I was wearing was a mask with shaggy head and neck fur. But now it looked like the fur had lengthened and had begun to cover my shoulders, chest, belly and back.
The thick shaggy fur grew all the way down to my pecks and then thinned down to smooth covering of furriness. Twisting around in front of the mirror, I could see that the fur along my back grew down into my pants. And even though I couldn’t see it with my pants on, I could feel that my butt was covered by that thick growing pelt of shaggy fur.
My chest began to brim up with muscles it never had before. And my shoulders seem to become narrower. And as I watched, I saw that the shaggy layer of fur growing now on the rest of my body had begun to cover them up as well. I looked away from the mirror toward the hook from which I had taken this mask from and wondered what would happen to me if I put it back.
A sudden shiver of cool air and I had the sensation of feeling of goose pimples popping all over me. I shook myself and then surprised myself as the areas of my body covered up the shaggy pelt shifted to and fro. They shook just like real dog’s would when they needed to be dried out in a hurry. Getting over that sensation I had to see how far the fur had continued down my pants. My fingers felt stiff and clumsy as I worked to unbuckle my belt and slip my pants down.
"OH MY GOODNESS!" I said out loud. The shaggy layer of fur had grown down my butt and had moved down to my legs and feet. Kicking off my shoes, I stood in front of the mirror as naked as a dog can be.
The long bones of my feet began to long as the rest of my leg began to take on a bear-like appearance and resemble a dog’s hindquarters. Looking upward, I saw a layer of skin pulling my privates in tight against my crouch. The last thing that I saw before I looked down again was the sight of my manhood becoming a dog’s private member.
My toes grew stubby and became a pair of hind paws. I had to shift my stance as the long bones of my feet changed some more. I bent over to touch the paws that use to be my human feet in a moment of fascination. However, what approached them and touched them were a front pair of paws and a pair of stocky forelegs, all covered in a thick, shaggy layer of white fur.
My attempt to touch what used to be my feet forced me to stand down on all fours. And oddly enough I found out that standing on two pairs of legs felt just right. Wagging my shaggy head, I woofed. A sudden thought made me realize that somehow the dog mask had joined with my head and made me transform into a real dog. I found myself no longer as a man but as a large, shaggy Old English Sheepdog.
Looking back over my shaggy body, I saw and found myself pleased by the sight of a docked tail. I wagged it and then shook myself again. Shaggy fur rippled across my body as I found myself rapidly adjusting my attitude to being a large, friendly sheepdog. I began to pant contentedly and enjoy my new shaggy looks.
The sound of something opening behind me and the smell of clean, fresh air made me turn around to see some of the masks part away from the wall like a rising curtain. And I saw that flush up against the wall was a doggy door just my size. It was from there where I was picking up those pleasing outdoor scents. Leaving the mirror and my clothing behind, I shuffled my shaggy, bear-like bulk up to the doggy door and sniffed it. I smelled fresh grass and flowers. And I smelled the scent of other animals nearby. The scent of other animals triggered something deep inside me, some instinct that up to now I never had before- the instinct to herd something. With a happy pant and a swish of my docked tail, I used my shaggy head to swing the doggy up and over my passing body.
I blinked several times as I went from a slightly darkened room to being outside on a grassy plain under a sunny sky. I sniffed the air for those animal scents and I found myself recognizing the scent. I was smelling out a fairly sizeable herd of sheep nearby. And then I heard them. My excitement level went up a notch and off I shuffled toward the sound of sheep grazing and talking and moving about. And as I got closer and closer to where I knew they would be, I felt something inside go away. I don’t know what went away and I no longer found myself caring about what it could have been. All I seemed to care about was being an Old English Sheepdog and doing some shepherding for my master. What a better life could there be for the shaggy likes of me?