You groan - which you fail to realise sounds more like a whimper - as the world slowly comes back into focus. Blinking, you're puzzled because everything for some reason appears in shades of black, white and grey.
"What happened," you try to ask, but all that issues forth is a strange whimper-like yip.
A crashing noise and you jump up, banging your head on what appears to be the roof of a cage. Terrified, you start to make even more whimpering noises, as you hear someone screaming out, "I didn't want a bitch and I certainly ain't paying for one!"
A second voice, one you clearly recognise as the barber, replies, "Well I'm sorry. It's just the way the cards played."
Turning about in the cage, sure that these two voices are talking about you, you attempt to look at yourself, but in the end the only view you manage is by lying on your side and looking down at what is clearly the body of a female bull terrier.
Jumping up, and banging your head against the top of the cage yet again, you begin screaming out, "Let me out of here. You can't treat me like this. This isn't what I wanted. This wasn't part of the deal. This wasn't on the coupon," but that issues forth is the normal barking noise of a dog.
Shadows form over you and looking up through the cage, you see the barber and two unknown men looking down at you. One of the men asks, "How long did you say she'll live?"
The other man replies, "She's immortal. And so long as she is in your possession, so are you."
The barber reaches down and flicks open a small section of the front of the cage and then says, "Hold her, Willy. I need to make sure the transformation is permanent and she can't transform back," as he produces a collar and set of tags.
The second man reaches down and before you can do anything, Willy has grabbed you by the scruff of the neck. Whimpering, you try and pull away as the barber reaches forward and snaps the collar and tags around you neck. Closing the small front section, he explains, "In theory, she will be unable to return to human form. And if the very rare exception occurs, she will only be a childe and certainly not male. In fact, I'm positive she'll never be a male ever again."
Willy places an arm around the man's shoulders and explains, "Bill. The most you'll have to worry about, strangeness wise, is that she may be able to regain human speech and learn to walk on two legs. But hey, if that happens, just bring her back and will undo what has happened. No problem," as he led the man away with the barber following behind.
A final comment from Bill - "Maybe I could use her as a champion show dog or maybe breeding Bull Terrier pure-breed pups," - and then another crashing sound, which you realise is the sound of a door closing.
Terrified, you let out a whimper, while inside you head something is compelling you to give voice to your problems. Pacing back and forth, listening to the jingling noise of the tags clinking together, you desperately search for a way out of the cage, telling yourself over and over, "I am not a dog. I do not want to be used for breeding purposes. I do not want to be used as a champion show dog."