Mark was out partying that night. He hadn't intended to but after drinking just a little, he had to drink a little more. He was at a bar, enjoying
the live music.
Suddenly the bartender yelled, "Hey, who let that dog in here. You know the rules. No dogs allowed."
Mark looked around but didn't see any dogs. But the bartender came up to Mark and shouted, "Who's dog is this? Anybody claim it."
Mark asked, "What are you talking about?"
But the bartender just grabbed Mark roughly and drug him out the door. Mark jumped up and went to the door and began yelling but the
bartender just shut the door. Mark tried opening the door but his hands weren't working right.
Mark thought, "I must be a little drunk, I better call a cab."
He got his cell phone out and found it extra difficult to dial but he managed. The cab company answered and Mark said, "I guess I'm a little
drunk and need a ride. Would you come pick me up at the Blue Note Bar?"
The guy on the other end said, "I don't appreciate prank phone calls. You think it's funny calling and then having your dog speak to us? We
have the right to refuse service and we're exercising that right in your case." And the call ended with a dial tone.
Mark thought, "I must really be drunk if I sound like a dog. But I gotta get home. Hopefully, I'm sober enough to drive." (We all know that
drunks think that way. They may realize that they are too drunk to do anything but they'll still think that driving is okay.)
Mark had difficulty opening his car door but eventually he managed. He started up his car and drove off. Soon, a cop car came up with a siren
going. Mark pulled over.
Strangely, the cop pulled in front of Mark's car and the cop got out quickly and ran to open Mark's car door. Without addressing Mark at all, the
cop reached in and turned the car off. Then the cop stopped for a breather.
Mark tried to get his license and registration. He had difficulty getting the glove compartment open but finally managed. He held up his papers
to the officer.
The cop said, "Don't go chewing up that paperwork, puppy." The cop took the papers from Mark and tossed them in the driver's seat. The cop
gently grabbed Mark by the shirt and coaxed, "Now come along there. Be a good boy, puppy. That's a good dog."
Mark followed but asked, "Am I under arrest? You didn't read me my rights." But Mark got into the back of the cop car.
The cop got in the driver's seat and immediately got on the radio. "Looks like I got another one. Must be some sort of fraternity prank. I
wonder how many more dogs we're going to find in runaway vehicles tonight."
The cop did not drive to the police station. He drove to the dog pound and a dog catcher came out to get Mark.
Confused, Mark asked, "Why are we here? This doesn't make any sense."
They led Mark into the clinic part of the dog pound and the dog catcher said, "No license. Must be a stray."
The cop said, "Makes it seem even more like a fraternity prank. They dress up a stray before putting him in a runaway vehicle."
The dog catcher said, "Well our policy is clear. All unlicensed strays are automatically spayed or neutered."
Mark felt a needle in his hip. He yelped and tried to get away. But soon, he fell unconscious.
He woke to see Dan's face looking at him. He sat up and looked around. He was in a dog pound style cage on a bare floor. He was naked and
so was Dan. Dan was much smaller than normal.
Mark asked, "Dan, what are you doing here and what's going on? If this is a hallucination, it's a really bad one."
Dan said, "Wonderful. We can speak to each other. Maybe we can work together to figure out how to get out of this mess. My sister Kat cast
magical spells on us."
Mark asked, "Your sister Kat?" Then he noticed the bandages on his balls. "What did she do to my balls?"
Dan said, "She didn't do that. She cast a magic spell so that everyone thinks that we are dogs. It must have been the dog catchers that took
your balls thinking that you were a stray dog. All they hear when we speak is barking."
Mark said, "I just need to wake up and this nightmare will be over."
Dan said, "No, Mark. I need you to come to grips with this and quickly. I don't know how much longer we have till Kat comes for me. We need
to make a plan while we have a chance."