Sharp teeth grinning, Jeff tried wearing different outfits over his fur, and looking at himself in the mirror. He usually had to pull his tail out and over his shorts to get it free, but some of his clothing must have been magically altered with his change to account for the new appendage. He also found that walking around on his toes was natural, but sometimes difficult when leaning forward or backward. He poked and prodded every part of his body, taking in the feelings, especially his new male doggy parts.
Jeff was having an absolute blast. Undoubtedly, he was the only anthropomorphic dog, let alone the only anthropomorphic ANYTHING, in the real world. The entire world! Jeff figured that could make him some pretty good money on the freak-show circuits... but did the real world consider him a freak?
That was kind of answered when his mother came home a half-hour later. Jeff nearly tripped out the door and quick-stepped down the hallway to meet her in the kitchen. She was not phased at his appearance. "Hey there, Jeffy. How was your day?" she asked.
"Fine, I guess. Umm... notice anything different?" he asked, playfully.
"... Oh Jeff, you know I don't like these kind of quizzes. Did you clean your room like I asked, or just spend all day gawking at yourself in the mirror?"
He didn't answer immediately, but his tail had stopped wagging and had seemingly answered the question for him.
"Figured as much... you need to learn a new trick, Bud! Anyways - Listen, help me bring in these groceries, and then please pick up your room while I get dinner ready, okay?"
Doing regular chores and lifting objects while walking on tiptoes was not an easy task, and he almost spilled the eggs all over the carpeted floor between the kitchen and the garage. In addition, the sensory changes made it really difficult to concentrate. He barely needed his glasses anymore, however his color definition seemed blurry if he went without glasses. And Wowzah! Everything smelled like... 10 times as strong as it used to. To be expected, he thought. With the cacophony of groceries he was carrying, his nose picked up every. Single. Smell. He had the energy to keep working, so he went right into starting to pick up his room, all the while marveling at his new body and senses.
Did he need to get 'groomed' like other pets? Did he need a veterinarian doctor or a real doctor? He had thousands of questions to ask the world. Before he knew it, though, the three hours were coming up to a close. He looked at himself in the mirror. It was quite obvious that he didn't want it to end yet. There was so much left to learn. He had never felt so confident, so invigorated and excited about life, so special .... he picked up the Chronivac and finagled his way through the clunky interface to extend the transformation period. He set it from 3 hours to one month, hit the enter key, and with the change in time set, he set the program on Sleep mode and stored the emitter in his desk.
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For the next month, Jeff went about his life, living as though everything had been this way - as if everything had always been this way - and only he knew the real truth. Going to school was now more interesting than ever. His best friends teased him a bit about his appearance, and called him things like "Doggie" and "Jeffy" to pretend to be cute. He could write seemingly well with his altered hands, but playing his violin was almost impossible with his muzzle in the way. It was okay, he figured - he never really enjoyed playing it too much - and the orchestra teacher, who was slightly confused at this sudden realization, switched him to a cello - which he decided he liked a lot better anyways.
It was an interesting blend of his old personality traits mixed with the canine qualities one would expect from a real golden retriever. He still had his old same sense of humor, but could nearly smell out what each of his friends had eaten that day. This "Guess what I ate this morning" was apparently a common game that his friends liked to play with him. He could eat most things, but chocolate was a bit difficult for him to digest. Heck, it was just fun enough being around so many people. There was an insatiable need to take off his human clothing on warm days, but he couldn't do this at school or he would be kicked out of class. However, at home, he nearly always walked around without a shirt. Gym felt like a completely different class - the exercises were easier, and the coach had pulled him aside at the end of the week to ask if he was interested in joining the track team. He still was subject to the casual bullying - it was the same story as before - and some of it was derogatory to being half-Dog. But all in all, he loved his new life and was almost sure he never wanted to go back.
Everything seemed to be going as usual at it could have for about two weeks... until it became time for Jeff, as a 14 year old, and the rest of his middle school, to start thinking about their middle school Prom.
Sitting at the cafeteria with his group of friends, they started talking about who they were going to (try and) ask out. Being among the nerdier crowd, this often was embarrassing for everyone to discuss, and so most guys kept their mouths shut. But when Jeff tried to chime in, he was given some strange looks - even his best friend, Joe, who was sitting next to him on the bench. After the awkward topic had passed and the rest of his friends continued to mingle, he leaned in and whispered to Joe.
"What? I really like Kiera."
"It's not that, Jeff, but - it's like, who is going to want to go to the prom with you? Being... what you are and all. Nobody's going to date a dog."
Jeff looked at him with astonished eyes - ears sagging, droopy tail and all. "I'm not a dog!"
"Well, no, I ... guess not? But dude... " and Joe leaned in even closer and whispered to his ear... "All the guys have seen you in gym class. They know you're a dog where it counts."
Jeff had gotten the picture. Suddenly the anguish of this failure of his altered reality meeting what his expectations were did not settle well. He loved being who he was now, but he also really wanted to go to the Prom (middle school drama, yo.) He had picked out a really nice suit that he had asked his mother to buy, and she was in the works of getting it custom-tailored for a dog tail and his unique physique. Most importantly, though, he really liked Kiera. He liked her a lot, but changing reality didn't seem to change the fact that he was still, indeed, different.
Suddenly, he realized how alone he was. At the end of school that day, he threw his backpack on his bed and dug out the Chronivac from his desk. He decided something needed to change...