"So what breed of dog do you, the audience, think I should turn Kevin into to rid him of his string of bad luck? Any favorites?" Madame Illusia repeats herself as a low mumbling of disbelief echoes itself throughout the tent.
"How about an Old English Sheepdog!" Somebody in the crowd suddenly speaks up.
Madame Illusia looks at Kevin, smiles a grandmotherly smile and then sweeps through the faces of the crowd, trying to identify the speaker.
"And why do you think he would be fit as an Old English Sheepdog, if I may ask?" She asks the hidden man.
"Well as it so happens, I happen to be retiring soon from my old construction job and plan on starting up a dog kennel for breeding Old English Sheepdogs. I could give him a good steady job as a show dog in the dog show circuit and as a stud dog for any bitches I happen to get later on. Plus he would have plenty of fellow sheepdogs to keep him company."
"Very well then, its settled. He’ll be your champion breed Old English Sheepdog." She tells the dog breeder as she snaps her fingers.
Kevin suddenly starts to tremble and shake. He groans as a loud ripping noise from his pants heralds the emergence of a white docked tail. The audience gasps with amazement as Kevin begins to pant. His hair turns as white as snow as his face sprouts a thick, white beard and mustache along with bushy eyebrows. The hair on his head grows longer and thickens to the point where it becomes more fur-like and begins to hang down over his face. He stretches out of his kneeling position and tries standing on all fours. His fingers become stubby and begin to shrink into his hands while his fingernails become the running claws of a dog. The hair on the back of his hands begins to thicken into fur as they start to become a pair of small rounded paws. When one of his shoes drops off onto the floor, everyone sees that his feet have also become paw-like.
Kevin lifts up his shaggy fur covered head, opens his mouth and moans as his jaws then begin to push outward. The audience gets a good view of him growing new teeth amongst his old ones as he pants and groans. His blackened, wet nose follows his growing jaws. When his muzzle finished growing, his ears drop to either side of his shaggy head. His forehead slopes back sharply over his eyes as his face finally disappears under a mass of white shaggy fur. Kevin’s moan changes into a whine, which makes Madame Illusia look pleased.
"Now let’s remove those clothes from that shaggy, bear-like body of yours."
With another snap of her fingers Kevin’s clothes dissolve into black smoke, which begins to rise toward the ceiling. As the smoke billows around Kevin’s shaggy, fur-covered body, some of the white fur around his hindquarters and eyes becomes a dark gray. A minute later, Kevin’s transformation from a man to a white shaggy sheepdog and then to a large, friendly Old English Sheepdog is complete.
Kevin sniffs the air, pants contentedly and looks around at the audience before looking at Madame Illusia.
"Now would the man who wanted Kevin here to become his Old English Sheepdog, please step forward to claim your shaggy friend. He happily wants to meet you." She speaks out into the audience and smiles.
Another low rumbling of disbelief and this time amazement makes its way through the audience. The crowd then slowly parts to either side of the room as a man in his late 40’s begins to make his way to the stage. The old man and the new Old English Sheepdog eye one another. Kevin happily greets him with a woof before bounding off the stage to personally greet him. The next few minutes has the old man fondly greeting and befriending his pet while everyone else watches on with a mix of emotions. Madame Illusia watches on with the audience and then smiles.
"Well it looks like we have two satisfied customers here now. Kevin, or should I say Champ, now is free of his bad luck. And he now has a home with someone who will cater to his every canine need. And a nice steady job as a show and stud dog with plenty of bitches to mate with, what more can anyone here ask for?" She tells the audience while smiling another grandmotherly smile again. "And as for his master, he walks away here with a devoted pet for his up and coming dog kennel. Anyone else care to join them?"