The sounds of the forest greeted day back to consciousness along with Dan leaving his dreams to scatter themselves before he could recall them. A light breeze was swishing through the bushes where he slept. It first seemed scary but became pleasant as Dan lay still enjoying the harmony of this place and the way he felt. Only his eyes felt itchy and burning. He tried to rub with his paws, but it was more of his wrists. For some reason, he licked his wrists and began to rub his eyes, and that made them feel better. He licked and rubbed again soothing them as they tingled and seemed warm for a short while until he finally opened them.
Dan had thought it was daylight from the sounds, but all he saw were pale shadows as if the moon's harsh glow kept the greens and browns of the forest in shades of gray. Even the sky looked a light gray instead of blue. However, the rays of light that hit him were very warm and not the coolness of the moon. He looked around even more and could tell it was definitely day, but he saw no colors.
"Am I going blind?" he thought. "Is this another effect of Kat's curse to make me loose my sight as well?"
Again he instinctively licked his wrist and rubbed his eyes while sitting up and pondering this until the obvious jumped forward in his mind. Dogs are color-blind. Rubbing his eyes after licking his wrists must have set off another change. Dan cursed himself for not anticipating this and avoiding it. He was now even more dog. What's worse, he was out in the wilderness enjoying the smells and sounds and sights. He was regressing to the instincts of a dog. Could loosing his entire human mental capabilities be just another change away? That scared him deep inside to be humiliated into living the life of a dog at his sister's beck and call.
"KAT!" Dan screamed in a long mournful howl. "KAT, I will not loose myself so you can be my master and treat me as a pet in front of my friends and family." His anger boiled over into sadness as Dan once more called for his mom to save him. His thoughts of her as well as Kat were very strong. He tried to think of humans he knew. No. He would think of other friends and family, not humans. He was human. He must remember. Dan closed his eyes and began to list every cousin, aunt, uncle, and all relatives. Next he took to reciting his friends and school mates and teachers. "Jen!" he cried when he thought back to what Kat had forced him to do to her. He became disgusted at what Miss Thromborne had done to him and then he to her, all for Kat's evil.
Dan knew that he must get back and save them as well as himself. He didn't know how, but staying here in the woods would not help, and possibly make him change further and permanently. Besides, he was hungry and thirsty. Back in the park there was a fountain and last night there were smells of eatable food, even if it meant pulling from a trash can like a dog. He had to keep his strength and think of a plan.
Letting his nose guide him again, Dan worked his way through the thick brush and woods until he came to the edge of a trail running through the trees. He could see it opening into the park, and his nose told him that someone had recently tossed a sausage biscuit somewhere not far away. His eyes made out a dark gray trash can sitting on the light gray grass beside the gray and black spotted trail. The fragrance of food was coming from that direction, so Dan decided to venture forward in hope that he could find something more than the wrapper that held the biscuit.
Suddenly as he stepped out, pounding footsteps grew louder approaching from behind. He darted back into the brush just in time to see a young woman jog by in a light gray outfit with a darker gray emblem and symbols on it. Dan was sure it was writing, but could not decipher the lettering. He knew he recognized those markings as letters and words but could not seem to fit them together as to what they said. It didn't concern him much at first until the thought that he may have lost his ability to read. Had he understood the words though, he may have been more concerned.
Once she passed, Dan crept quickly to the trash can finding the smell of the biscuit very strong. He stood up with his paws on the top and could see a gray and white wrapper sitting atop the overflowing pile of trash. He quickly reached with his teeth and caught hold of an edge pulling it off to the ground where it fell open revealing a half eaten biscuit and sausage. As his hunger had him chomp the whole thing in his mouth, he remembered his last encounter with trash acting like a dog. Now he was again stealing trash like one, but he knew what he was grabbing this time rather than just some canine instinct.
"There he is!" came a voice from across the park. Dan casually glanced over while he ate wondering what the man was shouting about. What he saw were two men and the woman jogger running towards him. As he chewed watching them, his mind finally interpreted the symbols and what words they formed: "Animal Control." It was the dog catchers!