"I don't want to stay a dog forever!" Mary pouted, whining despite herself. But how would she explain what happened? Had anyone figured it out yet? She needed more information, but she couldn't go back looking like this.
It was getting later in the day, and Mary was feeling alone and vulnerable, despite her strength and the vials. "Maybe I should just become a human again and find out what's going on back at the apartment," she pondered. "But what do I do about clothes? I can't show up in just a trenchcoat. And no one's going to let a freaky-looking dog borrow clothes." While she was mulling over the problem, she remembered a donations location a few blocks away from her apartment, behind a shopping mall. She didn't dare wander around there during the day, but maybe at night...
Mary decided to leave the vials in a little hollow she located at the base of a hill. Hiding the box under some fallen tree limbs, she started following her trail back towards the apartment. It took a long while, but she finally got close enough to smell the scent of the dog park. Not wanting to be discovered, she stayed within the woods, turning towards the shopping center, and waiting until the sun set.
The shopping center was still bustling after dark, cars still entering and leaving the lot. However, as 10 PM approached, the traffic died off, and finally, at 11 PM, the last employees locked up and left the premises. All that was left was a solitary security guard making his rounds. Mary maneuvered herself into position, choosing the spot where the trees and bushes came closest to the donation spot. When the security guard left to patrol the other side of the building, Mary bounded over to the shed, careful to stay on all fours in case she were somehow spotted. Thanking her lucky stars that she had a black coat of fur, she hurriedly began digging through the bags of donations, trying to locate clothes. Finally, she found a bag that looked like it had a lot of clothes inside. Just as she was about to open it to check the contents, a bright light nearly blinded her. The security guard, perhaps hearing some strange noises, had come around the side of the shed!
"Damn possums," the security guard grumbled, then blinked. "What the..."
Before the security guard could get a good look, Mary grabbed the bag and lunged at him, causing him to fall backwards and drop his flashlight. Not bothering to look back, Mary bolted into the woods, but this time made sure to follow her nose back to the dog park, then her trail back to the vials. Although it was incredibly dark in the woods, the moonlight which made its way through trees gave her barely enough light to find her way without tripping over every branch. Despite the slow progress, Mary finally made it to the hollow, and finding her vials undisturbed, lay down and curled up to get some rest, exhausted.
Mary woke up to find her ears twitching at the sound of birds chirping. At first, she didn't know where she was, but as the prior day's memories came flooding back, she clenched her eyes shut in the realization it wasn't all just a bad dream.
"Well, it'll be over soon, I can get back home and no one will care," she tried to convince herself. Opening the bag she had swiped, she began looking through the clothes. It looked like an entire family had cleaned out their wardrobe. As she found several sets of clothes of varying size, Mary narrowed down her choices, and decided what human form she would take to scout out her apartment and hopefully grab some of her belongings without being found out.