A Boy, a Dog Girl and a Date: Part Five

The wind rustled the grass and the leaves as their impossible moment stretched on. They could hear water lapping at the sides of the canal. Honey could feel it rustling her fur.

Her fur…

I’m not a dog. Those were the words she had stubbornly said, over and over. Since waking in the woods with the boy who was her whole world, the boy who would become her sweetheart, she had fought to overcome her dog self. Little moments broke through. Zack found them cute. The others found them endearing. But all she wanted since the moment she could want anything was for Zack to look at her like a human.

For a moment, she had it.

Now her moment was gone.

Forever.

“Honey…” Zack barely knew what to say. He had seen her the last time with the fur, but this was far more severe. She went full lycanthrope, and he didn’t know what to do.

“Don’t…don’t touch me…” Honey said, softly and slowly, backing away, shaking her head.

“Come back. We can get you…”

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” Honey yanked her hand away quickly, backing into a tree and sliding down it, trying to make herself small.

“Hey! You! Go get Chistos!” Zack said, turning to the carpet in the sky. It gave a firm nod of its front and zipped away into the night. Then Zack turned to Honey. “Honey…”

“Not a dog…I’m not a dog…I don’t want to go back…please don’t make me forget…” Tears spilled from her eyes as she gripped her head, her fingers holding her flopping ears.

“Honey…”

“All gone…my future…the little house…the babies…”

“Honey! Shut the hell up!”

Her eyes reluctantly went to his. She didn’t want to see the fear in his eyes. The disgust he must feel.

The pity for the dumb dog…

Instead, she saw the same eyes from moments before.

“I’m right here. I’m not leaving. I’m always going to be right here.”

He put his hand on the side of her face again.

Everything froze.

This couldn’t be. How was he doing this? WHY was he doing this? She had failed. She couldn’t be what he wanted. She had been a fool to hope.

But his eyes told her to hope.

She did.

The world started again…and exploded.

The wind swirled around them, faster and faster, grass and leaves flying through the air. Sparks and arcs of light began jumping around their bodies. The wood of the tree Honey leaned against groaned as it began to writhe and move. They both looked around, confused for a moment, unsure what was happening.

Then Zack remembered.

“Honey, stand up!” he said, offering his hand. She hesitated briefly before slowly clasping it with her furred fingers. He helped her up gently, standing with her, his hands on her shoulders.

“What’s happening? Why is everything going crazy?” Honey asked.

“I think it’s you,” Zack said. “I need you to calm down.”

“Calm down?! How do I…” Honey started to say. Then she was smothered by Zack’s hug.

“Don’t focus on the wind or the lights. Don’t think about the fur. There’s nothing here but you and me. Okay?”

Honey remembered a faint echo from another time. A young boy hugging her, saying something so similar about the shouting voices and the thumping sounds and the crying.

So she did as the boy had. The only thing which existed was her and Zack. The wind began to die down. The electricity vanished. The tree quieted.

“Was I doing all of the wind and the zap and the…whatever the tree was doing?” Honey asked, looking around.

“I think so. Remember, they were talking about how you had your magical potential locked away? It was why you got furry after the test. I think the magic was trying to turn you into…this.”

“But I don’t want to be this!” Honey cried.

“Calm down! One thing at a time. Okay, how did Chista describe the lesson? Put your arm out like this, right?” Zack held Honey’s arm up, his body warn and close behind her. “Now what?”

“I…I’m supposed to make a shape out of light,” Honey said.

“Do it.”

She concentrated. It was barely a thought before a perfect sphere of light popped into existence in front of her. She let out a surprised little yip.

“You did it!”

“I did it!”

She began to manipulate it with subtle hand motions, changing it from a sphere to a cube to a cone. She looped it into a string, flying it overhead before making it look perfectly like Zack’s face.

“This is…wow!” Honey waved the light away, catching sight of her hand again. “But I’m still…this.”

“Okay, right, next problem. You went back to normal last time. Maybe you need to…I dunno. Why did you change this time?”

“I don’t know! I got so excited because I thought…I mean, we were about to…”

“Were we? Like, it’s cool if we…never mind! Maybe it’s emotion related. Like, the more pure emotion you are, the more dog you are.”

“So if I calm down and think I can be me again?”

Zack shrugged.

“Great. Okay. Thought…thought…” Honey cleared her mind. She tried to find the most human thought she could.

“Nothings happening,” Zack said.

“I know.”

“What are you thinking of?”

“Taxes.”

Zack flicked her ear.

“Bad girl. No. Too human.”

“Well what should I think of?!”

Zack went quiet, his fingers rubbing his temples. Something human, something rational and safe and connected.

“Home…”

“What?”

“Think of home. Our insane neighbors helping us make tonight perfect. The lights on in the windows. Chistos in his chair, reading a book. Chista not cleaning her room.”

“Vessria and Isadora singing. Gratham and his weird smells. My sweetheart at night…laying in bed…drool on his pillow.”

Suddenly she was back. Her fur receded, her body changed shape. Smooth skin and a flat face returned. Zack’s arms overwhelmed her.

“I’m back, sweetheart…” she said through tears.

“You never left…”Zack whispered into her ear.