The half-grown Border collie whined and scrunched itself further into the corner of the pen. “I want that one” said Amy, turning to her father. “He looks like he needs a friend.” Amy didn’t have any friends at the new high school and Amy’s father hoped the dog would help bring his daughter out her shell. Becoming a host family certainly hadn’t worked, neither had pushing her to join the band. The young collie cautiously sniffed at her extended hand.
“Shadow, that’ll be your name. You’ll be my friend won’t you Shadow?” she asked as he wagged its tail enthusiastically. A week later Amy awoke to the sight of her beloved pet turning into a scruffy teenage boy by the light of the full moon.
Amy gasped in shock and screamed at the top of her lungs.
“No! No, please! If they find, they will hurt!” begged the boy in a strange accent, cringing away from her.
He behaved so much like her beloved Shadow, that it snapped Amy out of her shock. “Hide” she said firmly. “Under the bed. Now.”
Her father burst in, looking only half-awake and carrying a baseball bat. “What’s wrong? What happened? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine Dad. I must’ve had a bad dream and woke myself up screaming. I’m sorry I woke you too.”
Her father sat down on the edge of her bed and brushed her hair out of her face. “As long as you’re okay. Were you dreaming about your mother, honey? The doctor said it’s perfectly normal.”
“No Dad. I don’t think it was anything like that. I think it was just a bad dream.” She said, smiling in reassurance. “I scared Shadow under the bed though.” She grinned.
Her father smiled back, “Well, I think I can understand that.” He said standing up. “Want me to leave the door cracked for you?” he asked.
“No, I think I’ll be okay now.” She said.
“Oh, and remember he has to go to the vet tomorrow.” Her father reminded her as he closed her door and went back to bed.
Amy sat frozen in horror as Shadow crawled out from under her bed.
“What wrong” he asked, worriedly.
“Tomorrow” she whispered, “The vet…You’re supposed to get neutered” She slowly turned to look at his horrified face. “Th…the… the city says all males have to be fixed by six months old unless you’re a breeder. And then you have to get a breeding license…” babbled Amy quietly.
“Like Hell! No one cutting MY balls” whispered Shadow vehemently and covered his groin.
“No! No of course not!” she agreed immediately “We just have to figure out how to do it.”
“You mean… you will help?” asked Shadow.
“Of course, you’re my friend. C’mon” she said and pulled on her coat. “When we get outside, run. I’ll tell them you ran away.”
“Thank you,” whispers Shadow as he shifts back into a dog “I will not forget.”
Two days later, a scruffy teenage boy follows Amy home. “Hello Mr. Webber,” he tells her father in a strange accent. “I am exchange student for new year.”
Lucid Stories 