The trip home is a quiet one as I am fine most of the way home, other than the urge to sniff the open window. My mind, for good or bad, is too focused upon what it is going to be like at home, all the rules I will have to deal with, especially at Grandma's. I might be able to lie on the couch at home, but probably not in other homes.
As my dad starts to slow down, I perk my head up and look to my parents as they say, "Hon stay here in the car with Charlie, we will get your sister and she can find out about the new dog, we were thinking we could say that you got it for her since you be away for Hawaii after being sick."
I give a small nod as I remain laying down and look over to Charlie, who just pets my head, "Just relax, you will be fine, I'm here along with the others. We won't let anything happen to you," he says as I soon hear voices outside the car making me tense up as I hear my sister's voice.
She sounds excited, "Mom, you're not lying? Mike got me a pet dog since he's sick and won't be home for Christmas?" she asks as her voice makes me wince. Just as I had been worried, she's excited, which is great, but to my ears, it's like she's screaming in my ear as my tail tucks between my legs slightly.
My mom speaks up as she saves me, "Yes, dear, he is, but don't yell, dogs have sensitive hearing." I sigh a little bit of relief as she says that, making me relax a little bit, and then I hear the door unlock and start to open.
I hold my breath as I try to keep my ears perked up and fight the instinct to pull my ears back. It's my sister, she would never intentionally hurt me, but with my new instincts and body, I can't be sure I might not accidentally hurt her. As she opens the door, I hear her start to scream, "OH H...." before catching herself, "Sorry doggy, I mean he's real," she says quickly, catching herself.
Wincing at the word doggy, I sigh inwardly. Fortunately, my sister doesn't seem to notice it as she reaches over and hugs me, making me sigh a little as I lean into it. Behind her, I can see Shiners in a tree, who unfortunately did see it as he laughs, <Ohhh, you're such a good little doggy, I'm sure all the wolves at the zoo will be so proud of you.> he teases, making me grumble.
Sister looks at me and frowns, noticing the one thing I hadn't even thought about, looking not a little nervous and maybe excited as she says, "Mom, where is his collar and dog tag?" They both look confused, and it takes them a moment to realize it.
My dad speaks up, "Well, we will have to take him to the vet and get his rabies and other shots, and get him a license. We only just picked him up, so haven't had a chance. Hmmm... vet that's going to su... SHOTS????" My ears pull back as I whine, looking at my dad pleadingly, oh no NO NO NO!!! I'm not getting shots. My dad just can't help but laugh a little bit at my fear, "I don't think he likes shots," he teases me, as I shouldn't be able to understand, MAYBE the vet part, but shots.
"Dad, he doesn't understand... but if the big bad tough dog is scared of a little shot, I will be there to help him," my sister says, making me feel somehow both better and worse at her words.
I glance over to my mom for any kind of assurance as she shakes her head, "We should take him tomorrow, get his shots, and make sure that he's okay," she says, making me wilt a little bit as she pats my head reassuringly. It forces me to relax a little bit as I climb out of the car and look over in the direction of the front door.
My sister grins, "Come on, I will show you my bedroom." I look over to Charlie, who nods his head and turns to follow. I follow my sister as I'm slowly getting used to everything, it still feels rather odd on all fours compared to human and eagle.
My sister opens the door, and I walk in, and immediately I'm hit by so many smells, some familiar, others I have no idea what they are, as I look around. Well at least the place mostly looks the same. Then again, while it feels like months, it's only been a little over a week. Without thinking, I start to walk towards the stairs to my sister's room.
The more I look around, one thing does bother me, and I had been too distracted by smells and sounds to really notice it, but the new colour vision I have makes everything feel weird. The nice green carpet in the living room is off, it is confusing. I try to remember what stuff normally looks like.
My sister walks up, and I realize my mistake as she looks amazed as she asks, "Could you smell my bedroom?" she asks as she looks up the stairs towards her bedroom. I try not to show any reactions about it to avoid any more signals that might make her realize I'm different from most dogs.
I wag my tail, giving a small bark, and try to act normal, but then again, I don't exactly know what's normal for a dog. Maybe my sister doesn't know either as she walks up the stairs, "Come on and check my room out," she says as Charlie and I follow.
As we go up, I suddenly have a bad feeling. How will I handle going down the stairs? They are going to be awkward and probably feel like I'm going to tip over. I keep following because she wants me to, and I want to spend time with her after all this time.
Soon, I get to the top of the stairs and then glance back down, giving a shiver at how far down it feels as Charlie pats my head, laughing, "So, have you decided on a name?" he asks my sister, making me perk my ears up. Oh, please don't make it a really stupid name.
My sister looks to me, grinning, "Well, he is rather fluffy, and cute, and got a long tail, maybe fluffy tail? Or fluffy butt?" she asks as I give her my best pleading eyes. God no, oh please god not a name like that.
Charlie breaks out laughing, "Oh, you should definitely choose fluffy butt, I bet Mike will love that name when he finally hears it," he says, giving me a light elbow in the side that makes me whine.
"Ohh, I think he likes it," she says as she seems to misinterpret my whine as liking it, and not NO NO NO NO NO!! as I intend. Now I DEFINITELY can't go tell John and Frank the truth, as I will never live down the name.
Finally, my sister opens the door to her bedroom, and I step in, looking around and sniffing, so many new smells, I'm really going to have to learn what all these smells are eventually, as my sister chuckles, "Over here is my bed, Fluffy," she says to me.
I shrug, I'm going to hate the name, but maybe my parents can talk her out of it. As I look at the bed, it definitely smells like her for sure. I give a playful bark and wag my tail. Despite the name, I am happy to be here as she shows me around for a few minutes before heading back to the door. Once there, she shows me my room and says, "My brother sleeps in here, but he's been sick for a few days, so hasn't been around," she says, sounding a little sad.
Taking a step into my room, I look around, again I'm hit by the muted colours of everything, the posters on the wall are less vivid, my cool superhero blanket is a mix of colours, and some things are hard to tell. This is my bedroom, and it feels great to be back. I even look out onto the balcony to see outside.
I look around as my sister comes in smiling, "Maybe you should use my brother's bed to sleep in, you can get it all full of fur and such to make up for him disappearing," she says. Without realizing it, she hits a little home as this is my room. This homecoming isn't quite what I expect, such a big mix of new and old.
I step up to my bed as I sniff it. It also feels like home as I'm about to hop up on it when I hear my mom call from the hallway, "So I see you've shown him to your brother's room," she says, and I see her poke her head in. She gives me a small look that seems to suggest she is thinking whether or not I should be allowed to sleep on the bed. But after a moment, I see her give a small nod.
I give a happy wag of my tail as I leap up onto my bed and sniff it, trying to find a way to get a good lay down. My body knows what feels good for it, but to me it just doesn't quite feel the same way as I curl up and place my head beside my body for a few moments. Well, it works, I guess, as I smile at the others.
I quickly hop off and hear my stomach rumble as I stare at it. I can't be hungry, I just eat.... then again, how much food does a wolf need? I think. My mom laughs, "We should have food, Dad's getting pizza as it's a bit too late to cook," she says as my ears perk up before she adds, "And we got kibble, have you decided on a name yet?" she asks my sister.
My sister nods her head excitedly, "Yup, I'm thinking something cute like fluffy butt, and fluffy for short," she says, making me shiver again, and my tail tucks between my legs.
My mom just looks over to me with a knowing smile, "Oh? Well, that's quite creative, but do you think there are any better names for a big dog?" she asks. I'm thankful to my mom, but knowing my sister, whatever name I get will be embarrassing.
I look around my bedroom again before we head downstairs. I gulp as I find myself at the top of the stairs, looking down and whining as I'm afraid I will trip or tumble. How exactly do dogs get up and down the stairs? I tuck my tail between my legs.
My mom notices this and gives me a small pat as Charlie moves behind me whispering, "Come on, we got this, just one step at a time," he says as he helps coax me down, each step making me tremble a bit. Finally, I reach the bottom, if a little shaky and nervous, as Charlie smiles, "I should head home, but I will be by to check on things tomorrow," he says.
My dad soon arrives with pizza, and I drool at the smell. It's got some good meat on it, I can tell, even if some of it itches my nose. My dad gives me an apologetic look, "Sorry... until we know what's safe for you and what isn't best, we just feed you meat and kibbles."
I give a small sigh and whine, though I get it, maybe we can figure out what I can eat later. Dad gets out one of the cooking bowls and fills it with kibbles and looks over to Sarah and my mom, "We should go to the pet store and get him a food dish bowl and other things."
That makes me perk up my ears, wondering about it as I finally hear Shiners' voice and look over to see him just outside the window on a railing, <So how are you handling it all? Already forgotten your old pal now that you don't need me?> He jokes, or at least I hope he jokes.
<I could never forget about you, just... so overwhelmed about everything. It's on one hand nice to be home, on the other, I'm a dog, so, so many things I can't do or eat.> I think.
Shiners gives a soft nod and chuckles, <It's okay, Mike, just teasing. I hope we can spend some time, but being able to talk at least is great.> He admits, as there is a tiny hint of loneliness in his voice.
I do my best to give him a reassuring look, as good as a wolf can, as I hope it doesn't mean, you look tasty. My dad reaches down to pet me, saying, "I should call the vet and see if we can make an appointment for tomorrow."
I quickly shake my head to my dad as he looks down at me, "We need him to get checked by the vet so he can get his dog license and won't get picked up by the pound," he says, mostly to me, but also to my sister.
I give a small, tentative nod, probably impossible for my sister to notice, as I move over to the kibbles. Okay, let's get this over with. How good or bad could this possibly be? I mean, it's meant for dogs after all.
I lean in and take a mouthful of it as it smells good, but tastes a bit stale and dry, though there's definitely a small hint of flavour, like it needs milk or water. I look at my dad and then nod at the water faucet, hoping he can do something to make it a little less dry.
My dad stares at me for a second as I lean my head in the direction of the faucet, and he gets the idea, "Ohhh... you need water?" he asks as he goes to get another bowl from the cupboard and puts water into it as I groan.
I lean down to lap at the water. Okay, a little cold, but might work as I look to my dad to get the hint and pick up a mouthful of kibble and drop it into the water dish and start to eat those. Let's see if he understands now.
My dad laughs at this, shaking his head, "Ohh..." he says as he looks to Sarah, "I think the kibble might be a bit dry, so when you feed him be sure to add some water," he says as he picks up the kibbles and pours some into the bowl as I move over to eat the last of the ones in the water bowl. I can't very well waste them.
I smile as he leans down, replacing the bowl and ruffling my head fur, "We will figure this out, Mike," he says as I quickly begin to eat. It's definitely better, smells better, and not quite so dry and hard on the mouth.
Finally, I finish eating and feel a little relaxed. I'm still hungry but don't know yet if that is normal. I always feel a little hungry as an eagle, maybe I should try to figure out the right amount of food needed, but at least these first few steps feel right.
