It was a cool fall morning, and the front lawns of houses had a blanket of damp orange leaves on them. Yet almost as it to disrupted the beauty of the scene a young German shepherd was racking up the leaves into a pile. The canine was tall and a bit muscular thanks to time of being in a sports team that had done well save for one time when he was injured during a practice session. A yawn escaped his mouth right before a loud smack could be heard as a rolled up piece of paper hit him across the face causing the sleepy dog to fall onto the damp leaves.
“Sorry Mr. Schwartz!” said the young boy who threw the paper at him as he rode as on his bike. The boy was a brown furred rabbit, and even though he had this route for two years he had only leaned the one name, and called others ‘Mr.’ or ‘Miss’ on a guess from just a few quick looks. The dog laid in the pile of leaves, and sighed. “I have to start over. At least I didn’t cause it thi… morning.” He said with a smile as he looked up at a little girl.
The little girl looked a bit like Mr. Schwartz, but her fur was completely brown, and her tail was fluffier. “Daddy why are you on the ground?” she asked with a giggle, and then jumped into the pile of leaves.
The German shepherd smirked a little. “Daddy fell sweety.” he said sitting up. He then grabbed the girl, and pulled her close into a hug. “How are you this morning? You’re up awfully early for a Saturday seeing as it’s six A.M.” He said as he began to tickle her.
The little girl started to laugh loudly as she was tickled. “I got up cause I’m excited about tomorrow.” she said as she wagged her tail.
“Right seeing as tomorrow is Halloween.” the shepherd said with a grin. “You remember what you’re going to be Keira?” he asked rubbing her head.
As the dog spoke a tall woman walked out of the house wearing a simple brown shirt and blue pants. Her ears were a bit pointier, and her muzzle was a little longer making her a coyote. “Otto breakfast is made.” she said with a yawn.
Keira smiled. “I’m going to be a witch.” she said just before she heard the coyote speak. “Mommy!!” she said as she got up, and ran towards the coyote to hug her.
Otto got up and smiled. “Morning Jen.” He said as he walked over to her. “What did you cook this morning?” He asked as he leaned over and kissed the Coyote.
Jennifer knelt down, and hugged Keira. “Morning.” She said smiling, and then got up to meet Otto’s kiss. “I made some pancakes and sausages.” she said as she pulled from the kiss and licked her lips.
Otto grinned. “Ok. I got to go get candy for tomorrow, so I’ll leave right after breakfast.” he said as he patted Keira’s head which made the little girl murr a little, and smile.
Keira looked up at her father. “Can I come with?” she asked wagging her tail. Jennifer smiled a bit. “I think I’ll come with. I still need a costume.” she said with a wink.
Otto grinned, and nodded. “Alright.” he said hugging both Keira and Jennifer. An hour later they were walking out of the house, and towards the truck that was in the drive way. “Lets go.” Otto said as he got into the truck, and turned it on. Jennifer nodded as she lowered the passenger seat so she could help Keira get into the back seat.
A day and a few hours later, and they sun started to set as Otto and Keira walked out of their house. “I hope I get lots of candy!” She said excitedly. Keira was wearing a black robe, and a black pointy hat on her head. In her hand was a plastic bag from some super market.
“Don’t worry. You’ll get a lot of candy.” Otto said wit ha smile. Hw was wearing a simple suit of armor made of grey leather, and had a wooden sword on his hip. “Just don’t eat it all at the same time.”
Keira nodded. “Ok daddy.” she said as they went to the first house, and knocked on the door.
After an hour and many houses later Keira now had a bag full of candy. “One more house daddy!” she said jumping up and down a little.
Otto nodded. “Alright, but this is the last one.” he said leading Keira up to a large house. The house was a two story building with light grey paint on the sides and trim. The grass was ragged with long grass and weeds.
Once they were at the door of the house Otto started to knock on the door. A few seconds passed, and an old albino rat whose red eyes were aglow greeted them. “Hello.” she said in a voice that was strong for her age. “I don’t have candy, but I have cookies…” she said pulling out two oatmeal cookies, and handed them to Otto.
Keira shivered a little as she watched the rat give Otto the cookies. “Ttt-thank you.” she said stuttering a little.
Otto grinned. “Thanks.” he said as he handed Keira one of the cookies, and began to eat the other as they began to walk home.
About halfway home Keira stopped walking, and put her hands on her belly. “My tummy hurts.” she said looking at her father.
Otto looked at Keira. “Maybe you had too many sweets?” he asked as he knelt down by her. Soon Otto’s gut started to hut also. “Lets go sit down.” he said getting up, and leading Keira to a near by bench.
As they sat down on the bench their pain intensified, and spread through out their body. “Daddy it hurts.” Keira said still holding her belly.
“I know.” Otto said laying down on the bench. He groaned a bit as the pain grew stronger.
The pain caused them to close their eyes, and they then got rather tired and began to sleep. As they slept their bodies began to change in shape.
Their hands and feet changed into paws, and began to shrink in size as did their arms and legs. Their torsos shrank a bit, and turned more feral like in appearance. By the end of their transformation they were nothing more than feral dogs.
Keira awoke with a yawn. “Daddy?” she asked raising her had which still had the pointed black hat on her head. She blinked when she saw the canine dog that was her father.
Otto raised his head. “Wha’?” he asked not fully aware what happened to him and his daughter. “Keira is that you?” he asked looking at the now feral body of his daughter.
The young German shepherd girl’s ears twitched a little at the sound of her father’s voice. “That you daddy?” she asked getting up causing the robe she wore earlier to fall to the ground, and nosed Otto.
“Yes it’s me.” he said blinking as he now realized that his daughter was now a feral dog. “Do I look different?” he asked flattening his ears.
Keira nodded her head, and whined a little. “Yes daddy.” she said looking at her body. “What happened to us?”
Otto put his head in his paws. “I think we were changed into feral versions of our selves.” he said getting up.
Keira whined a little more. “What do we do daddy?” she asked hopping off of the bench.
Otto sighed. “I’m not sure, but lets at least head home.” he said picking up Keira’s bag of candy with his mouth before hopping of, and walking towards her. “This is yours.”
After a couple of minutes they had made it home. Jennifer was standing at the door waiting for Otto and Keira to return. “Where are they?” she muttered to her self as she the approaching canines, and quickly noticed the hat on the smaller of the two canines. “Where did you get that?” she asked on impulse.
Suddenly Keira ran up to Jennifer. “Mommy!!” she said loudly which startled the coyote. “Keira? Is that you?” Jennifer asked looking at the canine oddly. “Yes it is mommy.” Keira said wagging her tail and licking her tail.
“And I’m here.” Otto said fallowing behind while still carrying the little bag of candy in his mouth. He walked over to Jennifer and sat beside Keira.
Jennifer was still amazed by this. Her husband and daughter were now ferals. “How did this happen?” she asked as she began to pet both Otto and Keira; which caused the dogs to nuzzle her hand.
Otto sighed. “I’m not sure, but it happened soon after we ate some cookies from an old rat.” he said laying down. “Can we go inside?”
“Yes lets.” Jennifer said getting up, and leading the dogs inside. Once inside they went to Otto’s and Jennifer’s room, and got onto the bed.
Keira was a sleep with bits of candy on her face seeing as the excitement of the evening, and the crash from a sugar rush caused by the candy she ate caused her to be very tired. “We’re probably gonna be like this for a while.” Otto said laying next to Jennifer. The coyote hugged Otto softly. “We’ll make the best of it.” she said kissing the dog before going to sleep.
