She was in big trouble and she knew it...
 
      They had caught her and now surrounded her poking at her with long poles and ropes. She had to escape somehow but she could not. All she could do was hope.

       He name was Sarah Jackson but that didn't matter any more. Nothing really mattered any more except her survival.
 
      She had lived in a small town in Texas, called Barken, since she was a small girl with her mother and father. The town was like most other small to medium sized quiet country towns except for one important point....
 
      Everyone there was a dog.
 
      Not to say they were dogs but more that they could transform into dogs and could do so at any time they wished.
 
      She had been seven when she had moved there with her parents.
 
      It had been her dad's idea after he had visited there with her mother a year before the move. She had not known it at the time but after their visit both her parents were dogs as well but didn't tell her because they thought she would be scared. Maybe she would have been, especially at the tender age of six. Any child of that age would be very impressionable and to find out your parents could transform at will into dogs would possibly scare any child.
 
      Of course after the first two weeks in the town it didn't matter any more as by then she had found out she was a dog too. Much like her puberty several years later, it had been a scary experience, as she didn't know what was happening. Her parents had known that it would happen eventually and were ready to help her understand, as well as anyone, the changes that had happened. It had been a shock but she took it well considering everything.
 
      She had undergone her transformation into what she thought of as a beautiful breed. The Alsatian body that she had was pretty with its markings and her fur was soft. She was still little more than a puppy though, as her age in this form reflected her human age. Her parents were still human in form when she had run yelping to them, but after they had calmed her down, till she was only quivering slightly with fright, they had transformed as well to communicate their support in the ways that dogs do.
 
      Things had gone so well after that that she came to look forward to transforming and going out to play with all her friends after getting home from school in Cherry.
 
      She, like all the other children in Barken, had been warned time and time again about the Cherry citizens and told that she must never lose control and transform at school in Cherry as she could be in very real danger.
 
      The people of Cherry thought of the Citizens of Barken as people possessed by demons' dogs the manifestation of those demons. She was reasonably safe from harm while still human and the worst that would probably happen would be bullying and torment by the children of Cherry. The problem though was because of the fanatical attitude of several people in Cherry and the sheepish way that the others followed them. If she showed the slightest sign of transforming there she probably would be hurt badly or even killed for being thought of as a demon. It was lucky that she had managed to keep her control all the times she had been in Cherry both while going to School and afterwards in her early twenties.

       Now she was 28 she didn't feel lucky now though at all.
 
      She had left Barken two years before to attend University in Detroit. She had applied, after several years working in Barken, because she had felt that she needed to extend herself. She had always wanted to get a career in computers as engineer since her parents had bought her one after graduating high school. She also wanted to meet other people from outside Barken.
 
      Barken was a nice town but for finding someone to have a relationship and family with, it was just too quiet. Only rarely did visitors come to town but either they didn't stay long enough to matter, were too old or already attached.
 
      She had rented an apartment near the University and had got a job with a local computer firm to pay the bills while she attended her courses. Now two years after arriving she regretted not going back to visit her family and friends in Barken. Still it was too late now even if she wanted to.
 
      Now she was a dog and could do nothing about it.

       Of course she had been told before leaving that her ability to transform into a dog would fade eventually and that she would not be able to transform any more if she stayed away too long. She had kept her ability secret for the past two years and had used it on a regular basis to relax and unwind after a long day at work or University. Over the few weeks before the end of a semester she had been finding it harder and harder to make the change but not overly so. She made plans to make a surprise trip to Barken and see her parents. Of course she had kept in touch with them every so often but lately her contact with them had been becoming scarce. She would make a surprise visit to them and also greet all her old friends while restoring her transformation abilities.
 
      She had even gone as far as making arrangements for bus tickets and paying her landlord to keep her apartment until she returned in two months time. She had also run all her food supplies down to minimum before she left.
 
      Two nights before she was due to leave she changed into her sleek Alsatian form and went out to say bye to her local normal dog friends. They would probably not understand why she was going or even how long she would be away. They didn't really have the same concept about time that she did. Afterwards she returned to her apartment and climbed in through the window. She decided that she would sleep that night as a dog on her bed and transform in the morning. She had always enjoyed sleeping in that fashion curled up on the bed head to tail. She was due to catch the bus west in the early hours of the next night.
 
      That choice had proven a huge mistake, and only now did she realise how big that error was. She had always assumed that no matter what she would be able to change back to human even if she could not change to dog. She had never been told otherwise and maybe everyone else assumed the same thing. What ever the reason though, The next morning when she woke up and tried to change to human for her last day in Detroit, she could not.
 
      She had panicked and started to whine again and again as she put more effort into changing back but that was no use. She was stuck and there was no way that she could tell anyone. She knew that she would have to leave the apartment soon though, even as a dog as she had little food left. Also part of the rules for the apartment was no pets and it was likely that eventually the landlord would come to check her apartment as she had asked him to. She did not want that to happen because if she was caught here she would probably end up in the local dog pound and she knew what that would mean if she could not change back. Even though she looked like a pure-bred Alsatian the chances of them working hard enough to find her a home were slim and they would eventually put her to sleep. She would rather take her chances on the streets. At least there she would have a chance of getting back to Barken somehow.
 
      Barken was her only hope. If she was able to get back there somehow she should regain her ability to transform and be able to return to human form. Being a dog had always been fun and relaxing but only when she could change back. Now it seemed more of a curse than a blessing.

       That fateful night was over two weeks ago now and today she was at her lowest point so far. Food on the streets was little and far between and then you had the risk that some mean person had spiked the food with poison. For a person who didn't know better it was easy for a dog to spot it by smell but someone had found a way to mask that scent. She had helped a few of the local dogs which had taken ill with poison before but three nights ago she had foolishly eaten some poisoned food herself because she was so hungry.
 
      Luckily she had not swallowed that much poison and she had only got weak and thrown up the rest of the food before it had hurt her too much. She had lain in the alley recovering from that episode when they had found her. Now it was really too late.

       She had been dozing half-delirious behind boxes when she felt the presence of people close by. By then it was too late. They had slipped a long rusty chain around her neck and she had been caught. She knew the type well enough. They were similar to the people she knew from Cherry. Mean spirited and crewel. Their idea of fun was to capture animals and to goad them into exhaustion by hitting them and poking with sticks or poles. It did not matter to these week people that the animals could not protect themselves. They just used them for cheep fun when they were bored. Now it seemed that she had fallen into their clutches and there was absolutely nothing she could do. She just hoped that somehow she would be able to survive this, especially as she still suffered the after affects of the poison.
 
      All she could do was try and protect herself as well as she could and hope.