Jason was exhausted from his night's romp throughout the city. His tongue lolled out of his mouth, panting continuously. He was glad though that he wasn't a drooler, his jowls weren't shaped that way. He remembered having a dog once that was a drooler, and every time it shook its head, spittle would fly in all directions, often getting stuck to the walls. He was glad he wasn't a drooler, but what he was a shedder. He had often during the night' sromp to look behind himself and saw a trail of fur upon the ground. It wasn't the worst thing that could happen, after all, he was a Husky stuck in the desert.

     Over the course of his romp that night, he had done many things quite naturally that had surprised him. He discovered his body was quite flexible, and he could lick all sorts of parts on his body, right down to the nether regions, he thought to himself, not quite sure how to take that. Plus he found the scents of the world very interesting, now that his nose was strong enough to smell them. He also heard noises that he hadn't heard before, background sounds that he had just never noticed as a human. Then there were some of the greeting rituals between other dogs that he experienced, and at the time it seemed quite normal, but now that he thought about it, his tongue felt quite dirty. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to take it back into his mouth, but he had already, and it was now after the fact, not much he could do about it.

     As he returned to the motel, he had no idea what time it was, he was disheartened to find that the front door was locked. He resisted the temptation to whine and scratch at the door, and began to circle the place, looking for an open window, or something that would let him get in. As he was turning the quarter and about to reach the swimming pool, he noticed a small flap at the bottom of the door to Mrs Brumfield's private living space at the motel. It was a dog door, and it looked too small for him to get through, but he had to try at least.

     Lifting the flap with his nose, he peered into the room beyond. It looked like a large kitchen, counters lining the wall, with two refrigerators off in the corner mechanically humming. It had a linoleum floor, the tiles bearing a bright mexican design. He could smell food, a bit of leftover steak, and some hamburger meat that he could tell, but he tried not to think about it, his primary objective being to get inside and sneak back into his room. He looked across the kitchen, and saw two exits, the first with the regular handle, and the second a free swinging door, and he remembered that it led to the dinner area on the first floor. That was his objective, he could make it.

     He put his front paw through the dog door experimentally, it was a tight squeeze, but he needed to get through, and he would have to do it carefully. His claws made a huge clicking sound as they settled on the floor. He tried to control his anxieties, reminding himself that every sound he made he would hear more distinctly than anybody else would. He took a breath, and then brought his other foreleg through. Then pushing against the door, he tried to pull himself through the door. He could just barely get his head and front paws through though, and as he tried to pull himself through, he only hurt himself. He let out a whimper from the pain, and soon stopped, his head lying apathetically in his paws.

     He hit his head on the top of the dog door when he heard a noise coming form the other room. He saw the lights come on, and he knew that Mrs. Brumfield was awake. With a start, he scrambled back out of the dog door, and gingerly stepped around the side of the house. He waited there around the corner, listening for anything, listening for Mrs. Brumfield. He heard her step out of her room, and say experimentally, "Hello? Is anybody out there? Hello?"

     Holding his breath, trying to keep his tail from slapping the side of the building while it tried to wag, he listened, his heart quickening, as he could hear her moving towards the backdoor. He heard it creak open on its hinges, and he stayed still only through force of will. He could hear breathing heavily, no that wasn't quite right, she was well, sniffing. She was testing the air trying to find some scent, presumably his. Why would she do that, she couldn't smell him, she was human. Then again, she didn't have a dog, why did she have a dog door?

     As he listened, he heard her walk towards him. Too frightened, more from embarrassment than form anything else, Jason laid down on the ground, his eyes looking pleadingly upward. Soon she came into view, smiling, looking down upon him. She was wearing rudimentary dress, something she had slapped on pretty quickly. Jason wagged upon seeing her, and she kneeled down to fondle his head. Jason raised as her hand met his head, and she began to move her hand through his fur. It was a wonderful experience, and he liked the feel of it.

     "Oh, Jason.." (she knew his name! How did she know it was him?) "You look tired. Come on in." Mrs. Brumfield led him inside, turning the kitchen light on, and taking a seat. She stared at him, smiling the whole time, and Jason felt disarmed by the whole experience. He sat down, and watched her as well, knowing that he wouldn't be starting the conversation.

     "Are you hungry?" she asked after a moments thought, "I have some food I can give you."

     Jason perked up at that thought, he would love to finish off that steak! He saw her smile, and reach into a drawer and pull out... a can of dog food! Yech! Jason moved gingerly away from her, hoping that she didn't seriously expect him to eat that stuff. He recalled all the times that he had to feed his dogs at home, the canned dog food was always the worst part, it simply smelled so awful, he couldn't abide it. It got so bad that he had to leave the room whenever that scent was there, else he got nauseous.

     As she opened the can however, much to his surprise, he it actually smelled rather good. He crept out behind the chair, sniffing the air to make sure he hadn't gone insane. She poured out dog food into a bowl, and then poured some dry kibbles into the bowl, and then mixed it together. Placing the bowl on the floor, Jason felt drawn to it. Sniffing it, he was simply amazed that the concoction had such an innocent odour. He experimentally licked the food, and to his surprise, it actually tasted quite good.

     It only took him minutes to scoff down the dog food, licking his chops, he returned his gaze to Mrs. Brumfield who was watching him patiently. She smiled, and picked up the bowl, and then filled it with water from her faucet, before putting it back in front of him. Jason lapped the water greedily up, not minding that his jowls were now dripping wet.

     "Well, I guess you are wondering why you are a dog," Mrs. Brumfield casually said while he finished up the last of the water.

     Jason looked at her, and nodded.

     "Well, I don't know the exact reason, but everybody in Barken is a dog too."

     Everybody? That certainly explained why there were so many other dogs about, they were all people in the town just wandering about as dogs.

     "I know you weren't born here, and that has nothing to do with it. The land does it to you. The land makes you a dog. For some it takes days, others months. The longer you stay in Barken the more chance you have of becoming a dog. I see that you are a Husky, can't say I've ever seen anybody be that before."

     Jason nodded. Thinking to himself he realized that theoretically, all of them could have changed already, including quite possibly Greg.

     "Of course, you can change back, you'll have to figure out how though yourself.", Mrs. Brumfield continued.

     Jason dwelled on that thought for a moment, and Mrs. Brumfield could see that he was thinking, so gave him a time of silence to reflect. Jason thought for a moment, staring down at his paws, trying to mentally replace them with hands. He focused on that image, he focussed on himself now, and who he was as a human. He felt that wellspring flowing, and he could feel his fur receding ever so slightly. He focused harder, seeing hands, feet, a human face, his human face. He thought of it, dwelling on that image, and he could feel his skin move beneath him, and his bones melting inside him.

     Within moments, he felt very cold, and opening his eyes, he noticed immediately that he was seeing in color again, and that he was indeed human. He also realized that he was naked, and his face became very red as he kept his nether region from view. Mrs. Brumfield walked back into her room, calling back, "I still have all of Raymond's old clothes, so you can borrow this robe for the night."

     Mrs. Brumfield brought out a rather nice looking red robe, with sash around the waist. Jason took it, and draped himself in it, tying the sash in a shoelace knot. "Thank you," he said, sitting down as well. Then he began speaking without really thinking about the words he was saying, "You know that was such a wild experience, I never would have thought it possible. I'm just sort of blown away by the whole thing, changes my view of the world that's for certain. I tried to make myself a dog two nights ago, I guess it would be now, but nothing happened, and I didn't know what possessed me to try, and I still don't, it must be some spirit that pervades this town or some such."

     "The spirit of Barken," Mrs. Brumfield laughed a bit to herself. "That's one way of thinking about it."

     "Well,", Jason continued, his hands shaking, "I guess this really changes things for me. This isn't some minor change mind you, this is like throwing a brick through the proverbial window of life! I mean, talk about shattering a pane of glass, well that's what this has done to my understanding of the world. I don't have one any more."

     "Well, it does give us all a few problems, but most of us deal with it pretty well," Mrs. Brumfield assured him.

     Jason then felt a serious question bubble up inside him. "I haven't seen a church here. Do most abandon their faith because of the change?"

     Mrs. Brumfield smiled, "Actually, very few do. We don't have a church that's true, but there are private worship sessions. There is no organized religion here if that's what you mean, but many do believe, though the harder ones like some of our sentries, well, they have trouble distinguishing between Cherry and the God of their pasts."

     "What's Cherry, I've heard the name, but I have no idea what it is."

     "Cherry is a town some miles up the road. The people there live in constant fear of us; they think we are the children of the devil, and some of them come here from time to time to kill us or what not. There are those who pride themselves on taking our skins and hanging them up on their walls. They all do it in the name of God too, which is quite unfortunate."

     Jason shook his head, "I find it quite ironic that the bloodiest acts, and the biggest reasons for hate have all stemmed from a religion, whose focal point is that we should love our neighbours as ourselves. I find that disgusting."

     "You possess a rare gift, Jason," Mrs. Brumfield smiled, rising from her seat. "You can see the difference between hate and religious fervour."

     "Thank you," Jason smiled.

     "Now, I must be off to bed, it is nearly one in the morning, and I need my sleep. You take care." Mrs Brumfield walked back to her bedroom.

     "You too, and thank you again," Jason said as he passed through the swinging door.

     Jason walked quietly up the stairs, he didn't want to wake anybody, and gingerly down the hall to his open door. He slipped in the room, and carefully shut the door, being careful not to let it creak as he shut it. turning around, he strode purposefully in the room, when he noticed that the others were all sitting on his bed, looking rather tired, but also rather annoyed.

     "Oh," Jason said, remembering what he had promised to do. "Hi guys, hope the search went well."

     "And where have you been, out wandering the streets in a robe?" John asked him.

     "Uh..."

     "You had us worried, it's not everyday that a friend of ours disappears, leaving all of his clothes piled on the toilet," Nathan added.

     "Well," Jason shrugged, not sure what he could say.

     "Plus the fact that Rev. Brandemas and Greg were already missing and still are," Allison added, obviously disturbed by that fact.

     "Uh..." Jason smiled weakly

     "Where'd you get that robe, it says Raymond on the pocket," Emily pointed out.

     Jason looked at the pocket, and to his surprise, it did say Raymond. "Well, Mrs. Brumfield gave it to me, Raymond was her husband."

     "Why'd she give you a robe in the first place?", John asked.

     "Well..." Jason said, not sure how to approach the situation. He could tell that he was going to have to reveal something, they were not going to let him alone about this until he gave them a definitive reason, and he didn't really want to lie to them, as he really couldn't think of any plausible lie. He couldn't even think of any far-fetched lie, especially considering the truth was much more irrational than any of them.

     "Well what?" John probed further. "You have been caught, now fess up."

     Jason sighed. "I guess I can say that, this last night I experienced something that profoundly changed my life. I went out to romp to deal with my changed perspective."

     "Romp?", Nathan picked up on the word. " What do you mean romp? And why is there dog hair all over your bathroom and bed?"

     "Well, um..." Jason turned away for a second, not really sure what to do. Sighing, he decided to do the only thing he could do. Turning back to face them, he said, "I guess the only way for you all to understand is if I show you." He began to untie the knot on the robe.

     "What are you doing?! Don't get naked!" Allison objected.

     "Well, with what I'm doing, that's not going to matter any more.", Jason told her, then he shut his eyes, and focused on paws. He mentally turned his hands into paws, his head in that of a dogs, and he saw himself growing a long bushy tail. He felt his skin moving, his fur exploding all over his body, and his bones melting and reforming. He fell to the floor, landing on all fours, and continued to shift, until he was a Husky again.

     Opening his eyes he saw that Emily had passed out, Allison's jaw had dropped, and her eyes were bugging out of her head, John was doing a double-take, not believing what he was seeing, while Nathan simply said, nodding, as if he had expected Jason to turn into a dog, "Well now; that explains a few things."