FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

by Hector Scofield. Edited and corrected by Ben 243

Walter Agnew was a charismatic used car dealer with a relatively stable income, a loving wife, a house in the suburbs, and the winning smile of a man full of confidence. His closure rate was the best in the dealership, of course. He used every trick in the book to reach his goals, even when it meant potentially making some people really angry later, after finding out they had been deceived. There were some occasional death threats, but nothing too serious. Until the day he tricked an old lady into buying an old broken down Ford for a ridiculous price. He even got her to agree to the undercoating and rustproofing! What a sucker!

If it weren't for her, he probably would still be wearing that ugly grey suit, with his hair slicked back as if an oil tanker had sunk in it. She came back the week after he sold the car to her. She was livid. Said she would curse him. Preposterous he thought, laughing at the thought. But the very next day he woke up as a dog, as strange it may sound. And what an ugly one too! A French Mastiff as he later found out, like that one from that old Tom Hanks movie, Turner and Hooch. Without a collar or someone who could identify him, he was forced to leave his home and live on the streets.

As he wandered the neighborhood over the next few months he was reduced to eating out of trashcans, and sleeping in an old cardboard box in the ally or in bushes in the park. One day while searching for something to eat, he was careless, got caught by Animal Control and brought to the pound. He was lucky, though, because several days later a snowstorm broke lose that could have killed him if he'd still been out.

In the pound he was well taken care of and examined by a vet, who gave him all the vaccines he needed. Much to his chagrin, they also neutered him. To make his humiliation complete he had to wear a cone of shame because he kept trying to lick his crotch. A week later a mean fat guy who smelled like oil adopted him. He made Walter guard his junkyard, and treated him badly to say the least. Sometimes he had Walter on chains, out in the cold, the rain or the hot midday sun, without any water or shelter. He yelled at Walter, hit him, and when he was drunk, would throw bottles after him.

Walter got rescued eventually; after some costumers of the junkyard saw the state he was in, and saw the poor tortured animal he had become. They liberated him, and he was brought to a nice shelter where they really cared for him, helped him recover, and kept him safe until they could finally find him a new, better home. That home was with the Watsons.

The Watsons were the prototypical old-fashioned American family: Father Terry was a good-looking surgeon. Mother Martha, a proud housewife and organ player at the local church. Their daughter Barbara was already in College, studying politics. And then, there was the youngest, Alex, who became Walter's best friend. He was different. He was a dreamer, intelligent and creative. He had the makings of a great artist one day! He was the one who gave Walter his new name: Rufus.

The following years were the happiest in Walter's, now Rufus, life. He wasn't feeling miserable for himself anymore. He liked playing with Alex, sneaking around the neighborhood, being there for the family and keeping them safe. If it had been up to him, he would have been their dog forever! But without any warning Rufus woke up one day, only to find himself transformed again- this time back into a human.

Unfortunately he wasn't the first to wake up. Martha was. She was shocked to find him, a stinking old bum, naked except for Rufus' collar, sleeping at the end of her son's bed. She screamed like crazy, throwing anything she could reach at him, and forced Walter to run for his life, before Terry could take out his gun. Alex himself somehow understood what had happened - he wasn't stupid and could see Rufus wasn't an ordinary dog - and he tried his best to distract his parents, while Walter was escaping outside to safety.

Walter somehow managed to get as far away as possible from the Watsons without being seen, which was a complete miracle, if you think about it! He stole some clothes from a line and hid in the bushes to get dressed. It wasn't easy! Every move was foreign. It was like when he first became a dog. He had to struggle with his fine motor skills. Everything felt wrong! It took him some time to get used to standing upright and walking on two feet again- For a while he continued to walk on his tiptoes in a stooped over position. And he felt like he was freezing without his fur.

All in all he was completely unhappy with this turn of events. He didn't want to be Walter Agnew again. What would his wife say if he returned after all these years? What if she had married again? His return would hurt her as much as his former friends and family. What could he possibly tell the police? How would he earn money? Where would he live? So many questions he didn't even want to ask himself. There was only one thing he could do...

When he first became a dog, he'd tried to find the witch so he could convince her to undo the curse. His new, more sensitive nose was very helpful in that matter, and he'd found her house in no time. She'd laughed at him, telling him he had made his bed, now he'd have to lie in it. When he growled at her, she warned him she could do much worse. She threatened to turn him into a pig and send him to the slaughterhouse. In the end he left, as there was nothing else he could really do.

Now that he was back in his human form he returned to her house, only to see an Ambulance parking before it. A neighbor told him that she had passed away last night. So that was the reason he the reverted to human form: The witch was dead, the curse was broken! And he had no chance becoming that ugly mutt Rufus again.

Alex was concerned for his best friend, ran off to find him, although his parents were still concerned for his safety and had called the police. Alex rode his bike around the neighborhood, went to every park, and to every place he thought Rufus could possibly have gone. It was late in the evening when Alex finally located him, in the old abandoned mill outside of town, where they had played once, back when he was just a kid. That was a long time ago now. Alex had been a young teenager who thought about studying at an art school in San Francisco. He hadn't been sure how to tell his parents, let alone how it would affect his beloved Dog Rufus.

Alex found Rufus, who now was an unshaved, middle-aged man with lightening hair, sitting on the rear end of an old rusty truck without wheels, starring depressed up to the stars. Alex sat beside him and for a while they just sat there quietly stargazing. Then, cautiously, Walter laid his head in Alex's lap like he had done for so many years. Alex slowly stroked his neck.

Walter told him what happened. About who he'd been, what he'd done, the witch's curse and his rough life. About how he became Alex's pet, how happy he had become and how it all ended! He had no idea what to do now. Should he go back to his wife, his old life? There was no way to tell anyone of his friends and family what had happened, it would just hurt them, and they probably wouldn't believe him. Neither could he go on being the Watson's stupid dog... Alex stopped him there! He told looked him in the eyes and told him whatever happened, no matter how bad things got, he would always be Walter's best friend! And Walter began to cry.

Alex returned the next day, bringing Walter some fresh clothes and something to eat and drink. To cheer him up, Alex fastened his old collar back around his neck, took him for a walk, and played Fetch with him. It felt good, but empty; different, because of Walter's lack of fur and the possibility that someone could see them. What would they think just happened? From the outside it would look as if he was just some kind of pervert. A grown-up man on all fours led on a leash by a kid. Alex acted as if everything was the same, as if it was still Rufus he was playing with. Walter loved him for that.

Later they had breakfast, and Walter got dressed up. He still found clothing a little uncomfortable for him, but was adapting. They headed to the nearest bus stop, with the plan to return once more to the witch's house. They would search for her spell book or whatever was helpful. Walter was concerned, the police was after him, and if they had to break in, he would risk getting Alex in trouble too. Walter was sure he would be able to think of something if necessary.

To both their misfortune, someone new had arrived at the house. It was a young woman with long ginger hair and blue eyes, who looked to be in her late 20s. As they approached and expressed their condolences, she introduced herself as Amanda. She was the niece of the old lady. She actually lived in Boston, and had come down to prepare everything for the funeral. Walter introduced himself as an old friend of her aunt and Alex as his son, which felt weird for both of them. They talked a while with Amanda until Alex asked if he could use her toilet. Amanda gave him the directions and he ran inside, actually searching for something witchy that would help them.

Meanwhile Walter, who was still having problems remembering how to speak properly, was struggling to keep the conversation running. 8 years ago he could seduce anyone with his wit and charm. Now all he could do was asking questions: What happened to her aunt exactly - she had a Heart attack - how many members of her family were left, what would happen to her house etc. Despite his disheveled appearance and odd speech patterns, she was quite nice and answered his every question. Walter felt a little bad they had to trick her like that, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Ten minutes later Alex returned, pretending they had to go. Amanda gave them a smile and they walked off.

In an alley around the corner Alex revealed what he had found. It was indeed a small little spell book including the enchantment to turn a human into a dog. Walter howled in excitement and gave him a big hug. And the best thing: There was a good chance they could find all ingredients nearby if they searched the Asian district and the Botanical Gardens too.

It took them a while to get everything they needed and the sun was already setting as they finally arrived back at the mill. Now all that remained was some preparation. Walter took a spray can and painted a big red circle, a pentagram and some runes on the floor. As instructed in the book, he placed 5 black candles on each point of the star and lit them. Meanwhile Alex was crushing and grinding the ingredients with a stone into a fine smelly powder, while mumbling the necessary incantations.

It was nearly midnight before they were finally ready to perform the ritual, but Walter hesitated. He looked at Alex, wanting to express his feelings, his gratitude for the help, for being a great friend and master all this years. Now it was Alex who was about to cry. He would miss being able to speak to him like that, Alex said and hugged him. All of a sudden, there were blinking blue and red lights approaching the mill from the nearby forest. The cops! They must have seen them while they were searching for the ingredients. Now they had not a second to loose.

Walter undressed himself and fastened the collar around his neck. Alex in the meantime grabbed the spell book and a handful of the powder. Alex spoke the words, took a last reassuring look at Walter and threw the powder into the circle. A sudden explosion of light threw them backwards. Walter fell head first onto the concrete floor and passed out.

When he woke up he found himself surrounded by three police officers, pointing guns down at him. In a reflex he put his hands up and discovered he was still a human. No, that wasn't good! It was a disaster! But more disturbing was the question: Where is the boy? Walter looked up, his eyes searching in fear for his friend, who seemed to have vanished. The shock in his face changed into utter horror as he discovered a German Shepherd being stroked by one of the cops. At first he hoped it would be a Police Dog, but he had no collar around his neck and seemed as puzzled as he was. The Book! Where was the book! Maybe there was still time... No chance! The book was being gathered as evidence, and as such taken care of by the authorities. Walter had no hope of rescuing Alex or proving his innocence!

They brought them both to the police station, Walter covered in a blanket, Alex on a chain. They led Alex to the kennel for now, where he could do nothing more than wait. All Walter could do, locked in the interrogation room was keeping his mouth shut. He could have told them what happened, but they wouldn't believe him and Alex's Family would get hurt. They had to live with the knowledge their boy was lost, and there was no relief he could possibly offer them. Except if only he could show them! But without the book and locked up like a bird in a cage, he had no chance! Or so he thought, until Amanda arrived.

Disguised as his lawyer, she arranged to speak with him alone. The truth was, she'd been a witch herself all along, and was also searching for her aunts spell book. It was a dangerous artifact, and was enchanted so that anyone else who tried to use it would have the spell backfire on them, like Alex did. It was unfortunately impossible to break that curse, until the one who'd cast it died, which in this case was, unfortunately, was Alex too. Walter remembered the struggle back when he'd become a dog himself. All the fear and confusion, the loneliness and embarrassment came rushing back to him. He hated being handled like nothing more than a stupid animal, despite having an intelligent human mind, unable to articulate himself. That was not something he would wish on Alex or his worst enemy! He asked if there was anything she could do. He loved Alex! He loved the Watsons and had not intended to make their lives this miserable.

Amanda thought hard about it for while. In the end she proposed a spell that would erase any memory that Alex had ever existed. He would vanish from all family portraits and all records; his room would be emptied, his belongings fading into nonexistence. There would be no trace, no pain for the family. The Police would have no evidence against Walter - despite the weird stuff he'd seemingly done at the mill - and Alex himself would just think he had been an ordinary dog all along, embracing his canine side. The idea was horrible! But it was the only card they'd left to play and Walter knew it. Amanda offered to wipe his memory too. He would forget he'd ever been Alex's dog and that he had even been turned into a dog at all. For him it would be like amnesia. It would be as if he'd been sick and recovered again, unable to recall what happened during the last 8 years. He considered it for a minute. Then, with tears in his eyes, regretfully, he agreed.

As Walter tried to sleep in his cell that night, he thought about all the things that had happened and what he was going to forget. Tomorrow he would be brought to the court and nobody would remember why. Even him. He would be freed and returned to his wife, and his old life. Well, it wouldn't be the same he guessed. All he could hope for was that Alex would be alright. It was a real shame he wouldn't get to be the artist he'd always wanted to be. He had great potential. It was definitely not fair, but all cards had been played, the game was over. Any minute now, Amanda would... would what? Who was Amanda? Walter felt a certain tingling sensation. Where was he? Where was his wife? What the hell was going on?

The very next morning in the Police station, the Officers were talking. It had become clear, the collar Walter had worn in the mill wasn't that of the German Shepherd. The dog wasn't micro chipped and didn't have any other kind of registration. A stray! He should have been taken to the pound, but the captain decided they were in need of some new Police Dogs anyway. Alex was a good healthy specimen. So they adopted him. Over the next couple of weeks he would be properly trained and if all went right, he would be assigned a handler, with whom he would patrol the streets, sniff out contraband and help fight crime.

Alex, or "Spike" as we was called now, turned out to be really good in his job. Officer Hughes was very proud to have such an intelligent and resourceful, almost creative partner on his side. They earned many awards and were practically famous. But over time Hughes grew suspicious about the Dog's cleverness. One day he searched for that strange guy from the mill, where they had found Spike all those years ago. His name was Walter Agnew, and he was working at the local Animal shelter now. Agnew couldn't remember what had happened back then, let alone the 8 years before that.

As Walter escorted the Officer back to his car, he took a look into the backseat, only to find the Police Dog Spike was looking at him. Walter looked back, mouth agape, as if he'd seen something familiar. Hughes asked him if everything was alright. Walter nodded uncertainly and returned to the shelter. It would be the last time Walter and Alex would ever see each other. Hughes had no time to investigate any further. There was already a new case on the horizon!