FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Edited and corrected by Ben243.

All of a sudden the door swung open. I looked over in shock, and there he was: My landlord, Mr. Harris. He was about to whine about the rent being late, or something, like he always did. Only this time he stopped instantly, looking down at me with wide open eyes. He was in shock! Me too, but I was also scared to death; standing there completely naked, except for a red leather collar I had fastened around my neck that had originally belonged to his old Dog Churchill.

I had found it about half an hour ago, when I had just started cleaning the attic, like I had promised. Churchill must have been a large Dog, I thought. That leather belt would fit around my neck quite easily. I don't know where that idea came from, but it made me wonder: What would it be like to be a dog? All my worries behind me, just lying around, eating, sleeping, playing... I felt a sudden urge to try it on. So I ran downstairs, into my room, stripped of my clothes and slowly, with nervously shaking hands, I fastened it around my neck.

I felt the adrenaline pulsing through my body. My lips got dry from the excitement, so I moistened them with my tongue, leaving it hanging out of my mouth, panting. I knelt down, pressing my fists against the floor and tried to position my legs so I was standing just on my tip toes. I bent my body and craned my neck so I could get my head in a better position. It took me a while to work out how to walk around like that. Then a thought crossed my mind. Could I lick my crotch? Just then, Mr. Harris came in. Well, at least now than a couple of seconds later, I guess!

That's how I got there, in this embarrassing situation. I really should have locked the door. Now I stood there, nervously shaking, but otherwise unable to move a muscle. I was terrified of what could happen next, sure the old fool would kick me out for this. Maybe even have me arrested! I could already see the anger and disgust growing in him. He looked like he was about to explode.

Instead something rather unexpected happened. The whole situation was too surreal for his stubborn old brain to handle; he needed something to get a grasp on, something familiar. He saw the collar, and it reminded him of Churchill and the good old times. He recalled the early days, when Churchill misbehaved and had to be scolded for pissing on the carpet or digging up the tulips. And all of a sudden, without realizing it, he began to scold ME: "Bad Boy!!! Sit!!!"

The commanding tone in his voice startled me and I reflexively did as I was told: I put my ass on the ground. Silence! I looked up, and surprisingly all the anger in his face was gone, only to be replaced with complete and utter irritation. I thought his reaction was rather weird, but it was nothing compared to what happened next. He looked at me, a rather strange smile on his face and tried other commands. I did as I was told, ignoring how embarrassing that all was for me. Debilitating fear filled me as I thought about all the things that could happen if I fell out of character. As if that wasn't already crazy enough, he started petting me and told me what a good boy I was.

I wasn't sure what had happened. Were we playing a strange game all of a sudden? Or had he lost his marbles completely and really thought I was Churchill? To be safe I played along. There was no other way out of this that I could see! It had taken me an eternity to find this one affordable room in this town; moving out was definitely not an option. All I had to do was to stay in character for a while. Drag him around, until he fell asleep eventually!

He attached a leash to my collar he'd found in the closet and led me outside to the backyard where I had to relieve myself on a tree, which was really humiliating. I was lucky Mr. Harris had no nearby neighbors! There was naturally no dog food anymore, so he gave me some cold leftovers instead. They tasted as horrible as they smelled. Later I laid beside him on the Sofa while he was watching an old movie with Spencer Tracy. He was softly petting my head, which wasn't really that annoying to be honest. It actually had a calming effect!

When I woke up it was already morning. Mr. Harris was preparing something in the kitchen, so I stood up and tried to sneak to my room. My back was in agony from the whole running around on all fours, so I had to keep it this way for now. At least I could reach my bed and give it some rest, hoping the old man would be normal then later. But I was shocked to discover: The door was locked!

"Ah, there you are!" He startled me. "Come, your breakfast is ready!" I hesitated. "Not hungry aren't you?! Hmm, maybe I should make an appointment with Dr. Jenkins. We hadn't a check up in quite some time!" He wouldn't! Or would he? I was still not sure what's going on, but my instinct told me I had to go on. So I followed him into the kitchen, to come to another misfortunate realization: While I had been asleep, he'd gone to the nearby convenience store and bought some tins of Dog food. Damn!

The stuff I had last evening was still sitting heavily in my stomach, but it was nothing compared to the icky, slimy lumps of meat and vegetables, I saw myself forced to eat. Somehow I managed to suppress my nausea and convince my brain that it actually tasted yummy. Later he led me outside where I could do some number 2. At least he has to clean up this mess himself, I thought with malicious joy. But he made no fuss about it. Having to pick up this giant piece of turd I'd made, with a tiny, black plastic bag, which he later threw away inside the trashcan. A kingdom for some toilet paper, though!

I knew he was visiting his son today, so I'd hoped he would keep me at home, so I could end this charade. Not in a million years would he dare to drag me outside... he would have had to go insane indeed. Oh no! It seemed that was his plan! He attached the leash on to my collar again and tried to lead me outside. No! Nononono!!! This had gone too far!!! I tried to get up, to tell him he'd won. But I couldn't! My hurt back made it impossible, and I didn't know what's in this food, but it made me unable to speak properly. "Come on, old pal! We're late already!" He tried to pull me outside, but I resisted.

He had me barely through the front door, when a police car arrived. For heavens sake! Now I was in real trouble! The shame, the embarrassment... No, wait! Of course, it was Mr. Harris' son Joe! He wore his dark blue uniform with confidence and pride. "Joey! My boy! What are you doing here?" the old man said. "Don't you remember, I was supposed to pick you up!" - "Oh, of course! Dear me!" - "And who is your friend here?" He pointed at me. But not like a cop would normally point at a naked guy being led on a leash by his elderly father. Strangely enough, he seemed... delighted. "Don't you remember? That's Churchill, of course!" - "What are you talking about, Dad? Churchill died years ago! Where did you get this dog?"

Wait! Did he just...

"Oh dear! That explains a lot!" the old man mumbled. Joe bent down to me, to see if I had a number tattooed somewhere. "Seems he's not registered. Don't worry I'll take care of him! But I'm afraid our walk has to wait for another time." Mr. Harris seemed a little disappointed, but he understood and gave him the leash. Paralyzed about what had happened I followed the officer to the rear of his Police car.

We drove to Dr. Jenkins' office, met a lot of people on our way, but none of them seemed to recognize me as a human being. I thought about it long and hard. Had we broke reality yesterday? Was this some sort of mass hypnosis? A morphic field? Or had someone given drugs to the water supply? Whatever it was, I had no idea how to escape it. I couldn't speak anymore, I couldn't move or behave like a human being. I was stuck as the Dog everything seemed to think I was!

The vet, Dr. Jenkins, examined me and found out I was indeed not registered and had to be taken to the pound. Joe knew what would happen to me there and how devastated his father would be if they had to put me down. He couldn't leave me with him on the other hand. His Dad was far to old to care for another dog like me. So he made a phone call and adopted me for their K9 Unit. Oh, this was getting better and better!

I got the usual vaccines and a microchip that registered me as property of the Police Department. From now on I was called Churchill II - how imaginative! Joe handed me over to his colleague at the kennels, a mean drill sergeant type with a gut and lightening hair. The following days I was yelled at, scolded, trained to obey his every command, even if it meant to jump over wooden obstacles, which is harder than it sounds. When I did as I was told he gave me a Dog biscuit, which tasted horrible, but was at least better than him hitting me on the nose and scream on the top of his lungs. I was forced to attack an officer dressed up in a special padded suit, bite in his arm, till my jaw hurt. I had to sleep on the cold floor in the kennel, eat more of this horrible Dog food and lick the dirty, sweaty hands of my trainer, to assure him my loyalty.

It was a nightmare at first. But given time I grew accustomed to my new life. The food didn't seem that bad anymore, and I really began to respect and love my handler. Soon came our graduation day. The other dogs and I were led outside and positioned in one line. They gave us our new collars and vests, and we officially became new Police dogs.

I was glad they had assigned Joe as my new handler. One of the first things we did was to visit Mr. Harris. He stroked me and told me how proud he was and that I had to take good care of his son. Joe laughed. While they're talking I sneaked inside the house, because of an idea I had. If I somehow could open the door to my old room, maybe I could show them who I really was and break this curse. On the other hand, maybe it was all a dream. Maybe I'd never been a human at all. As I arrived at the front of my door, I had second thoughts. Somehow I liked my new life. And what sense would it make to ruin it now. So I returned outside and never came back.

In the years that followed Joe and I were patrolling the streets. I'd given in and embraced my new role as his trusted canine partner. My body followed soon, began to change, rearrange. I grew a beautiful black fur with redbrown markings and a fully functioning tail. Soon I saw myself as the great, proud Rottweiler everybody else was already seeing me.

Nearing the end of my nine years on duty I was signed up for the breeding program. I had lots of sons and daughters. Churchill III soon followed me in my footsteps. I then retired and lived with Joe and his family, enjoying a life of playing, walking and protecting the house until I grew too old. I got sick and was finally put down. Joe stroke me cautiously, everyone was crying. It was a sad moment!

My last thought was how bad it was I couldn't spend my life with them in my own lifespan. Then: nothing. Darkness maybe. Suddenly it was interrupted by a dazzling shining light. And a strange voice was calling me: "Good boy! Don't be afraid! Just come and go into the li... wait... You're not a dog!" - "Well, not actually!" I admitted, surprised to hear my own voice after all this time. Suddenly the silhouette of a woman approached from that light. I recognized her as the source of that voice. "Is this some sort of a joke?" - "Erm... no! I'd hoped you could clear things up!"

The woman turned out to be a beautiful blond angel, in long white robes. I told her the whole story, which seemed to make her very concerned. "Oh dear! That's not good! Not good at all!" she mumbled. "We have to correct this, I'm afraid!" I asked what happened to my children and she looked at me as if I had completely lost my mind. "You mean you had... with another... and she..." Years ago I would have felt embarrassed, but after all I'd experienced her remarks couldn't bother me. "You know what... never mind! All that will be undone soon!" she said.

"Wait!" I begged her. "What about all the lives I had safed? And my children, they've safed lifes too! If you reverse everything you and your collegues have a lot of deaths to handle!" That seemed to give her a headache. Strange thing, an Angel with headache! On the other side, I'd been a Black dog named Churchill. Now that's irony! "Alright, alright!!!" she shouted. "But I can't let you in! This here is Dog heaven!" - "Then bring me to Human heaven instead!" - "No, that's... too complicated! Oh, I know..." She raised her hands and suddenly... Darkness again.

But it was different. It felt... warm. What was that noise? Something rhythmic, persistent... a knocking... no, a heartbeat. I felt movement. Around me. It took me quite some time before I could properly see again. There was a dim, red, organic light. No smell or actual taste. I was an embryo. And judging by the form of my legs, I would become a Dog again.

Soon after I was reborn: Churchill IV. I'd become my own grandson. And judging by the uniform my new owner, Joe's oldest son Martin wore, I would join the Police force again!