When Libby woke up she didn't think that today would be the day she would turn into a dog.

That was because she was sane.

She knew what she was going to do today, hang around with Molly and Scratch and see what insanity her best friends had probably already gotten into, not that Libby minded, of course, Molly was a sweet loving girl who have proven time and time again to be a true friend and Scratch was just as loyal if not a bit grouchy.

Once she had finished getting dressed she walked outside her room, to see her mother sitting in the living room, talking to someone on the phone.

Libby was at the age when most girls were starting to think that their parents were uncool, Libby didn't see it, her mother was the coolest woman on the planet, running a book shop despite the harsh competition, looking after a daughter as a single mother on top of that, always making sure she' was happy.

Her mom always was there for her, and despite the fact that her mother could be a little over affectionate (she could do with a few less spontaneous hugs) she was grateful to have her.

Right now however she had a worried look on her face.

"I know what you said but listen, I think someone's been stealing from my shop, a few books a day have gone missing and I'm starting to get worried that someone might be taking them, I can't believ…" her mother stopped talking the moment she saw Libby standing there.

"I'll call you back," she said to the person on the other end of the phone.

"Libby, What are you doing today," said her mother with all the enthusiasm she could muster.

"Oh I'm going to Molly's," said Libby concerned, "What were you just talking about?"

Her mother tried to hide behind a smile, which shifted into a frown, "It's nothing it's just, I think someone may have taken some books from the shop."

Libby was not Molly she knew the world wasn't a place of rainbows and sunshine but it was still shocking, Brighton just wasn't that type of place.

"We should call the police," suggested Libby.

"I have, they promised to look around later for me to make a report, and…" she looked at Libby who seem worried.

With a comforting smile on her face her mother kneeled and took a hold of her shoulders, "Libby relax, this is just a thing we have to deal with, We've dealt with worse, we've got friends, we've got family, we have our community and we have each other, one jerk isn't going to ruin things for us, Leave this to me." her mother offed her kindest smile hugged her daughter.

Libby hugged her mother, it was true things were good for the two Stien- Torres women but she really wish she could help her mother right now.

Leah Stein-Torres released her daughter and smiled, "Okay Libby, how about some breakfast I'm thinking pancakes."

After breakfast Libby spent a few hours downstairs in the store reading, Molly could wait, her mother needed her help.

An hour later however Leah Stien-Torres suggested that her daughter should go out for a while, the intense stares of judgment that the young girl generated was scaring off the customers.

Libby protested a little but ultimately relented and exited the store.

She did her best to try and cool her anger, but a mixture of the hot weather and just how unfair the whole situation was annoyed Libby more and more.

When she arrived at the McGee's she was still in a bad mood, knocking on the door she smiled when she saw Mr. McGee open the door.

"Hello Libby, Molly, and Scratch are upstairs," said Pete joyfully,

"Thanks, Mr. McGee," she said walking past her best friend's father.

When she reached the attic she was kind of annoyed to notice that Molly wasn't there,

"Molly," she called out, expecting her best friend to appear out of nowhere.

"Scratch?" she tried to call for her ghost best friend, but still nothing.

Libby looked around the room and found Molly's clothes lying in a pile, the way they were arranged clearly meant that something had happened to her.

… Or she was running around with no clothes on, Libby really hoped that wasn't the case.

That's when Libby noticed the bottle, looking down at it she felt a pang of thirst, she had been too busy to get a drink this morning after hearing about the shop's problems, looking at the water bottle she could tell there was something in it, Molly wouldn't mind if she took a little sip.

Libby picked up the bottle and took a small swig from it, she felt slightly refreshed.

All of a sudden she felt herself falling, when he hit the ground she found herself swamped in a cloth, Libby panicked and tried to escape however it was hard, eventually, she did, she tried to stand only to find herself unable to do so, she looked around the room to see what was wrong with her, for some reason the room colors had changed, had she just drank poison, she looked at the cloth she was trapped in and saw that they were her clothes.

She eventually noticed Molly's mirror and looked into it.

A dog with a sad-looking face looked back at her, there were folds on its skin, its fur was her own hair color a mix of seaweed greenish-black color with a pink circle beneath its neck, she walked closer to the mirror I confusion and notice the dog on the other side walked closed.

It took Libby a second to process what had happened to her and to Molly.

She screamed.

Somehow she was now a dog, she wondered if this was some sort of prank but then realized that if given the choice of course Molly would want to become a dog, this had to be on purpose.

Molly would probably know a way to get her back to normal, she picked up her water bottle in her jaws and started to run down the attic stairs.

Pete was just standing by the stairs when Libby noticed him, he quickly noticed her and gasped, Libby thought for a moment Pete would help her out.

…

Libby was sitting outside the McGee's front door.

Pete was looking down at her with guilt in his eyes.

"I'm sorry but if Molly found you she'd want to keep you and Well I don't think I can resist her big sorrowful eyes, We haven't got the money."

With that, he closed the door.

Libby looked at the door annoyed, it briefly opened and Pete placed the water bottle in front of her.

"Take this, Sharon won't want it after it's been in your mouth." the door closed again.

Libby was more annoyed than ever, she picked up the bottle and ran, She had no idea where Molly would actually be, but she had a hunch.

If Molly was a dog she'd probably want to spend more time with other dogs, she was extremely sociable and would love to spend time with others, She'd head to the dog park.

When she arrived she saw a dog running away from the park in a hurry, the dog's fur was the same color as Molly's hair.

Libby followed her to see Molly panting.

"Molly McGee what had you done.." said Libby annoyed.

Molly looked at her worried and her eyes widened, "Libby?" she barked.

"Yes." replied Libby annoyed.

"Oops," replied Molly who then smiled which really annoyed Libby, "I'm sorry, can I just say your adorable."

Libby glared harder.

"I'm just going to put my foot on your head and give you a brief pat." Molly raised her paw.

Libby growled causing Molly to lower her paw, "What have you done to us?"

The Australian retriever gulped, "Well I've turned us into adorable doggies, But we'll be back to being human around four o'clock."

"Okay," said Libby, still annoyed, "And when we're human again, Remember our clothes?"

"Oh, Said Molly a little embarrassed, "Um you can get dressed and I'll close my eyes while you do so?"

Libby just grunted and picked up the water bottle and walked away, Molly followed her, However, the tongue was sticking out of her mouth.

"Wait Libby, I'm…," Molly stopped she was panting heavily now, she looked embarrassed, "Sorry, I don't know what's wrong with…"

Libby dropped the bottle

"You're hot, Dogs only sweat through their paws, what your doing now is just keeping cool, you need to get a drink," said Libby.

"Well we could have gotten one from the dog park but I don't think I'm going to be welcome there."

"I actually know somewhere we could get water from, Follow me," said Libby who rushed off, Molly followed, knocking the water bottle over, which then rolled from the alley and into the road, What Molly and Libby didn't see was a dog rushing from behind them being chased by a girl with light blue hair with purple highlight chasing him shouting at him.

…

Ten minutes later Molly and Libby arrived at Book Marks the Spot.

"What… is your mom… Going to give us water?" said Molly panting.

"No." said Libby now panting herself, Across the road."

Molly turned to see that there was a Black Lab sitting outside a small Hardware store, there was a bowl of food and another bowl of water.

Follow my lead," said Libby to Molly, she darted across the street with Molly following, eventually they stopped next to the Black Lab,

the Black lab shifted over to look at the two.

"Who are you," he said in a gruff voice.

"Oh, I'm Libby and this is Molly," said Libby, "We just wanted some water if it's okay."

The dog looked at them both for a second and then took a sniff of Libby, He pulled back looking a little confused.

"Huh?" said the Lab.

"What?" asked Molly still panting.

"Your friend smells like another Libby I know but that can't be she's human?"

"Ha, Yeah I met her once, she's nice"

The Black Lab looked at the two dogs and nodded, "Well any friend of Libby's is a friend of mine, named Alfie, Take as much water as you need, just try not to let my owner see you."

"Thanks," said Molly who then started to drink from the bowl only raising her head to ask a question "So how do you know human Libby, Alfie?"

"I've known her since we were both pups, She was really small when I first met her and well she has always been nice to me, She doesn't pet too hard, she gives some of those hot dogs that don't taste like normal hotdogs when she can't finish them."

"Beef Hot dogs," said Libby.

"Well I don't know what they are but their delicious," said Alfie beaming.

"Thanks, So what's it like sitting outside all day."

"Nice, The owner's granddaughter comes around sunset and we go for a walk, But other than that it's just me watching the street all day."

That's when a thought entered Libby's head.

"You watch the street all day?" she asked.

Alfie nodded, "Oh Yeah, I see everything."

"Did you see someone enter the shop across the street and just walk out with books?"

Alfie nodded again, "Oh yeah, hell he's walking into the shop now."

Libby turned to see a man in a large trenchcoat walking into the store, his skin was a greenish yellow, The Bloodhound ran towards the store, Molly turned and thanked Alfie and followed her friend.

They entered the store and hid behind a paper cut-out continuing books Libby and her mother recommended, there was a large number of people inside the shop, more so than usual, her mother was holding a mid-afternoon beat poetry session, so she didn't notice the dogs that just entered her store.

"Libby, what's going on?"

"That guy he's been stealing from my mom, We can catch him now," said Libby determined.

Molly looked at Libby, "Um Libs, I got some news for you."

"What's that?" asked Libby.

"We're Dogs." Said Molly, "There's not much we can do?"

Libby looked at her for a second and narrowed her eyes. "We attack him when he's stolen the book."

Molly was not confused, she was not used to the role of a straight man in her friendship with Libby and it was kind of one she didn't really know how to deal with, maybe it could work, Molly sighed and said "Okay, Libby lets do this."

"Libby smiled back "Thanks, Molly."

The two dogs snuck around the store following the man in the trench coat for a few minutes, Libby watched as he took paperback after paperback and shoved them down his trenchcoat, hidden between the shelves, Libby's mother was entranced watching her follow poet perform to notice.

Molly was just watching waiting to do something, in her mind, the best actions had already been chosen, wait till they were human and call the cops.

Libby's thoughts couldn't be any different.

She wanted him to catch him, he had stolen from her family, her home, She had lived in this shop her entire life, this place was her mother's pride, she suffered every day to keep it open and help anyone who needed a book, it was the place where Libby had come to hide after a day of being invisible at school, it was her little kingdom and this… jerk stole from it.

She remembered all those times her mom eat dinner with that worried look in her eyes, that they might not be able to keep the store open that look of worry, Libby involuntarily growled.

"Libby, keep quiet," said Molly.

"I'm sorry Molly it's just… Look at what he's doing."

"I know but trust me, we can't do anything," said Molly worried.

The man started to walk out the door

Libby ignored Molly's words and ran towards them and barked at the shoplifter who jumped in fright, she started to growl at him.

"What's going on here," he said terrified.

It took all of Libby's will to prevent herself from biting him then and there, that's when her mother walked up to see what was wrong.

"What's going…Oh no."

Libby watched as her mother confusion turned to shock, she watched as her mother picked up a broom, and held it towards her.

"Shoo, Bad dog, go away."

Libby could have slapped herself, (if she had hands,) she had messed up, however, things were about to get worse.

She saw the shoplifter smile and saw the face turn into a look of mock offensive

"Is this how you treat your customers?" said the shoplifter his voice high.

Libby watched as her mother turn her head towards the man, "No I mean this isn't our dog and…"

"So you just let strays into the building."

Libby watched as her mother started to look worried, Libby knew she hated when someone left the shop dissatisfied and this creep was trying to use her to do it. if only Libby had thought this through instead of charging in like this.

"I think I'll write about this shop online unless you want to compensate me," said the man dramatically.

Libby didn't know what her mother was going to do next mostly because all of a sudden the shoplifter stepped back in shock, there was a growling sound from behind him, Libby could see that Molly was biting on his coat, dragging him back.

The Shoplift turned however during his struggle a book fell from his trenchcoat.

Libby saw her mother pick it up, her worry turned to confusion than anger as she looked at the Shoplifter angrily, she then grabbed his shoulder and turned him around, and forcefully opened the trenchcoat.

Five more books dropped out from the coat leaving him standing there wearing a t-shirt that was too small for him and a part of tattered shorts.

Leah Stien Torres glared at him so hard he briefly was afraid he would catch alight.

"Umm… I can explain this?" said the shoplifter in a tone one usually reserved for children who have just been caught with their hand down the cookie jar.

Libby mothers glare didn't stop, "I hope you can, to the police, Boyce, Pelona,"

The beatnik currently performing on stage jumped from the stage, he was currently wearing a barrette, other than that he was wearing the usual police officer's uniform, and a second member of the audience stood up and walked towards Leah and the shoplifter, he was wearing the same uniform and eating a scone.

"Looks like you're going away for a long time, daddy-o," said the barrette-wearing officer.

"Please don't talk like that." said the other.

"You told me to wear the hat, I choose to live the part," said barrette cop.

….

About thirty minutes later everything had been resolved, the shoplifter had been taken to the station while Molly and Libby were currently sitting enjoying the praise from the store customers.

After lots of head pats and a few photos Libby started to feel a little awkward about the attention, Molly could tell and started to walk towards the door, The customers were starting to leave them alone now, so it might be the perfect time to leave.

"Wait," said a voice from across the story, Libby turned to see her mother walking up to them, she saw her mother kneel down towards her and saw that same kind smile she saw on her face daily.

"I don't know where you came from and I know it's crazy to take to a dog but thank you."

"Don't worry mom, You've done enough for me." Libby barked.

She watched as her mother laughed, "It's funny, My daughter Libby when she was much younger use to go around calling herself the bloodhound of truth, it was when she had finished reading the complete sherlock and wanted to be a detective, looks like I was lucky two bloodhounds looking after me."

"It's the least I can do for all you've done for me." Libby wanted to hug her mother, right now she could do that so she settled on the next best thing, she licked her mom's face, "I love you, mom."

Her mother laughed and opened the door for the two of them. "Okay, Be careful out there, and stop by again, I hope Libby meets you one of these days, she'd love you."

Libby and Molly walked out the door, soon they were walking down the street.

Libby turned to Molly.

"Thanks, Molly," she said

"Eh, don't worry about it, Just don't ever make me the reasonable one again, next time we should have a plan or something."

"Really, was your bitting that jerks coat a part of the plan,"

Molly laughed, "Kinda, also I saw the clock in the shop we've only got about an hour till four, and then we'll be human again."

Neither noticed the van drive by which what sounded like muffled yelps coming from inside

"That's a relief, It might have helped out with the store but I'd prefer to not be a dog anymore."

Molly was about to respond when something Blue ran past them, it was a dog with long hair, Molly recognized it as an Afgan House

"Out of my way, " said the Afgan Hound in a familiar voice.

Molly and Libby watched as the dog ran off, they then turned to each other.

"Libby, That dog, She didn't sound like Andrea did she?"

"She did and her hair was the same color?"

It took only a second for their minds to connect the dots

"WE LEFT THE BOTTLE." they howled in unison

They rushed after the Afgan hound hoping to prevent any more harm.