Hi readers, starting the new year with a new update, enjoy!

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Chapter 17: Human

The next day came… it was the end of the week. It was late in the afternoon: I sat under the Poinciana tree…some of its beautiful red leaves fell harmlessly all around the bench. I had closed my eyes…letting the summer afternoon breeze hit my brown and beige fur and ears.

Suddenly, I sensed somebody approaching…coming down the steps from the house and I opened an eye to see them: it's Bingo.

I then remembered what the family was doing before the sibling had joined my side beneath their exotic tree: Bandit was resting on the couch in the living room, Chili had joined him, and the girls had been playing not too far away. I, of course, was thinking to myself about recent events…

Being held in one of Bingo's arms is one of her favorite plushies, Floppy, which is a purplish rabbit with the most adorable faces such a toy could have. I look down toward before I give a long, drawn-out, sigh.

"You were right about me, Bingo…I DID fall out of the sky."

She didn't say anything…it was as if she was studying me, but I continued, "you're very special, Bingo. You believed in me before anybody else did here."

"Why are you by yourself, Dustin" she asked, and she wasn't wrong for asking…but it was more like I needed time for myself, to think about things.

"Just thinking."

"Thinking?" She inquisitively tilted her head.

"It's something adults do a lot…believe me…"

"I believe it" we heard a third voice across from us on the steps leading down from the house into the backyard: it's Bluey.

"You really ARE thirty years old; I knew you talked so weird…you usually talked like mum and dad!"

"Yeh…and I'm thirty-one…I'll be thirty-two soon" I nodded as she approached us slowly and then quickly in her final steps.

"But…I don't understand, how did you come here?" Bingo inquired before I shrugged, "I'm still asking that question to this day" I answered.

I put the back of my paw against her cheek as she eyed me carefully. My eyes are filled with feelings of gratitude…admiration even, "I…I wanted to say this for a while now to you" I began. My eyes watered a bit as Bluey stood behind her sister for this, "you saved me, Bingo. You showed me what it meant to be a father, just how wonderful being a parent can be…and how a child should be seen through their eyes."

"What about me?" Bluey playfully chimed in, putting her paws on her hips as if to emulate jealousy. I laughed it away, rolling my eyes, "you as well, Bluey. I'm not too keen on favoritism" I quipped.

Silence prevailed for a few moments before I jumped out of my seat and faced them, "I'm going to have a daughter soon. You two showed me just how I should love her, and I can never thank the two of you enough for that."

Without any warning, Bingo jumped off and used a free arm to get me to hug her and I did. My eyes got a bit wet from this, but these were different than the ones before: they were tears of joy. Bluey walked forward and joined us, now out of the shade to welcome the warm rays of the afternoon sun. Then, Bingo pulled away and asked simply, "m-maybe…maybe one day we can meet her!"

I had given a warm smile at that, "I think Kailey will very much be like the two of you: full of imagination, wholesome, lots of guts…smarts too!" I tapped Bingo's forehead with a paw finger as she squealed happily in response. I looked up towards Bluey whose tail was wagging alongside her sister, "I'm willing to bet Kailey would be great friends with the two of you."

A bit of silence was followed by a question from the seven-year-old Blue Heeler, "you haven't shown us what you look like yet!"

I rubbed a claw against the bottom of my brown muzzle, "right…"

…

I decided to have them follow me into the playroom, where I grabbed paper and crayons and led them to the middle of the kiwi rug. The three of us lay on our bellies…legs crisscrossed, as our tails wagged idly behind us. I wasn't the best at drawing, but I tried to make the best-detailed sketch of a human being. I thought back to my days in High School when I took art classes (I wanted to be an artist growing up and whatnot, but I wasn't exactly the best in class or the world for that matter…) and I made multiple attempts…scratching out the figures I thought looked bad. Thankfully, as time went by, the memories of my days drawing figures came back…things became clearer…and I made a rough sketch of a male human. It was harder to draw features like the eyes, nose, mouth…I'd have to be more rudimentary with such things.

Eventually, I managed to draw it, and the girls were definitely perplexed by the odd body plan of a human. Seeing as they were square-rectangular in body shape compared to what they would look like in the "real world" I had to explain we had no such body plan in my world. Needless to say, they were surprised by my descriptions.

"So…no tail, no ears on your head…short snout?" Bluey asked.

"Verrrry short" Bingo said, giggling in the process.

"Quite short, yes" I added, "just a small triangular thing. I honestly don't know how we humans go about with tiny nostrils. Dogs' though, man…I thought smells were good enough until I became one!"

"Is that so?" Bluey chuckled, hiding a smirk.

"Pretty much and hearing too. Man, to have these ears and be able to hear things from far away as if they're right next to me" I grabbed my ears on my head and dropped them lower, making a silly face that made Bingo laugh, "they look silly!"

"H-hey! Our ears DON'T look silly, silly!" Bluey snapped back as I made a mischievous grin…stepping toward her, "as a human, you can't really pull our ears, but dogs are a different story, c'mere!" I brandished my paws, and the blue dog knew I wanted to grab her triangular-shaped ears. She jumped up from the ground and growled at me, "n-no! Bad Dustin!" She exclaimed as I began to chase her around the playroom and Bingo laughed at the absurdity.

After a few seconds, I stopped as I gave myself time to rest. Bluey considered herself victorious, putting her paws on her hips and she struck a victory pose.

"I don't remember having this much energy before in my life, or maybe I did and I forgot, heh…" I panted, "what a difference it is being a dog and in a younger body" I recovered just as I said this, looking back at the girls.

"You seem to like being a dog more" Bluey stated as I stopped, looking at her with an expression that reflected the opposite notion of her statement, "quite the contrary."

"Uh, what?" Bingo didn't understand the phrase, so I tried explaining the best way I could. I guess it worked.

Soon enough, Bluey thought about what to play. She wanted to use the context given, having been inspired by recent events, and she had the perfect game for us to play, "Bingo, Dustin…let's play human!"

"Hurray!" Bingo jumped up, throwing her arms out with excitement as I put my paws against my hips in a confused manner, "human?"

Both sisters giggled at this.

And so, Bluey, Bingo, and I roleplayed as "humans." It's funny because I really wanted to get into this playtime more than ever. I let my imagination run wild for this, getting into my role.

Bingo played the role of an old human lady called Mrs. Brisket while Bluey played the role of young Mrs. Elden. I, ultimately, just played as myself (as funny as that sounds…I'm already human…or, was…whatever!)

We sat down by a small plastic table that was arranged to look like a tea party (with some plush and dolls filling the space.)

Mrs. Elden fake pours tea into a cup with a plastic teapot, "oh, what a LOVELY day it is to be human!" she started as I couldn't help but laugh softly.

"It sure IS, Elden dear!" Mrs. Brisket added, taking a "sip" from her cup.

"Oh heavens, look at you Mrs. Brisket…your tail needs to be brushed!"

"But I don't have a tail, Mrs. Elden! Do I?" Bingo actually said that last part as a question, giving a confused face as silence broke out.

Bluey broke character for a moment and looked toward me. I was giggling in the background, motioning a "no" toward her before she winked. The blue dog turned back toward her playmate and said, "nope, I must be confused again, darling."

"That's MY job!" Mrs. Brisket/Bingo said in an "old" person voice.

I rubbed my paws together and grinned widely, I had thought of playing the part I originally stated I would do, but this will surprise both of them for sure.

I played a reversal role.

I jumped in, slamming into the soft Kiwi rug as the girls stood up from their plastic table and looked down, "oh my, are they okay?"

"I don't know Mrs. Brisket."

They walked toward me, "inspecting" my form before I finally got up and feigned confusion, "w-where am I?"

"You're in our house!"

"I say, why did you fall like that?"

"I must have fallen from the sky…ow my head" I rubbed my head and then looked at my paws, "w-where's my fur!? It's gone, it's just skin…m-my body has changed!"

Bluey and Bingo just looked at each other, realizing what I was doing.

"I'm not a dog anymore!"

"Well OBVIOUSLY" Bluey/Mrs. Elden made an inflection with that last word.

"What do you mean not a dog anymore, Dustin?" Bingo broke character but her sister quietly explained what was happening before the former nodded and giggled.

"You're human, good sir" Bluey/Mrs. Elden stated.

I pretended to look all around me with a fake look of shock…I pretended that my tail was gone and such. I felt my ears…pretending they were the shape of a human's and were by the sides of my head. I also pretended that I no longer had a muzzle either, "I'm a human? You two don't understand, I used to be a dog, a German Shepherd!"

The girls squealed quietly, soon playing along.

"Mrs. Brisket, I think this young lad has lost his marbles" Bluey/Elden replied.

"How many?" Bingo/Brisket asked with sincerity in her tone, suggesting she thought her sister was being literal.

I stood up and looked toward them, "so it's true, I am human now. How strange it is to not have my tail and look so strange without my fur!" I chuckled, "oh but look at me, I am a fine specimen now if I may say so myself" I flexed and struck a pose before the girls burst into laughter across from me. My play was similar to the silliness Bandit does when he plays with them, heh.

We continued to roleplay our session as Bandit (who was doing laundry) witnessed everything outside on the patio. He managed to catch most of what we were doing, and he couldn't help but chuckle at all the absurdity. But, he also thought about how I was approaching everything compared to how I did so days prior…I've accepted myself and where I am…even if it may be temporary. He was proud, nonetheless.

Things were pretty much "normal" again, and we were all happy.

With that notion, Bandit smiled and carried on with his chores…letting us continue our playtime uninterrupted, even as the sun began to sink below the Brissy horizon.