Survivors
Chapter Twenty Two

One morning a few weeks later they were sat around in their pyjamas having breakfast when Bretnel put down his spoon with exaggerated solemnity that just demanded they all stop talking and look at him. There hadn’t been many times in his life that Bretnel had managed this effect, the mood, the timing, the perfect execution of the gesture. Those things didn’t come together so perfectly very often in a person’s lifetime that the whole mood of a room can be changed without a word being uttered. He paused for a few seconds secretly enjoying the effect he had caused while doing his best to look very serious. When he’s savoured his small victory he began the little speech he’d prepared.

“Gentlemen and lady, today is an auspicious one, today is one for portents and prophecy. It is a day of test and trial, a day of transmogrification of substance, thought and soul. It is a day of destiny”.

As he spoke he glanced at each face trying to read their reaction. Joe had obviously no idea what he was talking about. Holly looked puzzled and concerned, she’d been looking at him a lot like that recently, and Luke, Luke seemed to understand. He gazed levelly at Luke and went on “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Not a flippin clue mate!” Chipped in Joe, apparently completely unconcerned by this admission.

“He was talking to me” said Luke. “Your ignorance was pretty much guaranteed”.

“Now hold on a ...”

“Not now Master Joe” interrupted Bretnel “Well, Luke, do you understand?”

Luke paused for a moment and then replied firmly “You’re going to stop the blocker aren’t you”

Holly and Joe gasped and sat open mouthed like a couple of startled goldfish. Bretnel smiled pleased that Luke had worked it out and genuinely happy that he was going to be able to share the exhilaration he felt when he transformed with someone else who knew what it was actually like.

Sadly everybody’s truth is truth. What Luke saw was a smile that was only patronising and condescending. He saw it as the sort of smile people do when their dog performs a trick. They don’t smile because the dog, or the trick is clever, they smile because a stupid dog, performing a clever trick makes them look clever. He felt his anger beginning to rise. “So that’s me is it” thought Luke “A dog, just a dog, a stupid dog performing a clever trick woooooaaaaaa”.

The “Wooooaaaaa” bit stopped being thinking and started being shouting. His body suddenly felt like it was on fire, his blood pounded in his ears and he felt like he was being stretched in every direction at once. It wasn’t exactly pain he was feeling but it was bloody uncomfortable. Try screwing your hand up into a fist and squeezing as hard as you can, then keeping the tension in your fingers stretch them out as far and as hard as you can. It was that sort of feeling, only about fifty times stronger, and accompanied by a cracking screeching sort of sound. He wasn’t sure if the cracking and screeching was inside his head or an out loud thing, but it sounded pretty loud and pretty disturbing from where he was.

He jumped up, or at least tried to. What he actually did was flip the table over and fall onto the floor. He tried to get up but found that he was completely unsteady on his paws. He grabbed the overturned table and pulled himself upright swaying violently from side to side ... Hang on “Completely unsteady on his WHAT!” Luke looked down, and stared. Poking out the bottom of his pyjamas were a couple of big black hairy paws. Not only that the paws were getting bigger and thicker and sprouting black shiny fur. Suddenly he lurched forward from the upright down onto all fours. He instantly felt more comfortable and stable as if his body was now designed for four legs instead of two, which to all intents and purposes it was!

As he watched his nose spread and stretched out from his face. The skin darkened, whiskers pushed through the skin of his cheeks while his teeth lengthened and spread to fill his now much larger mouth. The next thing to hit him was the smell. It was like colours and sound and light and taste and shape and texture and everything! All the senses rolled into one huge overpowering sense. It was so overwhelming, he staggered. He closed his eyes and yet he still had a complete mental picture of the room and everything in it just from the smell. He was acutely aware of someone approaching him with their hand outstretched. Then the smell of that hand hit him like a tidal wave of sensations; dirt, unwashed grime, bottom scratching, zit squeezing, nose picking, chewed nails, all these things flashed through his mind in vivid colours and textures. Whether it was the intensity of the smell pictures or just the sheer mind numbing shock of it all it was pretty much at this exact point that Luke blacked out.

As Luke’s transformation had begun Bretnel had jumped up and grabbed Holly and Joe dragging them to the other side of the room. This was more to do with giving Luke room to do whatever it was he needed to do than protecting them. Holly had screamed and struggled against him, while Joe had recoiled in absolute horror at what was happening to his brother. Bretnel kept assuring them over and over again that everything was fine, that this was what they’d been working toward, that Luke was safe and well... even if he was a little more doggy than they were used to seeing him. They had slowly begun to calm down a bit especially when Luke, (or to be more exact the giant black Labrador that was now Luke) seemed to be becoming a little more at ease with now being a giant black Labrador and not a boy anymore. Joe had taken a half step towards the “Lukebrador” raising his hand in that way that people do to dogs in an attempt to reassure them. He’d taken another step them one more, then one more, and it was pretty much at this point that the Lukebrador had keeled over.

Bretnel, rushed forward and grabbed the Lukebradors head. He pushed his fingers firmly onto the dogs neck feeling for a pulse. He shifted his fingers a couple of times searching for just the right spot. Each time he moved without replaceing what he was looking for it was as if the tension in the room was cranked up another couple of notches. Holly put her hands to her mouth as if she was trying to hold in a scream that was bubbling somewhere deep inside her. Joe knelt stroking Luke’s back (well he was a dog after all) while intently studying Bretnels face for any sign that would give a clue as to what was happening. Then relief flooded Bretnel’s face, he’d found the pulse and it was strong and true.

“He’s fine” said Bretnel “Probably just a bit overcome with it all. He just needs to come to in his own time, that’s it, yes that’s it” The last part of this little speech seemed as much to reassure himself as Holly and Joe.

“Is he going to be okay?” Asked Holly.

“He’s a dog” snapped Joe “What sort of okay do you think he’s going to be!”

“He’ll be fine” said Bretnel “He just needs to keep calm and he’ll be fine before”

“Keep calm” yelled Joe “How do we keep him calm, oh I know lets rub his tummy or give him a bone shall we!”

“And you’ve got to keep calm too” said Holly soothingly, putting her hand on Joe’s shoulder.

He shrugged it off “I just want to hear him speak. I just want him to say he’s okay”

They all sat in silence for what seemed like an age staring at Luke. His paws and ear twitched a few times causing them to hold their breath expectantly, but there was no change. Then suddenly the Lukebrador lifted its head and started making a strange whinnying noise while it’s eyes rolled in it’s head. Slowly the eyes began to focus and the whinnying began to change into guttural grunts, growls and little yapping barks.

“I think he’s trying to say something” said Bretnel “Controlling the mix of human and animal vocal cords takes some doing”.

They listened really hard to the noises the dog was making and gradually they began to pick out words in the noises. Luke’s eyes stayed pretty much focussed on Joe while he struggled to speak.

“Grwa you wl you nee yip worff owl you need to grrrr need to woof wash a bit more”.