Dog Walker

Woman: Biselva
Dachshund: Onistocke

Natasha hated her current job. It wasn't the animals in general that she hated (though there were exceptions). It was more the owners. You had to do things certain ways or their precious pets would be upset. Upset pets meant upset owners and an upset boss. Take this demented dachshund, for example. Fritzie belonged to Mrs. Lianens, the wife of one of the top doctors in the area. She spoiled the poor little beast to no end. It was no wonder that Fritzie was nearly double the weight she should have been. So, of course, poor Fritzie couldn't be walked in the heat of the day. That meant a trek with the waddling hound in the cool of the evening with all the mosquitos.

Natasha was allergic to the bugs so her boss insisted she take the dog. Previous owners had detained her so she was unusually late getting started. It was almost dusk by the time she finally set out with the dog. Fritzie seemed determined to prolong the exercise, too. Trailing behind, even digging in her feet, the dog seemed determined not to go into the exercise field Natasha had always used. natasha wasn't in a good enough mood to put up with it tonight. So Fritzie, on the end of her lead, found herself dragged bodily into the dark park.

Somewhere over head a lone plane had switched a landing light and was making an approach to the field. Natasha found the light odd. They were nowhere near the airport flight path and the light was getting lower and brighter. The light slowed as it approached and, a few minutes later, Natasha found herself in a cone of light from a hovering ... but what exactly was it? It was too quiet to be a helicopter and aircraft didn't hover. She soon had her answer as she and Fritzie found themselves floating upward in the cone of light to the base of a disk of metal hovering overhead.

Once inside, the light faded and she found herself in a moderately well lit area with strange blue and green patterns floating by and in the walls. So fascinated with the lightshow, she entirely missed the approach of the small alien in charge of the craft.

"Job offer have I."
"Job?" Natasha couldn't have been more surprised had the alien turned out to be the Queen of England.
"Job. Contract. Pet care, you do."
"I'm ... I'm a dog walker."
"More you would be."
"A vet. I want to be a vet but can't afford it."
"Train we will. Contract states."
"What would I be doing?"
"Pet care. Client help wants."
"I don't know..."
"Big wages. Long contract. Room and Board"
"How long?"
"Five years."
"Wages?"
"Food. Room. Plus $65,000 yearly."

Natasha could scarcely believe her ears. That kind of money usually took a university education and no non-high school grad had any chance at it for decades. She was so surprised by the amount, she couldn't think of any further questions to ask save one.

"When would I start?"
"Now. Get shower. Get uniform."
"Ok," Fritzie made her presence known by pulling on the lead. "What about the dog. She's not mine."
"Leave old job."
"I'll take your job.”

Natasha smiled not quite sure what to do to agree to a contract with a meter tall blue-grey alien with bright blue eyes and too many arms. She wondered whether she should offer a hand for a handshake.

"Good. Better. Best. Shower here."

Natasha found herself in a room with almost normal white tile walls and an overhead shower of some sort. The alien motioned her towards the change room and took Fritzie. Natasha quickly stripped but couldn't find any uniform to change into.

"Shower now."
"But there's ..."
"Shower first. Uniform next."

Natasha took one of the towels from its rack and wrapped it around herself. She entered the shower only to find Fritzie's lead tied to a peg on the wall. The alien had left so Natasha decided to take the shower and hope the uniform would be forthcoming. No sooner did she get the temperature set to her liking, when the shower switched from water to an all encompassing gel. The gel covered her and Fritzie, too. Once both were covered in the odd substance, it contracted placing Fritzie at Natasha's feet but totally immersed in the gel. She expected that Fritzie would be struggling to breathe but she seemed in no difficulty. When the gel stopped flowing, Natasha found she, too, seemed unconcerned by what was going to happen. She felt strangely sleepy.

She watched, like someone watching a less than exciting TV program, as her body developed fur from her breasts to her toes. She watched as Fritzie began to float up, growing in size until the dog's front matched the width of her own hips. The dog's head and neck began to dissolve just as her own legs were doing the same. It only took a few moments for her hips and Fritzie's front to overlap. Natasha felt strange for a moment before she placed the odd feelings. She could feel all four of Frizie's legs and her tail, too! Something tickled at the sides of her head and Natasha tried to reach up to touch whatever it was. Her arms, though, were in the gel and refused to budge. She looked about until she caught sight in the blurry mirror that was one side of the shower room. She now had long floppy ears and exact match in colour and fur for Fritzie's. In fact they could have been Fritzie's save for their size.

"Fine Companion, now you are," announced the little alien with one pair of arms at his hips and the other crossed over his chest.
"Companion?" Natasha asked still dazed from the effects of the gel.
"Other companion needs. Supply you, we shall."
"Companion?"
"Take care. Friend. Help."
"Oh. Pets?"
"Many. Take care. Train later."

Natasha's eyes closed as the overhead sprayer finished the job by covering her head and shoulders in the gel. The small alien sprayed the gel and it's outer surface hardened. It then contracted until it closely fit the contour of her new body: part Natasha and part Fritzie. When Natasha completely fell asleep, a glow from overhead lifted her in her cocoon and moved her into a rack containing many other similarly modified people.

The alien disappeared from the shower room and, moments later, the strange craft shot skyward. No one on Earth noted its arrival or departure save Mrs. Lianus. She, of course, sued the company but that didn't bring Fritzie or Natasha back. For they were on a different, long term contract.