CHAPTER 41

The pups were starting to play a little rough. It had been amusing at first, watching them jump and tumble around with that squeaky little rubber alien with the big googly eyes, but now two of them had the squeak toy in their jaws and were playing a little tug-o-war with it, threatening to tear it in two, while the third was eagerly coming up to snatch it away from both of them.

It was at that point that she decided to step in and mediate the game. “Hey, now,” she said, getting up from her lawn chair and stepping over to them. “If you can’t play nice, I’m going to have to take your toys away. No more fighting,” she said as she knelt down and took hold of the little green thing in their jaws, which they calmly released and let her take, looking up at her with meek eyes. “What did I tell you all?”

At that question, the three little furry, four-legged creatures before her rose up on their hind legs, which began extending into human legs. Their shoulders reconfigured to allow their fro