Marc stirred awake, his mind foggy as he took in his surroundings. The soft, pastel colors of the room greeted him, filled with plush toys and colorful posters of cartoon puppies. His heart raced as reality crashed down upon him. This wasn’t his apartment. Why was everything so… cheerful?
He shifted beneath the covers, catching a glimpse of his reflection in the small mirror on the wall. What he saw made his heart skip a beat: a young woman, perhaps in her early twenties, with long blonde hair cascading down her shoulders and bright blue eyes staring back at him. This wasn’t just a makeover; he was someone else entirely.
Panic surged through him as memories flooded into his mind: the night before, Marc had been watching “Paw Patrol” with his five-year-old son, Tommy, snuggled on the couch with snacks strewn about. The familiar theme song echoed in his ears, but it felt more like a distant memory now. There had been laughter, and then something unexplainable had happened — and now he was here.
“What is happening?” he gasped, his voice surprisingly higher and softer than he remembered. A brief wave of nostalgia washed over him, as he recalled the gentle humor and charming innocence of Adventure Bay—a land he had sat with Tommy to watch countless times. He blinked in disbelief, running his hands along the smooth fabric of the pajama top he wore—pink with puppy prints.
As reality began to settle, Marc swung his legs off the bed, his bare feet meeting the cold floor with a shiver. He stood up, feeling an unusual lightness and unaccustomed grace in his movements. He took a moment to steady himself before venturing out of the small room, unsure what awaited him.
Stepping into the main part of the pet salon, Marc was hit with a wave of delightful smells: freshly baked treats, the warm scent of dogs shampooed that morning, and the faint trace of something sweet nearby. It felt like he had stepped directly into a place designed for joy and chaos all at once.
“Good morning, Katie!” called a cheerful voice from behind the counter. Marc turned to see a woman beaming at him. “Oh, I’ve been waiting for you! Customers are coming in soon.”
Marc hesitated. “Katie? Right, I’m Katie,” he stammered, trying to embrace the name that felt foreign on his tongue. “What’s… what’s my job exactly?”
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author
