I struggled to think of what to say. My throat felt like it was tightening up and words wouldn’t come out. Was I having an anxiety attack? Now of all times?!

“Is Kyle here?” Heather asked. Whew… thank you my wolf goddess.

Mom looked pissed, “He’s not here anymore,”

“We were just wondering if there any way we could see him?” I took over.

“If you’re here to make rude jokes. You can just leave. Don’t mention Kyle ever again,” She was about to close the door.

“Mom, wait!” I shouted. Mom froze. She just looked at me for a moment. Her face looked so confused and upset. It looked like she was putting the pieces together, but she was missing something.

“Well…” I started, “You aren’t going to believe this, but I’m actually Kyle,”

“What nonsense are you…” Mom’s sentence was cut off when I change my form to my original body. She was obviously in shock. Her son, who I still didn’t know the condition of, was standing right in front of her.

“So… I got transported to another world and got shapeshifting powers,” I said awkwardly scratching my head. Mom opened the door and stepped closer. She put her hand on my face.

“Is… is this real?” her voice was quieter than a mouse. I placed my hand on hers, and then ran in for a hug.

“I missed you so much Mom!” Finally, the tears were coming. I was so happy to see her again. Mom was now leaning into my shoulder, crying as well. We both collapsed to our knees and just hugged each other. I looked up to see both Dad and Krystal standing in the doorway.

“Hey Dad. Hey Krys,” I said to them. Soon enough, they were also hugging us and it was one big group hug… minus Heather. After a few minutes of sobbing on the porch, we finally went inside.

“Who is this?” Dad asked looking at Heather.

“Heather Jackson,” she said sticking out her hand. One strong handshake later, we were all sitting around the dining room table.

“So… where have you been?” Krystal asked, “Two months ago you were here, and then you disappeared. We thought you had been kidnapped. We called the police and everything, but they couldn’t find any trace of you,”

“Funny thing,” I giggled nervously, “I actually… got transported to another world,”

“…What?” they were all dumbfounded. A perfectly normal reaction for when a person who had been missing for two months shows up on your doorstep and tells you they were transported to another world.

“I don’t know how, but I woke up in another world,” I turned my arm into slime, freaking them out, “I also became a slime… not sure how that happened either,”

“So, do you have shapeshifting powers or something?” Krys asked.

“Basically,” I transformed into my transitioned self, “Now I can transition in an instant!”

“That’s so wonderful sweetheart!” Mom hugged me again.

“What’s your relationship with her?” Dad asked.

“Heather is the one who found me when I first woke up,” I told them, “Also… she’s my girlfriend,”

Mom and Krys were slack jawed, while Dad just laughed, “Well that was quick! You go missing for a couple months and then show up on our doorstep with a girlfriend. That’s gotta be something out of a movie,”

“Yeah I guess it is,” I turned to Heather, “You can take the cap off now,”

Heather removed the cap. Her human ears disappeared and her wolf ears popped out of her head.

“Are those real?” Mom asked.

“Yeah,” Heather confirmed for her, “I’m a wolf beast-woman. I also have a tail, but that’s hidden by the sweatshirt,”

“Oh yeah!” Krys began, “Since you’re here, does that mean you’re back with us?”

Ah… there it was… the dreaded subject, “Unfortunately, no. The spell that brought us here will drag us back to the world we came from in seven days,”

My anxiety shot through the roof. The happy atmosphere from my return was ruined. I wanted to sink into the ground and disappear in that moment. This was a common reaction when I felt anxious.

“Hey… you all got to see each other again,” Heather broke the silence, “Even if it’s only a week, you can still make the most of this time. Plus, it’s not like we won’t see each other again after this. We can come back whenever we want… or at least when the spell allows us to,”

Heather knew how to brighten the mood. Immediately after she finished her little speech, her stomach grumbled. I couldn’t help but burst out laughing when I heard that. The timing was just too perfect. Eventually, everyone around the table was laughing. The mood was saved.

“Well… since it seems like you’re hungry and you’ll be here for the rest of the week, you can eat with us,” Dad said, “I was actually about to start cooking for dinner soon,”

“I haven’t had you’re cooking in so long. This is gonna be great!”

We began sharing stories over the dinner table. Dinner was a delish steak with a coffee and anis rub. Not having this for so long made it taste like it was cooked by a master chef. Heather seemed to agree with me that the taste was so good. In fact, she took pictures of a bunch of pictures of my dad’s binder of recipes. After that, we started playing board games. This was the happiest I had ever seen anyone in my family. I was grateful to have this opportunity to come back home.

When it was time to go to sleep, Heather and I went to my room. It was exactly the same as the day that I had left this world. There was a layer of dust on everything though. It took many minutes of cleaning and changing sheets before the room was actually able to be lived in.

Heather and I were lying on the bed when she said, “Your family is so nice,”

Her face stared absently at the ceiling like she was longing for something. I realized she probably missed her family as well. She turned to me and smiled like she had forgotten her loneliness. I closed my hand around hers.

“This family can be yours too if you want,” I told her, “Everyone here loves you like you were one of us,”

To prove my point, I changed myself to the form I took the night we met. My hair became the grey-white hers was, my ears changed from human to wolf ones, and a tail grew out from under my shirt.

“We’re together now. I’m part of your family and you’re part of mine,”

Heather sighed, “Thank you… so much,”

We sat there staring at each other. I moved forwards and gave Heather a kiss. She reached her hand on top of my head and began scratching behind the ear. Whoa… this felt euphoric. Was this what all dogs felt when they were scratched? No wonder they like it so much. I reached out and began scratching behind her ears. Her face was red and she started panting.

“Say… Want to do it like this?” I suggested. Heather looked at me with a playful smile. We ended the night with some feisty wolf sex. We kissed each other, scratched the others ears, and played with each other’s sensitive parts all at the same time. It was quite the unique experience. Eventually, we fell asleep from doing it for so long.

Time seemed to fly while we were at my home. One week felt like one day, but of course it had to end. Lunch felt like the last meal before an execution. With every bite, I knew it wasn’t long before we had to go. We didn’t even have a choice either. I packed a backpack with a bunch of things from home. As the time drew close, we began to say goodbye.

“Do you really need to go?” Mom asked.

“I’m sorry Mom. We don’t really get a say in the matter,” I told her.

“Okay… just be safe,” Dad chimed in.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she stays out of trouble,” Heather joked.

“I’ll miss you,” Krystal said. She ran close and whispered, “Also, if you’re going to have sex… try to wait until I’m out of my room,”

“If you want to live you best keep that a secret,” I whispered angrily.

“We’ll try to come back on Christmas,” Heather told everyone.

“You better!” Dad yelled at us.

Mom looked like she was going to cry. I hugged her one last time, “Don’t worry Mom. We’ll be back someday soon,”

I could feel the spell beginning to activate again. “Goodbye,” I cried to them.

“Goodbye, Celeste,” I heard them all say as the bright light took us back to where we came…

“I hope you enjoyed that,” Ms. Lonestone said as we appeared in her garage, “The first one is on me, but next time it’ll cost you. Going to other worlds ain’t cheap,”

“Alright… thanks for everything Ms. Lonestone,”

“I’ll be having customers any minute. So, get out!” Ms. Lonestone shouted at us. We quickly headed for the door. What kind of customers did she have? My question was answered when a sedan pulled up in the driveway next to our car. The person who stepped out looked a lot like Heather. It took a moment before I recognized who it was. I had seen her face in the pictures in Heather’s bedroom.

Heather and her mother stared at each other from opposite side of our car. Nobody said a word. I remembered what Ms. Lonestone had said a week ago when we first met. Heather hadn’t grown any supplies for her…

This was the place she grew up.