The Club House

by Tekwolf

Brian, Robby, Eric and Lisa were the best of friends. They had been together since kindergarten. This was a group that did almost everything together. They lived in the same neighborhood, went to the same school and had played together for most of their young lives. School was out for the summer and they were looking for something to do. They got together at the creek and tried to come up with a plan. Since they were only teenagers, a lot of things that they might have wanted to do were out. Their parents wouldn't allow them to go down to the corner store without supervision and they really didn't have much money anyway. Man, this was going to be a boring summer, or so they thought.

There were fish in the creek and they could go swimming, but this got old like everything and they were bored. Then Robby said," why don't we build a clubhouse?"

"What are we going to do with a clubhouse," Lisa asked?

"Well, you know, we could put things that we don't want our parents to know about in there," Robby said. We could camp out in it sometimes." "It would be fun. We could build it where our parents couldn't find it and then we would have our own place."

Then, getting into the idea, Brian said," There's lots of boards and nails and things around my house. Pop added the extra room last year and had lots of things left over. I don't think that he's too good a carpenter," he admitted.

Eric piped in," well, we've got paint left from painting our house and I could borrow dad's tools."

"OK," Lisa said," its not like we have anything else to do and it might be fun." "We've got to decide where to put it," she said.

"I know the perfect place," Robby said. "It's the old Thompson place." "Its way back in the woods, so our parents won't find it and its kind of grown up."

Oh no, not the Thompson place," Brian said," that place in haunted."

"Isn't that the place where the people had so many dogs," Eric asked? "I heard they went on vacation and left them there in the house and it caught on fire and killed all of them."

"The place is not haunted," Robby said. "That old wino, John, thought that he heard dogs howling near there after the fire. Heck, he also went to the police station one time, saying that we were be invaded by aliens." There aren't any ghosts there!"

"Well, I don't like that Idea," Lisa said. "It still gives me the creeps."

"Where else are we going to find a place where the grown ups won't bother us," Robby asked?"

"Lets take a vote," Brian said.

They took the vote and Lisa was the only no vote. She was one of the group and wouldn't go against them, even if she thought better of it. She didn't want to get kicked out. After all, she was the only girl, even though they didn't treat her like one, she felt like they were ganging up on her. This feeling didn't last long. As they started to gather the materials they needed for the clubhouse, she forgot about the feeling and helped out. It had been years since the house burned and the only clear spot, was where the old house had stood. They put the materials at the edge of the clearing and got busy.

Brian dug holes, while Eric cut poles for the corners. Robby and Lisa carried the rest of the materials and a ladder to the site. It took them almost a week to get it built, but they were pleased with the clubhouse. It was almost 12 feet by twelve feet large and had a roof on it. They had put a plastic sheet across the roof and placed more boards on it, so it would keep the rain out. They built shelves in it for their things. Each had their own shelf and corner for their things. They couldn't wait to camp out for the first time, but the trouble was to get their parents to agree.

All four kids went at it with a gusto. Only Robby's parents readily agreed. They were more lax that the other parents and gave Robby more freedom. The other parents finally relented and allowed the kids to camp out. They had assured them that everything was safe and that they wouldn't build a fire of anything like that. They got their things together. It took them several trips to get everything that they thought that they needed to the clubhouse and get it all set up. It was beginning to get dark by the time that they were set And they lit the lantern that they had brought. They made their beds, really just sleeping bags, and started on supper.

"This really stinks," Robby said. "How are we supposed to camp out, with no camp fire?" "I hate eating sandwiches and cold soup from a can. I'm building a fire!"

"Robby no," Lisa said. "We promised them that we wouldn't."

" Don't worry about it," Robby said," what they don't know, won't hurt them."

Brian and Eric always went along with Robby, no matter what. Lisa knew that she didn't have a chance, she just hoped that she wouldn't catch the devil for what they were doing. It wouldn't be the first time that they had gotten her in trouble. Robby carefully laid a circle of large stoned, like he had seen on TV and built a small fire in the middle. They sent Lisa back home to raid the refrigerator for hotdogs, which they roasted.

"See, I told you this would be better than cold soup," Robby said.

Later that night as they got ready to go to bed and lay in their sleeping bags, Brian got the idea of telling ghost stories. He wanted to sit around the fire and tell their stories. Well, after all, their parents weren't there and couldn't see how late they stayed up, so they got up and went out to where the fire had died down. Robby threw some sticks on it and when it flared up, they began.

It was near midnight and Lisa was beginning to tell her story, when they noticed a buzzing of sorts in their ears. They swatted at the air, thinking that there were bugs bothering them. Suddenly, they felt hot and started taking off their clothes. They shed jackets, shoes and socks. It wasn't enough. Then, the itching started. Lisa looked at her arms and yelled," Look at your arms!"

As they looked down, they saw light hair growing where there had been none before. Brian said," Oh Man, I've got a head ache!"

"Me to," Eric said.

"What's happening to us," Robby yelled!"

Things were progressing really fast now. As they looked at each other's faces, they saw muzzles pushing out as teeth grew and became canines. Lisa fell to the ground moaning. The others were grabbing themselves and they also fell to the ground. Their bodies were convulsing and changing. Tails pushed out from their spines, hands and feet changed into paws and they shrunk in size and became dogs.

All four of them lay there panting. They shivered uncontrollably, as they realized what had happened. Getting used to the new senses was hard. Smells unlike anything they had experienced, were bursting upon new noses. Sight had gone gray and black and sort of blurry. The walked on all fours. Instincts that they didn't know that they had kicked in and they sniffed each other. It all seemed strange, but in a few moments, they knew each other like they never had before. They were a pack.

Most people, on finding themselves changed into a dog, would have been terrified, but the kids, like most young folks, are adaptable and quickly got used to their situation. They could no longer talk, but found that they knew what each other meant by body language. It was really weird. Between the yips, barks and movements, they could communicate well indeed. They left the clubhouse as one to roam the night. The night no longer held secrets from them, their nose told them just what was around and they romped together.

They had become different breeds of dog. Robby was a Pit Bull and even though he wasn't full grown yet, he was mean looking. Lisa had become a Border Collie. Her black and white hair was long and she almost bounded with suppressed energy. Brian had become a black Labrador Retriever and their was mischief in his eyes, even as there had been as a human. Last but not least, Eric was a Doberman Pincher. He was lean and mean in his new form and felt a new confidence and power there. They had no thought for the future. They were making the most of the current situation.

They went into town. If anyone saw them, it caused no alarm. Dogs of the town always were seen together, even though usually by this time of night, they were in their owners house. They went into the alley behind the restaurant and smelled something interesting in the trash. None of them would have ever considered eating trash as humans, but now it smelled wonderful. Ever since they had come into town, the guys had been peeing on everything they came to. Lisa was getting angry by the delays, and went ahead of them to the trash. They had knocked the cans over and were eating anything they found, when an angry human came out of a door with a broom and yelled at them. Silly Human. Did he really thing that he could catch them?

After they had taken a tour of most of the town, they headed back to the clubhouse to sleep. It didn't take long on four legs and they were back. Each curled up on their bags, nose to tail and went to sleep. They were happy and didn't think about tomorrow.

Lisa was awake first and immediately groaned, as she was in a really uncomfortable position and was cold also. She started and quickly realized that she was naked, as were the others. She quickly looked around and gathered up her clothes, as the others started to wake. They likewise groaned and complained. Suddenly, there was scrambling in the clubhouse, as the boys tried to find their clothes also. Lisa turned her head, allowing them their modesty, as they got dressed.

"What happened to us," Robby asked?

"We turned into dogs, stupid," Lisa told him.

"Well, I know that, but why did that happen," he said?

Lisa looked at Brian, who looked at Eric, who looked at Robby, who was looking at Lisa. None of them had an idea immediately, about what had happened. Then, Robby said," could it have anything to do with the dogs that were killed here? Maybe something happened when so many died in one place."

"I don't know, but it did happen and we can't tell anyone," Eric said. They would think that we are crazy. Would you believe that your kids changed into a dog?"

" Yeah, but it was so cool," Brian said. "Have you ever had so much fun?" "I wish we could do that again!"

With that statement, Brian started feeling funny. It was similar to the night before. Hair was growing and his face started to push out again. NO! Stop it," Brian said. As he felt his face in horror, it stopped and started to reverse its self. The others were suddenly curious. Could they do it also. They each had to try and found that as soon as they thought about and truly wished it to be so, they started to change. None of them had the nerve to go all the way again, but they were excited.

"This is so cool," Lisa said. "I think that we can do this any time that we want to."

The others agreed with her and decided to meet back there after their parents were asleep and try it again. It worked, and they ran as dogs again that night. This became an almost nightly ritual. After they heard their parents go to bed, they would sneak out and meet at the club house. They quickly became the Bosses of the neighbor hood. Other dogs left them alone and they ruled the night.

None of them noticed that the more time that they spent as dogs, the more dog they became. They did things, common to dogs, that no human would have done. They didn't think anything was wrong. Their parents were worried about them, as they were acting strangely. They took the kids to the doctor, but found that there was nothing wrong. They stopped acting like kids and the parents started watching them more closely, but still they managed to elude them.

Finally, there came a day, when the four friends became dogs and didn't change back at dawn. Before, they had always changed back with first light, but today, they were still dogs. They found that they no longer felt right, except when they were in canine form. This day, they remained in the form that they felt most comfortable in and only a short time, they were truly dogs in all ways. They barely remembered being human.

Their parents called the police in an uproar, but not a sign of them wee ever found, except for the clubhouse and some clothes. The four friends had disappeared and no one noticed that there were four new dogs in the neighborhood.

The pack roamed the streets of the town, avoiding the dogcatchers, eating when they were hungry, doing just what they wanted. They had never been happier in their short lives. It proved the critics of today's society right. Today's youth really were going to the dogs!

End

The Club House copyright 1997 by Tekwolf.