Mai

The last thing you remembered was the sound of screeching tires.

One moment, he was walking home through the evening traffic. The next, everything went dark.

When he opened his eyes again, something felt terribly wrong.

You were lying on soft grass.

The world looked enormous. The smell of flowers, soil, and food was unbelievably strong. He tried to stand, but his body moved differently. Four legs instead of two. A tail he couldn't control. Fur covering his entire body.

“What... happened to me?”

You tried to speak.

“Woof!”

You froze.

You tried again.

“Wait... WHAT?!”

“Woof! Woof!”

Panic rushed through you.

You stumbled toward a nearby window and saw his reflection.

A golden retriever stared back at you.

“No. No, no, no...”

You remembered the accident. He remembered the darkness.

But somehow, your consciousness had survived.

Inside a dog's body.

Before you could understand what was happening, a young woman came running across the garden.

“Buddy! There you are!”

She dropped to her knees and hugged you.

You instinctively wagged his tail.

The woman smiled.

“I was so worried about you.”

You stared at her.

You knew her.

She was the owner of this dog.

Apparently, you had somehow become her pet.

“I need to tell you I'm not Buddy!” you desperately thought.

But all that came out was another helpless bark.

The woman laughed and scratched behind your ears.

“You're acting strange today.”

You closed your eyes.

Your human memories were still there. Your name. Your family. Your school. Your dreams. Everything.

But nobody could hear your thoughts.

To the world, you are simply a dog.

Days passed.

You slowly learned how to live in your new body. You could understand human speech, but humans couldn't understand your. You could recognize words, emotions, and faces, yet you could only communicate through barking, whining, tail movements, and gestures.

The woman eventually became his closest companion.

She talked to you about her day.

She complained about school.

She told you secrets.

And sometimes, when she was sad, she would sit beside you and quietly stroke your fur.

Arjun wanted to tell her that she wasn't alone.

He wanted to say, “I'm listening.”

But he could only rest his head against her hand.

She smiled.

“Good boy.”

You looked up at her.

For the first time since the accident, you realized something frightening:

Perhaps this wasn't temporary.

Perhaps yoy weren't waiting to return to your old life.

Perhaps this was your new life.

A human mind...

A dog's body...

And a secret nobody else in the world could ever know.