Mikey walked into the room and, then, to the window. In the yard next door, which was surrounded by a 7-foot-high wood fence, he could see his neighbor, Mrs. Higgins. Mrs. Higgins was a widower, living comfortably off of her deceased husband's money. She often had men visiting her, but not today. Mikey's mother didn't like Mrs. Higgins, though Mikey couldn't understand why. Mrs. Higgins was always friendly to him.
Right now, Mrs. Higgins was sunbathing. She had on a very tiny bikini. In the yard with her, running excitedly back and forth, was Pierre, Mrs. Higgins' black toy poodle. Mikey liked to play with Pierre, and wished he were with the dog right now. It obviously wanted to play with Mrs. Higgins, but she must be tired.
But she might not be too tired -- if she were a poodle, too! Mikey stared at Mrs. Higgins and said quietly "Be a poodle -- a little one!"
Immediately, a fluffy tail appeared just above the bottom of Mrs. Higgins' bikini. Curly, wooly fur grew all over her. It was sort of yellow, just like Mrs. Higgins' hair. Mikey noticed that Mrs. Higgins' nose had turned black, and then a muzzle pushed out from her face! The tops of her ears grew long and drooped over. Then, in one, big, final change, Mrs. Higgins shrank, her body shifting, until she was a little, yellow-haired poodle, the same size as Pierre!
Pierre gave a yelp of surprise over Mrs. Higgins' change. The bark made Mrs. Higgins wake up. She gave a small bark herself, and then stood up on all fours. She had slid out of her bikini when she changed. The next moment, Pierre did start to play with her. Well, at least he ran after her when she ran.
"Mikey!" came a voice from behind him. He turned and saw his mother standing there. "Are you looking in that woman's yard again!?"
Mikey's mother came up beside him and looked out the window. She saw two empty pieces of a bikini laying on a blanket and was about to say something, when she saw the two dogs.
"When did she get another poodle?" she asked.
"I don't know," said Mikey, looking at his mother.
"It's a funny color. I hope she didn't dye the poor thing. I hope it gets along all right with ... whoops! Never mind. I guess they're getting along just fine!"
Mikey turned around and saw Pierre was on top of Mrs. Higgins, but in a funny way. He thought Pierre was doing the same thing he'd done to Mikey's leg a couple of times, but Mikey didn't know what it was.
"Anyway, Mikey," said his mother, "You promised to pick up your junk in the yard and you haven't done it yet! So you do it right now!"
"But Mom ... "
"NOW!! And don't let me catch you looking through that hole in the fence!"
Mikey walked down the stairs dejectedly and a little worried. He hoped Pierre wasn't hurting Mrs. Higgins.
