husky.”

“Well, I suppose that is true,” she replied, “but I am that brown husky that you saved.”

“So you are, but you aren’t, right.” Kia looked at her with a confused look.

“Right,” she said with such a matter-a-fact tone that it sounded like it was silly to ask the question.

Kia voiced his thoughts. “Okay, I’m seriously confused.”

Aniu sighed and then told him the story. “I lost my original body to Shade. I have existed as a spirit for about a millennia, although I can take a physical form, but not for long. I found that dog lying in the snow about to die, so I entered into her body and have existed like this since then.”

Kia looked at her wide eyed. “Wow. What was it like being in a new body?”

“It took a little getting use to,” Aniu admitted. “One of the main things that I miss is being able to go other places as a spirit almost instantly. I lost a son during a storm, and I don’t think I will be able to find him until this body wears out and I can return to spirit form.”

“So,” said Kia, “would I have done you a favor by letting you die? After all, if you had died, you would be able to return to spirit form and find your son.”

Aniu shook her head.

“No,” she said,”you did the right thing in saving me and killing Shade, which brings me to why I appeared to you. You are the first human who had shown me kindness since I entered my new body. I do not have all the powers that I possessed while I was in spirit form, but I can grant one request. Name what you wish and I will tell you if it is in my power to grant.” 

“Okay,” said Kia. He thought about it for a second then said, “Can you give me the power to transform into a wolf or dog?”

Aniu looked at him for a second, as if she had expected something else. Finally she answered him.

“I can,” she said, “but you must understand a few things before I give you these powers. First off, you can only turn into the dog or wolf that resides within your soul.”

Kia looked at her.

“I’m confused,” he said, “the dog or wolf that resides in my soul?”

“Yes,” she said. “Each person has an animal essence that resides in them from birth, but few have been able to awaken it. Back to what I was saying. The second thing you need to know is that when you gain this ability your personality will be split.”

“Excuse me,” Kia looked intensely at her. “What do you mean my personality will be split?”

Aniu looked about for a second as if trying to find the right words.

“Maybe split isn’t the right word,” she said. “Whether you are human or canine, you will retain traits of both. For example, you will have heightened senses as a human. As a dog or wolf, you will have to get use to moving on four feet instead of two.”

Kia looked relieved.

“Is that all,” he said, “I was worried there for a second.”

“One more thing,” said Aniu, “you need to avoid getting into ‘relationships’ as a dog. You were still born human, and therefore you deeper conscious stays human.”

“That sounds like a good idea anyway,” laughed Kia. “I was going to watch that, but thanks for thinking of it anyway.”

Aniu nodded.

“Very well,” she said, “shall we proceed?”

“Okay,” said Kia, “what do I do.”

“Just stand there and don’t move,” she said.

Kia stood perfectly still; in fact, it felt like his feet were frozen to the ground. Aniu started howling a low melancholy note. Soon other voices joined her until he felt overwhelmed by the volume of the voices. All at once he began to panic.

How will I know how to change? he thought franticly.

Just close your eyes and envision yourself and a dog and you will change, a voice in side his head answered.

Kia felt better and allowed the voices to carry him back to a dreamless sleep.

When Kia awoke, sunlight was streaming into the cave mouth.

What a strange dream, he thought. It seemed so real.

Kia looked down at his hands.

I wonder, he thought, if it was real.

Kia remembered what the wolf had told him to do in order to change.

All I have to do, he thought, is envision myself and a dog.

He closed his eyes and saw himself in his mind’s eye. A youth of 19 in a thick coat, leggings, and boots stood before him. His mother’s Inuit heritage had given him darker than normal skin, but he had inherited his father’s shining green eyes. Next to himself he saw a dog. It was a brownish color with white paws and bright green eyes.

Almost like my own, thought Kia.

All at once he felt his skin tingle as if his leg had fallen asleep, except it was everywhere. All at once he felt a breeze around him, and then everything stopped. Kia opened his eyes. He found himself in the cave feeling the same as he did before.

Well, he thought, so much for that.

Kia tried to get up on his feet, and found that he couldn’t.

That’s strange, Kia thought; maybe all that tingling meant that I slept on my leg weird.

Kia tried to get up again, but fell on his side.

This is getting annoying, thought Kia.

He looked down at his legs, intending to find out where he had lain on them and stopped.

His legs were there, yes, but there weren’t his legs. Instead of leggings and boots, he saw hairy bare legs and white paws. He looked at his hands. Same hair and paws.

Oh my gawd, he thought, it worked; it really worked.

Kia got up slowly, and walked unsteadily out of the cave.

When he reached the cave mouth, he turned around and noticed the bag of meat.

Holy cow, he thought whirling around. I need to get that meat back to the house. Now to change back.

Kia thought again of himself and the dog and the same tingling sensation washed over him along with the breeze.

When he opened his eyes, he was kneeling on the ground as a human.

Good old hands and feet, he thought. My clothes were also included in my transformations. That will make things a whole lot easier.

Kia walked over to where the pile of meat was lying and gathered it all up in the bag he’d had it in.

Just before leaving, he turned back.

I guess that dog, I mean Aniu, left after she granted my request, he thought. Aw well, I hope she gets on okay.

With that he headed out of the cave, sack of meat on his shoulder homeward bound.