It was one of the most awkward days I had. It was not a simple case of waking up on the wrong side of the bed, but rather, waking up as the wrong person. When my eyes opened, there was no colour. It was like a septum black-and-white film. By instinct, I called for my pet canine K9. I opened my mouth, and out came a bark. To add to my dismay, K9 was nowhere to be seen. I glanced at my fury snout, then down to my paws and to my dropping tail. I was K9. Shock settled in.

I ran downstairs to see my mother, expecting an explanation. Instead, she shooed me out of the house! I tried to speak but no words would come out. She got mad and carried me out of the house. I whined and clawed at my mother’s legs but she slammed the door shut. I pawed at the door, begging to be let in, but everyone ignored me.

Suddenly, I heard a familiar sound. It was the loud noises of children talking. The school bus! I started to bark excitedly. I saw my brothers riding the bus. I wanted to go too, but my mother held me back. She had to understand that I was her daughter, not a puppy! I wouldn’t stop barking and struggling. All the children in the bus were whispering and staring at me. Were they all deaf? I’m Jessica!

Alas, I gave up. The bus had already turned around the corner. I sighed softly. Then I realized that I haven’t eaten any breakfast yet. As if reading my mind, my mother immediately began to pour some dog food into a food bowl. How was I supposed to eat that?

A few hours passed, I was starving. I wish I had eaten more last night. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I knew the only thing to do was to eat the dog food. I held my breath, and then began to munch silently on the dog food, expecting the worst. Slowly, I began to realize that it actually wasn’t too bad. It also had a particular flavour to it. Steak! My favourite! I couldn’t wait for lunch after that.

Lunch did come, but it was not as delicious as before. As a matter of fact, it tasted like uncooked lettuce. Now I know why K9 always refused to eat it. I pushed my bowl aside. Suddenly, my mother let out a raspy yell. She stopped in front of me, eyes locked on my canine body. She cried the name ‘K9’ but I did not respond. A train of thoughts raced through her mind, how her ubconscious was screaming that this whole picture was wrong.

K9’s collar was missing, it was wearing Jessica’s bracelet and its behaviour had been anything but high-strung lately. Then she looked at my eyes, and it was confirmed. They were not brown. They were blue, part of the family’s heritage. She knew.

At night, after a hearty meal and an awkward moment with my mother, I lay in my bed, wondering whether I would wake up the next day as Jessica again or would I stay like this forever? Soon, my mind began to doze off. The only way to find out was to wait.