Once upon a time, there was a boy named Edwin. He was around 18 years old, tall, had pitch black hair with dazzling green eyes that accompanied his honey brown skin. Now, Edwin wasn’t a normal boy, neither was his family. He came from a long line of magical witches. In his family, only the first born child would be blessed with the power of the witch. He was born an only child thus making him the newest witch of his family line. 

He didn’t mind being a witch, he actually quite enjoyed it. He could cast spells on people, either for good or for bad, and let himself tease whomever he pleased. He could pull pranks, be mischievous. Whatever he wanted, he could have or do. However, he used his magic for solely one purpose. He used it to find love. Love which would turn artificial. These love spells were dangerous and could cause harm to the caster, both inside and out. Edwin didn’t care about the consequences, as long as he could feel love from someone, he was fine. This often scared his mother, thinking that he was irresponsible and idiotic for the actions he was taking. Edwin often ignored his mother, continuing to do what he pleased. 

Edwin’s indecisive feelings towards his mother were very transparent. He didn’t hide the fact that her being mostly absent from his life left a scar in his heart. The fact that she had come back into his life after years of him being alone bothered him a lot. Her constant nagging and evil ways, seeping into his heart which had an empty void from her. This is part of the reason he was so keen to find love. He needed someone to fill the gaping hole that his mother had left in his fragile heart. 

This loneliness in his heart often led him to bars and clubs, hoping to find someone to be with. One day, he had gone to a club after having an argument with his mother. She commanded him not to go anywhere and waste time partying. Edwin fought back against her however, and left the house. The cold night breeze made him walk five times faster than usual. This led him to a club he was a regular at. From there he tried his best to find someone to spend that night with.  

In the middle of Edwin’s rondevu, his mother had found him. Seeing him with a boy under his spell made her feel more corrupt than ever. Her spirling anger caused her to move through the crowd to grab her son’s wrist swiftly before dragging him to the club’s alley. Once they were far enough away from the club, his mother spoke to him in a menacing tone. 

“Edwin, my dearest son,” she spat out like venom, “you left when I gave you an order to stay!” her voice raised, causing goosebumps to litter his skin. He took a deep breath to retaliate while tears pricked his eyes. 

“You can’t control me mother! You were never once here for me!” The words came out, sharp like knives but those words could not phase the already corrupted witch. She stood back, looked him up and down, then muttered 5 simple words in an unknown language. 

“You are such a dog.” With those words and one sharp wave of her hand, Edwin’s vision went blurry, his knees weak, and he fell to the floor.  He had blacked out for a few hours. When he woke up, he had a tremendous headache. Everything on his body was in pain and he felt nauseous. When his vision came back to its normal state, the world was seen from a different angle in his eyes. It was like he was crouching low to the ground. His confusion left quickly however when he stood up. He looked down and saw two white, slick paws below him. This caused him to panic and stumble backwards. His breaths were swallow but quick, having fear of what happened. 

Edwin started to think about the events that occurred before he came to this state and form. His mother’s words, the movement of her hand, he figured it was a curse. The words she said repeated in his head and it made him realize that his form was now a dog. This made Edwin’s bitterness towards his mother grow more than ever. She had cast a spell on him for a reason that he couldn’t wrap his head around. The worst part of this curse was, he couldn’t change back into himself. Once magic from a witch has been inflicted on someone, only the witch can lift that spell. In this case, it was a curse. One with hatred and evil intent that Edwin could feel deep inside of him.  

Edwin walked around in the damp, smelly alleys around the club. He had nowhere to go and had no one to help him. His new form made his body sore, since he wasn’t used to being a dog yet. The darkness of night set in and his soft fur couldn’t keep him from the bitter cold breeze. He was lucky enough to find an empty makeshift shelter that gave him any sort of protection from the cold. The box was damaged but it was enough for him that night. He had no idea where he was going to go or what he was going to do. All he knew was that he had turned into a dog and he had been abandoned. 

The next morning, the alleys were louder than the night before. His eyes opened to see a stray dog get pulled into a van, people surrounding it. That set uneasiness in Edwin’s heart. He tried to hide within his box, keeping an eye out for any people who might look his way. While he was on the lookout, he spotted a rather short man. He had natural brown hair, round glasses, and prominent freckles. Edwin was so captivated by the man’s beauty that he didn’t notice the freckled man look at his hiding spot and carefully come over.

Edwin shivered in fear but also felt warm with familiarity. For some reason, this man gave him a sense of security. Once the man came over to the box, he used kind words to try and lure Edwin out, as if he were a dog (which was true to his form). He repeated the phrases “It’s okay” and “I’m not gonna hurt you”. This actually worked on the timid Edwin, making him ever so slightly make his way out of the damaged box. The man gently scooped Edwin into his strong arms Edwin locked eyes with the golden brown eyes of the man. While the breathtaking male looked at him, Edwin saw a hint of sadness within those eyes, which seemed to hold the world. He took Edwin with care and led him to the van where he was placed in a cage. After the van door slammed shut, Edwin along with the other animals were moved to a place unknown to them. 

Edwin had no idea where he was. The van was dark, almost no light inside at all. All he could hear were sad wails and cries from the other animals inside, which he could understand clearly. Every animal in the van at the time had no idea where they were going and felt as lost at Edwin. He thought about the events that happened once again. Why his mother would turn him into a dog, why he was in this van, he had too many questions. 

After what felt like forever, the back of the van opened and all of the animals were brought out. He was one of the first brought out and he was able to spot a sign before being carried into a building. “King’s Animal Shelter” the bold red sign stated. Edwin felt both fear and relief from being brought to an animal shelter. He was relieved to be in a place where people can take care of him but also feared the loneliness it would bring. He was swiftly carried to a kennel room and locked inside. The handsome man from before was not to be found, he was missing. This saddened Edwin, making him sulk alone in his barred room for hours. 

He wasn’t there for a day, which felt like weeks to the small Edwin. He didn’t know why he was so drawn to the man but no matter what he thought about, it was the freckled man that popped up in his head. He felt like he had lost hope until the man popped up, making rounds to make sure the other animals were eating and were taken care of. Edwin’s tiny heart raced as he bounced around, waiting for the man to visit him. All of the other dogs in the room seemed captivated by his kindness as well. All of the dogs went calm and peaceful in his presence. This effect wore on Edwin, even though he is still a human. This was strange to Edwin because he was the one who casted the spell but this man seemed to cast a spell on him instead. 

As soon as the man came face to face with the man, his tail wagged crazily like a broken windshield wiper. The man opened the cage and came inside, offering his hand for Edwin to inspect. Edwin just stared at the man, captivated once again. The man giggled and gave him a gentle head pat, looking around the kennel. Edwin caught a glance at the man’s name tag, “Markus”. 

That name made him bark with pure glee as that caring man scratched behind his ear. But before Edwin knew it, Markus got up and left the kennel, leaving him to stay there and wonder how he could be so kind. Edwin had come back to reality to realize that Markus had dropped something. It was a shiny ring of keys that all had their own rhythmic jingle. He looked around, to see if he could spot Markus but he was nowhere to be seen. Edwin ended up taking the keys in his gentle grasp and set them near the cage door. He waited there for the short brunette but quickly fell into a deep slumber.

In his dreams, he saw his wicked mother. Her looks had changed drastically and she seemed more evil than before. Her aura was calm but in the cracks was sadness and evil which had seeped through. His heartbeat increased and he was tense, shocked. In his dream, however, he was himself, not his dog form. This gave him hope that everything could be reversed and fixed. 

Suddenly, the witch had rushed forward, landing directly in front of Edwin’s face. He could almost feel his mother’s rapid breathes against his skin. This brought goosebumps to his own skin. Edwin swallowed his fear and with a dry mouth and spoke, “Why mother?” his voice cracked, “Why did you do this?”

“You were becoming too much like me, that’s why,” she spoke with a menacing tone that had hints of concern. Her facial expression stayed the exact same the whole time she said those words. Face blank, not emotion reflected at all. Edwin was confused at his mother's sudden confession and was put back. 

“What?” he questioned. “I was becoming like you? What does that mean?” his confusion increased due to his mother’s choice of silence. Instead of speaking to him, the witch showed her son what she had meant. Memories from his mother flashed in his mind, each showcasing her with a new man and the love spell at her fingertips. This made Edwin’s heart heavy and left him feeling lost. Knowing that he has done that countless times to more people he could count on both hands, it made him feel awful. 

The last image that passed through was one of his mother and father together. Tears threatened to leave Edwin’s light eyes. He had only seen his father a handful of times but he held those times close to his glass-like heart. He looked at his mother after the memories had faded to see that all emotions were still absent. Edwin felt many emotions during this time, not knowing which ones were most prominent. 

“I forced your father to leave because I didn’t trust him. I didn’t believe he loved me when he actually loved me more than I loved myself” the words glided out of her mouth, cold and monotone. “I had to stop you before you felt the pain I have felt,” she looked him dead in the eyes, “you have to break this curse yourself.” Edwin was shocked by the new responsibility set in front of him, a responsibility he didn’t even know existed. 

“Do it myself? He questions, “How would I do that?” 

“You must have someone who truly loves and cares for you place a kiss upon you. If that person does not truly love you, you will be stuck as a dog forever, never able to turn back. If that person does love you then you two will be bound together and live a happy, successful life.” He took that information into mind and tried to process it. All of the sudden, his mother disappeared, like an apparition, and he opened his eyes, falling back into reality. He felt one tear leave his eye and thought of how he could reverse the curse. 

His thoughts were quickly replaced with how to get Markus’ attention and for him to kiss him. He believed that Markus was the one who would break his curse. As night passed into day, Edwin still waited for Markus. The keys were his ticket to get Markus, Edwin thought. He learned that the keys had to either be work keys for the cage or house keys. Either way, Markus would be looking for them. Speaking of the devil, Markus was heard from outside the cage, talking to another person. The voices were frantic. 

“Where did you lose them?” “I don’t know Charlie, I wouldn’t be looking around like a headless chicken if I knew where they were.” The voices got closer and Edwin’s anticipation grew. 

“I’ll look in here, you go look in the cat room” the frantic Markus said, breathes caught in between each word. The door opened and all of the dogs went crazy, including Edwin. He quickly glanced at each cage, eyes searching for the shiny object, when Markus had reached Edwin, he stopped in his tracks. Little dog Edwin was holding the keys patiently in his mouth. He looked so happy and opened the cage quickly to get the keys. Markus gently pet Edwin as a reward but Edwin had spoken to get his attention. 

“Markus,” the little dog spoke, shocking Markus, “I want a reward!” Edwin’s exclamation shocked him even more than the fact that he was in front of a speaking dog. Markus paled while looking at Edwin, wondering if he was going crazy or not. 

“Please take me home,” Edwin pleaded,” it’s so cold and lonely here. I just want to play, eat some good food and sleep somewhere warm.” Edwin’s puppy eyes may have been the deal breaker because Markus looked at Edwin and smiled brightly, picking him up and taking him home. 

Edwin didn’t expect his plan to work but it did and now he was on his way to his new home. Markus couldn’t stop looking at the small dog. This made Edwin embarrassed. “Keep your eyes on the road” Edwin insisted, scared that Markus would get in a crash. Markus swallowed deeply and let out a startled laugh. 

“Wow, I never knew talking dogs existed,” he giggled again nervously. This made Edwin giggle as well, “Well, it is strange but it could happen.” Markus continued to talk to Edwin, him speaking in return. This relaxed Markus a little when he figured out he wasn’t dreaming. Markus told Edwin about his first dog who looked exactly like him so that’s why it was so easy for him to take him home. He mentioned how the dog passed away and that he was depressed for a while but after joining the animal shelter, he felt better. This made Edwin happy that he got better after time. This made him wonder if he will ever get better. 

When they got to Markus’ home, he gave Edwin everything he wanted. He gave him food, some toys to play with. He played with him for hours and they were genuinely happy. They watched movies and talked. Talked and Talked and Talked until their voices wore out. Edwin told Markus about his past, his mother, and the curse but not how to break it. Markus sympathized with him, making sure he could feel his care. After a while, Markus’ had offered for him to sleep in the same bed as him. 

At nighttime, they cuddled close, the warmth making  Edwin feel full inside. He was half asleep and before he knew it, Markus had leaned down and placed a careful, loving kiss on the top of his head. Edwin’s vision went blurry and he could see a bright aura surrounding him. Markus even told him afterward that he could see him transform. He was brought back to his human form. It was like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders and he finally felt relief. Markus gave Edwin some clothes and they united as one, as a couple. 

Years after the incident, Edwin had not seen his mother. Not since the day she came into his dreams. He gets both a feeling of regret, guilt, but also relief when he thinks about his mother being gone. He had finally been freed from her awful ways and can finally feel true peace. Edwin and Markus adopted many pets as their own children and moved in together. They had gotten a happy ending that childhood story books are based on. Markus always teased Edwin about him being a dog after that and they lived happily ever after.