Don't Panic! It's a Dog's Life

The barking from the dogs was almost deafening. And 15 year old Sienna Richards was going to lose her temper. Sure, she was the reason that she and her parents were at the rescue centre, but she just wished that they would shut up.

She was walking in the pen with all the dogs around her. She just couldn’t see the right dog for her. Until she spotted a spaniel puppy in the corner. It’s fur was a silky brown colour. She walked over to it and it looked up at her.

“Hey boy.” She said, stroking him.

“I bet I’m older than you.” She heard someone say. She frowned. She could have sworn that it came from the dog. The dog cocked his head at her frowning face. “Can… can you hear me?”

“Oh my god!” Sienna said, taking her hand away.

“Please, please get me out of here. No one else can understand me, please. You don’t understand what’s happening with me.” He looked up with pleading eyes.

Sienna looked around quickly. No one was looking at her, they were distracted with the other dogs. “OK, tell me how the fuck you’re talking to me.”

“My name is… George and a few months ago, I woke up to find myself like this. And on the streets in England of all places.” Sienna now noticed the American accent this dog seemed to have. “I’m nearly 18, I live in Las Vegas and I’m in a band-”

“Are you in Panic! At The Disco?” Sienna interrupted him. He paused, then nodded. “No fucking way! You’re Ryan Ross!”

“Yeah.” He replied. “I was kinda hoping to keep that quiet.”

Panic! At The Disco were a fairly new band that had just released their debut album 3 months ago. Sienna fell in love with them as soon as she heard just one song. Now she couldn’t get enough of them. And she was one of the few out of her friends who also liked them that knew that Ryan’s real first name was George. But that he hated it.

“You said no one else could hear you but me, so obviously who’s gonna believe me? Well I guess, since I’m the only one that can talk to you, you’re coming with me.” Ryan wagged his tail. “I‘m Sienna by the way, Sienna Richards.”

“Nice to meet you.” Ryan said. Sienna picked him and walked to the edge of the pen to show her parents.

“Oh, Sienna, he’s darling!” Her mum said.

“What will you call him?” Her dad asked.

Sienna looked down at Ryan, before looking back up at her parents. “Ryro. I’m gonna call him Ryro.”

Less than an hour later and they were all back home. Sienna took Ryan up to her room so she could get his bed ready. She put some music on so her parents wouldn’t think she was talking to herself and sat on the bed, Ryan jumping up with her.

“So how long have you been a dog?” She asked him.

“About 3 months. I just woke up one morning and I was like this.”

“So how can you be here talking to me, but also be in America? Cos I’ve seen you on the TV, I saw you today actually on MTV, and you can’t be in two places at once.”

“I have no idea. I know that I’m definitely Ryan Ross though.” He said.

“This is way weird for just one day.” Sienna said.

“Try being like this for 3 months away from everyone you know and in a country that is thousands of miles away from your home.” Ryan said.

“You win.” Sienna giggled.

“So how old are you Sienna?”

“I just turned 15. And how old are you?”

“I’m 17.”

“Wait, aren’t you still in high school then?” He shook his head.

“I just graduated, same with Brendon and Spencer. They graduated a year early.”

“Oh right.”

Ryan sighed. “I wish none of this had happened. I really miss Spencer, Brendon and Jon. I just wish I was human again.”

“I think it would be kinda cool to be a dog.” Sienna told him.

“Try having fleas.” Ryan said. “Not so fun then.”

“I’m serious, I reckon it would be really cool to…” Sienna trailed off. She suddenly felt a weird sensation run through her body.

“Sienna, what the fuck?” Ryan said, jumping up.

“What?” She asked.

“You’re a dog!” Ryan exclaimed. She looked down at herself and shocked herself. She jumped off her bed and in front of her mirror. There she was, a black coloured cocker spaniel.

“Oh my god! I’m a freaking dog!” She said.

Sienna?” Her mum called up the stairs. She turned to look at Ryan with wide eyes.

“What do I do?” She said.

“Try and think of yourself human.” Ryan said. She concentrated and quickly felt herself change again. She looked down at her hands to make sure.

“Sienna!” Her mum called again. Sienna opened the door.

“Yeah?”

“Do you wanna take Ryro out? I doubt he’s had much exercise at the rescue centre.”

Sienna looked down at Ryan and grinned. “Yeah, let me just get ready.” She closed the door again. “I think this is going to be quite fun Ryan.”

An hour later and Sienna went into her room, Ryan following, and she fell onto her bed. She had taken Ryan to the forest near her house and she had changed into a dog again. They had talked and played for 45 minutes before she decided to head back home.

“That was fun.” Ryan said, his tongue lolling out.

“Not for me, I’m really unfit.” Sienna said.

“You loved it really, just admit it.”

“Ok, it was fun, but I still need to lose weight or something.”

“Or not. You’re thin enough. And I don’t mean that in a harsh way, I mean that you don’t need to lose any weight.”

“You're so cute when you do that.” Sienna grinned. “I know where you’re coming from though.”

For the next few hours, Sienna and Ryan talked about everything. They got to know each other very well. As she had school the next day, she got ready for bed (making sure that Ryan was out of the room while she changed) at 11 and slept, Ryan jumping up with her. He crawled up onto her stomach and curled up, making her smile.