When Jake disappeared, he didn’t stretch out. He got small, really small. Jake was now a prairie dog. Turning into an animal was surprising, but, turning into a prairie dog—of all animals—was a shock. There he was, a prairie dog with a whole lot of dirt under his claws.

Jake looked up. There was a coyote, a buffalo, and oddly enough, grass, looking right back at him. “Oh! Is this us?” Jake said, more than a bit surprised to hear actual words coming out of his mouth. “What the…”

Jake just didn’t know what to say next. Things were as they were, and Jake was not happy about that at all. If some amazing thing was going to happen and they were all going to turn into animals, why turn into a prairie dog? If transformations were taking place, why couldn’t Jake have been a coyote, or a buffalo? Why did he have to be this little rodent thing? Rodents were just simply not Jake’s style.