Trapped.(OPEN)

[Talon]

A kennel seemed like a typical place to find a canine in the d.e.a.d lab. The d.e.a.d lab, what a name, dead, that was what most of these dogs turned to be. Kono on the other hand was not close to dead, the young sheltie had just gone through yet another course of injections, pink tongue licked the injection wounds on his foreleg, big mean humans. The nine month old puppy couldn’t quite understand the humans in the white coats, though he could feel his body changing still. The first couple sets of injections had led him into a bit of a cold it seemed, he sneezed and all a sudden he was different, but then he would sneeze again and he would be the same little blue merle sheltie he had always been. This had been going on for he didn’t know how long, the fluorescent lights didn’t really tell him what time of day it was. A deep breath and a sigh from the small puppy as he laid in the cage that trapped him. It wasn’t as small and cramped as some of the other dogs had it, though he had realized when this changing happened he was a lot larger than he normally was.

Uh oh, here it is again. Mind raced as the sneeze came on, then there it was, a quite sneeze turned into a deafening noise. Multi-color orbs looked down at a larger brown paw before another sneeze and his mind flashed back. He was normal once again, no longer that horrifying creature he could not see. His body shook as he let out a cry, ”What’s wrong with me? Help me?” Though his yelping didn’t seem to help, other dogs were crying and barking out, it was just the normal in here. Nose peeked out between the bars for another moment as Kono’s body continued to shake still very unsure of what was going on. No, no, no more sneezing. The puppies young mind cried as yet another sneeze came, though in a flash there was another, but then another and another, back to normal, how would he ever learn how to control this? This was such a horrifying time for the young Shetland sheepdog, what could he possibly do? Paw reached out of the bars of his enclosure, wishing for a moment he had help, soft whines emitted from his mouth as he laid reaching out of the bars.

Toughen up, you’re stuck here make the best of it! Kono’s mind shouted out at him as he slowly sat back up. Control it, it can be done just think! Change! Change! Change. The puppy’s mind raced and shouted at him, yelling at himself. Come on you stupid mutt. Change! With his last silent scream he could slowly feel the tremble once again, it seemed like a flash before his eyes when he suddenly saw the dark large paws once again. Wow, what am I? He pondered as he searched for something to show his reflection, nothing. Looking over his new body for a moment he realized the cage looked much smaller, his tail longer, thinner, and had a lot less hair. He was scared for a moment and that was it, he was himself once again. Blue and brown eyes stared out of the kennel once again and then he saw it. A large chocolate Labrador in the corner, he had seen that dog before. Could that be it? Orbs studied the dog for a moment; they looked sad and quiet, just laying there in their small kennel, large brown paws and that tail! It had to be! Was that it, what that what he really was. So many thoughts through the young dogs mind how could he possibly be himself one moment, then that other dog the next? Impossible!

[Punktestern]

Falcon (Falke)

What have I ever done wrong, what have I done to deserve this torture? Falcon lay in his kennel, feeling wretched. He had received another round of injections the night before, and now the spasms were coming, the ones that he knew would. He was eight months old, and yet his eyes looked much older. They had seen so much pain and death; they had acquired a hard edge. Falcon found that he had to work hard to even care about anything anymore. He turned his head slightly, looking around the lab. His vision had adjusted since he had been in here, a few months at least. He didn’t see the thin steel bars that separated him from the next dog anymore; it was as if they didn’t exist anymore. But they did exist, Falcon could feel the ones under him cutting squares into his flesh.

He watched the dog next to him with interest. The merle dog had received another round of injections earlier that day. Now the dog seemed to have a violent cold, sneezing all of the time. Falcon heard him cry out, and whined in sympathy. He could do nothing for the dog, apart from offer comfort. He started whispering, “It’ll be alright, my friend. Try to hang on. Don’t give up, don’t let the humans win.” He just kept whispering, trying to calm himself as much as the other dog. He blinked, and suddenly the dog was replaced. Now there was a brown dog, a puppy as well.

Falcon sniffed the air, trying to figure out if the sheepdog had just been a dream. But no, the brown dog had the same scent. He cocked his head to the side, processing what he had. The dog must have changed shape, but everyone knew that was impossible.

His body stiffened as another spasm ripped across him. He cried out, then clamped his mouth closed. He rolled on the rough bars of his cage’s floor as a pain seared across his back. It felt like the skin was ripping open. He rolled harder, trying to get rid of the pain. After a few minutes, he flopped on his side, exhausted.

[Talon]

Kono finally back to his normal self for the time listened to the other canine speak. Give up? No, there was no giving up, I just want to know what it wrong with me! Thoughts shouted in his mind as he scanned the setter in the next cage. When the male howled out his multi color eyes stared blankly at him. ”We will hang on, these humans will not win.” Words of confidence were riddled with his own pain and sorrow. The other dog seemed like he was in more pain than Kono was physically though he felt they shared the mental horrors. ”Hang on.” Were the only comforting words he could think of, staring deeply at the setter still.

Then there is was again he could feel his body shuddering, ready to sneeze and change once again. At least he knew what he was looking forward to. The puppy let out a loud sneeze and looked down at his paws again. But wait, now he was different yet, his paws were red now. Now dark eyes shot back, a mahogany feathered tail swooped around. Brown eyes turned to stare at the setter, ”Am I... Am I... You?” His voice had changed slightly to sound more like the setter next to him, though filled with a high squeaky terror. An onlooker would see two matching dogs sitting side by side, not like a mirror as Kono sat up and turned around to examine himself.

”Holy crap I am you!” Vocals were an almost scream as her turned quickly around the cage, trying to stare at himself with little luck. This was insane, it could not be happening. Though the puppy did not sneeze again and land himself in his smaller sheltie paws once again. His surprise kept him in the body he did not recognize. One minute I’m a brown lab like that one, next I’m him. Oh God I am going crazy, this has to be a dream. I can’t be another dog. Brown eyes stared down at his red paws still; he was in the puppy’s body though he did not share his pain. He did not feel like the setter, nor could he understand anything more of the setter than what he looked like and still the sheltie was confused. Could he turn into anything? Was this a horrible dream?

[Punktestern]

Falcon’s pain finally subsided, leaving him to lie there, shivering. Another voice reached him, “hang on.” Falcon nodded and tried to rise, but before his paws could take his weight, his vision exploded. He fell over again, whimpering. After a few moments, he was able to open his eyes without another spear of pain racing across his mind.

A surprising sight met his eyes. The sheepdog that was supposed to be in the cage opposite him was again gone, this time replaced by a mahogany dog. That dog looked slightly familiar, somehow. Falcon blinked, “Uh. I think so.” The dog’s voice even sounded like his own, save that the other dog’s was high pitched, laced with terror.

Silky ears flicked as the sheltie, no, the setter yelped. Falcon wanted to cover his ears, but felt like he should help the other canine, try to keep him calm, “Calm down, my friend. Now, try to think about how you changed.” He thought about it as well, but came up with nothing. He was curious. He couldn’t change. All he had was a searing pain in the back… literally. Falcon tried to rise up again, and this time he succeeded. He stood gingerly on the wires that made up the cage, pushing his nose against the grid that separated him from the shape-changing dog next to him. Big brown eyes watched the canine’s every move, trying to take in what was happening.

Another bout of pain… His back felt as if it was ripping open. And then with a loud snap, wing appeared from in between his shoulder blades. Of course, Falcon couldn’t see them, but he could hear the crack they made as they unfurled. He spun around, strangely the pain had stopped. “What happened? What was that loud sound?" One of the dark red brown wings got caught in the wire, and stopped him. Falcon yelped, “Ouch!” then turned back, finally catching sight of the wing. A whisper came across his lips, almost catching in his throat, “Are those… wings?” He worked his shoulder blades, and the wings waved up and down, “Wha?” He was confused. He looked at the other dog, hoping he would be able to clear up the whole thing, “Please tell me those aren’t my wings?”

[Talon]

These two dogs were in trouble it seemed, the setter was in tons of physical pain that even the sheltie that looked like the setter could not understand, think about how he changed? This was a lot for any dog to handle. How did I change? Well I sneezed and I was you. Ummm... How about I want to be me? Yes change back into me. The puppy’s thoughts ran rapid in his head as it took only a snap to change him back into himself. Oh thank you. A sigh of relief and the young stud looked at his new companion. Kono couldn’t believe his own eyes, well he guessed he could, he was changing into other dogs this canine was sure to have something all messed up as well. Blue and brown eyes stared forward watching the large reddish brown wings come out from the canine’s back in front of his eyes. This was not happening.

”Wings...” The puppy’s voice was high with confusion. ”If I didn’t see it myself I would tell you you’re imagining things but man you have wings!” The young pup stood up and tried to stick his nose through the wire between them. ”Yeah, wings, like a bird... Does that mean if I change into you again I will have wings? Hold on I could show you maybe... The sheltie stared down the setter for another moment. Change, change, change.” Orbs stared into the setter for a moment, hoping he could coax himself into turning into the setter once again. He could act like a mirror and show Falke exactly what he looked like. The screaming voices in his head finally did what they were told once again, body taking little time to snap and change into the red setter. The young sheltie was now the horror before Falke, the same mahogany setter that stood before him, matching red brown wings out of his back. ”See?” Kono was almost pleased with his change now. ”You have wings, see?” The puppy’s body turned to the side and tried to flap the large wings with an easy fail.

”How do these things move?” He questioned knowing there might not be an answer; though terror was no longer in his voice he was now more curious than ever. This was crazy, he had to be dreaming, maybe this setter was all a dream, and him being the setter and the lab, it was all a dream. He had to be making this stuff up. Though he knew he could have never imagined any of this, this had to be real and it was starting to become really cool. The shifting no longer hurt and he was starting to be amused with the things he could become, could he be a human and get them out of this? Now that was something he wasn’t quite ready to try.

[Punktestern]

Falcon watched, spooked, as the sheltie turned back into himself, then changed himself into the setter’s form once more. The mahogany head dipped in acknowledgement, “I guess I do have wings. And now you do too, as long as you stay… me?” He didn’t know how that sounded, but he couldn’t think of a better way to say it. He was still flustered. I have wings? What the? He couldn’t wrap his mind around the concept.

Then he realized that the dog in front of him had changed, wanting to, “Hey, you did it! You changed back into yourself, and then into me again. Does that mean you are learning to control your transformation, or how did you do that?” He craned his neck around to look once more at the mahogany wings that spread out behind him.

A loud voice startled him. “Look at that, Bob, didn’t I tell you? That dog just grew wings. They poofed right out of his back!” Falcon looked around, trying to glimpse the speaker, who sounded to be female. There was no one in the room that could have said that, though. He looked up at the window. Two sparrows were sitting there, looking in his direction. The voice sounded again, “See? How weird is that, a dog with wings? Do you think he can fly?”

Falcon spoke to them, “I obviously can’t fly, featherbrains! I’m stuck in this cage, and even if I wasn’t I have no clue how to work these things.” The birds looked at him in astonishment, “Bob, was it just me or did that dog just speak in Featherish?” The other sparrow looked at his companion, “You know, I think he did, Leta. I’ve never seen nor heard of a dog that can do that. Do you think it has something to do with the wings?” The female sparrow fluffed out her feathers, “I haven’t, either. Maybe Uhu will help us out. He must have heard of something like that before. Let’s go ask him.”

Falcon didn’t know what they meant by Featherish, “You do realize I can understand you? What do you mean by Featherish?” But the sparrows had already flown away, leaving Falcon in his cage, still chewing over the mysterious word. Looking at his neighbor, he asked, “Have you ever heard of Featherish?”

(When Falcon is talking to the birds, he does so in Featherish, so Kono wouldn’t understand most of it. All he would hear is twittering and chirping.)

[Talon]

Dark eyes peered back at the setter, a bit of joy came to Kono’s face, well the setter’s face where Kono was inside.”I guess as long as I am you I have whatever you have...” The young pup yawned quietly and suddenly changing back to his sheltie self. ”I guess I did change back into you didn’t I? I can tell myself and yell at myself until I’m you but I don’t know how to turn back, it just happens...” The young Sheltie was rather proud of himself changing was easy, he could yell at himself for long enough, but if he sneezed it was over and he had no idea how to keep it. Maybe with a bit more effort he could control it all the time, try to hold the shift for longer, right now it seemed like a couple minutes was the tops.

The chirping of the birds didn’t seem to bother Kono, they were just birds, sparrows, free to fly everywhere and anywhere. Free that was all they represented, freedom. Kono had forgotten freedom. It was almost unheard of in the small puppies mind. The labs had done a toll on the pup and all of this was new, scary and yet amusing all at once. Multi color eyes stared blankly at Falke when he spoke, who was he talking to? ”Are you talking to the sparrows?” Another look of confusion riddled the pup’s face as he sat staring blankly at the setter still.

”Featherish? What are you talking about? Were you seriously talking to the birds? Wait... Were they talking to you?” Now this was something unheard of, dogs talking to birds. Kono only heard the chirping noise, not the words that Falke obviously heard. How did he hear them? The chirping was just crazy nonsense to Kono and it really was yet another confusing place for a puppy to be. First the dog grows wings and now he can talk to the birds? Kono wondered if he could turn into a bird, maybe then he would understand them too. Though the though shook from his mind quickly, he didn’t want to be a bird, it was hard even thinking he wanted to be another dog. Maybe his shifting only stayed with dogs that would be quite enough for him. His powers were still shaky, though he was still young. Shifting into a dog of a different breed was an interesting enough but a whole other species was unheard of. That would be quite an interesting feat for sure.

[Punktestern]

Falcon shook himself, ridding himself of the lingering words of the sparrows, “I think I was. I could understand them, at least.” He looked at the sheltie, “Wait, you didn’t understand them? How could that be?” He wrinkled his brow, “First wings, now this. I think I’m going crazy.” He whined, “I don’t want to go crazy.” He had seen far too many dogs do just that, spiral into oblivion. This place just seemed to take all insanity, pull it right out.

He sighed, “I was talking to the birds, yes. I think they could understand me as well as I could understand them, but they didn’t make much sense.” He thought back over their conversation, if you could call it that, “I think Featherish may be their language, the way they were talking about it. I hope they come back; I have a bunch of questions. Maybe they can help us out.” There was no question of abandoning the sheltie now, Falcon thought.

Falcon thought back, they hadn’t even exchanged names. Then again, he couldn’t even remember his own name, because he had been referred to as Subject 997 for far too long. He thought about it, maybe he should just make a new name for himself? Something to reflect himself now, something that showed that he had some semblance of normal, despite his life being small, only a few paces by a few paces. Maybe some version of a bid name, that would do well for him now. Falcon thought about the bird of prey he had seen the last time he had been taken into the yard. The humans had called it a falcon. Something about the bird’s grace and power had stuck with him. Falcon smiled and nodded to himself, then looked into the other cage, “My name is Falke, by the way. Not Subject nine nine seven like it says on my cage. I think that’s just something the humans came up with to try to keep us in line.” He liked his new name, it sounded just like that falcon had looked, powerful and mysterious.

[Talon]

”That is pretty cool though, you understood the birds, I sure didn’t. I heard you talking to birds, but not the birds talking to you...” The young canine sat staring at the setter still. Listening to his words still, ”You’re not going to go crazy, just focus; we are not going to go crazy.” Finally the sheltie was starting to see the light, they couldn’t go crazy, they had to stay strong. ”They probably aren’t used to dogs talking to them. Maybe they will come back.” A bit of confidence might help the pair, surely birds could answer questions Falke had.

”I remember my name is Kono, that should be fine I guess, just another number to the humans. Nice to meet you Falke.” The young sheltie thought of his name, he had nearly forgotten it. Seven seven one four, just another number like the setter before him. Random numbers must have kept them in line for the humans, though took away each of their individualities. The numbers meant nothing to Kono, the young sheltie felt each individual dog, then again being each individual canine made it easier. He could feel the difference between each canine, their size, their body but came short on their mind. He had no idea how they felt, and if he did he would probably have been horrified.

Kono had no idea Falke had just made up his own name, a name was a name and happily Kono remembered his own. A name was something hard to remember after days and weeks locked in a cage. Any bit of his before life seemed to be gone, he could barely remember his brothers and sisters, his parents or even how he got to this place. This place was all the little sheltie could remember, the cages, the cries, this was the first he had ever seen changes, only hearing of these things from other dogs and now seeing it and being in it himself. It was all such a new ordeal; though the young puppy was still terrified this all struck a bit of curiosity and interest. They were different, never to be the same, though they were other things now. The dog had wings for crying out loud, that was anything short of amazing. Yes it was horrible, but so amazing at the same time. The pup had a hard time making up his mind on how this was, he could be other dogs, that was just amazing.

[Punktestern]

Falcon considered this, “You are right, it is kind of cool.” He was thinking about how this might help once they got out, if they ever got out. “Okay.” He concentrated on his paws, gathering his thoughts, “You’re right. We will make it out, somehow.” He had to believe in it, it was the only thing that had kept him sane in the long months since his capture, “Maybe when the birds come back they will help us get out.” He thought about the sparrow’s beaks, measuring them with the latches on the doors. “My cage doesn’t have a lock on it, does yours?” He had noticed this earlier in the day. His cage usually had a lock on it, but today it was only held shut by a small latch that was too far out of reach. The bars of the cage were too close together for his paws to fit through anyway, so it didn’t matter just now.

The mahogany head slanted to the side as its owner considered the name, storing it forever in his memory, “Kono, that is a nice name.” He smiled, knowing that he wouldn’t forget this dog, not ever. “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well.” Numbers meant nothing to dogs, yet it was their only identity in this world of bars and steel. As a human came into the room, Falke shrank against the back wall of his cage, his wings held aloft awkwardly. The human glanced around the room and wrote something down on a clipboard, then walked over to Kono’s cage. The human stretched out a gloved hand and grabbed Kono, saying out loud to someone, “I thought this cage was supposed to have a Shetland Sheepdog.” He called out, “Boss? There’s a second setter with wings in here. I thought there was only supposed to be one?” A grunted reply, and the human let go of Kono, shrugging, “Whatever you say, boss.” Falke watched as the human latched the cage door again and then walked off. Once he was a safe distance away, the setter whispered to Kono, “Are you okay? Did the human hurt you or anything?”

[Talon]

Kono smiled a bit to Falke, ”Stay positive, we will get out of here.” Vocals of agreement, when Falke spoke of the birds the sheltie wondered if he could hear them too. He doubted it, he had no idea how the setter felt. The thoughts shaken from the sheltie’s, now matching setter, mind and dark eyes peered at the latches of the door of his cage. ”It doesn’t look locked but I can’t reach it.” The shifter’s nose tried to reach the lock but it came nowhere near the latch on his cage. ”Considering the circumstances it is nice to meet you.” Trying to stay positive was really hard but it was ok with company. The sheltie had no idea when to do when the human came in the room, just froze quietly.

The human grabbed him and dragged him forward taking a look at him and hollering to another human. The words really didn’t make much sense to Kono as the human simply let go of him and walked away. When the human was out of sight Kono sighed in relief almost immediately changing back into his sheltie form. Oh he liked being himself more than any other. ”No he didn’t do anything...” The sheltie was a bit confused as the door was heard opening again. ”You idiot I’ll check!” The human male’s voice was heard, not the same human maybe the one he had called to. Reaching Kono’s cage again the human male shook his head. ”You idiot this is a Shetland Sheepdog!” Opening the cage once again the new human grabbed the sheltie and carried him down the hall.

A couple minutes rolled by, maybe it was longer, though no more than twenty minutes. A human returned with a drowsy Sheltie in his arms. Placed the canine back in his cage and walked away after latching it up. Another set of shots, these ones were pretty rough in his eyes. Why was he getting more shots? Oh well, droopy eyes looked over at Falke and the tired figure sighed. ”More shots.” Kono knew the question coming to him, though the answer seemed more obvious than anything, of course they took him out for more shots, why else would they take him out? These shots were new, more of them at a time than before, but little did the sheltie know one day he would not only be a shifter, but be able to ghost a while invisible he would be able to walk through walls such as concrete and wood, metal would be a tricky substance.

[Punktestern]

Falke nodded, trembling. How could he stay positive, in this place? He had wings, and now he could understand what the birds were saying! As the sheltie said that his latch wasn’t locked either, Falke began to plan, thinking out loud, “Maybe the birds could grab the latches?” That would work. The sparrows’ beaks were so small; they should be able to grip the little things with ease. At the other comment, a small grin broke across his face. Of course, a friend made the whole ordeal somewhat more bearable.

After the human, as the sheltie was himself again, Falke pushed himself at the bars that separated them, trying to reach his friend, to comfort him. As the second human walked into the room, he drew back again. As they carried Kono away, Falke started howling, wailing his song. His voice started many dogs barking, and soon the room was a cacophony of noise, each dog trying to bark the loudest. When they reached their peak, the first human came back into the room and rapped on a couple of cages, “Shut up, pests!” Falke quieted immediately, luckily escaping notice. If one of the humans noticed you, that wasn’t a good idea. Not at all, it usually meant more shots.

As was proved when Kono was brought back in. Falke whined in sympathy as the sheltie confirmed the obvious. It was either that they were being given shots, or that they were being taken out into the pens, that they were taken out of their cages. Personally, Falke thought, I’d prefer to be let out of here, but like that’s going to happen. He snorted scornfully, then looked at Kono, “Are you okay?” He looked out the window. Of course he wouldn’t be okay, he berated himself. He just got injected with more of that horrible stuff. He pressed against the bars again, this time peering out at the sky. He thought he had just seen a speck of black. Did that mean the birds were coming back? The speck of black grew larger and larger, and Falke folded to the ground, unconscious.

[Talon]

The young sheltie didn’t have much time to finish his conversation with his new friend before the human carried him off. Setting his head down as he was carried he stared back at his new friend, listening to the howling and barking from the room. It was a bit comforting to a canine in the labs that others seemed to care, though Falke’s howl was the only clear distress in his mind.

A human returned with a drowsy Sheltie in his arms. Placed the canine back in his cage and walked away after latching it up. Another set of shots, these ones were pretty rough in his eyes. Why was he getting more shots? Oh well, droopy eyes looked over at Falke and the tired figure sighed. ”More shots.” Getting pounded with shots daily really brought a bit of hard times on any canine, even puppy shots were nothing compared to all this. Kono’s mind seemed to be flashing around everywhere hardly focusing on his new friend at all. He could also feel himself getting sick again, though this time it was not sneezing, there was something else wrong. The new fluids roamed around in his system tearing his mind and body apart. He felt so much pain that could never be explained. His body shook slowly as his mind finally let the setter’s words through. “I think so, it burns..” The shelties mind faded again as his body trembled in pain.

Having no idea what was going on made it difficult to gauge his own pain. His mind faded back to his past, then in a flash he was back in the cage, whining a bit in his own pain. The feeling was odd and nothing like the previous shots, the liquid burning through his veins. The humans obviously saw something in this little canine, they kept injecting him over and over again. Though as the time slowly passed in his mind he didn’t see anything the humans had seen in him. Only seeing the pain he now laid in. It seemed like forever though only a couple minutes before the pain just disappeared. Multi color eyes looking to his new friend, realising now the setter had folded down and seemed lifeless. Howling out the young sheltie pawed at the bars between them. “Falke?! Hey Buddy wake up! Are you ok?! Falke!?!?!” Clear distress in the canine’s voice as he still trembled still pawing at the cage between them. Just simply trying to get his friend’s attention, hoping he was alright.

[Punktestern]

Falke watched his friend be carried off. There was no reason for them to keep taking him. The din he started, it was his way of protesting their treatment, their enslavement. Effective it was not, but at the very least, it showed the humans that they did not have complete control over the dogs they thought they had captured. In the physical aspect, they were prisoners, but Falke refused to let go of the possibility that they would never go free. Hope was they only thing that kept them alive in this dark, dismal place. Those that did not have hope… He looked over to where one dog sat, not joining in the raucous noise. That dog had just given up, and even under Falke’s gaze, he toppled over, eyes glazing and the spark of life fleeing, fleeing away to one of the millions of places that would be better than here. But Falke did not envy him, he couldn’t. He shook his head, mentally chiding himself. If he thought about that way of escape, he would end up like that dog, now just a lifeless puppet.
***************************About half an hour later******************************
Falke woke up and looked around, somewhat groggily. They metal bars that interlaced above his eyes made no sense to him; neither did the dog that was seemingly floating above him. The setter’s eyes were the only thing that gave anything away, roving from one place to the next, taking in the whole scene as his brain tried to comprehend where in the world he was. It clicked, then, and with the weight of a car, he remembered where he was. He was trapped in a cage, and that dog wasn’t floating above him, rather, the sheltie was standing beside him, looking at him through the metal grate that constituted the cage separating them. He blinked, and then tried rising to his paws, but the effort was too much for him, and he sagged, staying where he was. Moving his chin onto his paws, he gazed at the sheepdog in front of him, trying to remember the name, but it kept slipping away, just as he was about to grasp it.
“What happened to me?”