A New Family #WeeklyShortShortNote #Henjinshiki

It was a ritual.
A simple ceremony held in each home, involving neither the government nor any religion.
The day a pet is turned into a human.
They call it the "Henjinshiki" (Human-Transformation Ceremony).
You declare, "From today, you are a human."
Then you inject the drug, and once they transform into a human, it is complete.
At our house, Pochi's transformation ceremony took place.
It was decided at a family meeting, and no one raised any objections.

The next day, Pochi walked on two legs.
We do not create a family register.
He is simply treated as family.

Problems arose immediately.
Habits like his eating style and barking could not be broken.
Even though he had the form of a human, he was still different from one.
"You'll get used to it," my mother said.

One week later.
"How long are you going to act like a dog!"
My father shouted.
At that moment, Pochi hung his head low and put his hands on the floor.
He no longer had a tail. Even so, he made the gesture of wagging one.

After that, Pochi barely spoke.
He stood in the corner of the house as if waiting for orders.
My mother said,
"He was cuter before, wasn't he?"
Pochi brought out the collar he wore when he was a dog.
And then, he put it around his own neck.

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