Low Tide

"Hey," Heather called out from the back door. "I thought of something."

"What's that?" Frank asked absent-mindedly as he blended blue and red to make ocean water.

"We haven't been swimming since last summer."

"Oh, you're right," Frank said, surprised. "We should practice before we go to Florida."

"Two steps ahead of you! Put your trunks on."

"But it's dark out, and we're miles from the lake," Frank sputtered.

"Just trust me," Heather teased. "I'll go change, too. Race you!"

With his best skeptical smile, Frank put down his pencils and headed for the bedroom. Heather already was in the closet to get her swimsuit. Frank went to the dresser and dug around for his trunks. He finally found them, and with a shrug, undressed to put them on.

To his dismay, they barely stayed up. He tugged at the drawstring, but willpower was still all that kept them from sagging. "Heather?" he whimpered.

His wife emerged from the closet with the same predicament; both bikini top and bottom were too loose for comfort. They looked at each other and both began to laugh.

"I guess we stretched them to the limit last time," Heather suggested once she caught her breath.

"We're definitely gonna need new ones for Florida," Frank observed. "Maybe I can raise the money by—"

"Oh, stop. I have a surprise for you now."

Frank's eyebrows rose, and he followed Heather to the back door and out into the yard.

As his eyes adjusted, he could see the outline of an inflatable pool, too small to swim in, but big enough they both could wade at least up to their knees.

"Now we can practice," Heather said with a wink.

Grinning, Frank led the way to the pool and slowly stepped in. Once he was in, Heather followed. They stood facing each other and were silent for a moment. Heather put her hands on Frank's shoulders.

"It's been almost a year," she sighed. "Happy anniversary, sort of."

"Wow," Frank stammered, looking down and back up again. "It's been… quite a year, hasn't it?"

"I wouldn't trade it," Heather replied. And they kissed.

Frank looked up and saw the moon. It wasn't full yet, so it shouldn't matter, right? The more Frank thought about it, and kissed, the more unsure he got. Then he felt fangs against his tongue.

Heather laughed and went on kissing him. They wrapped their arms around each other, and Frank noticed Heather's arms felt hairier, too. They rocked back and forth, kissing and not caring about anything else.

As Frank's legs grew hairier, he became aware of water rushing past them. It didn't concern him until he realized the water level was lower: a lot lower. As the gushing continued, Frank found the water hardly covered his hind paws.

"Whoops," Heather remarked, lifting a leg. Frank admired her claws, then realized they'd punctured the pool as soon as they'd started to change. Now they stood on a deflated pool with scarcely a puddle to splash in.

"So much for swimming practice," Heather snarled.

"I don't care if you don't," Frank offered with a wild look in his eye.

Heather yipped, and Frank pulled her down onto the ruined pool. They made out with each other on the slick plastic as their bodies reshaped, and then some, once comfortable on all fours. Eventually they moved onto the wet grass and remained there until morning.