The next day I touched the head of our dear dog Hotame, and my vision got a golden sheen as I felt the spirit of Hotame and asked him to do something more complicated than I've ever asked him before. As soon as I was done he left and immediately did as I asked; he ran around the house, patrolled the property's perimeter, ran inside, jumped on our children's beds, and returned to me. It was remarkable, like nothing I had ever seen, perfect. Soon I tried it again, and again. Eventually, I realized, that while physically it took no effort at all, it was taxing upon my spirit. But like the body and the mind, the spirit can be exercised as well, learn to gain endurance. I had thought myself to be strong in spirit, but the truth was I had never had to exercise it before. That has changed, and so will I to adapt.

one must first understand them, and now I do...

Hotame remains my faithful companion in discovering my new "Gifts." I now fully understand his desires and meanings because I hear his voice and the voice that all animals speak in. It's uncanny, incredible even. I barely even noticed that his eyes had a golden sheen, I heard no normal animal noise from him, nor any others when I communicated with them. But now I hear every claim the birds make of their territories in the morning, every statement as to what belongs to whom, every inquiry as to each other's intentions. My children even asked why the animals nearby have such pretty eyes. I think back at the costs of what it took me to earn this great gift and it harrows me. I must keep my resolve and remember what this will do for my goals.

This will shape my entire life...

I recall in the world I lived in there was a theory about how some people were from the world where there were The Berenstein Bears, but that that world had The Berenstain Bears. I think I went the other way now. I remember there was an organization called OWL, that existed to help preserve cryptid life. I had planned to aid them, maybe become their spokesman. Now they don't exist. There's no CryptoLeaks. So many things that I knew are now gone. Everything since that last contract feels like it has come from The Twilight Zone. I think there's something at work behind the scenes in this dark new world. I feel paranoid, but I know the world around me is different, this isn't my world, my old world contained my purpose, this one only contains my life. My family, my tribe, my children, they're all here, but it's not the same. I need to explore this world more, maybe I can do a contract, see if these changes ended up being a good thing. Things were getting dark in my old world, will they grow light in this one?