Rabid Recall: CH7 - Happy Ending

Seventh prompt.
In this final chapter, wrap up the plot. It is not necessary to kill anybody in this chapter, just don't leave me with a cliffhanger or unanswered questions. If you created a mystery earlier on, explain it now. Sounds easy so far? Good, because I think this round was tough. But, just to not spoil the fun entirely, find a way to incorporate the phrase a child's laughter. It could be a metaphore, or an actual child, surprise me.
Remember to highlight the prompt words/phrases in bold, or ALL CAPITALS, or color.
Due on or before October 29, 2009; 11:59PM WDC time.

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Rabid Recall

Chapter 7 - A Happy Ending

by Indelibleink

Silhouetted by the light of the full moon, Shaun peered on in horror for a few seconds as he watched his brother undergoing an un-Godly transformation into some type of four-legged creature. About half-way through, Shaun gasped slightly. Larry's partially-transformed dog face spun around to see Shaun peering around the door. Larry growled, and sprang from haunches that were now fully developed.

Shaun backed up through the door and screamed as loud as his terrified vocal chords would permit and took off down the hallway towards his parents' bedroom. As soon as he heard the being that once had been his brother enter the hallway, he heard what sounded like some sort of commotion, then a loud "crack", followed by a different sound: the voice of his father. The hallway lights went on.

"It's okay, Shaun. It's safe now."

Shaun turned around to see his dad, holding a baseball bat, standing over the struggling form of Larry tangled in a heavy type of netting, the type similar to that used by commercial fishermen. Still dazed from being smacked by the bat while an animal, Larry was now almost fully transformed back into a human.

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Eddie and Elizabeth sat on the couch and stared at the toasty fire raging in the fireplace. It felt good. Elizabeth looked at Eddie and said, "The whole thing was sort of surreal, wasn't it?"

Eddie turned and answered his wife. "Surreal? Yeah...that sounds about right. You know, they're still not sure about when or where Larry received the bite that started all of this - Larry thinks it might have happened when he was petting a stray golden retriever on the way to school one day."

"Eddie, what about the bloody AKC papers for Happy?"

"Paper cut. I had gotten a paper cut when I was putting the papers into my pocket, and totally forgot about it. Actually, didn't even realize I was bleeding until later. The blood was mine."

"Okay. What about Larry's aversion to Happy, and vice-versa?"

"According to the shrink, and some other specialists that were called in, Larry was naturally confused as he was slowly becoming a four-legged creature. So there was a built-in competitive dislike of Happy, and Happy sensed that Larry was, in turn, not human, which had Happy very 'suspicious' - for lack of a better term - of Larry."

"I don't get Larry's suicide attempt. Why, if he was 'possessed', did he try to kill himself?"

"According to the psychiatrist, Larry talked of seeing a water-coloring in Shaun's room and a dog was staring at him & growling. Another time, I understand there was a guy on TV who was trying to contact Larry, but evidently Happy's presence interfered with the messages. These supposedly were attempts at communicating to Larry his 'mission of evil', but Larry only was getting part of the message at times. And, since he was constantly in a period of 'transition' or even, 'transformation', Larry himself was at times very confused. He simply reached a point when, as 'Larry', he apparently disobeyed a command to kill either Happy or Shaun, and instead tried to take his own life. Later, the power became too strong to resist."

"Eddie, thank God it wasn't worse than it was. What about the incident at the back door when you wanted Larry to let Happy in?"

"As long as the demon was within, Larry would always feel threatened concerning any interaction with Happy, and once he got to the back door the demon inside Larry tried to 'set Happy up' by staging an attack by Happy, by biting himself and pretending Happy did it."

"And poor Lois?"

"Well, Lizzy, that really was an accident. When Lois was talking to Larry, she apparently said something that triggered Larry into 'transformation'. Seeing this occurring before her very eyes was apparently too much for her heart. Happy was just trying to figure out what was going on when we saw him standing over her. Meanwhile, Larry had reversed the transformation and went back on the couch to appear innocent."

"Eddie, we're really lucky that they're able to treat Larry's 'condition' just like a virus, and that he will be 100% after that, at least physically." 

Their conversation was interrupted briefly by the yelp of a dog, which immediately had the couple running in the direction of the sound, towards the dining room window. Before they arrived there, however, they were calmed by the sound of a child's laughter. Looking out the window, they saw Shaun wrestling happily with his buddy, Happy, on the ground. The parents looked at each other, gave out a collective sigh, smiled, and returned to the couch.

Meanwhile, a golden retriever with no collar slowly ambled up the driveway...


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