The first thing that the Father realised was that he felt a little warmer. The second, was that he was very confused.

'What on earth has happened... he thought to himself.

He looked at his wife and child, changed like him. She seemed confused too, not frightened. Yet why? Moments ago they had been a normal family and now they had become....

***

On the sun-soaked day, not a puff of white in the endless blue sky, the three had found this beach empty to their surprise and delight. With no one else around, they thought they could enjoy the sands. It seemed to not be closed off, no signs warned of dangers, but this beautiful shore was empty of everything. The Mother and Father had sat down to relax, as the Child had elected to do what all children would do on a beach, and ran riot. He had relaxed in the sun, lying back on a towel as his wife sat watching the waves. He'd closed his eyes, but not to sleep, just to take his sunglasses off and rest them.

Then the sunlight on his eyelids had dimmed, going behind a cloud? His eyes had stayed closed even as he mentally cursed the event.  He was just feeling relaxed as the sun had been blocked...

...But the sky had been clear.

"Daddy, Daddy! The sun went out!" He heard his child cry out.

He sat up, but opening his eyes, he saw nothing. There was no light at all...

Then the light had come back, the sun as bright as ever, like it had never gone away.  He stared in confusion at the sky, wincing in the light and reaching for his sunglasses with... his paw. He looked down at himself, at his orange and white fur, and realised why he felt that slight raise in temperature.

'...A Fox?'

His wife sat with her hat in front of her, her brown Otter fur  contrasting with the  short blonde hair she still retained. His own original hair was not too different a shade from most of his new fur. Meanwhile, his child stared in confusion at the red plastic shovel, the black and white Skunk also retaining some hair, the same colour inherited his wife.

He felt bewilderment as many thoughts struggled for dominance. What was this? How had this happened? Was this a dream? Was this real? Why do I not feel frightened? Can we talk? Is it just us that have changed? Have we even changed?

He had an answer to one question a moment later.

"...Daddy, what happened?" The Child said, voice made slightly more high pitched, but still somewhat familiar sounding. He and his wife looked at their child.

"I... I don't know." He said, hearing his own, slightly rougher voice.

"The whole place just went black, and we changed. Where are our clothes? Did they change with us?" The Mother asked, face still bewildered, not frightened.

He was silent as he reached with one paw to the other, prodding down on the strange limb. He felt the pressure. Not a dream, reality, they had changed...

"They must have. We weren't wearing the things that are left." He reasoned, a voice still pondering why he wasn't running around in terror. He, his wife, his child... His whole family and he were now animals, talking animals!

"Daddy, if we're animals, why can we talk?" The Child asked.

"We don't know. There's a lot to figure out, darling." His wife said.

"Oh. Will I be the only Skunk at school? I want to spray some of the annoying people!" The Child said happily.

"Wait here." The Father said, dashing up the beach, back to the road.

He found that as a fox, he was cursing the warm sun he had been enjoying mere moments before. He also found he ran faster, and could smell the salty sea air much more intensely. But he could not smell anything else but the scents of what he assumed were his wife and child. His child of course did not have a very enjoyable overall aroma now, which could be just one future problem, he realised.

The most current problem was that the road was deserted. Not a soul for miles, even with his much sharper new eyes. He looked at the car and realised another problem. Even if paws could steer and press pedals, the keys had been in his pockets.

His pockets, that had presumably been absorbed into him during the change.

'Oh dear...'

He ran back down, the bad news fresh in his mind.

"Er, I just realised a problem. The car is useless..."

"I was thinking about that. I could push the pedals, you could try and steer..." His wife said.

"No... The keys. They were in my pocket, and the car is locked."

"Do we have to walk back to town, Daddy?" The Child asked, alarmed.

"I think so." He confessed. His child groaned.

"But it's miles and miles!"

"I know it's a very long walk, but now we have to try and find some help. We'll not get anything done sitting here."  The Father said.

"Okay, Daddy..." The Child grumbled.

The three walked up the beach to the road, leaving their last few remaining items behind.  The Father's mind still questioned what was going on. Would they even find anyone? How would they know if the first animal they met wasn't someone like them? What if they walked into the town and no one else was changed?  It made him feel uneasy...

The Child grumbled again. That too was disconcerting, his child so displeased... Well, that he could deal with for now.

"Climb onto my back. Maybe I can carry you some of the way."

His child was delighted, jumping up not gently. He grunted as the weight of the skunk landed, but didn't complain. One problem solved now, but a long road ahead... And many questions that his mind couldn't answer...