Nearly an hour had passed and there was still no sign of Zanara, or Christine and Brian. The others were just starting to worry. Ty stood up out of the chair and started walking towards the door.
"I think I'd better check on Christine and Brian," he said.
But before he could leave, the door opened and standing on the other side was Zanara. Ty stepped aside as Zanara made her way through the door.
"I'm so sorry for taking so long," she said.
"Did you see Christine and Brian?" asked Ty.
She nodded. "Yes, they have already been escorted to their rooms," she said. "I've come to show you to your rooms now."
"Rooms?!" replied Mike. "I thought you were gonna help us return to our world."
"I told you, you must rest before the journey," she said.
"I already feel rested enough," said Mike.
"I understand you wish to leave now, and that your bodies might be well rested, but the mind needs rest before the journey more than the body," she replied.
And with that, she led them to another room with four beds. "You may relax here for the night," said Zanara. "I'll fetch you some drinks before you sleep."
Zanara left the room while the others adjusted to their new quarters. Ty sat down on the bed.
"There's something strange about this bed," he said. "It feels a bit prickly."
"Your just imagining things, Ty," said Joe.
"It feels comfortable to me," said Mike.
Soon after, Zanara returned with four glasses of water on a pallet. She offered a glass to each of the boys. "If you have everything you need, I'll step out and prepare for your journey." Then she left the room again.
After each of them took a drink, they removed their clothes and climbed into their beds.
"Don't you find it at least a bit odd that we haven't seen Christine or Brian lately," said Ty.
"Well, she did say they were already escorted to their rooms," said Dustin. "I think we should just relax and get some sleep."
And so they did!
The morning sun arose and Ty was the first to wake up. He didn't quite feel like himself this morning though. And of course, as soon as he had woke up, the others started to rise and remove their covers as well. But when he saw what was under the covers, his jaw dropped in shock. Ahead of him, in Joe's bed, he saw a raccoon on the bed. Ty looked at the other beds and saw in Dustin's bed, a female kangaroo appeared out from under the covers, pouch and all. And then Ty looked over at Mike's bed, and saw a cow in the bed. Mike stood up and looked over himself, "Of course!"
Finally, Ty removed his covers and looked over himself. He was covered in black and white fur, with a striped bushy tail. Then it occurred to him, he had been transformed into a skunk. Fortunately for him and Joe, they still had their male members.
Ty tried to exit the bed, but found that he couldn't. Something was keeping him from jumping off the bed. Suddenly the room started to change. Everything in the room disappeared and the four boys found themselves no longer in four beds, but now in four cages filled with straw on the floor of the cage.
"I told you it felt prickly," said Ty.
Then suddenly the door opened and Zanara entered the room.