Lucas looked at the funny picture he'd made of his brother. It was good, one of the best he'd drawn, but there was more he could do. Coloring it in a bit more would probably help. Picking up the brown crayon he'd already used, the perfect shade for hyena fur, he looked it over, marveling how the point was still perfect despite the amount of use it had gotten. In fact all the crayons were like that and the colors...
The box said '96 Colors' which he knew was a lot, but every time he looked he always found the exact one he needed.
It was like the crayons were magic or something.
The thought made him smile, a box of magical crayons that never got dull or broke, where every color he grabed was always the exact one he needed.
Wasn't that a neat idea?
Smiling at the thought, he began to color in his brother's face.
=====
In the kitchen I opened the fridge and sniffed, quickly grabbing the meatloaf and putting it on a plate to microwave.
Meatloaf had never been one of my favorites and I hadn't expected my new, enhanced sense of smell to make it any better, but for some reason I couldn't help but drool as it started to warm up. Something about the smell of the cooking meat, the fats and oils in it got my stomach growling and with my ears I could actually hear it sizzling faintly as it heated up.
Just as the microwave beeped the tingling started again, this time all over my whole face.
Letting out a groan I brought my hands up, wondering what would happen next.
The tingling grew stronger, becoming an intense itch, and as I scratched I could feel little hairs rising up under my fingers, short and coarse, like the ones on my muzzle.
So fur, not hair and even my scalp itched, strange since I already had hair there. Except when I brought my hands up I could feel it growing shorter, shrinking back into my skull until all that was left was fur, just like on the rest of my face. No, not quite, about half way down the back of my head I could feel a line of longer fun, a short mane that extended down my neck, stopping just above my shoulders.
The muzzle, ears, and now the mane. Something about it was familiar, too familiar, but I couldn't place it, not yet at least.
The microwave beeped again, reminding me that the meatloaf was ready, and even though the tingling hadn't stopped I was hungry and the food smelled too good to ignore.
Taking it out I brought it to the table and grabbed a fork and knife while it cooled.
The first bite was nearly too hot to eat, but I gulped it down anyway, enjoying the salty, savory flavor more than I could recall in the past.
Noisily licking my muzzle I took another, larger bite and gulped it down, barely chewing, not that my new teeth seemed terribly well designed for chewing to begin with. Gulping it down felt natural, something that I was doing reflexively.
All the while my face continued to tingle and I could feel other changes happening. Bones creaked and popped as my skull grew broader and flatter, muscles bulging to support my powerful jaws. The feeling rippled down my neck and I pulled at the collar of my shirt, which suddenly felt too tight. My neck had grown thicker, longer too, to support the heavier muscles and bones of my skull and it was hardly a surprise that I felt fur there, though it seemed to stop at the base of my neck.
Slowly the tingling faded, though the itching lingered around the collar of my shirt, where it rubbed against the fur there.
Swallowing nervously, I felt the muscles of my neck move against the too-tight collar of my shirt.
Tasty as it was, the meatloaf could wait.
Rushing back to the bathroom I looked in the mirror and the face staring back at me was unmistakable.
From the neck up I was a hyena.
"What?"
Or at least that was what I tried to say, the word came out as a soft laughing grunt.
I tried again with the same results, a harsh, fearful giggling sound.
Terrified, I rubbed at my neck and mouth, as though that could force words out.
"Hey, whatcha doing?"
Letting out a loud whoop of surprise I turned and found Lucas staring at me, his eyes wide.
"Don't worry, it's me!" I tried to say, but all that came out was a series of whoops and shrill whines. I legitimately couldn't do anything more than make animal sounds, even as I tried to reassure my little brother to keep him form panicking.
Instead of screaming or yelling Lucas broke into a huge smile.
"This is so cool!" He laughed, "Just like the picture I drew!"
What?
My ears tilted towards him and I let out a little yip of surprise. What was he talking about?
"My crayons really are magic! let me show you!"
He rushed off to his room and I followed quickly behind him, wondering exactly what was going on. What was he talking about with magic crayons?
"This is the best Christmas gift ever!" He shouted gleefully from his room.