Jen sighed. Her day was going horribly: a zero on her quiz, a detention, and now she was over 150 feet long! She looked around the empty hallway, hearing indistinct chatter from neighboring classrooms. Dejected, she decided to head home.
She felt her 354 legs step in unison with each other, trailing long behind her. She opened the door, heading down the stairs, feeling the door somewhat painfully bounce off of each of her 177 hips. It felt like it took forever, Jen not quite having realized just how long her body was now. Eventually, she felt her last hip hit the door, not even hearing it slam behind her; she was now so far from it as to make it inaudible. She walked head-down through town towards home, eventually having to cross at a light. She waited for the green light, and began to cross, paying no mind to the crossing guard.
She crossed, not noticing her entire body had not quite walked through the intersection when the light turned red. She heard a whistle blare. "Oh, no," she thought, turning around, seeing the crossing guard run after her.
"Young lady, you know you can't cross on a red, right?" he demanded.
"Yes, but I was already throu-"
"Don't make excuses, I saw you cross on the red," he said, pointing back. Jen saw in the distance her last few legs were still in the intersection. She sighed.
"I should write you a ticket, young lady, but today I think I'll let you go. You seem to be having a bad day," he said. Jen's mood lightened, and she got an idea, to prevent this from happening again. While she was thinking, the guard turned around, walking away.
"Sir, wait!" she called out.
"Yes, ma'am?"
"May I ask you a question?"
"Go ahead."
"Transform or dare?" Jen said, smiling to herself.
"Seriously? The town curse? We all know that's fake. I'll indulge you anyway, not like I have anything else to do... let's see, dare!"
"I dare you to change my curse and then say transform or dare to me, and when I say dare, you'll dare me to always have the curse no matter who I ask 'transform or dare' to!"
"Alright, well, lady, instead of gaining one pair of legs per lie... you'll gain 10. And to make this easier," he said, counting her legs, "I'll bump you up to 180. Also, you'll always have the curse no matter to whom you ask 'Transform or dare?'"
Jen stood aghast, feeling three pairs of legs grow behind her. She was livid, but thought better than to attack the officer, instead opting to thank him and that she hopes he has a good day. She stormed off, feeling her 180 pairs of legs trail behind her. Eventually, she reached home, opening the unlatched door - her mom usually arrived home by now, as she worked for a half-day kindergarten. Jen found her sitting at the table.
"Well, looks like you're home early," Jen's mom said, looking up from her lunch.
"Yeah, I didn't feel too good..." she said, lying. "Stomach bug." she said, 5 more adding on.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Are you sure, let me feel you." she said, jumping up before Jen could react, and feeling her forehead.
"No fever! Jennifer Smith, are you lying to me?" she demanded.
"I- No! I wouldn't lie about that!" she said, 10 more adding on. She now had 200 legs, most of them still trailing outside as she stood in the kitchen.
"Alright," she said, suspiciously, obviously not believing Jen. "In that case, is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"
"N-well, I, uh, transform or dare!" Jen blurted out, covering her mouth in shock. How could I be so stupid as to say that, she thought to herself.
"Jen, this is not the time for those games! Dare, if you must,"
"I...I dare you to fix my body! Please, I didn't use to have this many legs!"
"Jen, you know that's preposterous. We know your medical condition, you've always had this many! Well, because you said you weren't lying to me earlier, I guess I'll just have to prove that. For each lie you tell, you'll gain 10 legs, and for good measure... let's have your current number double!"
"No, mom, Please!" Jen cried, feeling a lurching sensation. She turned around, unable to see the end of her through the open door. She walked outside, squeezing past her own hips to watch, mouth agape, as her legs piled on. 200... 250... 300... 350... 400! They piled on tens by the minute, several minutes passing before the tingling growth sensation slowed. Jen cried, she was left with 400 legs! She couldn't even fit in her own home anymore! Jen turned around, ready to yell at her mom, but something stopped her. She felt her mind shift, realizing she now had no parents; no one could birth a creature as long as her, so she was now an orphan, a rejected experiment of science. She walked to the local park, crawling herself into as tight a ball as a girl with 800 legs could, and cried.
--
Jen now has 400 legs, and is 399 feet long. She gains 10 pairs of legs per lie.