Ellen walked into the shop with a certain amount of apprehension. She had passed the shop several times in the past and been curious, but didn’t dare go in. However, this time was different. She was on a quest for a very special present for her eldest son and knew that this would be the place to get it. She just wasn’t sure what to get him, or what she dared get him.
The store had several tables displaying various trinkets and potions at the front and beyond that the store was filled with tall shelves that displayed all sorts of items. Ellen barely had a chance to take it all in when she was greeted by the proprietor as she emerged from the back of the store. She was dressed simply in a red blouse and a pair of blue jeans as she walked over to Ellen.
“Hi! Welcome to the Choose Your Own Change store. I’m Amanda. Can I help you find something?” she asked.
“I hope so,” Ellen’s eyes looked over the store. “I’m looking for a gift for my eldest son, Nate. It's been a rough year, so I wanted to get him something really special.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful. Any idea what you’re looking for?”
Ellen let out a deep sigh. “I was picking up his room a bit when I found a notebook he had been keeping. It was filled with these stories. They were all stories with him as a main character…”
“Uh-huh…” Amanda tried to sound as open and accepting as possible.
“They were all stories of him turning into an animal. It was really weird.”
“Oh there is nothing weird about that at all. I have many items that he would love. Tell me, what was he wanting to turn into?” Amanda gave Ellen a reassuring smile.
“Umm...well, there were a number of them where he turned into a werewolf.” Ellen tried to think of the stories she had read. “Then there was also a dog. A big shaggy dog. There were a number of those. And one where he turned into a big dragon. That might be a bit much though. I don’t know…oh, and a Satyr, a centaur, a merman...”
Amanda let out a bit of a laugh. “Ok, so we have plenty of options then. We’ll have to find him the perfect thing. Let’s see, where to start…”
Amanda started walking through the store, scanning the aisles. She grabbed a bottle off the wall and offered it to Ellen. “Lycanthropy in a bottle. Guaranteed to bring your son’s inner beast out on the night before, the night of and the night following the full moon.”
“Oooh, that would be a good possibility.” Ellen took the bottle from Amanda as she followed her through the store.
“And then here we have an assortment of dog collars. Just put them on, say the incantation on the collar and he transforms into the four legged canine of his choice.” Amanda scanned the collars of differing sizes and then selected one. “Here you go, Old English Sheepdog. That would be what he is looking for I bet.”
Ellen took that one in hand as well. Her head was swimming with possibilities. How was she ever going to be able to choose? Especially as Amanda handed her potions promising to turn her son into a centaur or a Satyr or a dragon as well.
"Come on, let's go to the register and you can decide what you'd like to get him." Amanda gestured for Ellen to follow her. Ellen set the items down on the counter. She was having trouble believing any of this was real, let alone that she was choosing to allow her son to transform himself. "So, which will it be?"