Hannah rolled nine. Reluctantly, Dave picked up his new dice. "Well, here goes..." He tossed them down and they came up only three.
"Sorry," Hannah said. "I tried to roll as low as I could."
Dave picked up the next card.
It's time to grow
And hit your stride.
Perhaps this time
You'll have more pride.
His shirt began to tighten around him. "Yes! I'm aging back!" His celebration was short lived, however, as he realized his fingernails were growing sharper. "Crap." Soon his hands had increased in bulk, with a light layer of yellow fur. His hair turned bright red-orange and grew thicker. It grew from his cheeks and around his neck. His ears furred up and moved to the top of his head as his nose flattened and grew into a short muzzle. His teeth got sharper and whiskers grew from the sides of his mouth. Finally, a yellow tail grew from his back, a tuft of red-orange fur marking its end. He now had the head, claws and tail of a lion.
"At least I'm not nine anymore," Dave said, trying to look on the bright side.
Hannah moved her piece past Tom, Dave and Sue to take the lead. Her counter came to a split in the path. One was unobstructed and continued a wider circumference. The other had a slightly more direct path toward the lamp in the center of the board. This path, however, was blocked by a door.
"You'll need my key to open it. Here--" Tom attempted to give Hannah his key, but as he extended his hand, some invisible force was stopping it as if there was a plate of clear glass between him and Hannah.
"Looks like items can't be traded," Hannah mused. It's okay, you can take the short cut, I'll go the scenic route." Hannah continued past the door, staying on the outside track.