You wake up slowly the next morning. At least, you think it's morning, everything's very dim. Suddenly you hear a sound of something large moving, and the light pierces your eyes.
"Awk! That's bright!" you squawk as you rub the sleep from your eyes while wondering what changed this time. The answer comes swiftly in the form of Max's booming voice.
"Morning, [your name!] Sleep well?"
You jerk back in shock - Max is a giant!
You look around to see you're no longer in the outdoor enclosure, but inside a giant form of Max's room, in an equally giant bird cage.
"Wh-what am I doing in this cage??"
"Haha, man, you really are out of it when you first wake up. This is your room now, remember? Earlier this week my Mom - well, technically her ornithology lab - is your legal guardian. Our parents cooked this up when you said you wanted to be my pet."
It dawns on you, suddenly - you know what changed. You shrank! You're the size of a normal raven now! You look yourself over and find no other changes - no, wait. There's a plastic band around your foot.
"Uh, what's this?"
"Seriously? You begged Mom to band you like one of the migratory ravens, and now you forget what it is?"
"Oh, um, no no, I'm just...groggy, is all."
"No worries. Here's your feed."
He fills your feed, and you look out the window and spy the enclosure, still very much there.
"Hey, uh, again, brain's slow to start this morning, but why do I sleep in the cage instead of the enclosure?"
"Because, sleepy head, unlike a real raven, you can't fly away from nocturnal predators. So I keep you safe in here."
"Oh, cool!"
Satisfied, you start in on your feed while Max starts getting dressed. You realize it's a school day.
"Oh, we're getting ready for school?"
Max sighs.
"[Your name], I know you don't like how the other kids look at you in your pet carrier but...ugh, alright, look, I'll...I'll ask Mom and Dad if it's ok for you to stay home and play in the enclosure, ok?"
He turns and leaves, and you pause. That...wasn't actually what you wanted, you were fine with going to school. Suddenly it hits you how small you are, how much of your humanity you've already lost. Your parents apparently gave you up to Max's mother's ornithology center for study! Soon, no one, not even them, will remember you were ever human at all. You're about to start spiraling into despair when the morning light catches a little mirror in your cage. You turn to it, fascinated. You preen at your reflection, touching the mirror with your feathered fingers and pecking it lightly with your beak. You're too distracted to notice, but like all ravens, you're fascinated by shiny things.