"Every time you lie to me you'll turn slowly into a tiny, helpless mouse," Ty said.
"That's... that's impossible," June said as she put a hand on her toned abs. "You can't do that."
"You wanna bet?" Ty said. "Tell me a lie and see what happens."
"Please don't," She said. "Anything but that." She always been terrified of rodents, ever since her older brothers had locked her in a closet with their abused pet rat. Just picturing their teeth and quivering noses made her feel faint with fear.
"Question number one," Ty spat. "Have you ever loved me?"
June kept silent as she was not sure how to answer.
"I should warn you that there is a time limit on your answers," Ty said. "The longer you take, the worse the punishment will be for a lie!"
"Yes!" she declared quickly. "I loved you, of course I did! I loved you as a son!"
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, June felt and intense external pressure along with a pulling sensation in her middle. She could feel the counter sliding up her back in jerks as she realized she was rapidly losing height, shrinking in fits and starts until it abruptly stopped, leaving her about 2 feet shorter. Ty towered in front of her and her head barely came up to his stomach! "You.. you monster! How could you truly know if I was lying about that anyway?"
Ty sneered down at his shrunken foster mother. "I don't decide if what you said is true or not, you do. If you know, deep down inside, that what you said to me was a lie, then the curse I put on you will make you mousier. It works automatically. Hopefully those big ears will make sure you actually hear what I'm saying, and you won't make the same mistake with my next question!"
"Big ears?!" June gasped, her hands reaching up to feel at the sides of her head. Her mouth dropped open when they encountered the large, fleshy-but-slightly-fuzzy orifices protruding from her hair. "Oh no... oh no no no no no! I... you can't! I can't be a disgusting rodent! Please, Ty, change me back! PLEASE!"
"That is completely up to you, little Juney. If you answer my questions truthfully, maybe all of this will return to normal." Ty had no intention of using his newfound powers to return things in this household to their previous, terrible state, but he wasn't about to tell June that. "Now, next question: why did you take me in as a foster child?"
June wracked her brain to remember exactly what had happened years ago. "We wanted the money," she said at last. Then, she braced herself in case she started to shrink again. Nothing happened.
"What money?" Ty asked.
"We get a tax break for being foster parents."
"Well, that's no surprise, really. You've always been money-grubbing, stingy people. Of course you did it for the money and not out of the goodness of your hearts!" Ty was rather neutral feeling on her answer, having suspected as much long ago.
June couldn't let his insult slide though, muttering "Well, it's not like anyone else would have wanted a scrawny six-year-old orphan. You've always been an ungrateful, useless boy. Mark is always saying you're more of a drain on our finances than you're worth!" she didn't notice as her ears expanded again, and despite her hurtful remarks, Ty was gratified to see a long, dark tail snaking out of the bottom of her loosened yoga shorts. He could see a grayish fuzz growing along her limbs, and what could only be extra nipples were poking at the stretchy fabric of her tight athletic top down her torso.
"Careful now, lies are lies, Pinocchio." Ty chuckled, pointing at her new, ropey appendage that had grown long enough to rest on the floor behind her. June spun, tripping on her huge sneakers and falling to all fours on the kitchen floor. Tiny Dustin was pressed against the glass of the jar, trying to see over the edge of the counter, her tiny voice barely audible as she yelled for her changing mom.
She let out a terrified squeak at the sight of her new tail and the fur on her arms. "Ty... Ty please don't do this," she begged. "I've learned my lesson. I did, I promise! I'll be nicer to you. Please, I can't take any more!"