Hannah was next, although she needed assistance to get the dice. She couldn't get down from Tom's back, so Tom got the dice from Dave and gave them to her. She dropped them onto the floor and they scattered a good distance due to the impact.
"Oops," she mewed. "Sorry."
"They're six and two," Sue said after retrieving them. Even though she was almost back to normal, she was still wearing Terry's sweatshirt.
Alright, gotta beat eight," Tom said as he jiggled the dice in his fist. Throwing them on the board, he watched them come to a rest at 5 and 1.
Sighing, he drew the top card from the stack. "I just hope it doesn't have us merge with Dave."
This game will soon reach its end
And to yourselves you'll have to fend.
But the future won't come fast
If you're still stuck in the past.
Tom had barely finished reading it when he saw black hairs crawling over his hand. His fingernails darkened, and grew slightly.
"Tom," Hannah called from behind him. "Your back is growing fur." The statement didn't have an alarmed tone, simply an informative one.
He looked down and confirmed that short black fur was growing all over his upper body. Whatever was happening to him was only changing his human half. He felt his face twist as if it was made of putty and someone was pressing it flatter.
Dave chuckled in amusement. "He's turning into a monkey!"
Tom felt his face with gray hands and realized that his nose was flat against his face, and he had fur growing from his cheeks. His ears felt a bit larger, as well. Feeling back farther, he discovered the change had caused his two-foot-long hair to grow even more. With so much long hair surrounding his head, it resembled a black lion's mane.
"Guess I am going to be stuck in the past," Tom admitted. He moved Hannah's pawn for her with his new hairy hand. She was now one space behind Sue, and nine spaces away from the lamp. He plucked her card off the stack and handed it to her.