"Okay," Jennifer said, relieved that she was finally going to finish this drawn-out phone call. "Transform or Dare?"
But those last words were drowned out on Claire's end by the ringing of her doorbell. Sound traveled easily through her old house, so it was plainly audible even from the basement.
"I'm sorry, Jenn. Hold on one more second," Claire apologized. She put the receiver down and trotted back upstairs.
She knew the curse would allow everyone else to behave like nothing was unusual, but she still hesitated to open the door. Peering through the spyhole, she saw a short balding man and an average-looking thirty-something holding a briefcase. They were both dressed in business suits.
She took a deep breath and opened the door. Neither of the men appeared shocked or frightened at all. In fact, smiles broke out on the short man's face when he saw her.
"Ah, Claire," he said. "I was beginning to think you weren't home this evening. So nice to see you again."
"It's always a pleasure, Mr... Mr..." As Claire stumbled on the name, the right one somehow popped into her head. "Mr. Cottington." Claire began to magically recognize the man as the owner of the nearby city's textile factory, where her spider silk was sold. The larger man was an agent of the company, fulfilling several duties including security of cargo transport and monetary exchange.
"Oh, the pleasure is all ours," the man replied. "We're just here for the weekly pick-up. I trust it's all in the garage?"
"Um...that's right!" Claire played along. "Take what you want."
"You know we will," he smiled. "Now, if we may have a fresh sample for quality comparison before we inspect the barrels in the garage?" The man extended his hand, which held a foot-long zip-lock bag.
"Er...right. Just wait here one second," Claire took the bag and closed the door. Maybe they would think it was rude, but for now she was definitely uncomfortable with shooting silk out of her butt in front of people. Okay, so it wasn't technically her butt, it was close enough. She tried to reach behind her and place the bag under her spinner, but her abdomen was so long she just couldn't reach. So, she simply shot out a few yards of silver onto the tile floor, scooped them up and stuffed them into the bag.
"Here you go," she smiled after giving the sample to Mr. Cottington. "Hope it's up to par."
The man held the bag up to the porch light and grinned. "It certainly looks it. That silver shine is unmistakable."
"I'm just glad it's worth your trouble."
"AND our money, of course!" the man chuckled. "After all, when you're selling silk clothing that's made out of pure silver, you can afford to pay the help all they deserve. Would you mind opening the garage door for us, dear?"
"Yeah, sure," Claire said, a bit distracted. She was in awe as she walked through the house to get inside the garage. The stuff she was spinning was actually silver? This new twist, combined with everything else that had happened in the last hour, was sending her head swimming.
When she turned the light on in the garage, she saw a dozen barrels stacked along the wall. She was sure they were all full to the brim of her silver silk. I have to spin this much a week? she thought. On the other hand, it probably translated to quite a lot of money. She found the garage door opener and pressed it.
As they entered the garage, the bald man said "Thank you, Claire. We'll tally the weight of this shipment and leave the check in your mailbox. And I'll throw in a little extra so you can buy yourself a new shirt," he winked.
Claire's brown cheeks blushed red. She had torn holes when her second pair of arms had grown in. She wondered if her dresser's wardrobe had changed to suit her new physical dimensions.
"Have a good night," he concluded.
"You too, Mr. Cottington," Claire smiled as she stepped back inside and closed the door. She scrambled back down to the basement to tell Jennifer the fantastic news.
"Jennifer! You won't believe this, but the silk I'm spinning is pure silver!"
"I guess it would have to be to be worth something serious," Jennifer responded rather flatly. Just by hearing the tone of her voice, Claire was reminded of the transformation she had made earlier.
"Uh-oh," she said. "I forgot about..."
"Yeah," Jennifer said. "Well, that'll be cleared up soon enough, won't it?" Jennifer had taken the time to remove her clothes, which had long since become unbearable to wear under all of her wool...not to mention unnecessary, since almost all of her body was completely shrouded in black tangles. Her seventeen-inch locks were so long, their weight was starting to pull the curl out of them. She had to constantly brush the thick hair out of her face, and her ears and horns were just barely poking out from atop the sea of shining ebony strands.
"You might not have heard me, but I said 'Transform or Dare' to you before you went off," she informed Claire. "So that means you're going to get both now."
"Okay," Claire said. "Well, I don't want to change back anymore, that's for sure. I could really get used to this. Living in the basement seems kind of cool."
"So, what do you want me to do with your transformation?" Jennifer demanded. "Stop beating around the bush and give me a real answer."