Willis was curious, but extremely doubtful.
He didn't believe that the spell would actually work, but he so wanted to, for if it did it could be proof that his brother was not dead after all.
He inhaled deeply and spoke the incantation. When it came to choosing a form he paused.
He scanned through his mental log of mythical animals.
Werewolf? Too unpredictable.
Gargoyle? Too creepy.
Troll? No, just no.
In the end, he settled on Winged Horse. Why not?
It wasn’t as if the spell would actually work. Why proof was a simple sheet of creased paper with complicated word written on it for the existence of magic.
He’d been stupid. How could-
The phone was ringing. Who could it be at this time of night?
Indifferently, Willis answered.
“Hello?” He asked cautiously.
“Willis? It’s me,” replied his mother, “I haven’t woken you up have I?”
“No, no, I was up. What is it?”
“Sorry, I just couldn’t sleep thinking about you and had to call. I’m concerned. Everybody is. But I guess we’ve been too polite to say anything. It’s about Dan. We all miss him, but I can’t stand to watch you throw your life away on his part. That’s not what he would have wanted…”
Willis’ attention began to wander.
But something was happening.
His clothes, a dirty vest and a pair of loose boxer shorts that used to be white, were cutting into his skin.
“Wha…?”
“Willis?”
“Sorry, go on”
“Look, I hate to be a nag but you have to do something.”
Willis began to rub his clothes with his free hand. They used to be about three sizes to large. Something had happened.
“I heard about what happened at the diner last week”
He felt an immensely peculiar feeling in the base of his spine.
As he pressed his hand against it, he could feel something beginning to push its way out.
“Holy Shit!”
“Willis? Are you alright?”
He contorted his body round to get as good a view of it as he could.
Yes, a long, silver tail.
It was working. It was actually working!
“Er, it’s kind of a bad time Mum”
He could feel his bones beginning to move inside his body.
“What could possibly be happening at this time of night? Willis?”
“Everything’s fine Mum”
He could no longer stand upright. His spine was becoming elongated, forcing him to hunch forward.
Relief washed over him when the left seam in his vest tore apart, allowing space for him to breathe. With his free hand he picked the shreds of his vest off his growing body.
“What was that noise? Are you alright?”
“Nothing to worry about”
“Why can’t you tell me what’s happening?”
“Nothing is happen-ahhh”
A sudden, sensuous, sensation immersed him as his genitals began to expand.
The buttons of his boxers were launched across the room as his penis emerged.
“Willis?”
His new endowment was erect and glorious. He was really beginning to enjoy the transformation.
His penis began to join up with his chest, forming an equine sheath. This movement tore through his boxers and they fell.
His neck had tripled in length and a silver mane had begun to droop in front of his eyes.
He raised himself up, still stood on his hind legs, and absent-mindedly hit his head on the surprisingly low ceiling.
“Ow!”
“Can’t you speak to me Willis?”
“I swear it’s nothing”
His feet had become hooves. Willis, not used to these new appendages, stumbled and crashed into the table, splitting it in two.
“What’s all that noise?”
“I just banged my heEEEEAAAAAAAA”
His words had morphed into a high-pitched whinny as his open mouth lurched forward forming a long horse face.
His mother was obviously distressed.
“Willis, I’m coming round”
Willis didn’t hear this, for as his hands folded into hooves he dropped the phone.
He stood up, feeling comfortable on all fours.
He swished his mane as he looked over his back.
A pair of large, white-feathered wings swept out of his back.
He flapped them gently. The draft caused the splinters of the table to collide with the far wall.
As if trying out this new form, he paced up and down the kitchen, enjoying the pleasant clacking sound his hooves made.
Slowly, he decided that he didn't like the cramped space of being indoors. He wanted freedom.
He hopped gently into the air, and with a large swish of his broad wings, he glided towards the window. Raising his hooves he smashed through the glass and soared up into the air.