The first sign of this momentous change was her eyes. Or, well, the wrinkles around them.
Jane was content in her life, but she'd be a liar if she said it wasn't a struggle to get where she was now. The daughter of immigrants, her family was unfortunately not wealthy or connected. From a young age, she knew she was expected to work three times as hard just to catch up to her classmates. Or, at least, that was the mantra her parents drummed into her head. So, while other kids had the breathing room to find themselves and fail, Jane spent her youth managing clubs, tutoring, studying, and generally doing everything in her power to earn a scholarship.
When Jane finally earned her way into the best college she could afford, she didn't rest. She spent her mornings in classes, long afternoons studying her textbooks, and spare moments tutoring other students to supplement her scholarship money. She even volunteered at a local charity to buff her resume for later in life. Essentially, Jane followed the path that her hard-working parents had set for her, the road to success at her feet.
Until that road broke her.
It was midway through her third-to-last semester when she had The Big One. Later in life, when Jane told her therapist about her early life, she recognized that she had panic attacks before the Big One. She had learned how to unhealthily suppress them and carry on. The Big One was, in hindsight, just the one she couldn't power through. Jane didn't understand at the time why she threw her laptop into the fountain in a rage, heart pounding into her ears like the war drums of an angry God, everything too hot and too cold. She just felt all that she had pent up expel out of her like a toxic spill before hugging herself and crying for hours. Jane was luckily that the college was understanding, and only asked to go to counseling twice a week. It didn't help, but it was a nice thought. She knew that she couldn't make it any longer. Something had to change. She barely kept her grades at a C average that semester, spending most of her time in her dorm with the lights out.
At least, that was the case until Jane learned about the No-Stakes poker games that Arianna Sweeting held.
To this day, Jane isn't sure what drew her to poker. Still, sitting in the dark with her new laptop full of looming assignments clearly wasn't helping. She forced herself to shower, dress nicely, and wobbly march for Arianna's room.
It was the best decision of her life.
Jane finally relaxed; the thrill of competition and victory mixed with the heady sensation of actually having friends - and later a cute boyfriend when her husband-to-be Steve joined in the games, made her see the good in life again. Before, Arianna was the type carefree person that she couldn't stand. After the Big One, though, her friend was just what she needed. Jane learned to slow down because of Arianna, to pick her battles, and how to actually live her life. It was thanks to Arianna that Jane had the courage to ask Steve out rather than waiting to be asked.
Jane would never claim that her and Steve had a whirlwind romance, far from it. She was jealous, he needed personal space. She had a set path she followed, he followed his whims. They fought plenty, but Jane and Steve always found a way to make it work. He was so sweet, patient, supportive, and passionate that Jane couldn't stay mad forever.
When Jane brought Steve to her parents, she didn't care that they didn't approve. She didn't expect it to turn as volcanic as it did, but she was glad to have her parents out of her life. Now their correspondence was limited to a single letter each every New Years, frigid yet civil enough for Jane's tastes. They didn't even bother to show up for Alice's birth, and her daughter never questioned why she only had one set of grandparents. Jane wondered if she didn't care, or was just too worried to ask.
Still, the crow's feet and stressful creases in her brow at the relatively young age of 35 were the legacy of a misspent youth in her eyes. Or, well, around them. People mistook Jane for an older woman than she was, but that was fine by her. She'd take any scrap of respect that she could get. However, she still tried to minimize the worst of it with wrinkle cream and makeup to give her that right touch of aged wisdom rather than looking haggard.
As she leaned into her full-length mirror- a wonderful birthday gift from Steve- she blinked in confusion. Her face... looked a little younger. The wrinkles that had defined her skincare routine were tightening up- melting away into a smooth complexion. Jane held back a gasp as she observed her face.
Jane's green eyes darted all over herself, and everywhere she looked she saw the body of an increasingly younger woman rather than her actual age. She was so enraptured by this sudden youth that she didn't notice the tickling feeling of fur that was growing around her hips.
"People don't just... get younger! What the hell is going on!?" Jane whispered harshly.
Feeling ridiculous, she looked at the label of her wrinkle cream. While it proclaimed "Visible regeneration within three weeks," somehow Jane figured this nonsense was not what they were promising.
Around then, Jane's lower body started feeling bloated, for lack of a better word. The woman groaned as she tilted her head down, only to boggle as she saw her professional slacks bulge at the waist before a soft ripping sound split them apart. Her hands hesitantly pressed down onto her newfound fur, a light brown with dramatic white spots, feeling its oddly soft texture- more akin to a cared pet than a wild animal. Fur bristled into existence where her fingers touched, a cute brown creeping up her hand.
Fully convinced that she was somehow hallucinating, Jane fell on her swollen butt while staring at her now fur-gloved hands with black nails. Her vision started to blur as she panicked, the Cascade quickening with every second. Jane ripped off her pants and underwear like they were venomous and looked down at her feet- not that they could be called that any longer. Her legs were covered well-cared-for fur that stuck out of her stockings. Jane ripped off her stockings to get a better look at why her foot was numbing, only to watch in horror as her toes blackened and contorted into the shape of a deer hoof.
Jane couldn't even find it in herself to scream in terror, alien feelings of contentment and pride in her looks warring with her rational mind. She never heard of such a vivid hallucination in all her years of therapy, and the feelings that seemed to infect her mind seemed more weirded out about her reaction to what was happening to her than anything else.
Jane felt like she couldn't call out for help. What if she was a danger to everyone around her? All her senses told her that she was some sort of half-animal woman; what else could she be convinced of in this state? Isolation. That's what she needed right now. She had to ride out this break from reality as safely as possible, and when everything made sense again she'd go get help.
Shakily, Jane grabbed her phone and dialed her office. She took calming breaths as the call connected, trying to gather up what rationality she could- pointedly ignoring the sensation of creeping fur that had reached her shoulders and belly button and her still bloating rear end that felt like it weighed more than her. Jane was too scared to look back to see what horror her mind was conjuring there.
"Hello? Mrs. Park? It's not like you to call this early." The cautious voice of her assistant, Leroy, comforted her. At least he sounded normal.
Affecting a croaky voice, not that hard considering how dry her mouth felt, she responded, "Yeah, Leroy. I uh... I can't make it to work today. I don't know why, but I feel like a truck hit me. I know it's sudden, but I gotta cash in a day off."
Leroy chuckled nervously but sounded relieved, "Oh, you're sick? That's terrible! I mean, I was worried that something way worse had happened- N-not that you being sick isn't bad, but you usually don't call in this early for anything short of a family emergency!"
Jane purposefully didn't look at herself in the mirror, but she felt the fur enclosing her chest and creeping up her neck. Pressure was building just under her shoulders, and her chest felt sore.
In as calm a tone as she could manage, she breathed, "Can you tell everyone I need the day? Maybe two."
Leroy breathed out in relief, "Absolutely, ma'am! I'll call Arianna and the rest and let them know you're taking some time, don't even worry about it!"
Jane groaned, looking behind herself to check on her bloated rear only to see an extended animal-like body with an extra set of legs and hooves growing before her eyes. It even had a dainty little tail covered in that same stunning coat of spotted white and brown fur. She bit her lip so hard it bled, but Jane kept calm for a moment longer.
"T-Thank you, Leroy." She whimpered.
"No problem, Mrs. Park. I'm sure you'll feel better in no time-"
Jane killed the line before she could give away what was really happening to her.
More and more pressure built up under her shoulder blades, but she was too enraptured by her new backside to notice it. Setting her phone down on the bed, Jane tentatively touched her naked palm- about the only part of her body still fur-less, against the illusory deer body that was somehow connected to her waist. Instead of phasing through like she knew she should have, she felt velvet soft fur and the warmth of her palm. Jane even felt her hind leg kick at her touch.
Slowly, her rightful fear was smothered by the foreign feelings that battered her mind. Jane looked into the mirror.
She saw what should be her face, only it was so much younger. 26, maybe 27 years. Her piercing green eyes were still there, and her now messy black hair had long fallen out of its' sensible bun. Everything else was... different. Nervously, she forced her now four-legged body to rise. It felt perfectly natural, moving all four legs smoothly across the wood floor with soft clicks. This creature, who both was and was not her, was oddly beautiful in Jane's eyes. Her top and bra combined with the warmth of her fur felt stifling, so Jane carefully unbuttoned and unclasped them, dropping them on the ground. Getting a better look at her body; Jane thought that she looked a little like a centaur now, only shorter and with the lower body of a large deer... and increasing, the upper body of a deer and a woman blended together. Sika deer, somewhere in her mind supplied.
Her entire body was covered in striking white dots and light brown fur now, sans her face and chest. Instead, her breasts and below were covered in a cream white. Jane paid closer attention to her chest, and felt an almost pleasant burning sensation under her breasts, and noticed that they seemed... a little bigger? Furred hands hefted the underside of her chest, feeling a bit more weight to them. As she looked closer, she could see that even her nipples had changed color to a darker brown. Hands drifting lower, Jane hissed in a pain she hadn't felt in decades. Eyes a little watery, Jane confirmed her suspicions rather quickly. Another, smaller set of breasts basically hidden under the fluff were under her first pair, still oversensitive and developing. If she had to guess, her band size was about the same, so her... quintuplets? Double twins? Jane wasn't sure; rationality had bled out of her mind when she pressed a hand against her new backside. Either way, she guesstimated that they were B and AA cups, respectively, and getting bigger.
Jane felt that familiar clenching warmth of arousal build up in her core, now further back- behind her tail. Something about this becoming was turning her on, and while Jane wasn't a total stranger to feeling that way toward a woman, she couldn't deny that feeling that way with herself was bizarre. That didn't stop her from grabbing the thin mirror and pulling it back with her, so she could watch the final changes while grinding her wet entrance on the smooth bedpost.
Her eyes drifted upward. Jane watched with as her face began to be consumed by the fur... her fur. Despite her awareness of the change, Jane couldn't wholly prevent her mind from being altered. Jane pulled her mess of hair to the side and saw her human ears change. They grew longer, with more of that beguiling fur, and increasingly sensitive to touch and sound. Soon enough, she was sporting keen yet floppy doe ears. Meanwhile, fur was spreading on her cheeks as her new ears moved to the top of her head, the muffled sounds of Alice playing and Steve cooking making themselves known.
Before the sounds of her family could snap her out of this haze, a sharp pain on her back distracted her. That pain morphed into pleasure as the Cascade twisted Jane's existence. Instead of screaming in agony, she ground harder against the bedpost and groped her upper breasts- now C-cups -as something ripped out of her back. Jane's watery eyes widened as she saw a second pair of arms, agile and beautiful, begin their life by playing with her A-cups like an expert.
The pleasure that rocketed through her new and bizarre body didn't deter her from staring into the mirror as her face pushed out into a slight muzzle. Jane released one of her breasts, feeling along her face as it lengthened, her nose turned black and wet, and her mind was bombarded with pleasure and new memories.
She came as the last speck of her human face was consumed by her fur; she bit one of her four hands to muffle her cries of ecstasy. Jane slumped down to the floor, her legs tucked under her body with a sticky trail of arousal connecting her womanhood to the post.
Jane blearily looked at herself in the mirror. In so many ways, she was unrecognizable. Yet, even with its soft muzzle and fur, her face was somehow still her own. Jane was still half convinced that this was nothing but an elaborate hallucination. Yet it felt so real that she couldn't completely deny it, especially not with the outlines of her new memories gaining clarity by the moment. Her nose even smelt Steven's cooking, pancakes and eggs with other sundries that she couldn't name. Her stomachs growled- the fact that she had two barely even surprised her.
Jane stares at the door out of her room, unsure what to believe or do.