Katie parked in the mall parking lot. The mall had just opened for the day, so there weren't many people here yet. As Katie and John approached the door, she turned to John. "What if the store's not there?"
John didn't understand. "Not there? We were there yesterday and they had just opened. Why would they close after one day?"
"I've seen some stories on TV and online about magic shops where someone goes and buys something magical. When they try to go back to the store, it's not there."
"Oh, like some sort of Amazing Stories or Twilight Zone shit?" John was dismissive. "That's not real."
"John, your dick has turned into a vagina! You spent the evening as a woman and sang karaoke last night. The hell this isn't real!"
John's eyes opened wide in a panic and he started walking faster. "They'd better still be there!"
They hurried into the mall and headed straight to the clothing store. To their relief, it was still there located down a low-traffic section of the mall next to a closed JCPenney store. They walked inside and were again amazed by the large racks of various types of clothing on display. Shelves displayed all sorts of hats, helmets, masks, and accessories. The displays prevented them from seeing too far back into the store, but they couldn't see any other customers. They stood just inside the entrance looking for anyone who worked there, a service desk, or anything. As they looked around, a voice spoke up behind them.
"Hello again and welcome back! It's such a delight to see my first customers are also returning customers!"
Katie and John were startled and jumped a bit. They turned to face the woman. "Woah! Where did you come from?" asked John.
"Oh," she replied while pointing around the store. "I've just been puttering around the store getting ready for another day of business. How may I help you today? I hope you were pleased with your purchases yesterday, ma'am."
Katie smiled. "Yeah, they were great...for the most part. We did have a slight problem though."
"Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that. Come with me, right this way. We'll go over to the service desk. My name is Esme, by the way." The woman motioned for them to approach a counter with a keyboard and computer monitor that they were very sure was not there a moment ago.
"Hi Esme. I'm Katie and this is my boyfriend, John." Katie and John followed the woman as Katie started to explain. "So John tried on a headband that I purchased here and we quickly realized..." Katie paused to find the right words. "Let's say that we soon understood how special your items are."
"Oh, yes. Very special." Esme looked at John. "Was that item to your liking?"
"Yes, we did have some unexpected fun, but..." John looked toward Katie to finish her story.
"I had worn one of the pairs of gloves I got here. It gave me these lovely arms with the green nail polish," Katie explained. Esme reached over and examined Katie's hands as she continued the story. "So I took the gloves off to adjust something and then put them back on. After I took the gloves off again a couple hours later, my arms and hands didn't change back when we expected. It's been well over 12 hours now, but I only wore the gloves for a little while. Is there a way I can get my old arms and hands back?"
Esme nodded with understanding. "I see. I see. Now, you should have been given some instructions with your purchases. Did you read those?"
"Yes, I did," Katie confirmed. "I didn't see anything that explained why my arms and hands wouldn't change back to their original form."
Esme pulled out another copy of the instructions from within the counter. She muttered to herself for a moment as she read the sheet. "Ah, here it is. 'After removing the items, effects of the magic will remain for as long as the item was worn at which time the wearer will revert to their original form.'"
John was starting to get impatient. "Yeah, we read that. Her arms should have returned to her original form after a couple hours."
The woman nodded. "Yes, yes. I can see how you would think that. We really should get these instructions updated and clarified. When you took off the gloves, it started the countdown until your arms would revert to how they originally were. However, you interrupted that countdown by putting the gloves back on. This created a... A 'short circuit' if you will. The process of reverting your arms was underway, but you had put the gloves back on which conflicted with that process."
"A short circuit?" repeated John.
"Yes. It's hard to explain the mechanics behind the magic to those unfamiliar with the art, but imagine you were driving down the road at highway speeds and then shoved your car into reverse. It's a crude analogy, but that's essentially what you've done." Esme looked under the countertop for a moment. "Now let me see here..."
John and Katie looked at each other wondering what Esme was doing or if she got distracted.
Esme stood up and held a mitten shaped like a cat's paw which was stuffed to appear somewhat puffy and cartoon-like. "This will do.
Here, let me show you." She handed the glove to John. "Please put this on."
John glanced at Katie and took the paw. He pulled it on his right hand.
"Okay, now we wait a moment," instructed Esme. The three of them sat silently looking at John's hand inside the mitten. They could see the paw move a bit as John moved his fingers slightly. After about 20 seconds, Esme broke the silence. "Okay, that should be long enough. Please take off the paw."
John did as instructed. As he removed the mitten, it appeared as if he was only removing an outer covering for the mitten and it no longer contained any stuffing. When the mitten was removed, it revealed that John's right hand had become an actual cat's paw very similar to the original appearance of the mitten. As the empty mitten sat on the counter, it slowly started to puff up again and returned to its original appearance.
John wiggled his puffy claws. "Woah!" He felt the paw with his left hand. "I can feel this. This is actually me!"
Katie poked at a pad on the bottom of the paw. "You have toe beans!"
"I felt that! Wow!" John turned his paw around and examined it from every angle in fascination. After about 20 seconds, it seemed to deflate, change color, and quickly returned to his original hand. "Oh, I guess it's done. That was pretty cool, but what does it prove?"
Esme turned to Katie. "As you can see, this is the normal and expected behavior. Now you try it on and we'll wait for about 15 or 20 seconds." She handed the mitten to Katie.
Katie pulled the mitten on her right hand and they waited. After 20 seconds, she pulled the mitten off, but it came off with the stuffing and had not transformed her hand into a paw.
"Yes, as expected, there is no change," Esme explained. "Your hands and arms are currently locked into that form. Your gloves nor other items I have here would not trigger any new changes. On the bright side, they're very nice. Look at this as a positive change."
Katie looked at her hands. "Well, I suppose these hands and arms are nice, but..."
Esme interrupted. "Oh, pish posh! They're wonderful!"
John spoke up. "...but what if a body part changed and we really wanted it back how it was? Is there any way to fix a short circuit?" John shifted his weight nervously.
Esme looked at John for a moment before she grinned. "Ah, did you also cause a short circuit?"
John lowered his head and clasped his hands together in front of himself. "Yeah," he answered rather sheepishly.
Esme nodded and flashed a knowing smirk across her face. "I see. And it's a part of your body you really want to change back."
John nodded in agreement while looking down at the counter. "Yes."
"Well this is good to know. I will definitely be updating those instructions to be more clear about putting on new items before the reversion process has completed," Esme started writing a reminder on a notepad.
"But what about me? Us?" John asked. "How can we fix this? Are we stuck like this?"