Mark's height was rapidly decreasing. Anna watched as he was losing inches by the second.
Mark looked up at Anna as his view became lower and lower. "What's going on? What's happening?! I thought Jennifer was taller."
Anna covered her mouth. "Oh no! You're shrinking! …and you’re shrinking way too fast!" Mark's pants and shirt hung off his tiny, shapeshifting body and in mere moments he had disappeared into a pile of clothing on the floor. Anna quickly pulled his shirt off the top of the pile and desperately looked for her boyfriend. "Mark! Are you there?" She was worried something terrible might have happened and maybe he shrunk out of existence. She found the medallion under his shirt and was careful to pick it up by the attached ribbon and place it aside. Looking into Mark's pants, she spotted a furry ball. It was a hamster!
The hamster turned and looked up at Anna. "What the fuck just happened?"
Anna's eyes opened wide and her jaw hung open. She paused for a moment. "Mark?"
"Yeah." He looked down at his pants which seemed gigantic and noticed something sticking out where his nose should be. He reached up and felt his face, but then noticed his hands were oddly shaped and there was fur below his wrists. He began looking at his arms and down at his body and screamed. "What happened to me!? What happened to my voice?" He rubbed his eyes. "Everything looks different now…less colorful."
"Oh my god! Mark... You're a hamster!" She smiled and managed to restrain herself from laughing.
"How did I turn into a fucking hamster! I was supposed to turn into Jennifer!" He kept looking over his fuzzy body. "Anna, I'm like 3 inches tall and not even human anymore!"
Anna shook her head. "No, this wasn't supposed to happen. I handed you the swimsuit to hold for a second, I didn't mean for you to touch it with the medallion."
"You probably should have been more clear about that. You said you had some of Jennifer's clothes and then handed me a swimsuit. Don't blame this on me! And if the medallion is supposed to turn me into the last person to wear the clothing, how did a hamster wear that swimsuit?"
"I haven't worn that swimsuit in a couple years. My old hamster, Nibbles, must have slept in it one of the times he escaped. You look just like her! You're so cute!"
"Wait..." Mark looked down at his crotch and felt around. "'Her'? I'm a girl hamster?!"
"Yeah, Nibbles was a girl. Not like it matters though. I'm not going to be putting clothes on you and I doubt you're going to be going to hamster bars and picking up other hamsters."
If Anna could read expressions on a hamster's face, she would have been able to tell that Mark was quite annoyed. "Well this has been fun, but give me that medallion and I'll change to Jennifer now."
Anna sighed. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. The medallion cannot change someone twice within 12 hours. I'm afraid you're stuck like this until at least tonight."
Mark felt defeated and looked down at the carpet. "Fuck."
Anna laughed.
Mark looked up, annoyed. "Stop laughing at me!"
"I'm sorry, it's just so cute to hear a tiny little hamster swearing. You should be glad that you can still talk!"
Mark shrugged and walked forward on his hind legs. "Yeah, I guess it could have been worse. I could have been a bug. ...or this would have been an awkward way to learn your dad was a crossdresser." He chuckled.
Anna chuckled as well. "That's true." She took moment and offered a solution. "Okay, so here's what I'm thinking. I'll pack a duffel bag of clothes that will fit Jennifer and put that inside my suitcase with my clothes. Then I'll take you along with me to camp in my pocket. After twelve hours have passed, we'll use the medallion and change you to Jennifer."
Mark nodded. "Okay, but won't people wonder why this 'Jennifer' chick suddenly appeared in the middle of the night?"
Anna rubbed her chin. "I know the camp is short on counselors this year, so I’ve already told them that my friend will be joining us. They said they’re glad to have the extra help. This was my original plan. However, now I'll tell them that Jennifer had a last minute family emergency and she'll be arriving late. I'll tell them that Jennifer will be dropped off tonight."
Mark felt his tail nub and rubbed it gently as he listened. "Okay, I guess that could work. I hope nobody questions it. I should be able to get by like this for 12 hours."
Anna bent down and laid her palm on the carpet. Mark looked up at her smiling face and realized she wanted to pick him up. He walked over and climbed onto her hand. As she picked him up, he got down on all fours to avoid falling over. She held him close to her face and got a good look. "Oh my god, you are absolutely adorable!"
Mark laughed. He stood up on her palm and put one hand on his hip and one behind his head. "How do you like your boyfriend now? Sexy?" They laughed. Mark looked down to his right. "Please don't drop me though. From my point of view, this feels like I'm 30 stories high!"
Anna stroked the fur on Mark's back gently. "Don't worry, you're in good hands." She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the top of his head. "Okay, now I'll put you on my desk while I pack. I want to make sure I don't step on you." She walked over to her desk and set him down gently by her laptop. "I'm packing for two now, so I've got to get going if we're going to make the bus!"
Anna pulled out her suitcase and a duffel bag and began packing enough clothes to last two people several weeks. Sure, the camp did have a laundromat, but it was always crowded so she had to make sure they wouldn't need to use it often. Plus, they needed special clothes for some events when they'd need to dress up, various athletic gear for sports, and swimsuits. She made sure to pack enough toiletries for each of them as well. Having planned this in advance and certain she’d be able to talk Mark into it, Anna had already purchased some new clothes for "Jennifer" to wear since she wasn’t the same size. Worst case, if Mark backed out, she could have returned them. Anna pulled "Jennifer"'s new clothes out from the back of her closet, snipped the tags off, and put them in the duffel bag.
Meanwhile, Mark kept himself busy by using Anna's laptop...or at least trying. It took him a great deal of effort to type a URL into the browser. It was difficult to type letters in the center of the keyboard without stepping on other letters, but he managed to get the hang of it. By the time Anna was finished he was busy reading a page about care and feeding of hamsters.
"Reading about yourself?" Anna asked.
"Just making sure I know the basics. For example, it's not like I can have a normal dinner, so I wanted to know what I should be eating."
"Don't worry, I had Nibbles for a few years and a couple other hamsters before her. I know how to care for hamsters and I'll see that you survive the day."
"Yeah, but..." Mark slid his tiny hand on the trackpad and scrolled the page. "It says here that hamsters eat insects. I don't want to eat bugs!"
Anna chuckled. "They can eat insects, but I'll make sure to feed you good things like fruits, veggies, and cereal. Actually, I should go down and fill a baggie with some stuff now." She left the room and started heading to the kitchen.
"Cheerios would be good if you've got 'em!" Mark shouted, unsure if Anna could hear his small voice.
Once Anna returned with food for Mark and some snacks for herself, she took her suitcase to the front door and put a light jacket inside for Mark and zipped it up. She then got another jacket and put it on herself. Packed and ready to go, she went up and retrieved Mark from her desk and shut down her laptop. "Ready to go?"
"This is going to be one hell of an adventure!" replied Mark. "Oh! Don't forget the medallion! I really don't want to be stuck like this for weeks!"
Anna retrieved the medallion and put it in her jacket pocket. She scooped up Mark and asked him, "Want to ride in my purse or jacket pocket?"
"I might get squished in your pocket. Purse seems safer. Can I ride on your shoulder when we get to the bus?"
Anna shook he head. "No pets allowed, so we can't let them see you." She could see Mark looked disappointed. "However, once we get going if I'm in a window seat, I can probably hide you under my hair on my shoulder facing the window."
"Okay, thanks!" Mark hopped into Anna's purse and they headed out to meet the bus.