Bronwyn's eyes scanned furtively around her bedroom. There were a lot of things that looked, at least superficially, like a person, on posters and book covers and even a pillowcase. But those things were all two-dimensional. She had no idea what would happen if she used the zipper on one of those objects, and she wasn't sure she could convince Christine to test it out. If those things weren't close enough to a real human being, though... what would be?
Then something on a bookshelf caught her eye. A shock of bright, lavender-colored "hair" made it stand out, even though Bronywn's vision was still a little blurred by the remnants of tears. It was a collectible figurine she'd picked up at an anime convention recently. It stood about five inches tall, sure, but it was a solid, three-dimensional object, and it was likely just large enough to stick the zipper along its side.
Bronwyn got up from her bed, trying not to disturb the leopard at her feet too much, and took the figure off the shelf. As she turned it over in her hands, she could feel Christine's intent animal gaze, watching her but also trying to get a good look at what she was holding. Christine seemed to get the idea of what she was thinking of doing, and her whole posture changed. Her feline body reared backward, and the fur along her spine straight down to the tip of her tail stood on end. Bronwyn couldn't help but feel unnerved with what looked like a fearsome predator hanging out in her room, and hoped that it was just an involuntary reaction.
She knew she needed to explain herself, and let out a sigh as she began. "I know, I know... but this is the closest thing I can come up with to a human body right here and now. I swear, first thing tomorrow morning, I'll take you to the Magic Shop and we'll find a way to fix this, for real, and permanently. But you don't want to be like this any longer than you have to, right?"
The leopard's tensed-up muscles relaxed, but Christine still looked like she was wary about this idea. If Bronwyn had to guess, she was probably wondering how putting her inside a little hunk of plastic could possibly be that much of an improvement on her current situation. And Bronwyn did have to guess, since whatever Christine was thinking, she obviously wasn't going to be able to articulate in words.
"Well," she said, as if she were answering a question, "apparently the zipper can turn a costume into a real leopard. I had no idea it could do that, but now we know it can. So maybe it can turn this-" - she held the figurine out a little closer to Christine's muzzle - "-into a real human? And if it doesn't work, I can just let you out of there again."
Bronwyn reached down to the floor and picked up the zipper. Placing it on the figurine's side and unzipping it, she was left with what resembled a peach-colored zip-lock bag, crumpled up in her hands. She wasn't sure if she could get Christine to get in this thing, either in terms of motivation or physically. But she was interrupted from that thought by a paw tentatively reaching up, trying to get to the opening without batting Bronwyn in the face. Christine was willing to try.
As carefully as she could, Bronwyn held the opening outward in Christine's direction and let her work her way inside. She watched in amazement as the small flap of rubbery skin suddenly - magically - expanded to fit the whole body of the leopard that was, well, leaping into it. Maybe this really was going to work! But she hadn't been expecting Christine's full size and weight to land in her outstretched hands. Thrown backward onto the bed, Bronwyn was now holding a large wriggling bag of plastic flesh in her arms. If this didn't work, she would have to let the cat out of the bag. But she tried to think optimistically as she closed the zipper up and sealed Christine in to her new temporary form...