I remember clearly when I first put the gypsy's 'gift' to the test -- the afternoon of Thursday 9th May, after gym. Mr. Carr had asked us to stack away equipment, and as we did, cussing the weight of it and trying our darnedest not to wreck our backs, the rest of the lads got changed and cleared off. Lucky we had no other class to go to.
Or maybe not. Because it was when we got back to the locker room, still in our shorts and stuff, that Russ sprang his surprise. Checking Mr. Carr had left too, he turned to me and said, "Do it now, Jack."
"Do what now?"
"Transform yourself. Like the old woman said." He started peeling off his T-shirt.
"You mean... into an animal?" I couldn't believe I was saying it.
"Yeah." He struggled to pull the collar over his head. "No-one's around, so why not?" Tossing the shirt aside, he stared at me expectantly.
"It won't work," I retorted.
"It will if you want it to," he insisted. "It did for me. Last night I thought about my Gran's cat, right? Rajah... I imagined what it would be like to BE him. I WANTED to be him."
"And you changed?" I asked.
"You bet," he asserted. "And Jack, it was something else!"
Stuck for words, I watched Russ sit on one of the benches, combing his hair with his fingers. I felt myself frown. No one could be that sure unless...
"So how about YOU trying?" he suggested, interrupting my thoughts.
"I won't be a cat," I said, grimacing. "I don't like 'em."
"How about a dog, then?" He started to untie his trainers.
"Maybe." I hesitated for a moment, thinking about the neighbours' German Shepherd, Vulcan. He was a handsome hunk of a dog, with a great temperament. Just the sort of dog to be, in fact, if you HAD to be a dog.
"So what do I need to do?" I asked. "Think about becoming one?"
"That's right," Russ nodded. "Imagine what it would be like. WANT it." He eyed me as I hitched up my shorts. "But if your dog's on the big side, you'd best strip off."
"This is mad!" I muttered. But Vulcan WAS a big dog, so... I sat down and tugged off my trainers and socks. "Totally crazy!"
Ignoring the grin on Russ's face, I pulled my T-shirt over my head and threw it on a bench. Then I walked to the middle of the room.
Glancing once at the long wall mirror beside the lockers, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Concentrating hard, I recalled the mirror's image: that of a suntanned, well-built teenager in white shorts.
Shorts...
I opened my eyes and stared down at them. They could be a problem if I totally transformed. I'd be better off without them.
A glance at Russ dissuaded me. I didn't mind the dog bit, but having him see me naked, to start with...
"These can come off later," I muttered.
Russ's smile broadened. "If you've still got hands," he said.
"I'll risk it."
Straightening up, I closed my eyes again. I pictured a German Shepherd, like Vulcan, and merged his image with that of the teenager. I thought about the lad slowly becoming the dog, with pointed ears, paws and --
The distant sound of a door slamming broke my concentration and I opened my eyes.
"Sorry, Russ," I said, smirking. "It's no good without a full moon."
"You sure?" he said. "Look at your feet."
I did, and heard myself gasp. My lower legs and feet had grown a coat of dark hair! And my toenails... My toenails were CLAWS!
"Jeepers!" I exclaimed. "They look like paws!"
Russ smiled. "Check out your ears," he said.
I ran to the mirror and gaped. My ears weren't where they normally were -- nor did they look like they normally DID. They had become hairy, triangular cups, high up on my head. Fantastic! And I could MOVE them... Fascinated, I twitched one ear, then the other -- then both of them together. Grinning, I turned to Russ and repeated the process.
"Neat!" he commented. "But don't stop there. Push it further. See what else happens."
I needed no encouragement. I thought of the dog again, and the teenager -- no, ME -- becoming that dog.
I felt a cramp in my hands. Looking down I saw the bones shrink, and my fingers and thumbs become stiff and stubby. Coarse hair covered the skin, and seconds later, in a prickling wave, it erupted all over my back and chest. My upper body was soon a forest of fur -- and when it grew up my neck into the hair on my head, my ears twitched madly!
The same thing then happened below the waistline. Hair raced down my thighs and legs to meet that further down. It even bristled on my backside!
And something else was growing there... Something that throbbed and twitched as it pushed out between my buttocks.
A tail......
Yes!!! I was sprouting a goddamn TAIL!!!!
With a groan of pleasure I bent forward. I WANTED to bend. The taut new muscles at its base, the rush of awakening nerves along its length and the stretch of my white shorts over it, were something else.
And the pleasure kept building. As I bent more sharply, gripping my knees as best I could with my altered hands, I felt a further surge of growth...
"Crikey!" Russ exclaimed, aping the awed enthusiasm of the late Steve Irwin. "That's a WHOPPER!"
With a short laugh (actually, it was more like a bark!) I turned to the mirror, twisting my body in an attempt to see my bulging rear for myself -- but before I could the bones in my legs shortened, my balance went haywire and I ended up on the floor.
I tried to grip it, but my hands were now completely paws -- and so were my feet. Four sets of claws skidded on the polished floor as my arms became my front legs and my back legs shortened still further. My neck lengthened and I felt my face grow into a long, pointed muzzle. Strange teeth filled my mouth. My back stiffened; my constricted rear strained and stretched. Then -- with a resounding RRRRIIPPP!!! -- the seat of my shorts burst open.
"Wow!" Russ exclaimed.
I almost shouted too. My tail was thick with fur, and as it pushed through the hole it had made, the sensation was, well... AWESOME!
When it reached its full length I knew the transformation was complete.
"This is great!" I tried to say -- but all that came out of me was a harsh growl. It sounded weird and I didn't dare repeat it in case someone outside heard and came to investigate. Finding a dog would be bad enough -- but a dog in SHORTS! Russ couldn't hope to explain it. Instead I bounded silently over to him, raised my tail as high as it would go and wagged it jauntily back and forth.
Grinning, Russ reached down and cuffed it playfully.
"Nice one!" he commented. Slowly, his face acquired a strange, eager expression. Glancing quickly at the door, then at his watch, he rose to his feet and said...