When you reach the carnival, you squeal in excitement; there, by the wheel of fortune you won the necklace from, is the same old woman as yesterday! You're in luck after all! Grabbing your mom by the wrist, you rush up to the stand.
The old woman smiles. "Oh, it's you," she says. "Come back to play again?"
You shake your head. "I'm here to talk about the necklace I won yesterday.
She nods. "Ian," she calls, "can you take over for me? I'll only be a few minutes." A young man who's way too handsome to be a carnie steps up and takes over the stand, and the old woman motions you and your mother around back. Hey, you think, he was kinda cu...NO! No, I'm not going there! Freaked out by this development, you rush after the woman.
"So," she says, "you have a problem with the necklace, I see. I'm afraid there is not much I can do."
You almost break down. "What?" you yelp. "You've got to help me! I'm not supposed to be a girl!"
"If this is about what I did," your mom interjects, "I'll take the blame. Don't punish my child for what I did."
The woman sighs and shakes her head. "No," she says. "You are thinking I am the one whom you hurt as a young girl, no?" Your mom nods. "I am not," the woman continues. "I am her daughter. My mother passed away some years ago. Before she died, she told me about you and your friends, and the curse she placed on them. She regretted having done so, but since none of you ever came to ask for forgiveness, she was unable to break the curse."
You begin to tremble. "D-does that m-mean?" you stutter.
The woman nods sadly. "I am afraid that my mother was the only one who could ever break the curse. This means that you cannot be changed back. Not with surgery, not with magic. There is no way. I apologize for having given you the necklace," she says, noticing that your hands are clenching into fists, "but you must realize that it was the curse that placed it in the prize rack to begin with. By the time I realized what had happened, you were gone."
"What can we do?" your mom asks.
"There is nothing to be done," the woman replies. "Your daughter will stay this way. You both may take comfort in that she will become used to it over time, but nothing else can be done. If you would help me though to find the others who will be affected, I would be most grateful."
Your mom nods and begins to list off the names of her old friends, and where she last heard they were living. Meanwhile, you sit there, lip trembling, comprehending what you just heard. No way to reverse it, you think. Stuck as a girl...a cat-girl...for the rest of my life...the rest of my life...