That night, Alice still remembered the witch doctor's words. As she lay in her hotel bed, she shook her head before falling asleep.
Later, Alice found herself hopping in the outback. It felt like a natural method of locomotion.
When she stopped, she looked down at her body to see that she wasn’t wearing clothes! She didn't feel naked. She saw that orange fur now covered her body! She touched it with what she saw were clawed paws. It was like touching her head, except the fur was softer and shorter then human hair. She didn't feel as though her hair had covered her body. If anything, it felt more like wearing clothes that were a part of her.
A glance back showed Alice that she had a tail!
She was a kangaroo!
When she tried to speak, Alice found that nothing came out. Her vocal chords were gone. With some effort, she was able to manage clicks of her tongue and a few grunts.
Where panic would normally consume Alice, she instead felt an almost calm. She couldn’t remember how she got into the wild or becoming a kangaroo. Being this way felt natural to her, almost free.
Alice resumed hopping, having no destination.
The next day, Alice awoke in her hotel bed. She remembered the dream vividly. At least, she assumed it was a dream. When Alice stepped out of bed, she saw that the kids were still sleeping.
Alice walked into the bathroom to take a shower. When she took her nightgown off, Alice noticed that the inside of it had a few strands of orange hair.
"Where did that come from?" Alice said aloud.
Holding the hair between her right forefinger and thumb, Alice found that the hair felt familiar. Indeed, Alice discovered that it was more like fur then hair.
"That was a dream, wasn’t it?"
Alice reviewed the evidence in her mind. She knew that a human couldn’t become a kangaroo. It was physically and biologically impossible. Yet, that dream had been so vivid. As Alice stepped into the shower, she looked back to see that she was leaving dirt prints in her wake. A glance at her left and then her right foot showed that bother of her feet had dirt on them!
Shaking her head, Alice fought the desire to accept the dream as reality. She might try to scare Joey with the threat that something like that could happen if he misbehaved. Pete and Kylie however would never believe that.
“Maybe there was a drug in the water. That man could have planted a hypnotic suggestion into my mind to make me think I became a kangaroo. Which means I was hopping naked last night,” Alice whispered.
Shaking the image from her mind, Alice assumed that the fur came from a real kangaroo and perhaps someone had managed to plant it there.
After showering and getting dressed, Alice decided not to tell the kids about the incident.
The rest of their vacation went without incident and Alice forgot about the encounter and the dream.
A month later, Alice was back at her job at the office. She was typing away at her computer, writing a report when she felt a tingle in her fingers. At first, she was worried she was developing carpal tunnel syndrome or some other health issue. When she looked down at then, she gasped! Her fingernails were turning back! Alice realised that her hands were turning into kangaroo paws!