Tim and Ben were lovers. Ben was the manlier of the two, while some could consider Tim the 'woman' in the relationship. They were madly in love, had been dating for three years, and had never once had a fight.
On their three-year anniversary, they decided that they were going to go to the carnival that came through their hometown every summer. The first attraction they saw struck their interest; it was a fortune teller booth. They approached the booth.
"Hi there," Ben said, being more outgoing than Tim. "We'd like to have our fortunes told," he told the fortune teller, an old woman with a purple dress and bandana wrapped around her head.
She looked up at them, their hands clasped, and frowned. "Are you two gay?" she asked, the words sour.
"Sure are," Ben said proudly. He squeezed Tims' hand. "Today is our three-year anniversary."
The woman gagged in disgust. Rolling her eyes, she said, "Well, come on in the back. Maybe I can find something to give you two."
Excited, Tim and Ben followed her into the back of her tent. She pulled a small wooden bowl out and held it out for Tim. Peering inside the bowl, he saw that there were many strips of paper inside the bowl.
"Pick one," the woman told him.
"Pick a good one, babe," Ben told his lover, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek.
Tim reached into the bowl and almost looked at it, before the woman practically shrieked, "Wait!"
Tim immediately lowered the paper from his face and looked up at the woman.
"Let me explain what that is before you look at it," she said. "First, some background information--I hate men. They're disgusting. They hump anything that moves. That's why I hate gay couples even more. Men are disgusting enouh; get two of them together and think what happens!"
Tim and Ben stared at her in shock, offended. Ben was about to say something, but the woman continued, "On that piece of paper is the name of an animal. You will turn into that animal, because only animals hump things non-stop. It'll be a somewhat slow process, with only one change per day. And it may be painful at times."
She looked at Ben. "He's going to change in the same clothes that he is wearing now," she told Ben, but loudly enough so that Tim could hear her as well. "While he is changing, if you dare touch him, or try to help him through it, or take his clothes off, his changes will intensify. For example, his tail will grow extra long or his ears will be doubled in size. So, for his sake, DON'T TOUCH HIM."
"You're a monster!" Ben yelled, putting his arm around his boyfriend's shoulders. "What are you, some kind of witch?"
The woman smiled. "Why, you're exactly right. I'm a witch." She smirked at Tim. "So, young man, why don't you see what animal you are going to become?"
Tim gulped, tears welling up in his eyes. He didn't want to be an animal, but he saw that there was nothing he could do about it. While the tears fell down his cheeks and Ben's grip around his shoulders tightened lovingly, Tim unfolded his paper and read the kind of animal that he would become.