Jeff and Amy's mother was sitting in the lounge just outside the kitchen. She had just put a pot roast in the oven and decided to rest until it was done.
She felt a little bad about what she had done to her son. But it was just so funny, seeing him looking and acting like a clown. He didn't seem to mind, but the manual did say it altered the mind as well as the body. She didn't plan to keep him like that; after he was done entertaining Amy she'd change him back.
'Although maybe I could hire him out for birthdays and bar Mitzvahs and other stuff,' she thought. Not that they really needed the money; they were in pretty good shape financially even if it had been pretty tight for a while after Jeff and Amy's father died a couple of years ago. Still, a little extra couldn't hurt.
"Hey Mommy!" She turned her head and saw a redand yellow blur. somersault into the room, then stop and stand right in front of her. "Mommy, look at me!"
Jeff and Amy's mother stared at the little clown. "Amy?" Her daughter nodded and squeezed her nose, making sounds like a squeak toy. "Did Jeff do this you?"
Amy nodded and squeaked her nose again. "This is the best birthday present I ever got! I feel so happy and free!"
Her mother sighed; things had gotten too far. She got up from her couch walked over to Jeff's room.
She saw her clownified son sitting at his computer. "Jeff," she said, "I'm sorry."
Jeff turned to look at his mother. "Sorry for what mom, hayuh huh?" Jeff chuckled impulsively.
"For turning you into a clown. And you've made your point, doing it to your sister. Now c'mon, I think it's time to change you both back."
Now Jeff got up and stared at his mother. "But we don't want to change back."
"Jeff, you have to," his mother said. "You can't go to school like this- it'd be-," She didn't get to finish her sentence, for Jeff tapped the ENTER key, and the emitter beam hit his mother.
The shirt Jeff's mother was wearing went to a deep red covered with white polka dots. The bottom of the shirt stretched down to her ankles, forming into a full skirted dress. Her white apron became very frilly and ruffled and covered with red polka dot, revering the pattern of her dress. Her yellow slacks puffed into baggy white bloomers, while her socks changed into red and white stripes and her shoes stretched into red bubble-toed mary janes with white polka dots.
Her skin paled, to the same white hue as her son and daughter's. Her lips became a deep red and stretched into a wide clown smile. A lighter red appeared on her cheeks, forming a permanent blush. Her eyebrows became arched and black and her eyelids shaded the same blue as the triangles on Jeff's face. Her eyelashes became red and grew to an enormous size. Her hair became the same red as her dress and curled into a medium sized afro, then was topped by a white lace cap. Her gold loop earrings stretched into enormous hoops that rested on her shoulders. White lace appeared at the hem her dress, at her wrists, and at the collar around her neck.
The final change came over her as the tip of her nose turned red and swelled into a bulbous clown nose. She gave it a squeeze and it honked.
"Mommy, you look pretty." She saw Amy standing there in the doorway.
She smiled at her daughter. "Thank you," she said, her voice a rather goofy sounding alto. She walked over to Jeff and hugged him. "And thank you! This is the best thing that's ever happened to me!"