"Hey, Tom, how'd ya like a balloon? I can make it into a poodle if
you like?" the clown says as Tom comes out of the store.
"Zack, is that you? Whoa, mall clown - that's better than your job
last year as the human hot dog dancing on the corner by the Hot Dog
Hut."
"Yeah, cooler costume, air conditioned mall. I nearly had heatstroke
last year."
"You see Mike around here? He was in the store with me - but he left
before me."
"Oh, I'm sure Mikey is round here somewheres. So how about a balloon
animal?" Zack says grabbing the yellow balloon and untying the valve.
Mike's eyes widen as the air leaks out of the valve the emptying tip
of the balloon looks like Mike's face in bas relief. Zack looks down
at him and grins. He runs his hands over Mike's yellow balloon body.
He stretches and twists the partially deflated balloon. Zack
stretches the end then squeezes some air into the end. In moments,
Zack has reshaped Mike into a poodle balloon with his face hidden in
the poodle's bulging tail. He ties the balloon back on to the stick
and hands it to Tom.
"This is really cool, Zack, my kid bro will really get a kick out of
this it looks just like his pet poodle."
Zack grinned. This was going all as planned. When Tom was out of
sight, Zack phoned Johnny (Tom's brother).
"Yeah, your new poodleboy is en route, Tom's bringing him to you. Oh,
no, Mikey was no problem at all. I'm sure the coach will move you up
from JV to take Mike's position. Just don't pop him if you ever want
me to change him back." He paused and then answered Johnny, "Yeah, you
can change him into other things just like I showed you, but his
natural form is now a yellow balloon until I break the spell, so be
gentle with him."