"This is so lame, Julie," Joy complained, tugging her sister's sleeve. "Let's just go home. We can still catch
something on tv."
Julie did not argue, not having really wanted to go to the carnival in the first place, so the girls headed
out of the fenced grounds and began walking toward the road to go home. Then Julie stopped and looked around,
getting her bearings.
"Joy, we can cut through the park. Its a lot faster. I don't know why we didn't do that on the way here."
They turned left, heading to the heavily wooded park separating the carnival grounds from the edge of town.
"What about my car, Sis?"
"We can walk back and get it tomorrow. I just feel like walking," Julie responded energetically.
It wasn't long until they were out of sight of the lights of the carnival and the sounds had dwindled to a
distant murmur, allowing them to hear the quiet sounds of the woods. Leaves and twigs crunched under their
tennis shoes as they made their way between the trees. The night was clear and crisp. Cool, but not too cold,
and peaceful. Despite their slight personality differences, the twins - as twins occasionally are - were best
friends. They were rather popular, being attractive and friendly, but preferred each other's company over
anyone else's. Tonight was no different as they walked quietly, just enjoying the freedom and solitude. Then
Joy started lagging a little, her shoes irritating her feet for some reason. The were relatively new, worn
just enough to be comfortable (most of the time anyway), but still retaining the off the shelf appearance.
Julie was still ok in her black and white sandals. The Adidas slides were her favorite casual shoes when she
didn't HAVE to wear something with a closed toe. Finally Joy couldn't take it anymore and stopped, leaning
against a tree to kick her shoe off and see what was wrong, thinking she had a rock in the toe or something.
Julie followed her over, impatient to be moving again.
"You ok, Sis?"
Joy was holding her shoe upside down and shaking it, but nothing had come out yet. Neither of the girls had
noticed how bright the night seemed, even under the boughs of the trees. Joy dropped her shoe and stood up,
leaning against the trunk with her eyes closed, her unshod left foot resting on top of her right which was
still in its shoe.
"I don't get it," she griped, "there's nothing in there, but the damn thing just doesn't feel right all of a
sudden."
Julie shrugged as she responded, "Maybe walking wasn't such a great idea. But it's a nice night and we don't
have to be home for another 3 hours. Let's take a break. It's been a long time since we just hung out in the
woods like this."
"What the hell," Joy answered. "You're right."
She kicked off her other shoe as they sat down and rested her heels on the leather sneakers to keep her brand
new white socks from dragging in the dirt. The girls laid back, resting their heads beside each other on
crossed arms, staring at the trees above them as they made small talk, just catching up on whatever may be new
in each other's lives.
Neither noticed the slight tearing sounds as their toenails poke small holes in the ends of their matching
white socks that ended just above their ankles. Neither noticed the slight clacking sounds as lengthening
eyeteeth tapped against each other as they talked. Neither noticed anything odd until they turned their heads
to look at each other and each exclaimed at the same instant: "What the hell!?! Why are your eyes yellow?"
Before either could say anything else, they both convulsed, rolling toward each other instinctively as they
curled up, groaning in sudden pain.
They grasped each other's arms, whimpering as lengthening claws cut through the sleeves of their shirts and
into skin as they held each other tightly. Ears slowly wormed their way out of their thick hair, growing
longer and wider, the now pointed tips twitching as they moved slowly up the girls' heads. Widow's peaks
slowly grew down their foreheads as small tufts of light brown and blonde fur sprouted along cheeks, jaws and
the backs of their hands. The whimpers began sounding more like grunts as loud tearing sounds were heard,
caused by tails ripping through the backs of their matching medium blue jeans under their matching pink
studded leather belts. Torsos began to heave, clawed hands/paws gripping tighter to each other as their
muscles began to expand, straining the seams of their clothing.
They opened identical tear filled, amber colored eyes, watching each other as they realized that the magician
hadn't been such a phony after all, and that they now carried a horrible curse. But neither was completely
despondent as they also realized that no matter what happened to them after tonight, they were still together.
The grunts turned slowly to growls as their heads began to widen, the foreheads sloping back, compressing
their still-human brains. Noses turned black and moist as their faces began to pull forward, bones cracking
and reforming as their noses and mouths fused and lengthened into lupine muzzles, filled with razor sharp
fangs. Brown and blonde fur spread slowly across their growing bodies. Muscles continued to expand, snapping
their bras apart a fraction of a second before their torsos ripped through their nearly identical shirts,
Joy's red one and Julie's blue one held together by a few stubborn threads at key points along the shoulders
and hemlines. Rips forming at the knees and along the leg seams of their jeans as their now muscular, fur-
covered haunches grew too large for the tough denim to contain. The tiny holes in the ends of their soft thick
socks grew larger as the new claws grew longer and sharper, the loose cotton growing tight as the arches of
their feet got longer, pushing not just the claws but the toes of their growing limbs through the holes before
the white cloth tore completely, the feet cracking as they formed digitigrade wolfish paws. Human minds began
to fade and animal instincts took over as the huge creatures clambered to their hind legs, and howled their
pain and grief at the trees overhead, the only thing left from their former lives was their twin bond,
translating to their new feral minds as "Pack". Infectious saliva dripping from their fangs, they looked at
each other for a long time before continuing the way they had been travelling before, eager to recruit new
sisters.
Other than the nearly unrecognizable rags still clinging to their bodies, the only trace of the beautiful
young girls they had once been was an almost new pair of white and silver Adidas tennis shoes and a black and
white pair of sandals left laying in the dirt. Joy and Julie were nothing but a memory....
With one more long