He felt himself being moved, lifted up, carried and then set down on something soft that had placed over something hard. A familiar female voice cooed out, "Somebody's had an accident," and trying to focus, something he found difficult, Justin found himself looking up at his mother.
A strange noise could be heard and straining to look, Justin for some reason thought that he was wearing a diaper, but could not fathom as to why he would. Another of those strange noises, "Sort of like a tearing or ripping noise," he thought and trying to focus, he felt himself lifted up by the legs and then watched as his mother tossed something into the trash bin a couple inches to her left.
Confirming that it was indeed a diaper he had been wearing, Justin heard his mother suddenly exclaimed, "How did those get down there," in a gentle, but puzzled look.
As he looked down, seeing nothing but his normal male genitals, his mother commented, "Well, we'll just have to do something about them," and reaching for a baby wipe, she began to gently apply the wet clothe to Justin's skin, eventually scooping up his penis and testicles.
"There," his mother said as she balled up the wipe containing his genitals and tossing it into the trash bin she had tossed the diaper, she cooed out, "We are going to get you all nice and clean and then mommy's little girl is going to have her lunch and then a nap," and realising that what he was staring at were the normal genitals of a girl, Justin began to scream, but all that came out of his mouth was a happy, gurgling noise.
Everything shifted and for a moment, Justin thought it was because his mother had picked him up. But, to his surprise, he found himself looking at a girl, who was slowly undressing.
Sure that he should look away, Justin found himself helpless to watch and then realised that he too was undressing. Somewhere to his left, his mother's voice said something, but what it was he was unsure. Before him, the girl had finished undressing and as she was reaching for something Justin could not quite make out, she became rather bleary, "Almost as if the movie was out of focus," he thought to himself and before he clear his vision, everything shifted and he found himself picking up something that looked like a dress.
Turning, he saw a girl that looked like his cousin, Mandy, in nothing but her underwear. A glance into the mirror behind her and for a brief moment, he thought he saw something, but then it was gone before he could realise what it was he was looking at as the world shifted again.
"Play with me," Mandy squeals out and before Justin can get his bearings, his cousin was taking his hand and pulling him along.
Finding himself in her bedroom, not in the guest room she had been occupying while staying Justin's family, he glanced about and found himself actually feeling comfortable surrounded by what he thought of as a rather girly room.
"We can play dress-up or pretend or with our dollies or anything you want, Tama," Mandy explained and realising that his cousin had called him by something that he was almost sure was not his name, Justin glanced over at her, ready to refute the issue on his name being Tama. But then he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror and the point was lost.
Gazing into the mirror, Justin found himself looking at a girl that looked to be somewhere between the age of four to six. She had pale skin, black hair and grey eyes. Moving himself a couple inches closer, he watched as the girl did the same thing. And then she began to drift out of focus and shift into something else. But before he could realise what it was she was morphing into, Mandy quietly and sadly announced, "You don't want to play with me," and tearing his gaze away from the mirror, he commented, "But I do."
"No you don't," Mandy screamed out and Justin suddenly found himself sitting up in his own bed, looking wildly about.
When he was finally able to orientate himself properly, he flopped back down on his bed, turned on his side and curled up in a fetal position and hugged the soft Hello Kitty comforter closer. As he lay there, he tried to remember the dreams, the same ones he had been having for the past three days, found himself drawing a blank and instead he pushed away the comforter and climbed out of bed.
Heading for the bathroom, as he had done for the past three days after his afternoon nap, he shut the door and peered into the mirror.
Reflected back, he could not tell if he was looking at a boy or a girl. His height, he noted, had shrunk another couple inches and his ears, which had started to develop points a couple days earlier, where now almost atop his head. His face had a more softer, rounder, feminine appearance while his eyes appeared to be shifting from their normal brownish-green to something that appeared grey.
Looking down at the dress his mother had insisted he wear, he thought about how every piece of underwear, pants and swimsuit that now filled his dresser now had a hole in the back. Depressed by this, Justin thought about how his pubic hair had turned softer and a deeper shade of black, while his penis and testicles had shrunk a little and somehow moved down a couple inches from their normal placement. Trying to think what sort of animal he was obviously turning into, Justin hugged himself and leaned against the mirror, finding it almost difficult as he had to stand on the tip of his toes in order to even reach that far.
As he leaned against the mirror, he thought, "Great. Just great. I look even more like a girl who is obviously not human," and turning his head so the he was looking at the wall, he muttered, "I don't want to be a girl. It's not fair."
"No, I suppose it wouldn't be," a voice from behind him announced.
Pushing away from the mirror, nearly losing his balance, Justin spun about and found himself looking at an elderly man sitting on the edge of the bathtub. Looking wildly about, trying to figure out how this man had gotten in and what it was he wanted, Justin finally sputtered out, "Who are you and what do you want?"
"I," the man said quietly with a queer look on his face. "Am a member of the order of Zulo. I believe you are familiar with us, in some way."
Shaking his head, Justin tried to tell the man he wasn't but found himself at a loss for words.
The queer look still on his face, the man said, "A couple days previous, you found an amulet in the driveway. This amulet is a symbol of our order and allows for people to be altered. Unfortunately, for you, you came in contact with the amulet when it had broke, and so only received a full dose through a sliver of metal caught under your skin."
"Is that why I am turning into this?" Justin asked, waving his hand downward and then at his reflected image.
Nodding, the man replied, "Yes."
"Well then take it back," Justin snapped. "I don't want to be a girl and I don't want to be some animal," unaware that he sounded much like his cousin when she was about to throw a temper tantrum.
Shaking his head, the man said, "I cannot," and holding up a hand to forestall the comment Justin was about to make, he explained, "It is because your transformation came under broken magick and because nothing of your original life exists. Your clothes are those of a five year old girl. The name you are addressed as is that of a girl. The photos and memories of those around you are those of a young girl who had been born looking like a fox.
"Your life, your previous life to be more specific, is over." the man announced in a tone of finality. "You will continue with your transformation until the only thing left is Tama, the fox-girl you are becoming."
Justin looked at the old man, hearing and going over all that he had just been told, torn between wanting to stomp his feet in frustration and striking the man. After a moment, he hissed out, "What good is you telling me all this if I cannot have my life back. If all that I have to look forward to is becoming a fox-girl of five years of age?"
The queer look still on his face, the man replied, "I am here to make you an offer," and taking from his pocket, he held out the amulet to Justin.
As Justin looked at the medallion, no longer broke, the man continued. "I can give this to you with the offer that you may use it once to alter who you are. Only once because of the magick that originally transformed you prevents outside magick that would change you from being used twice. Sort of like an immunity. But, if you should choose to take my offer, be warned. What you turn into could either be worse than your current situation or it could in fact be better."
"How did you fix it," Justin asked, barely taking in a word of what the man had said.
Shrugging, the man explained, "It is well within the power of my order to fix the Amulet of Zulo, as we originally designed them."
Staring at the amulet, wondering if the old man was having him on or if this thing was in some way responsible and that it could alter him further, Justin found his mind racing from one idea to the next. After a moment he asked, "If I take the amulet, but at a later point decide not use it, would it be all right if I just got rid of it?"
If such a situation arose, the medallion will simply disappear from you possession, never to reappear within your life, or any of those you know as family and friends. The same would be true if you did decide to use the amulet," the man intoned.
Hesitant, Justin stared at the man and the amulet and after a moment, he made his decision. Reaching for the medallion, he watched as the man shifted his hand and dumped the trinket into Justin's hand, noting that the man was careful that their hands should not meet. As the man stood, he told Justin, "Make your decision well," and then was gone, leaving Justin staring at the empty space the man had been occupying seconds previous.
Glancing down at the Amulet of Zulo, Justin wondered what he should do and after a couple seconds, returned to his room and hid the medallion in with his costume jewelry, deciding that when the time came, he would make his choice.