It had been 20 minutes so far, and in that time Cory had learned how to move in his new form. At least, he was starting to learn. With some concentration, he could move his knees up and down, swing his elbows, swivel his shoulders and legs, and turn his head and wrists. The doll's points of articulation could be manipulated but Cory could not put it all together just yet. At present, he was still with his plastic back to his bed, in front of his closet mirror, but he had propped himself up. His feet were the main problem; he had no movement in his ankles and so he had to be careful about where he placed his heels in order to keep his balance.
"At least", he thought, trying to remain positive, "these tights I am wearing do not restrict my legs like a pair of pants would." On the floor, Cory had stuck his leg out over ninety degrees to test their range of motion. Freaked out a bit from the lack of pain, he quickly righted the leg.
After Cory had calmed down some, he had moved his head all the way around again to get a better handle on things. He found himself enjoying his ability to move like this, but found it to be a trade off since he had lost all subtler movement. He concentrated on moving his head (not his neck muscles, as he had figured out). To his left was his bedroom door, the computer was in the corner. Opposite his closet was the bed, placed perpendicular to the wall. On his right was a wall with his window, which he had foolishly left open.
"I hope nobody has seen any of this", he thought with disgust. Anyone looking in might think Cory was simply dressing in drag.
Cory was about to try again to stand up when he heard a sound of thunder from down the block. The lights flickered in his room, and all electricity was put out. He felt a surge go through his body as the Chronivac's light turned black. Cory heard a pop from within the machine.
If dolls could sweat, Cory would be soaked. He turned his head in time for his glassy eyes to see his monitor go dim. A puff of gray smoke puffed out of the metal box's front and dissolved in the air. The Chronivac was toasted, and Cory was stuck as a doll.
Propped up in the darkness, 20 more minutes passed for the boy turned doll. He put all of his effort into moving his limbs in tandem, making them work together. At the moment, Cory was standing up straight, taking his first steps with his new form. It was a bit jerky as he headed for his door.
His excitement turned to horror, however, as he heard his mother's car drive in to the driveway, her key fit the front door, and the door shut. She called out his name, looking for him. "Cory?"
His mother's footsteps could be heard passing his room and going down the hall. He could not let her see him like this... As quickly as possible, Cory turned himself around and did all he could do. He headed toward his window, happy it had been left open, and leaned against the frame. As he heard his mother's footsteps get closer to his bedroom, he tumbled out the open window, landing in the bushes.
Cory had entered the bush headfirst, and his dress flopped down around his waist. He could feel the breeze on his white stockinged legs, as his Maryjane'd feet stuck up out of the bush. Scared, confused, and dressed like a girl, Cory contemplated his lot in life as the sun set.