A brush with destiny

Gently dipping the brush into the can, Josh smiled at what he was about to do. It had taken him a long time to save up enough allowance to buy the 2 cans of body paint that he wanted. He had not told anyone of his purchase because he knew they would think he was crazy, but he was not about to let that sway him. So here he was, finally getting to do what he had wanted to do for a long time.

He had laid all of his clothes on the bed so he could cover his entire body from head to toe with the paint. The reason he was doing this? He had always loved raccoons and he thought it would be fun to use body paint to paint his body like the coloration of one. The guy at the store had looked at him oddly when he asked for the paint to paint himself the color of a raccoon, but he had said he had the perfect thing for him and had provided him with the paint for a really great price. While Josh had been a bit suspicious of the whole thing, he doubted that there could be anything wrong with the paint, it wasn’t as if the guy had any reason or anything to gain by hurting him.

He withdrew the brush from the can of gray body paint and gently applied it to his legs. He was surprised by how warm it felt and by how easily it seemed to go on and ‘stay’. It tickled as it applied it to his feet and he was very surprised to see it make its way between his toes without any help. Quickly, he stood up and applied the paint to the back of his legs and bottom of his feet, smiling at how easy it was going on.

He had expected the paint to drip and make a mess, but he had felt that it was worth it. Much to his surprise and elation, the paint didn’t drip at all. As he finished his legs, he smiled at them, admiring their new gray color.

“Just like a raccoons fur” he smiled to himself. Again, he dipped the paintbrush into the gray paint and proceeded to paint his chest. The paint again felt warm and tingly as he applied it, which made him giggle in enjoyment. Having covered his entire chest, he proceeded to paint his sides then his back and rear end. As he dipped the brush into the paint, he admired his appearance, it was odd, the paint really did resemble fur and he loved how it looked. Retrieving the brush, he proceeded to paint his arms down to his wrists before switching to the black paint, which he used to paint his hands black.

“Looks just like a coon” he said to himself. Picking up a smaller brush, he dipped it into the black paint and very carefully proceeded to paint a mask around his eyes, making sure not to get any paint in his eyes. The paint seemed to dry very quickly, which helped to prevent it from getting in his eyes.

Looking in the mirror, he giggled as he saw his makeshift raccoon mask.

“Looks almost real”, he said to himself. Finishing his paint job, he dipped another smaller brush into the gray paint and proceeded to cover the rest of his face and head. The job seeming complete, he stared at himself in the mirror with his hands on his hips, smiling at what he saw.

It was then that he felt a strange tingling just above his rear end that was followed by an almost pulling sensation. As he turned around to see what was going on, he felt something brush against his right hand. He gasped in shock as he looked to see what it was. It was a tail!

“I have a tail!” he said to himself. The tail was a classic raccoon tail, bushy with gray fur and black rings.

“Where did this come from? I didn’t put on any kind of tail!” he said, in shock. He pulled on the tail, and was shocked that it not only felt warm, but also that he could feel himself pulling on it.

“It’s real!” he said, his voice starting to tremble. His legs and feet began to feel itchy and warm. He looked at them in the mirror and was again shocked to see that the paint was gone! In its place was a pelt of gray fur. His feet looked different, each toe had a short claw on it. He didn’t take long to realize that the feet looked like.

“I have raccoon feet”, he said, as he felt the fur on his legs, slightly perturbed by how good it felt. The feeling started to spread to his torso and he could only watch, as the paint on it seemed to vanish into his skin only to be replaced by a gray pelt of fur.

“Nooooo! I like raccoons but that doesn’t mean I want to become one!” he protested. But it was in vain as within a minute his entire torso was fur covered and the fur was spreading down his arms. His hands felt oddly warm and seemed to start glowing, almost seeming to turn to energy before the glow dissipated. When it had gone, his hands looked very different, not at all like human hands. He still had 5 fingers but they were all lined up such that he had no discernable thumb and each finger had a sharp claw on the end. With his new hands he gently petted the fur on his chest, admiring how good it felt. Annoyed, he gasped when he realized he had been chittering to himself in enjoyment.

As the fur completed it’s journey down his arms and began to proceed up his neck, the room seemed to be getting bigger and quick!

“No, the rooms not getting bigger! I’m shrinking!” he said as he realized the reality of it. His hips started to feel very hot and he found his center of gravity shifting, he then found himself being forced onto

“all fours”.

Standing on all fours, he watched himself in the mirror as the fur growth spread all across his face. His face pulled itself out into a muzzle and his nose became small and black as his ears moved to the top of his head and changed shape into a much more raccoon like shape. He seemed to have finished shrinking, and tried to say something but only animal sounds came out. Staring at his reflection in the mirror, the raccoon attempted to come to grips with what had happened to him.

***

Some 20 minutes later, Josh looked at the clock. Only then did he realize just how long he’d been standing there, just staring at himself in the mirror. He was perplexed.

“What am I supposed to do now?” It was then that he heard a tapping sound on his bedroom window. Turning his furry little head he saw something unexpected standing by the window acting as if it wanted in. With apparently little else he could do, he ran over to the window and with great effort, managed to get it open. The other raccoon walked into his room and sniffed Josh before chittering at him. Josh was amazed that he could understand her.

“Hi, I’m Jennifer. I saw what happened to you. I am one of several other people that got changed like you were. I was wondering if you’d like to come be with us. We can give you a nice place to live and lots of companionship.” She said. Josh was terrified, he wasn’t ready to give his human life up, and he couldn’t just abandon it. Sensing his apprehension, Jennifer walked over to him and gently rubbed his belly, to which he instinctively responded by laying on his back, to which she responded, by rubbing his belly for several minutes, all while he chittered happily. When she finally stopped, he stood back on his hind legs and looked at her.

“Thanks, that felt great” he said.

“I know being changed like this may seem strange, but being like this is actually a lot of fun. The fur is so soft and warm and we don’t have to worry about paying bills or getting a job or anything of that silly human stuff” she said. Josh considered her words, looking himself over. The fact was that he wasn’t human, anymore at least. He couldn’t exactly just continue on with his human life as if nothing had happened. He had to admit the life she offered him did have a certain appeal to it. Walking over to Jennifer, he hugged her, enjoying the warmth and softness of her fur. She chittered happily and hugged him back, motioning for him to follow her. And he did, into his new life.