A Good Deal

Sally Johnson relaxed on her couch munching popcorn and drinking coffee. The 32-year-old was watching television to unwind from a long day at work

It had been a productive day. She had purchased a 175 cm tall armoire with two large cabinets (accessible by double doors) separated by a pair of small Jewry drawers from an antique store she visited on her lunch hour. Its wood was a handsome dark chestnut color.

Her bedroom was cluttered with stray clothing and supplies. The armoire would suffice in providing a place to store them.

The store was delivering the armoire. While they didn’t normally deliver, they made an exception for such an expensive purchase.

The delivery arrived on schedule at eight p.m. The delivery men carried up to her bedroom. Sally lifted weights and worked out on a regular bases and such was more then capable of helping them. Unfortunately, she was sore from the days work so was unable to help. She thanked them, tipping them generously before they departed. She then went upstairs to survey her acquisition.

Opening one of the jewelry drawers, she found something somehow overlooked in the initial inspection. Inside was a small necklace with a disk about the size of a silver dollar. One side had writing in a language she didn’t recognize, the other had an engraving of a raccoon.

Concerned the necklace was forgotten, she called the store to inquire. The answer she received was surprising. The original owner sold it with the armoire with the request that it be part of the deal.

Sally hung the phone up, deciding to try the necklace on. Putting it around her neck, she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, admiring how nice it looked and decided to keep it on.

She returned to her room and stocked the armoire with articles of clothing in the top drawer, jewelry in the middle, and office supplies in the bottom.

Finishing that, she observed her now orderly room. The armoire was handsome and she was happy having purchased it.

With that, she walked downstairs into the basement to surf the web and play computer games.

When eleven p.m. arrived, she decided to shower. She put the necklace on the clock stand in her bedroom before disrobing.

Her skin was itchy, tingled and she felt queasy as she showered. Having no idea what could be wrong, she wondered if the necklace was somehow responsible; perhaps it was composed of something she was allergic to.

After drying off, she put on a gray tank top and cotton powder blue pants before tying her long red hair into a ponytail. Picking up the necklace, she examined the back of it. She studied the writing on it and decided to investigate it further in the morning. For now, she was very worn out and simply wanted to go to bed. She was still itchy and queasy and was hopeful a good nights sleep would alleviate whatever was wrong.

***

The next morning, she awoke feeling even worse. The room felt ridiculously hot, the sweat dripping down her face and chest. Her damp tee-shirt showed she had been sweating for a while. Her stomach was doing turns and twists. Climbing out of bed, she noticed her shirt stretched to her knees. Her pants were loose and baggy, the legs nearly six inches too long! Overnight, she had shrunk from 5’6 to just barley five feet.

Looking over at her clock, she saw it was eight a.m. Her face felt strange, almost as if her jaw was longer. She ran her tongue over her teeth. They felt sharper, not to mention the fact that her tongue felt different.

Removing the pants, she noticed her legs were far hairier then last night. She had shaved her legs only yesterday yet they had several days worth growth of hair. It was too dark to see clearly, so she walked into the bathroom and turned on the light. Turning her attention to her jaw, she looked in the mirror. What she saw almost made her scream. Her jaw didn’t just feel longer, it really was!

What the hell is going on?

Feeling her proto-muzzle, she realized this wasn’t the extent of what was happening to her body. In addition to the forming muzzle, there was a fine coating of brown fur on her face.

Noticing fur on the exposed areas of her chest, she removed her shirt.

Holy crap, I’m like a bigfoot here!

The fur was everywhere, covering her body in a light fuzz. Reaching down and touching the fur her legs, she found it soft and warm. It felt as if it was growing. A closer look confirmed it was! As if that wasn’t enough, her breasts suddenly lost nearly all of their volume were getting smaller!

Okay, I’ve seen enough. Time to get help.

She ran back into her room to call 911. She didn’t know what (if anything) the doctors could do, but the option of calling for help seemed better then standing around watching her humanity slip away.

As she neared the phone, a strong pushing sensation in her jaw stopped her dead in her tracks. Her jaw started growing as her hair fell out in clumps. Her face felt warmer and she could actually feel the fur on it getting longer. Reaching up, she felt her face and was greeted with a muzzle complete with whiskers and a little black nose. Feeling the rest of her head, she starting sobbing. Her human hair was gone and that her ears were now furry, rounded and located at the top of her head.

She ran to the mirror to get a look at herself. Her head wasn’t at all human anymore. The black mask around her now black eyes gave it away. Her head was a raccoon head. She tried to say something but only a strange sounded trill emitted from her muzzle; she could no longer speak.

No, it’s impossible! This can’t be happening! If I can’t talk then what am I supposed to do?

Looking at the phone, she realized calling for help was no longer a viable option. She quickly became aware of another serious problem, the numbers on the phone were meaningless. For whatever reason, she no longer understood them.

Okay, I’ve got the head of an animal, I can’t understand number, I’m growing fur and shrinking. What am I supposed to do?

Not wanting to waste any more time, she decided to run over to her next door neighbor Steve’s house, hoping he could help.

Unfortunately, her body had other ideas.

As she arrived at the bottom of the stairs, she felt a sudden sinking feeling. The world seemed to grow bigger as her underwear fell down her body. Kicking the underwear from her feet, she ran towards the full sized mirror that covered the doors to her coat closet. Looking at herself in the mirror, she was mortified. She was tiny, no bigger then a toddler.

Her body was an odd looking one indeed. A raccoon head atop a mostly human body with a coating of brown fur. Her breasts were now nothing but barley visible nipples on her chest.

Sally could only cry as she watched her reflection continue to change. The area under the nipples tingled as two additional pairs of nipples developed.

The sinking feeling returned as she lost so much height that she was no bigger then a normal raccoon.

Her mind was reeling with terror and upset. She tried to think of her future. All her hopes and dreams were being washed away. Her life’s options would soon be limited to ending up as a pet or going wild. Her mind was going foggy, making difficult to think.

Her light coating of brown fur was now a thick, luxurious pelt. She stopped sweating as her sweat glands vanished. Her tailbone ached, feeling as though it were being pulled on. Her arms were getting shorter as her torso started getting plumper. Her center of gravity was starting to alter and she found herself falling forward. She held her hands out in front of her and hit the mirror, fortunately not breaking it.

While getting rounder was traumatic enough, it paled in comparison to the extent of the changes her body was undergoing. Those changes were not yet complete. Her torso grew even rounder. Strangely, its appearance seemed fitting to what was quickly becoming her new body.

The pulling sensation on her tailbone intensified. Like a tape measure being unsheathed, her spine expanded as a furry tail with four black rings sprouted just above her buttocks. Looking at her reflection, she held her muzzle open in shock, allowing her new sharp teeth to become visible.

The changes progressed as the nails on her feet turned black, growing into long sharp claws. Her toes altered in shape and length, leaving her with five digits all about the same width, with only minor differences in length.

Her thumbs twitched, moving and reshaping with her hands to give her a pair of paws with five digits but no real thumbs. As with her feet, her finger nails turned black, growing into claws.

The final changes were made to her body as her hips snapped and molded into a new form suitable for quadrupedal locomotion and the bones in her neck shifted, making looking forward while standing on all fours natural. The tingling and queasiness quickly faded and she stood back, allowing herself to completely fall to the ground on four feet.

Staring at the raccoon in the mirror, her initial reaction was denial.

No, this isn’t what it looks like! That is not my reflection. I am a human being not a raccoon!

She stood on her hind legs and started examining her body. She felt her face, feeling the muzzle. Opening her mouth, she felt her new sharp teeth. The raccoon in the mirror was mimicking her actions. This was not something a mere illusion could do, but she wasn’t yet ready to accept it.

She reached down and petted the fur on her chest, finding it pleasant to touch. She had wondered what it felt like being petted and was pleased with how nice it felt. Laying on her back she managed to raise and then grab her tail. She could feel herself tugging on it. This view allowed her to see her furry raccoon feet, it still wasn’t registering that these really were hers.

She let go of the tail, looking at her forepaws. They looked almost like little human hands (albeit without a thumb and claws). Getting back onto her hind legs, she looked back at the mirror. Her skepticism was quickly fading.

When she tested out her new voice, hearing a series of chitters and warbles emitted from her muzzle, she couldn’t deny it anymore.

This is crazy! This isn’t an illusion, it’s not a dream. I really am a raccoon!

A tear rolled down her left cheek with the realization. She knew she was in deep trouble.

***

After ten minutes of staring at her reflection, she knew some sort of action was necessary.

She attempted to acclimate to walking around in her new body.

Not knowing how they’d react to a raccoon in the house, she was thankful her cats weren’t awake.

The thought of living out her life like this terrified her, awakening an urge to panic. Walking into her living room, she noticed a magazine on the ground and reached for it. Chills ran down her spine when she realized she couldn’t read the text. Looking at the various items in the living room, she couldn’t remember what any of them were called.

Oh my God, I’m losing my mind!

Fearing it wouldn’t be long before her human intelligence was totally lost, she knew she needed help and soon!

She tried her best to concentrate as she ran towards the front door. She cared not that the name for the door was lost, it was a way out, which was what she needed. Seeing the cat door, she knew she could unlatch its lock to be able to use it. The frigid outdoor temperatures were temporarily irrelevant, getting to Steve’s house took priority. He, his son Sylvester or daughter Janice could help her. Running up to the cat door, she looked at it. The locking mechanism confused her.

Come on Sally, you remember how to unlock this damn thing! Concentrate, picture yourself unlocking it before!

She did her best to picture unlocking it. Unfortunately, her attention span was all but non existent and she found her concentration wavering. She was starting to realize how much better her sense of smell and hearing were. It allowed her access to scents and sounds that up until now were denied. She couldn’t see nearly as far but attributed that to being so much smaller then myopia.

Dammit to hell! There I go again letting my concentration waiver!

Looking back at the lock, she couldn’t seem to access the part of her brain that stored the information on its operation. She stomped her feet as she turned and walked away from the door, chittering loudly in annoyance.

She walked into the living room to collect her thoughts. Despite the fact that operating human devices was lost to her, she could still think and her personality seemed intact.

Assuming she could comprehend its operation, she realized that her paws could operate her computer. It could be used to send Steve or one of his kids an e-mail. She couldn’t remember the names of those things but hoped she could remember which icons to click enough to bluff her way through. Excited, she ran downstairs, hopeful salvation was near.

Her heart sank when she got onto the computer chair, turned the monitor on and found herself staring at the desktop in confusion. None of the icons made any sense, the words under them meant nothing to her. She smacked the keyboard in anger, desperately trying to recall how to operate the computer.

Despite her best efforts, she found nothing, her human skills were gone.

Jumping off of the chair, she ran back upstairs realizing there was only one way to get anyone’s attention. Getting on her hind legs, she started yelling, or more accurately loudly warbling.

***

After ten long minutes, her throat was getting dry, so she stopped yelling. Through the wall, she could hear movement in Steve’s house. It appeared that she was successful.

Unfortunately, her yelling had also attracted the attention of her cats. Both were now awake and were standing a few meters away from her, sniffing the air to try to ascertain the identity of this strange animal.

She could smell something that her brain told her was familiar (even though she didn’t know why). Turning around, she saw the cats. She realized that the smell was coming from them. It was a curious smell and sensation. Parts of her mind were being stimulated in ways that it never had before. It felt alien to her, yet peculiarly natural and comforting.

She gathered up the courage to walk over to the closest cat, a black and white male named Roger. The cat raised his back, the fur on it standing erect as she approached. He hissed loudly at her, batting her face with his front right paw.

Come on Roger, don’t hiss, it’s me! I know I look strange but it’s still me!

She chittered at Robert as the other cat, a female silver tabby named Grace circled around, sniffing her back. Roger again sniffed her. The fur on his back went back into a relaxed state as he seemed to recognize her scent. He was confused, this animal had the same scent as Sally. Grace was equally confused.

Sally simply stood there for several minutes as both cats sniffed her. Finally, they started rubbing up against her, purring happily. Much to her elation, they recognized and accepted her.

A few minutes later, she heard a knock on her door; Steve had heard her cries for help and was here!

Quickly running to the door, she stood before it and loudly chittered. The chittering scared both of the cats, who both ran downstairs.

“What the heck is going on in there? Sally are you all right?”

Sally backed up, allowing Steve to see her though the front door’s window. His reaction of shock was not a surprise.

Before she could attempt to explain herself, he was gone.

She used the time to collect things she felt would be useful in identifying herself.

She ran upstairs to get her shirt. Sniffing it, she could smell the scent of human on it, a scent that made her nervous. She backed away from the shirt but when she realized she was thinking like an animal, stopped. Walking over to it, she did the best she could to put the shirt on, ignoring the human smell. The shirt was huge and looked silly on her, but she tolerated it, seeing it as important for establishing her identity.

Carefully running downstairs, she ran into the living room and retrieved a picture of herself with Steve and his kids. She knew it was a long shot but hoped these two items would convince him that the raccoon in her house was her and not a wild animal.

She waited by the door wearing the shirt and holding the picture in her mouth. Steve returned several minutes later carrying something.

She listened as he knelt down and appeared to be trying to fit something through the cat door. She heard him swear when it wouldn’t budge. Standing up, he took a key out of his pocket and unlocked her front door before kneeling down to pick up what he was carrying. Before opening the door, he retrieved yet another item, a broom.

Opening the door, he held the broom out in front of him to keep her at safe distance. She could smell the fear emanating from him, it was a strange and unfamiliar smell.

As the bristles of the broom hit her, she slowly backed up, chittering out of protest. He slowly bent down and put a cage on the ground, quickly jumping outside and closing the door behind him.

What the heck is he doing? How does he expect me to tell him who I am when he’s afraid of me?

Suddenly smelling a very appealing scent within the cage, Sally approached it. Inside the cage were three crackers, all covered in peanut butter. She slowly walked into the cage to retrieve them. Unfortunately, as soon as she was fully inside, the door shut behind her.

Sally cursed in her mind when she realized the mistake she had just made. She chittered loudly in distress. As if in response, Steve opened the door and very carefully lifted the cage, making sure to keep his fingers out of Sally’s reach. Walking outside, he placed the cage on the ground and opened it, standing back several meters with his broom.

“Okay little guy, you’re free to go. I don’t know how you got in Sally’s house or why your wearing one of her shirts but it’s time for you to go.”

Sally did not want to go. She was not about to simply run off into the wild.

Slowly exiting the cage, she looked back at Steve, sobbing quietly.

“Go on, you shouldn’t even be out in this cold, you should be sleeping!”

Shaking her head, Sally lay down on the cold snow covered ground. She looked at the ground, doing her best to picture the letters that formed her name. The task was difficult, but knowing accomplishing it meant the difference between recognition and living her life out as a wild animal inspired her.

With much concentration, she was able to use her paws to write her initials in the snow. Standing before the two letters, she pointed to herself, sobbing.

“S.J.; those are Sally’s initials! How did you learn to write?” Steve asked.

Pulling at her shirt, Sally again pointed to herself and then to the initials.

“You’re saying you’re Sally? But that’s impossible! Then again, I’ve never known a raccoon to wear clothes or know how to write. There is also the cat door being locked. It would explain things.”

Sally nodded, making happier sounding warbles.

“But, it’s impossible, humans don’t just become animals! If you’re Sally and you’ve been turned into a raccoon, then what did this to you?”

Sally approached Steve, he was still quite nervous of her. She motioned towards the house, wanting to go back into it. He was careful not to touch her as she walked by him. Reaching the front door, she started pawing at it, wanting in.

“All right, let’s just assume for the minute that you really are Sally. Show me what did this to you.” He said.

He opened the door for her and she motioned for him to follow her. Getting inside the house, she took off the shirt and put it in the ground. Felling more comfortable with the human smelling thing off her, she again motioned for him to follow her.

“So, how did this happen to you? If you show me, maybe we can find a way to reverse it.”

Sally nodded and walked upstairs as Steve followed. When she got to her bedroom, she walked over to and retrieved the necklace. She tried to ignore the feelings of finding it fascinating simply because it was shiny. A part of her found that simple aspect of it fascinating enough to want to take it and store it somewhere for safe keeping.

But, wanting to maintain her composure, she shook the feelings off and pointed the necklace out to Steve. Steve walked over to it, picking it up.

“This necklace did this to you?”

Sally nodded. She wasn’t sure if it was safe for him to touch it, but remembered that nothing seemed to happen until she put it on.

“Where did you get it from?”

Sally walked over to the armoire the pointed it out.

“Hey, nice armoire. It came with this?”

Sally nodded.

“Well, the first thing we should do is to call the store you got this from. Maybe they can help. What’s their phone number? Can you point it out to me?”

Although she had called them last night, she had no real way of telling him that. Unfortunately, she had no way to tell him where she acquired it from, nor could she point out their phone number in the phone book as she couldn’t read. Sadly shaking her head, she communiated that she could not tell him their phone number.

“Okay, no need to get alarmed. You know,” he said, examining the necklace closer “this thing looks pretty old. I have a friend that knows the curator of the museum. Perhaps he can help identify it.”

That sounded like a good idea. Sally didn’t really want to go out, not like this. But she nodded her head.

“I can ask Sylvester to stay with you. He’s 16, so he’s old enough. I can take Janice with me, as I’m sure she’d enjoy the trip. Don’t you worry, if there’s anyway to reverse this, I will find it.”

Sally nodded.

***

Twenty minutes later, Sally was on her living room couch with Sylvester sitting beside her. Steve and Janice were on their way to the museum. Sylvester simply stared at Sally, fascinated with her predicament. Sally was feeling more comfortable in this form but was getting bored doing nothing. She wanted to see what this body could do. What other way, she thought then to go outside. With her heightened senses of smell and hearing, she was sure that the outdoors would be very fascinating. Her thoughts were interrupted when Sylvester started petted her.

Any desire to go outside quickly faded. Rolling around on her back, she motioned for him to rub her belly. With her lack of apparel, she expected to feel exposed. Perhaps if Sylvester hadn’t started rubbing her belly, she might have righted herself.

Closing her eyes, she quietly purred as her mind went fuzzy.

She wasn’t sure how much time had elapsed when she heard Sylvester making a strange noise. He seemed to be directing the noise at her. He stopped rubbing her belly and she opened her eyes. It was then that she realized what the noise was, he was calling her name!

Why couldn’t she understand him? He seemed to be saying something but she only recognized her name. A sense of panic returned. She immediately righted herself, looking at him. Her heart rate increased and her mind reeled with the revelation of what was happening. She quickly realized she wasn’t thinking with words but rather instinct!

She tried to concentrate, but it only made things worse. Something in her mind was telling her to flee and she quickly jumped of the couch. Sylvester quickly arose. He was saying but his words were meaningless.

In a panic, Sally ran towards the cat door, knowing it a way out.

Panting, she reached the door and pushed on it. To her elation, it opened! She could only guess that Sylvester had unlocked it for the cats. She could hear him calling her name, sounding very concerned. A natural fear of humans was overtaking her. She was too terrified to respond and quickly pushed her way out.

Standing on the patio, she took in the scents of the outdoors. The air was cold and the ground snow covered but her fur keep her warm. Not wanting to risk capture, she ran to and climbed up a large tree. About halfway up, she lay down on a large branch. Where she felt safely out of the reach from the human.

Her heart rate and breathing slowed to normal as she relaxed. Closing her eyes, she fell asleep.

***

Sally awoke with a start, quickly becoming aware of her situation.. The sun was shining high in the sky and the air was warmer. Yawning, she took a look around and sniffed the air. The human that had pursued her was gone, but his scent was fresh; he had been there recently. Something about his scent was very familiar. It was if she knew him from before. What did it mean, why did she remember him? She had other strange memories that didn’t make any sense.

She slowly climbed down the tree, walking onto the snow covered lawn. The snow was damp and cold against her sensitive paws.

She remembered the events leading up to running out of the house from him. Why was she allowing him to touch her?

Something was definitely wrong. Why couldn’t she remember her life as a raccoon? Why was she instead remembering being human? A quick survey of herself confirmed that she wasn’t human. However, something in her insisted that she used to be human. She needed to know the truth and the house seemed to be the source of it.

Walking up to the house, she gently pushed on the cat door. Much to her surprise, it opened. Gently stepping in, she sniffed around the house. She could smell the human. She felt nervous and her instincts told her to run when he ran towards her. He looked upset and tired.

He said something but his words didn’t make any sense to her. She knew he was trying to communicate with her and from the tone of his voice was very concerned.

He said something else she couldn’t understand. From the tone of his voice, he sounded relieved but concerned at the same time. She wanted to know why she couldn’t understand him. Perhaps she really wasn’t human in the first place. Maybe she had wandered into this place hours earlier by mistake. Maybe these memories of being human were false?

Again he spoke, sounding more concerned! No, those memories couldn’t be false, they felt too real to be mere fabrications. But why couldn’t she understand him? More so, why didn’t she understand human things? Why did this body feel so right?

The human, knelt down and petted her on the head, an action she chose to allow.

He spoke again, his voice sounding reassuring, which calmed her nerves. His touch was warm. She gently touched his arm with her forepaws, being careful not to cut him with her sharp claws. Gently nuzzling up to his hand, she cooed quietly. Even though she couldn’t understand him, she trusted him. Something in her assured her that he could help her.

Holding out his other hand, Sylvester carefully and slowly picked Sally up, holding her against his body. Nuzzling up against his warm chest, she relaxed and felt groggy again. As he walked over to and sat on the couch he put her on his lap. She closed her eyes as he started to pet her both on the head and back.

Even if she wasn’t really human and this is how she truly was, somehow she felt things would work out.

***

Her stomach was growling, she didn’t remember the last time she had eaten. She was so relaxed from being petted by the human that she had lost track of everything.

Being so relaxed had allowed her mind to focus better. She was feeling more comfortable with who she was and what she was (or perhaps, what she was supposed to be).

She slowly arose and looked up at Sylvester. She stood on her hind legs and chittered at him.

He again spoke, but she couldn’t understand him. Hoping to better convey her message, she jumped off of him and walked into the kitchen as he followed.

When she smelled cat food in a dish on the floor. She walked over to it and lowered stuck her muzzle into it. Taking a small amount, she chewed on the bits of food. Her taste buds almost exploded with flavor. She craved more and after swallowing what she had in her mouth, repeated the process until the bowl was empty.

She wasn’t yet full and desired more food. Turning towards Sylvester, she chittered at him. Assuming she wanted more, he opened her fridge looking for something to give her. He wasn’t sure if there was anything in there she could eat so closed it and looked around the rest of the kitchen. Eventually he found a can of tuna in a cupboard.

As he opened it, Sally was greeted with an incredible scent that made her mouth water and stomach growl.

As Sylvester drained the water from it, both of Sally’s cats came running upstairs from the basement.

Seeing Sally, they were still nervous of her. Sally recognized them as friendly and approached them.

She first moved towards Grace. The Silver tabby started to back away, but her own natural curiosity won out. She allowed Sally to approach. Gently reaching out her front left paw, Sally touched the top of Grace’s head petting her between the ears. As she was doing this, Roger walked up behind her, sniffing her backside with a confused reaction on his face.

Grace appeared to be cautiously accepting Sally when she started rubbing up against her. Seeing Grace react like this had a soothing effect on Roger, who quickly mimicked her actions.

Sylvester watched, fascinated with how well the cats had accepted Sally. When he put the tuna water in two separate dishes for the cats on the floor, both cats immediately jumped at them, lapping up the water. He reached down and picked Sally up, putting her on the kitchen table in front of a dish containing the tuna.

Sally took its scent and immediately dug in, gobbling it down as fast as she could chew, only stopping to breathe.

As Sylvester lowered her to the kitchen floor, they heard the front door open. Sally ran out of the kitchen and towards the front door to see Steve and Janice taking off their winter coats.

Sally looked up and Steve and Janice, sniffing them. She knew these two humans and felt them to be safe. The smaller one looked at her and said something. She sounded happy.

Sylvester and the larger human talked for a few minutes. While Sally couldn’t understand them, from their body language, they seemed to be discussing her.

Having gotten their coats and boots off, Steve and Janice walked towards the living room while Sylvester and Sally followed, continuing to talk.

The larger human took the necklace out of his pocket and kneeled down, putting it around Sally’s neck. Sally stood on her hind legs and grabbed at it, wanting to know what was going on.

The bigger human took a piece of paper out of his pocket and began saying something. Sally looked at the necklace with even more fascination as It started to glow.

The humans were talking again, and much to her surprise, Sally could understand them. She could also understand other things. Suddenly, the names for things like the TV, couch and table were all coming back to her. She smiled as her thoughts became clearer. The room started getting smaller, or more so she started getting larger.

She fell onto her rear end as her tail shrunk before it was gone. Her hips changed back into a form more suitable for bipedal locomotion. Her torso started getting thinner and longer as her fur thinned out, being absorbed into her body. Her arms grew longer as her hands reshaped, her fifth digits changing back into thumbs. The claws on her fingers shortened and dulled until they were just nails. Her muzzle shrank while her feet quivered slightly as they reshaped from paws to feet.

She was still getting bigger and was nearly back to her old size. Her fur was nearly gone, with only fuzz remaining.

Realizing she would be naked when this was finished, Steve asked Sylvester to get her a towel to cover her.

By this point, Sally’s arms were almost back to their normal length and her legs were looking much more human in size and shape. Her torso was still a little chubby but looked mostly human. Her ears began moving down her head, losing their fur and assuming a human shape and size as they progressed. Her muzzle and mask were almost gone and her eyes were nearly human.

As Sylvester returned with a towel in hand, Sally was back to her normal size. She was now supporting herself with her arms. Steve looked away to give her some privacy as Sylvester handed her the towel. As she draped it around herself, the top two nipples on her chest started expanding as her breasts were restored.

The final aspects of the restoration completed themselves as her voice, jaw and nose reverted to human equivalents. Quickly taking the glowing necklace off, she placed it on the floor just as the glow died down.

Standing up, she secured the towel around herself and looked at the trio.

“Sally, are you okay? How do you feel?” Steve asked.

“I feel fine physically. Mentally, I still feel a bit odd.”

“Well, the guy did say that it might take time to fully recover from this, so you should take it one day at a time.”

Sally nodded and then looked at Sylvester.

“You certainly give excellent massages, it really did feel great.”

“Well, I just wanted you to feel more comfortable” Sylvester responded, blushing.

“So what was being a raccoon like?” Janice asked.

“It was strange. Mentally was the hardest, I couldn’t understand you guys. I didn’t know how to read or write and forgot the names for well, everything. I could still remember who I was, but my mind was a lot simpler. Smaller things fascinated me, like shiny objects and stuff like that. Experiencing what it’s like to be an animal and learning how they think has helped me to understand them better. I wouldn’t recommend anyone try it, at least not without some sort of training. I really lost myself to that body for a while there. I do know for sure now that animals are far from unfeeling and unthinking beasts. They have feelings just like us and they do think, just a lot differently.”

“One question, did you take the necklace off early or keep it in for the full duration of the transformation?” Steve asked.

“I took it off before I showered, which is when I experienced the initial effects of it, I didn’t put it back on”

“That’s probably why you had so much difficulty. According to what my friend told me, the necklace is supposed to be worn for the full duration of the transformation. Taking it off too early can lead to problems like those you experienced.”

“So, where did the necklace come from?” Sally asked.

“Well, it turns out that the necklace is actually part of a legendary collection. As legend states; thousands of years ago, a small collection of people in the Pacific North West were able to use the necklaces to transform themselves into animals. Normally, they would need months, even years of training before trying it out as the spell was very powerful. It was very easy to lose oneself to the new form. It was thought just a legend, but it seems that the legends are true”

“So what are we going to do with the necklace?” Sylvester asked.

“My friend at the museum asked me to give to him so they can study it. It’s far too dangerous for us to keep.” Steve answered.

“Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I need to get dressed.” Sally said.

As she went upstairs and got dressed, she looked back on the days events. Even though her time as an animal was short, she had learned a lot. She would always have much more respect for animals from then on. While a part of her wanted to keep the necklace and experience its effects again when she was better prepared, she knew that it was best to give it to the museum.

Looking at the armoire, she knew that it had proven to be well worth its cost.