The shoes

Kevin was a player on his high school basketball team. He was disappointed though, despite hours of countless effort, he never seemed to be able to jump that well. In all of his games, he had very few baskets, he had managed to get a lot of assists, but it always bothered him that he had very few actual baskets himself. He wished his legs were more powerful so he could jump better. He had heard rumors that the woman who lived on the outskirts of town was a witch and had a magical shoes that would let their wearor jump higher then they had ever jumped before. He was not the kind of person that believed in witches, but he was also desperate. He decided that he would go to the house and see if the shoes existed and if they did, he would ask her if he could borrow them. Perhaps his wish could be granted.

The area around the house was dark and a creepy wind blew. The house was old looking. An iron fence surrounded the house. Walking to up the gate, Kevin signed deeply. His heart was racing, and beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.

“Get a grip Kevin, there is no such thing as a witch, this is all just an act to scare people away”. Wiping his forehead, he found the gate and slowly opened it and walked up the long path to the front door of the house. The door had an old fashioned knocker on it. Grabbing it, Kevin knocked on the door. The old woman walked up to the door and opened it.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“I hear you have magic shoes, I need them to help me play basketball better buy making me able to jump really well. Can I borrow them?”. Looking angry, the old woman responded

“I do have the magic shoes you seek. But they are not to be used for such purposes.”. Kevin’s heart sunk, the shoes were real, but she refused to let him use them. Trying again, he pleaded with her;

“Please, I just need them for one game! It’s not like I plan on keeping them or anything, I’ll return them tomorrow!”. The old woman’s anger increased;

“They are not to be used for games, they are far too dangerous for such purposes. I’m afraid I can’t allow you to use them!”. Seemingly having no choice, Kevin walked away, hearing her slam the door behind him. As he walked away from the house, he looked back, seeing something shining in a window. Quietly walking up to the window, he saw that it was the shoes.

“She isn’t giving me much of a choice” he thought. He was desperate and was willing to try anything to play better. Looking around, he slowly opened the window, surprised that it opened so easily. Carefully reaching in, he lifted the shoes. He wasn’t sure if she had seen him or not, so he closed the window, then ran as fast as he could to the gate. Hearing the front door to the house open, he heard the old woman yelling at him. He couldn’t make out what she was saying, but he didn’t care, he had what he came for.

The next day came. Kevin got up, and looked at the shoes, smiling at his having acquiring them. He quickly put the shoes in his bag along with his jersey and pants. Going down stairs, he ate breakfast, picked up the bag and left for school. The day seemed to drag by, he was looking forward to trying out the shoes. After what felt like an eternity, the school day was over and it was time for the game. As he got dressed, everyone was impressed by his new shoes. When they asked him where he got them from, he woulden't say, which made everyone suspicious. He told everyone that they would improve his game, and finally allow him to jump really well. They were skeptical, but he insisted that they would work. He put the shoes on and immediately he started to feel strange. His chest felt itchy and legs started to feel stronger. Shaking the feeling off, he assumed that this was normal.

He played the best game he had ever played, he was making baskets at a record rate. He was noticing how everyone was looking at him in amazement. He was still feeling strange and itchy, and his legs were feeling more powerful by the minute. He continued to play, ignoring the strange feelings, thinking they would go away once he removed the shoes. Seconds before the buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the first half of the game, he got possession of the ball and made an incredible dunk. Everyone was looking at him in amazement. The strange feelings suddenly became very strong and everyone looked at him almost in horror. His entire body started to itch like mad. He picked up the ball and looked at his arms. Dropping the ball he gasped in horror. His arms were covered in a thick pelt of orange fur. His face started to feel strange, it felt as if something was pulling on it. His ears started to tingle and the sounds in the room seemed to get louder, as if his hearing were getting better. Reaching his hand up to his face, he felt that his face was getting longer. The crowd gasped in horror as they watched this happen to him. His chest started to feel itchy and warm. Removing his jersey, he saw why. There was orange fur growing all over his entire torso, the fur on his chest was lighter then the rest of his torso. His legs started to feel itchy as orange fur grew on them. His feet started to feel strange and the shoes felt very tight and flew off as his feet increased in length, growing longer and longer. Feeling a pulling in his back, he heard his shorts rip. He looked back and saw a long, furry tail growing out. His feet were now incredibly long, with short toes. His tail was long and heavy. His face seemed to have stopped pushing itself out. Starting at his right hand in shock, while feeling the fur on his chest he was shocked. The entire crowd stared at him in shock. He started to walk over to a mirror, then started hopping, which felt much more comfortable. The entire crowd was saying

“kangaroo”, and when he looked at himself he agreed that he looked a lot like a kangaroo, a humanoid kangaroo to be specific. He started to panic, and decided that he had to go back to the woman’s house and return her shoes, hopping she would change him back. Grabbing the shoes from the floor, he hopped out the door, and hopped as fast as he could back to the woman’s house. He was a bit disturbed by how comfortable hopping felt.

At the speed his stronger legs and feet were able to allow him to attain, it didn’t take long for him to reach the old woman’s house. He managed to hop right over the fence, then hopped up to her front door and banged on it. The door opened and the woman looked at him, frowning. Quickly producing the shoes, he handed them to her offering to give them back.

“I’m sorry for stealing them! Will you change me back if I give them back to you?” he said. Looking him over, the woman touched the fur on his chest and laughed.

“I’m afraid the spell can’t be reversed.”. Kevin looked at her in despair,

“but I can’t stay like this!”. Smiling, her again touched the fur on his chest,

“you won’t be staying like this, my friend. The spell should begin it’s complettion momentarily”.

“completion?” Kevin asked, sounding scared. The old woman nodded, and stood to watch.

Kevin’s thighs started to feel strange. He felt a sharp pain as they started to expand, ripping his shorts to shreds. He would have been embarrassed at his suddenly nudity if his innards hadn’t of started to feel warm.

“Wha .. what’s happening to me?” he asked as he held his stomach in pain.

“The pain won’t last for long. The spell is simply finishing it’s job.”. Kevin’s legs began to lengthen and grow far more muscular, his tail increased in length, getting far stronger and heavier. He muscles and bone structure seemed to be changing, causing him to lean forward, a position which felt more comfortable with the weight his tail had acquired. His insides seemed to cool down and the pain subsided. He felt a bit dizzy. Opening his eyes, he looked at the woman and tried to say something. Only animal noises came out of him.

“I’m afraid kangaroo’s don’t speak”. Kevin felt a wave of new instincts flow into him, he suddenly had an almost uncontrollable urge to hop. Shaking his head is disbelief, he tried to hop away.

“Not so fast!”, the woman said, waving her hand. Kevin suddenly felt incredibly dizzy, and quickly fell onto the ground, into unconsciousness.

Kevin opened his eyes. His vision cleared and he could see that he was nowhere near the woman’s house anymore. His instincts now seemed very pronounced. He smelled the air as best as he could, he tried to get her bearings. He looked around, none of the area was familiar. Hearing a sound from behind , he looked around and saw a kangaroo hopping up to him. Instinctively, he sniffed it. Remembering his predicament, he looked down at himself he was still a kangaroo. As he looked over the roo examining her, he realized it was a female. Hopping away a bit, he saw people, and started to recognize where he was. He was in the kangaroo habitat in the local zoo. The old woman was standing at the fence. Hopping over to her, he tried to say something to her, but he couldn't speak.

“You said that you wanted to be able to jump really well, now you always will be able to.” Seeing the female kangaroo, it having followed him, she continued.

“I’d say she’s about to teach you a valuable lesson in humility and why you should have listened to me when I said the shoes were not for games, and definitely should not have stolen them from me.”. Kevin realized that he was right, he had brought this on himself. As he hopped towards from the roo, his instincts increased in strength, and he found himself not wanting to run. Gently, he nuzzled up to her, taking in her scent, and feeling her fur. He found her scent pleasing, perhaps a bit too pleasing. As he contented to nuzzle up to her, he really started to enjoy himself, the fact that she didn’t resist only made it that much more enjoyable for him. Seeing how much he was enjoying himself, the old woman called him angrily.

“Boy! You aren’t supposed to be enjoying this!”, as he brushed he off, he heard her speak.

“I’m afraid we are going to have to take this up a notch!”. As she waved her fingers back and forth, Kevin started to feel strange again. It didn’t take him long to realize that he was shrinking, and shrinking rapidly. As his shrinking finished, he could tell by the size of the roo, and by a quick examination of himself that he was now a joey.

The female roo, seemed different to him, instead of a potential mate, he now saw her as his mother. He slowly walked up to her and she opened her pouch, allowing him to crawl in, as he stuck his little head outside of the pouch he looked at the old woman. She looked right at him, and laughed. "Perhaps now you'll grow up to not be a thief". He looked at her, wanting to say something, but couldn't speak, he realized that he had been given what he wanted, he could now jump excellently. The roo hopped away, he couldn't but think of the old saying "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it."