The warehouse

The old warehouse stood on a vacant lot on the outskirts of the small town; its windows long since boarded up. The last company to use it had abandoned it 25 years before. Woodland surrounded most of the warehouse; the sound of birds chirping having long since replaced the activity of workers.

There were rumors about the warehouse. Some people thought that someone had placed a curse on it. Witnesses reportedly saw a child that had disappeared a year before snooping around it. Mr. Winters, a man in his eighties told everyone the curse got her. The police had investigated him and found no evidence to implicate him.

Soon, despite the irrational nature of it, everyone blamed the curse for her disappearing. The child’s parents were mysteriously silent. However, the authorities could find no evidence they’d harmed her. Mr. Winters had begged the police not to investigate the warehouse and they’d called off the investigation shortly thereafter. Even the girl’s parents had agreed to stay away from it. It wasn’t long before some suspected a conspiracy. However, the police were always quick to stop anyone from harassing either party.

Now, most people were afraid of going anywhere near the warehouse; so, it stood there, untouched.

*

Summer was ending. Ian and Simon Greensboro were brothers. This year, Ian was starting high school. They had always heeded their parent’s warnings to stay away from the warehouse. Lately though, Ian was starting to wonder if everything their parents said was paranoia.

Ian was fourteen; like others his age, he felt himself to be almost grown. Entering high school felt like a sort of badge of honor saying he wasn’t a kid anymore. I’m old enough to think for myself. Curses aren’t real. That kid probably just ran away or something. The idea that perhaps others had thought the same thing didn’t occur to him. He was the main character of the story of his life; in his mind, nothing bad ever happened to the main characters in any story so he’d be just fine. Besides, curses aren’t real!

Simon was sixteen. Ian saw his brother as just as much a main character as he. Ian thought it’d be just like the detective books where the adults were all old, stupid and couldn’t figure out what really happened. He and Simon would figure out the truth, bring the girl home and then they’d be heroes!

They’d used the pretence that they were going to the mall as an excuse to get out of the house. They’d made their way to the parking lot in front of the warehouse and were planning their next move. The pavement had multiple cracks with weeds growing through most of them. Its lines had faded from years of exposure to the elements. There was an eerie silence in the area.

Ian, finding his bravery waning, turned to Simon. "This is creepy but that’s okay, we’re going to prove them all wrong!" he said.

"You sure about this? What if the rumors are true?" Simon asked.

"Come on, it’s just an old warehouse. People tell those stories just to scare people. They’re like urban legends; they never actually happened," Ian responded.

This seemed to convince Simon. If that didn’t then Ian knew that Simon wasn’t about to chicken out while his younger brother went in. Failing that, Ian also knew that if Simon did believe in what Ian saw as silly folktales, he’d never let his little brother go in there alone.

The duo strolled across the parking lot towards the building. There didn’t seem to be a definite way into it, so they walked all around it until they came to a loose board that was over a door. The two of them pulled on it as hard as they could until it came off. Ian expected that the police would have locked the door. He was surprised when it opened right away upon turning the handle. Even Ian had to admit that a part of him wanted the door to refuse to open.

"Cool! It’s unlocked! Come on, let’s go," he said.

He could tell Simon was nervous but Ian wanted … needed to prove to people that this was just a normal abandoned building; no one or nothing had cursed it.

It was dark inside. Beams of sunlight shined in through the windows. A thick layer of dust had settled onto everything. Both teens sneezed from the dust, which only served to spread it around more. They walked through the building, looking at everything in it. In some of the old offices, they even found records. If everything hadn’t of been so dark and dirty, it would have been like a museum.

Nearly an hour passed without incident. They had explored most of the warehouse and Ian was convinced there was no curse.

However, the teen’s views on reality were about to change. He was about to learn a lesson about why adults spread warnings and why sometimes it's best to heed ones parent’s cautions of danger. It started with Simon.

Ian looked at Simon’s face, black fur had grown around his eyes, and brown fur was growing elsewhere. His nose and mouth looked as though they were pushing out.

"Simon! Your face!" Ian said, sounding terrified.

"What about my face?" Simon responded.

"I th…think the cure is r…real!" Ian said.

"Na, I think you were right. If it were real then something would have happened by now! So what’s wrong with my face? Is there a spider on it? Did I cut myself?" Simon asked.

As he was asking, his face continued to pull out into a muzzle while a pair of ears poked their way out of his hair at the top of his head. Ian watched, unsure of what to say as Simon’s human ears vanished into his skull. The fur on Simon’s face continued growing until it was a thick pelt.

"Ian! What wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost! I must have hit my head and am bleeding or something aren’t I?"

Terrified, Ian responded "N…not exactly."

"Then what’s wrong?" Simon asked as his muzzle finished growing. Whiskers sprouted from it as his nose twitched. His now furry rounded ears had finished growing to the top of his head.

"I r…really think the curse is real," Ian said. He reached out and touched the fur on Simon’s face with his right index finger. Startled by the feeling of Ian’s hand touching fur, Simon felt his face after Ian withdrew his finger. He gasped when he felt a muzzle and then no ears at the sides of his head.

"What’s going on? What does my face look like? Where are my ears?" he asked, now sounding terrified.

"There on t...top of your head. Your f…face looks like a raccoon’s face!" Ian responded.

Simon now felt the top of his head and gasped when he encountered his ears. He suddenly jerked his hands. "My hands!" he said.

Ian watched as Simon held his hands out in front of him. Before both of their eyes, Simon’s hands changed shape. Black fur sprouted of top of them and his fingernails elongated into claws.

"No, it’s impossible!" he said. However, despite his objections, his hands continued to change. His thumbs quivered as the bones in his hands rearranged so that instead of four fingers and a thumb on each hand, he now he five long nimble fingers, each with a sharp claw on the tip. After staring at his hands for several seconds, he looked up at Ian and gasped.

"What wrong?" Ian asked.

"I think it’s happening to you too!" Simon said.

Ian felt his face, which seemed warmer. He felt fur sprouting all over it and started shaking with fear. This isn’t supposed to be real. The adults can’t be right! This isn’t supposed to happen to us. We’re the good guys; we always get out. This only happens to the other guy who always runs off before the hero escapes!

To his chagrin however, in this case, Ian was about to discover what it felt like to be the guy whom people used as an example of the value of heeding people's warnings. He felt a tingle in his jaw and cupped his mouth. He gasped and whimpered when he felt as a muzzle pushing against his hand. The top of his head tingled, as two new ears formed while his human ears seemed to melt into his head.

He looked at Simon, who was scratching his arms. Ian shook his head as he watched fur sprout all over his brothers arms until he couldn’t see any skin under it.

"Oh my god, it’s spreading," Simon said.

Simon looked at Ian and shook his head. "Bro, you have a raccoon face!"

Ian didn’t want to believe it. The curse can’t be real, it can’t. I’m a guy not an animal!

"We have to get out of here!" Ian said.

"I … ack!" Simon replied.

Ian watched as Simon began to shrink, "Um Simon, I think you’re shrinking!"

"Oh my God!" Simon said.

The two were now level with each other where at best, Ian should have been shoulder height to Simon! Simon’s clothes appeared at least two sizes too large. Ian watched his brother, someone he looked up to now whimpering in fear.

"It’s getting worse!" Simon cried, his voice sounding higher pitched and terrified.

If he’s scared then we’re screwed! This is not happening! It’s all a dream! Come on Mom, I should be yelling in my sleep by now! Wake me up!

Simon kept on shirking, the top of his head now barley met Ian’s shoulders.

Ian watched Simon scratched his chest. The fabric ripped under the pressure of his razor sharp claws. Through the tears Simon created, Ian saw fur poke out. Simon’s eyes went wide when he looked at Ian’s hands. Ian held his hands out, realizing that he’d ignored the tingling in them; he saw raccoon paws in place of his human hands. Then Ian noticed the fur beginning to sprout on his arms. It itched and felt warm as it came in.

"What are we going to do? We have to stop this somehow!" Ian said.

Any confidence in the teen’s voice was gone. Before he was certain he was just as much adult as his parents were and could handle any situation. Now, he felt like a helpless child. Nothing in his life could have prepared him for this. This was beyond dealing with a bully or other threat; at least he could run from threats. This was inside of him and changing his body. Even if they did get out of the warehouse, nothing guaranteed doing so would break the curse.

Ian noticed Simon hadn’t of responded. In fact, Simon seemed at a loss for words! "I admit it, the curse it real. I’m sorry," Ian cried.

Simon tried to respond, but only chittering came out from his muzzle. By now, Simon’s clawing had all but destroyed the front of his shirt. He’d shrunk so much that he was only half Ian’s height. Ian watched Simon’s pants fall down to his legs. That allowed him to see that below Simon’s knees, fur had completely covered his legs! Ian watched Simon reach behind him and chitter. Simon turned and Ian gasped in fear when he saw something pegging at the back of Simon’s shirt.

It’s a tail; Simon is growing a tail. No, it can’t be that. Come on, we’re just dreaming!

Ian’s chest started to itch and he couldn’t help but scratch. He felt and heard his claws tearing the fabric of what was his favorite shirt. Why did I have to wear this shirt!

Simon was no longer shrinking; in fact, he seemed to be growing! Realizing that in reality, he was shrinking, Ian gasped. He felt his clothes seem to get bigger as everything around him seemed to grow. His legs started itching and he felt a tingling and pulling at the base of his spine.

Ian shook his head as Simon chittered and warbled at him. Ian looked to see the small bulge at the back of his brother’s pants was much larger. Ian didn’t want to acknowledge his brother had a tail; the mere idea of such an occurrence was absurd.

Finally, Simon shrunk so much that he fell into his clothes, which were now a heap on the floor. Ian watched in horror at the movement under said clothes. He knew they were both at the mercy of the force changing their bodies. What was worse was he was right behind Simon.

Ian’s legs and even his feet itched. His shoes felt far too big for him and he stepped out of him. His pants fell down just before he heard claws tear the fabric of his socks. Where before he had felt just a tingle at the base of his spine, he now felt something pushing at the back of his shirt. Now, I have a tail!

Feeling a sudden falling sensation, Ian saw the world grow much larger before his clothes enveloped him. He could hear his bones starting to change shape and heard several snaps. He was worried that his entire bone structure was falling apart. He could hear the sound of a raccoon’s distress call; it was Simon. The snapping sounds stopped and he seemed to have stopped shrinking.

Ian felt something pawing at his clothes. He felt uncomfortable inside of them; they suddenly had a strange smell that made him uncomfortable.

He climbed out of the clothes to see a raccoon standing there. He tried to ask if it was Simon but only a chittering came out of his muzzle. The other raccoon chittered at him and held out its right forepaw. Ian touched the forepaw with his and looked into the eyes of the raccoon his brother had become.

This is my fault! What are we supposed to do now?

Sniffing the air, Ian was able to smell scents that he had no idea existed. He could also hear sounds loud and clear that before were mere whispers. He could smell Simon and another scent. He soon realized that scene was he. It wasn’t offensive or good but more neutral. Ian knew that this sense of smell was going to take some getting used too.

"Are you okay bro?" the other raccoon said.

Wait a second, did he just talk? That’s weird, he chittered but I understood it as if he’s speaking English!

"Wait a second! I understood that!" Ian warbled.

Simon smiled as best as he could with a muzzle, "I understand you too," he warbled.

Ian sniffed Simon instinctively. "You smell funny!"

Simon sniffed Ian back. "So do you!"

Ian looked at the two piles of clothes they’d both abandoned. He couldn’t help but giggle.

"What’s so funny?" Simon asked.

Ian stood on his hind legs, pointed at his brother and grinned. "You’re naked!"

"Meh, I have my fur," Simon said before walking closer to Ian. "Besides, you’re naked to."

Ian went back onto all fours. Oh man, everyone can see everything! "Now all the adults can see … it! Even you can! Oh man!"

"Relax bro, I’m not a pervert. I won’t look if you won’t," Simon said.

Suddenly feeling sad, Ian looked away from Simon. "So what are we supposed to do now? Because of me, you’re stuck as a raccoon!"

He felt Simon patting his back behind his right foreleg. "You didn’t know this was going to happen. I didn’t exactly drag you away from here. Anyway, there’s no point in playing the blame game now. Now, Let’s find our way out of here and get home. I think we have some explaining to do."

Ian turned back to Simon. He didn’t see him as another male; Simon was still his brother.

Mom and Dad are going to kill me for this.

Ian stood up and as soon as he tried to walk, he fell onto his belly. Simon ran to his side. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so," Ian said.

"I guess we walk on four legs now," Simon said.

"Guess so," Ian replied.

Once they tried it, Simon and Ian found that they could walk on all fours easily. Ian found the situation a little embarrassing but decided to ignore those feelings. The two raccoons walked together, managing to find the entrance to the warehouse that they had entered from. It was still bright outside, which bothered Ian’s eyes. The light enabled Ian to see their fur coloration. Ian had brown fur with black mixed in and Simon had gray with black mixed in.

"I don’t think we’re supposed to be out during the day," he said.

Simon stood up and held his hands out to his sides. "Meh, gotta deal with it I guess."

Walking outside, Ian breathed in the air and almost gasped. Why is it so stinky out here? Oh wait, "hey bro, do raccoons have a good sense of smell?"

"I think so; why do you ask?" Simon asked.

"Everything stinks!" Ian responded.

"Yeah, I know. I guess we'll get used to it after a while," Simon said.

The sun hit Ian’s fur; it was an amazing feeling. "Man, that sun feels nice. It makes me want to find a tree and just lay on a branch and relax," Ian said.

"Yeah, me too. Man, this is so cool; just listen to all of those sounds!" Simon said.

Simon was right. They could hear a lot more then they could as humans.

"You were panicking before. Why are you so calm now? In fact, why am I so calm?" Ian asked.

"Dunno, maybe it’s part of being this way. Anyway, I guess we gotta live in the moment you know. Right now we can’t do much about this so we might as well enjoy it."

Ian calmed down a bit at that. If his big brother was okay and behaved as though they were going to be all right then Ian knew they were cool.

They stood there for nearly ten minutes just experiencing it. Finally snapping out of it, Simon tapped Ian and warbled. "Come on we have to get home before we end up losing ourselves to these bodies".

"Oh okay, lets go," Ian responded.

They started walking and walked to the end of the parking lot when Ian realized they had a problem.

"Um, how do we get home like this?" Ian asked.

"What do you mean?" Simon asked.

"People are gonna freak out if they see a couple of raccoons walking down the sidewalk!" Ian said.

"So, what are they going to do; call the cops?" Simon said, grinning.

"We could go though backyards," Ian suggested.

"What if people have their dogs there?" Simon asked.

This time, it was Ian’s turn to stand on his hind legs and hold his paws out to the side. "Then we scare em off!"

"No, we can’t do that. Come on, we can take the streets. If someone complains, we can climb a tree to get away," Simon said.

Ian went back down onto all fours. "Okay."

"I’ll lead the way; just don’t stare at my butt," Simon said.

"Ewww," Ian replied.

Simon grinned before leading the way out the parking lot. Turning right, they started walking down the sidewalk. The walk would take a lot longer in their new forms but they were determined to make it home.

* * *

Ian couldn’t be sure how long they’d been walking for. He thought about an hour but without his watch, there was no way for him to tell. As they walked past a house, he caught wind of a wonderful scent.

"Do you smell that?" he asked.

"Smell what?" Simon asked.

Ian took a whiff of the air, the same scent tempting him. "I think it’s an apple pie."

"Maybe someone is baking one," Simon said.

Ian started walking up the driveway leading up to the house, allowing the scent to guide him. He followed it to a windowsill, where whoever had baked the pie had left it to cool. A devious thought crossed Ian’s mind. I can take some of the pie; it’s not as if they can arrest me.

"Let’s get some of it," Ian said.

"Are you kidding, we’ll get into trouble!" Simon said.

Ian stopped, turned around and stood up. "How? They can’t arrest us or anything like that! Think of all the neat things we can get away with now!"

Simon stood up and shook his head. "Damn, that does smell nice; I admit it’s tempting. We can’t take it though."

"Why not?"

"Then we’ll be no better then wild animals. Anyway, someone probably worked hard to make that pie. How would you feel if…"

Ian waited while he assumed that Simon was thinking up the proper example. That smell is calling me. Why does Simon want me to resist? Sure if we were still human, we couldn’t do it. There’s so much we can get away with now? Why resist it?

"How would you feel if someone erased a save game from a game you’d be working on for hours or even days. How would you feel if you made something to eat that took a while and a dog or cat ate it?" Simon said.

"I’d be pissed off!" Ian replied. He looked at the pie and knew what Simon meant. "If I take it, I’d be doing the same thing to that person."

"Yes," Simon said, nodding twice; He looked in the direction of the pie and Ian watched him take in its scent. "It’s tempting but we’re still guys inside. We know better then to do that so we should be better then that."

Ian nodded. "Okay, I know what you mean."

"Cool, then let’s get going."

Ian nodded and Simon started lead the way back to their house.

 

* * *

Some time later, they were a block away from their house when they walked by a house where Sandra Narpol, who was soon to enter her senior year in high school lived.

"Doesn’t she like to feed raccoons, squirrels and birds?" Ian asked before stopping.

"Huh?" Simon asked. He stooped and turned around. "Yes, this is where Sandra lives; She’s cute!"

"Come on, let’s see if we can get a treat from her! It’s not stealing if she gives it us," Ian said.

Geeze, why aren’t I panicking? Shouldn’t I be panicking? Just walking up to a cute girl’s house should scare me yet it doesn’t bother me at all!

"Okay," Simon said.

Ian stood on his hind legs and put his hands on his sides. "Okay? Wow, bro, I never though you’d do something like this."

"I feel silly all of the sudden. I guess knowing I don’t have to worry about homework or studying any more is cool enough that I’m mellowing out. Anyway, she’s cute and it’d be neat if she gave us food," Simon replied.

Ian grinned and the two walked up Sandra’s driveway and up to her front porch. Simon warbled at the front door and Sandra opened it a minute later. She was dressed in jean shorts and a light blue tee shirt. Her auburn hair flowed over her shoulders. She smiled at the duo; a smile that would have melted both teens hearts had they still been human.

"Why hello. You don’t see too many raccoons out at this time of the day." Sandra said. Both Ian and Simon stood on their hind legs and warbled at Sandra. "Would you two cuties like a treat?" Ian and Simon both nodded their heads. "Such cute and smart raccoons; I’ll get you both something nice."

Sandra closed the door behind her and walked back into the house.

"She said you’re cute!" Ian said.

"Same to you!" Simon responded.

"She said we’re cute!" both former humans said in unison.

"Now if only we can get her to go to that warehouse!" Simon said.

"I don’t think she’d want to do that; not yet anyway," Ian said with a wink.

Sandra returned a minute later with what appeared to be a few pieces of something for both of them. She smiled and put a pile of food in front of both Simon and Ian.

"Thank you," both Simon and Ian chittered.

"You’re welcome," Sandra said. She also had a camera with her and took three pictures of the duo before again closing the door and walking back into her house.

"Think she understood us?" Ian asked.

"I doubt it, but that was still cool; we got free food!" Simon said.

Both devoured the food before walking away from Sandra’s house.

Simon stood on his hind legs, looking at the house. "I wonder if I could get her to pet me. I’d ever pose for her."

"Later bro, like you said, we have to get home," Ian said.

"Oh okay," Simon said before starting to lead the way back towards their home.

* * *

Soon, Simon and Ian found themselves standing on their front lawn looking at their house.

"This is it bro, how are we going to do this. They won’t be able to understand us," Ian said.

"I have an idea," Simon said.

The two raccoons ran up to and pawed at the screen door of their house, warbling as loud as they could. Their mother came to the door, trying to figure out what the racket was.

"Raccoons? Shoo," she said.

They persisted, and as their mother was starting to look angry, Simon stood his hind legs. Holding his left paw out, he circled one of the fingers on his right paw around his left, indicating he wanted something to write with. Seeing his brother doing this, Ian copied him.

"You want a pad and paper?" their mother asked. The two raccoons nodded their heads. "That’s a new one on me!" their mother said.

She walked back into the house and returned a minute later carrying a pen and a small pad. She opened the door wide enough to throw out the pad, but not enough for either Ian or Simon to get in.

"I can’t believe I’m asking this but what are you trying to tell me?" she asked them.

Ian knew that their mother wouldn’t expect either of them to write anything. Just wait until she sees this! He watched Simon pick up the pad and put it onto the ground. Ian saw Simon struggle with what to them was now a huge pen as wrote with his new paws. Soon, Simon had wrote a short message: Mom, it’s Ian and Simon. We went to the warehouse, and it did this to us. Let us in!

He put the pen down before ripping the sheet off the pad. Their mother opened the door just enough to grab it from them. Both Ian and Simon watched, fearing their mother wouldn’t be able to read Simon’s writing.

"I thought you could write well!" Ian said.

"I could, before I got these!" Simon replied, holding his paws in front of Ian’s face.

"Okay, good point," Ian said. For no reason, he leaned over and sniffed Simon. "By the way, you still smell funny!"

Simon winked at Ian. "Just wait until I’ve been rummaging through the trash." He winked again before informing Ian that he was only joking.

They turned back to her mother, who’s expression was now one of shock.

"Ian; Simon; is that really the two of you?" They each nodded as she said their names.

Standing on their hind legs, they reached their paws out as though wanting their mother to take them.

"Now you know why we said to stay away from that place! Well, you’d better come in," she said, opening the door.

Both raccoons walked into the house. Their mother closed the door behind them and knelt down, letting each raccoon stick its paws on one of her hands; Simon on her right hand and Ian on her left.

"I guess you know what happened to that eight year old that vanished a year ago there. I’m going to call the kid’s parents. I think you're going to want to meet their daughter. I’d better also call your father to let him know we know have two pet raccoons."

"Wait, so you’re okay with this Mom?" Ian said.

"I don’t think she understands us," Simon said.

"Sorry guys, I don’t speak raccoon. I guess we’ll have to learn to get by with writing stuff. I’d say you’re grounded for going against our warnings but it looks like that curse already punished you. I guess we might as well make the best of it," their mother said.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, a man and woman came to the door. The woman was holding a gray raccoon that was slightly smaller then Simon and Ian. The former human’s mother let the other two humans in before the woman put the raccoon on the floor. It immediately ran to Ian and Simon and started to warble.

"Hi, I’m Tammy! I hear you guys went to the warehouse just like I did," she said.

"It was his idea!" Simon said.

Despite the fact that his brother now spoke in raccoon vocalizations, Ian still knew the lad was only teasing him.

"Well um, I was just being curious," Ian replied.

"You guys are funny! Don’t worry you’ll be happy like this. I have been! Mr. Winters told me that we still get to live as long as we would have as humans and you’ll still remember everything and you won’t lose any intelligence!" Tammy said.

"That’s pretty cool," Ian said.

"Yeah, I was starting to wonder about that," Simon said.

"Here’s the coolest part. We don’t have to go to school anymore!" Tammy said.

"So, no more homework or studying? All of the teachers were saying that next year I’d start getting tons. Guess I don’t have to worry about it anymore," Simon said.

"Nope!" Tammy answered.

"You know, I think I might just get to like being this way," Simon said.

"Me too," Ian added.

*

Tammy’s parents, who had been talking to Simon and Ian’s parents (his dad having had come home once he heard the news) heard all the warbling. Tammy’s parents informed Ian and Simon’s parents that Tammy was explaining the situation to Simon and Ian.

"Looks like she’s telling them what they need to know", Tammy's dad said.

"They do make a cute group," Ian and Simon’s mother said.

*

Tammy continued to speak to Ian and Simon.

"So wana play?" she asked.

Ian had found that he was starting to feel more playful ever since seeing Tammy. A girl would be the last person to enjoy something like this. If a girl enjoys it, then I know its gonna rock. He suspected Simon was relaxing as well.

Their parents continued talking as the three raccoons happily joked with each other as they ran outside and played in the backyard, having a great time.

*

Seeing their two now raccoon sons playing calmed Simon and Ian’s parents down a bit. Turning to their mother, their dad grinned.

"Well think of it this way, at least we won’t have to worry about how we’re going to put them though college anymore".

The four all shared a laugh.