One Wish (gift)
Late one night, when the moon sat high in the sky and the stars came out to play, there lived a young man. In truth he lived at all the other times of day as well, and he did many things during these hours. But right now, when everyone else was asleep and the outside world was silent, he could rely on a bit of peace and quiet.
And that was just the ticket, for today he was drawing pictures. More art for the world; whatever came to mind, naturally. The latest picture was still in its early stages, but through the guidelines the still image began to take form, line by line.
Something unexpectedly sweet drifted into his nose, making him sniff and look around, a bit surprised; what was that? He had the distinct feeling something had changed; a movement, an open door, a gust of wind, whichever of these was the source. A little giggle filled the air in the next moment, and then - when he was convinced the late hour was getting to him, it spoke his name.
"Giuliano, hee hee. Good to meet ya."
Surprised he set down his art and looked around. There was nobody to see, and this made him a bit concerned; before he could say anything though, it spoke again.
"No, no, on the computer screen."
It was lit with a fine, artificial glow, and he hadn't thought much of it. But no, the sound was from his speakers and indeed, on the screen there was someone watching him. An anthro bat creature, black and orange and slightly fuzzy around the edges. Nice animation.
"I know what you're thinking. No, I'm not pre-recorded, I'm live," it said, beaming widely and showing off its fanged teeth. "And you, sir, are a dreamer. Are you not? It's in your work and your words both. You dream of wonderful and, sadly, impossible things. But then, don't we all?"
Now it was definitely some sort of prank. Very nicely done though, and Giuliano enjoyed the quality of the animation, how the figure seemed to waver quite naturally and not stand perfectly still; just the right look of patience melting away into lack thereof, a head approaching the viewpoint - the monitor, so to speak...
Knocking on the monitor with a gentle double tap; tink-tink.
"Anyway, I didn't show up to attempt to convince you that I'm real or not real," it said, nibbling on a claw-tip and flicking its oversized ears. "I came to do you a favour. So here, it's a bottle."
Suddenly, there was indeed a bottle, though it looked rather like fruit juice. Nice and clear, with a gentle tone that suggested raspberry or similar, and a screw cap that was open. Had he bought some drink? In the sleepiness of the late night and the curve ball this bat-person appeared to be dealing, Giuliano thought he might well have.
"Now you get the magician's choice. You drink the drink. Either this is all made up and you feel refreshed but silly. Or, this is all real, you still get refreshed, and," it began, with a looming tone, its nose pressing in closer to the view. "And then you get that one magical thing I know you want. And I know you want it," said the bat, backing away, its spaded tail shivering and wrapping about its legs. It grinned with glee before wrapping wings about itself. "Good luck, Giuliano, and thanks." Then it winked, and the monitor went off, leaving the room less bright than before. Back to silence, and a long awkward pause, leaving the young man with his juice and his pencil and his thoughts.
It didn't really take long for him to unscrew the bottle and drain it quite quickly. It tasted nothing like it suggested it would, and his tongue tried to place it, but to no avail. One thing that did strike him is that, yes, it was very refreshing, and as he supped the last drops from the bottom he was more awake than a few moments ago. Definitely hit the spot.
Then his tummy rumbled, and so it started.
Well, from that it was hard to be sure that anything was happening at all. However what followed was certainly something, as a gentle electric twitch crept into his fingers and toes, bending the digits and making them shudder and twitch uncontrollably. Particularly his wrists, which bent forwards as his thumbs shrank, the fleshy parts of his palms getting ever thicker and tougher. Yikes! As the fingers balled up at the tips, the bones made a not-so-delicate crunching noise; and similar feelings in his feet made him a bit unsteady on two legs. Claws too were on their way out, pinpricks of keratin shaping out of fingernails and toenails; paws, for certain.
Definite itching wandered up through his face as his body began to warm up, little whiskers sprouting and growing as his nose popped and cracked, the bones in his face beginning to jostle and snap about. The changes accelerated, too, as more of the magic flowed through him; his ears growing and perking up through his hair. The warmth grew and grew, his heart beginning to pound, raw energy coursing through him now.
More change, and everything in him felt a confusion of new and old, aching and twinging, cracking down the back of Giuliano's legs as his knees bent incorrectly, toppling him over. He felt himself getting smaller, and yet warmer as well; skin red hot to the touch as his skin began slowly to vanish under a spreading pelt of blue fur. It began around the chest at first, lapping up his stomach and then around his fingers and arms and over his face; so swift it moved that it just felt like a rosy warm blanket of softness, and he rolled over to feel it pressing against his side, giggling a bit at the interplay of sensations.
Panting, breathless, he felt sweaty and uncomfortable, wiping his forehead with shaping, shrinking paws. Both his shirt and trousers were becoming rapidly oversized, dwarfing his shrinking body and thinning limbs, gaunt back and front legs much more suited to an animal than a human; indeed, Giuliano wasn't sure he'd be able to stand on two legs again now. He did try, but that just made his pants topple off, revealing yet more blue fur crowding around his legs and providing the first look of a budding new tail, clicking and creaking as it grew longer and larger. The muscles of his legs - all four of 'em - became lean and mobile, just the sort of thing a growing fox would need.
Definitely a fox, yes. Squinting at his muzzle told him that, feeling his ears perked through his hair, the swift swelling of a brushy tail. It wasn't going to stop, and if anything it was speeding up! Teeth feeling wiggly in his mouth, sharpening against his leathery tongue; back feeling stiff and tight, right down the tail, which now seemed quite mobile and able to shift side to side as he willed it - a strange and new feeling re-entering his perception, like an old friend. The discomfort became slightly painful and Giuliano yelped, his throat and mouth foregoing human shouts for distinctly more feral sounds - he no longer recognised his own voice. But, he would in time.
His back felt like it was going to pop out, spine readjusting to a new smaller, quadrupedal frame; tail popping and boosting out, its fur growing long and bushy, trickling against the floor and his legs, and the sensations kept going and going. His senses were flooded, ears beginning to pick up the smallest of noises with their growing, fluffing, pointedness. Yet for all this, up to now, one might have still recognised him as Giuliano; hair, longer face, slight dogged features. Approximate, right? Until now, anyway.
He watched with disbelief and some detachment, as if it was happening to someone else; his eyes could see muzzle stretching from within, echoed by sharp pains and the stretching of fuzzy, fluffy hide and skin. A soft dark nose developed at its tip as it pushed out, teeth growing in and shrinking, making room for more, the sweat dripping from beads of fur before becoming of secondary concern. His mouth widened as he yelped and yapped, screaming a mix of pain and pleasure at the world, breaking the silence with the sound of his body, shuddering as his head shrank and his remaining features melted into the fox-muzzle, narrow and long, eyes beginning to waver and change colour as well; dark, deep, soulful, unutterably feral.
With this muzzle he tried to say anything; he tried to announce to himself what he had just become. But it didn't work, and his tongue slipped around letters that should have been familiar; out instead came a haphazard growl. Small smatterings of blue fur littered the floor around where he'd been rolling and stressing. Giuliano's paws pulled off his shirt as he backed out of it, tail up in the air, the fox fully formed and quite steady; deeply warmed throughout his body, smelling of a wild fox who's been busy. Panting, panting.. getting breath back, trying not to overreact.
Now he was indeed a fox, and the notion crossed his mind quite simply; like it was truly an obvious thing to think. That he danced for joy was not at all surprising, yipping and roaming about the room in wayward curiosity as to how things looked from down there on all fours.
The air inside was warm, and yet stifling in a way; Giuliano shifted skittishly across the floor, pondering thoughts, finding himself by a window. Pressing his nose to the cool glass he looked outside, his eyes finding much more visual in the dark than he could possibly have done before. At once he knew he needed a taste of the free air, and sloppily he worked at the window with paws and tail and his body, prising it up slowly - just a bit at a time.
Once the air could rush in, he worked quicker and harder - it tasted so sweet, rushing over his body and through his nose and ears. It overcame his natural intelligence for a moment, and he became just a giddy fox scrabbling out of a window, dancing and pouncing into the bushes. But then, to be able to act on the urge to drop all higher thought and bounce forward on instinct - now that was freedom.
Giuliano didn't stop to think about it - he was away, off among the world as though he had never left.