Day 14 of the 25 days of TF-Mas! (contains girl to tree topper tf)

Sidetracked. Kat was always getting sidetracked. The mystical wish granter (self-titled) had set out from the home of a woman she’d turned to wrapping paper with a goal in mind, but that goal had been set aside in order to flatten another woman into the image on a sale advertisement cutout. As satisfying to Kat as that diversion had been, it was time to refocus! One furred boot in front of the other, Kat marched along to find the perfect addition to the tree, which was also once human, not that that detail mattered to Kat. It was time to get serious!

Elliott finally tore herself from the inflatable decoration she was certain had once been human. The barista had begun her little journey trying to track down what was happening around the block, but now that she knew, she wasn’t certain whether to be terrified, intrigued, or both. Genuine magic. She let her hand slide from Lorrie’s hollow rubber form as she approached the door. Yes, these were once people, and that’s terrible. Elliott could not fathom being stuck as an inanimate object. However, she touched the wreath on the door, wondering whether this too was a human once, and thought back again to the woman-turned-tree. The process was… captivating in a way. Curiosity burned at the edges of Elliott’s mind, and she tested the door. Sure enough, it was unlocked.

“Don’t you know who I am!?” Came the shrill cry of a girl outside what looked to be a pretty ritzy fashion store. She was petite and dressed in torn jeans and heavy-duty goth boots, but given her petulant attitude, it was clear that she was only wearing the dark heavy makeup and hairspray riddled hair for the aesthetic rather than any kind of lifestyle or statement. Though she looked to be maybe freshly twenty years old, the way she stamped her foot was more akin to a toddler.

“Ma’am…” The subject of the girl’s tirade sighed. Truly they were not paid enough to have the level of patience with them that they did, “You’ve been asked numerous times to leave after the scene you caused, I don’t think it’s a good idea to-“

The girl interrupted them, “I am The GothicPrincess99! I have over one hundred followers! The fact that you can’t see what a boon I would be to your failing business just shows how little you understand how powerful social media can be!” Her voice was a shriek at this point, so intense that even Kat had to wince a little. “I just wish you idiots would recognize a star like me when you see one! Once I sick my fans on you, you’re done!” GothicPrincess99 cackled a bit in a rather unstable manner. To the employee’s tremendous credit, they did not respond in kind, only stepping back inside once she started to storm off. Kat followed, inspired both by her words, and by a desire to shut her annoying mouth. It was not often that Kat found people to be that specifically grating, and it did not want to let her continue. It had not even been sixty seconds from her encounter with the store before she was already recording herself again. She pulled her phone out and held it out and a little bit up, for which Kat had assumed was a self-picture, but then she started talking at it.

“Hey guyyyyyys! It’s me, your Gothic Princess! You will never guess what went down today – oh my GOD! Consider this a massive warning and call out for one of THE worst places you can ever shop!” GothicPrincess99 was… talking to herself. At least that’s what Kat saw. As the wish granter followed the wannabe influencer around, it became increasingly obvious that she wasn’t on the phone with anyone.

“What are you doing?” Kat asked, interrupting the girl’s monologue about her terrible experience getting kicked out of a place she was kind enough to ask for a sponsorship from.

“Uhh… making a video for my followers? Duh? Geez grandma, ever heard of a social media influencer before?” She could not have had a more snarky, more obnoxious tone if she had tried. “Yet another moron who doesn’t know a star when they see one,” she scoffed.

“Ah right, you wished to be a star. I can grant that wish,” Kat offered, recalling the shrill girl’s words.

“Pff, what are you, a producer or something?” She asked, kind of hoping she wasn’t so she could continue to make fun of the old lady.

“I can… produce some things,” Kat answered thoughtfully.

Kat had slowed to a stop now, and likewise had GothicPrincess99 turned to face her. The way Kat talked and moved was totally weird to the edgy content creator, but the idea of getting actual sponsors was a little too enticing for her to take any real note of that weirdness. Kat offered to hold her phone and instructed her to stand with her arms straight out to her sides and her legs wide and rigid. She thought the stance was stupid, but figured it was for taking measurements or something. Meanwhile, the woman in the beanie that was to be her guide through this transaction was aiming the camera of her phone at her.

“What are you doing, lady? How long do I have to stand like this?” GothicPrincess99 complained.

“Just taking a before shot…” Kat murmured mostly to itself while it struggled to operate the phone.

“A before shot? What do you meeeeeeeee-“ her voice caught and trailed off like a recording that was skipping. A jolt fired through her body, shooting through each limb simultaneously, and left her head positively buzzing. Her camera remained running as Kat captured the process. Her arms tingled and stiffened. It felt like she needed to stretch and pop her knuckles and elbow, the air trapped within causing a rigid tightness that grew more and more uncomfortable. But no matter how she attempted, her arms would not budge and instead began to widen. The normally smooth edges of skin gave way to a sharp, machine-cut line that pointed straight out and slightly up from her shoulder. Her fingers formed the point of this shape, and like a transform tool in a photo editor, her underarm stretched and widened to fill in the triangle shape. Her fingers lost definition before her very eyes and her skin began to take on a gaudy golden color. A panicked glance to her other arm confirmed that the changes had been symmetrical.

“What the hell are you doing!?” She shrieked, causing Kat to wince slightly. She had no idea how or even what, but she knew this lady was to blame.

“Please stop talking…” Kat murmured, rubbing its temple.

The jolt streaked down her changed arms and back into her legs again. Her boots creaked and groaned before tearing down the sides. Her feet had become cramped, sharp points, as if she were standing in the world’s steepest pair of high heels. The same could not be said for the rest of her legs, though, as even as close to the point as her ankle was wide enough to shred through her shoes. Her rigidly locked legs left her stumbling about cartoonishly as they, too joined her arms in turning a tacky, cheap looking gold color and smoothing out any joints and imperfections. Now standing on wide, glorified stilts, she teetered a few more moments before falling flat on her back, wriggling pathetically in place.

“Why are you just standing there!?” she wailed, “Stop it! Let me go! I’m a star! A STAR!” her voice cracked with apprehension and terror as Kat watched on, impassively. The camera of her phone was still watching her change. It watched her head sharpen to a point and widen to match the rest of her limbs, her facial features smeared and then smoothed over like the rest. Her body was shrinking, and as though made from the lost mass, a coil-like shape began to spin out from between her former legs to form a conical cage of sorts. Only when her body had finished and her movements had totally ceased did her incessant voice finally disappeared, much to Kat’s relief.

Kat turned the phone off and stooped to pick up the star-shaped tree topper and examined it. It was sort of a cheap little thing. Though at a distance one would be forgiven for thinking it a pretty golden star, up close it was flimsy and unimpressive, but passable at least. Satisfied enough with it, Kat began to walk again. It felt good to be focused for a bit, but now Kat wanted some more excitement, and something to cleanse the palate from such a distasteful personality.