(Woman to Moose)


Beth sighed.  This was an interesting job interview, but she definitely wouldn’t be here if she didn’t have a choice.  The brunette brushed some hair past her ears, looking around.  At least it paid well, and the area looked nice.  Stupid job market.

Her interviewer was a redneck by the name of Jeff.  He had been droning on about the area, the local wildlife, and... Hang on, did he just say magic?  “Magic?”  She asked.

He scratched at his wrist.  “Well, yeah.  We’ve been dealing with all sorts of magical stuff ‘round these parts, and could use a hand or two.”

“Mm-hmm.”  She rolled her eyes.

He glared.  “Hey!  Don’tcha think I didn’t see that!  Girl, y’all’d best believe in this, ‘else ya might get into some trouble.”

Trouble?  Like what?  She decided not to ask, she’d probably just get some nutball answer.

Jeff led her to a rocky outcropping.  “Anyhoo, this here’s the cave that leads to the preserve.  But ‘fore ya go in it, I’ve got a simple question: Are ya Canadian?”

“What?”  She was, but she didn’t see why it mattered.

“Are.  Ya.  Canadian?”  He repeated himself intently.

She took a step back, nervous.  “N-no.”  Was he some sort of racist?  Did they hate Canucks?

He beamed.  “Great!  Sorry for having to ask that, but it’s a little bit of a problem here, some old wizard with a sense of humor.  Or hell, maybe he was paranoid.”

Oh, Jeff was just nuts.  “Sure, a wizard.”  She kept as much sarcasm from her voice as possible.

Jeff nodded, letting her take the lead in the cave.  “Yep, some odd feller that used to own this property, I tell ya, he was always up to...”

Beth ignored him as he droned on and on.  She shivered slightly upon entering, chills running down her back.  It was probably just her imagination, but she felt something was... wrong.

And the cave was opening up soon, so she’d be out of that soon anyways.

She gasped slightly at the view.  A vast expanse of woodland greeted her.  It was beautiful!  But how could they afford to maintain such a place?  She took a few steps out of the cave, the grass beneath her crunching pleasantly.

Beth opened her mouth to ask, but only a low groaning came out.  She cleared her throat and tried again.  A loud bellow erupted from her lips.  Her hands flew to her neck as she continued to grunt loudly, and she looked back to Jeff in confusion.

“Well, shit.”  He took off his hat and wiped his brow.

She turned to glare at him, grunting more.  He expected this!?

“Now don’tcha look at me like that, I asked ya and ya gave me a dishonest answer.  I warned ya of the magic!”  Jeff sat on a rock behind her.

Beth grunted again, shuddering as she felt the magic work around the rest of her body.  Her skin prickled as countless hairs forced themselves from her skin, forming a thick coat of auburn fur across most of her body.  The hair atop her head lightened to match the fur on her body, and Beth closed her eyes at the awkward sensation of her hair receding into her scalp.

Beth opened her mouth to voice her discomfort, but she found it shut tight.  Her eyes widened as her teeth grew, forcing her jaw open.  Her lips thickened around her new, blocky teeth and she nickered, shaking her head.  Her nostrils flaring, Beth watched her nose thicken and grow.  Her jaw stretched out with it, the bones creaking as her muzzle grew to its full length.

Her feet had grown numb, and she looked down to find them darkening, her toes receding into rapidly darkening flesh.  No, not just darkening—it was hardening, too!  She had hooves!  Beth looked away before she could see her feet fully become hooves.

She stumbled back into the cave, and the faint tingling of the changes stopped abruptly.  Wait... They stopped!  She was safe!  She closed her eyes and grunted with relief.

Then Jeff sighed from behind her, and pushed against her back with both of his hands.
Alarmed, she fell forward onto her hands, just slightly past the cave’s mouth, letting loose a surprised bellow.

“Sorry for that, but ya gotta understand.  There ain’t no changing someone back to a human ‘til we can get our own warlock back, and Dale’s in Aruba right now.”

Dale?  Who the hell was Dale, and—why were her fingers numb?  She looked down and moaned with discomfort as her fingers lost their sensitivity, the two digits on each end fusing together even as her thumb slid back into her hand.  Her nails grew dark, then thickened, overtaking the smooth skin of her hands.  There was something familiar about the hooves, though...

Then, it all clicked: the bellowing, the hooves, even the part about her being Canadian.  
She was becoming a moose!  She tried to stand, but she couldn’t manage more than a half-stoop at best.  She fell to her front hooves, crying with fear.

Jeff pet her lengthening neck.

She hated how good it felt, but let him continue.  After all, it was calming her down a little.

“I just figured it best you stay a full animal, and not be sorta half-and-half.”  Jeff explained.

She snorted, glaring at him.

“Oh, ya’all’d have been fine with that?”  He scratched the back of his head.

She snorted again and nodded, trying her best to ignore how her body was barreling out, thickening into an animal’s form.

Jeff shrugged.  “Oops.  Still, spilt milk and that.”

Spilt milk?  She was changing into a moose and he called it spilt milk???  She was so angry, she felt her head was going to explode!

Wait... her head actually felt like it was going to explode!  She raised her head and bellowed loudly, her eyes crossing slightly before they slid to opposite sides of her head.  Her ears wiggled wildly, lengthening until they flopped as she shook her head in distress.  She could feel her skull expanding, her limbs lengthening.

Finally, the changes stopped.  She shook her head slightly, then paused.  Didn’t moose have tails?  No sooner did the thought pass her mind than her tailbone ached as she grew a short tail.  It waggled slightly as she looked at it, taunting her.

Beth grunted angrily, then turned to glare at Jeff.

He held up his hands.  “I would like to ree-iterate: I warned ya.  ‘Sides, it’ll just be a few weeks.  Probably.  Wait here, I’ll be back in a flash.  Gotta get Dale on the telly.”

She paused, then tried to follow.  She couldn’t make it past the threshold of the cave.  Stupid magic.  She flicked an ear with irritation.  Still, maybe they’d pay her for her time here.

...  A moose bellowed in the distance.  She closed her eyes and let out a long bellow of her own, then snorted with embarrassment.

Stupid magic.