“I can’t believe you.” Sarah said, a scowl of disapproval on her face.

“For asking for a Christmas break?” The leader of this current little coup frowned at her, four employees standing behind him in an orderly row.

There was Trisha, the store greeter; checkout hands Bethany and Scott; and Rachel, a restocker. Gary had decided to lead them on this little foolhardy adventure, a misbegotten attempt to earn some undeserved vacation time.

Sarah didn’t dignify his unanswered question with a response. She turned, her short skirt flipping as she did, to head back to her office.

“Employee handbook article 12. All employees are allowed break time for major holidays.”

Gary’s smarmy voice froze Sarah in her tracks. She froze, spinning to face him angrily.

“What did you just say?”

“It’s in the handbook. Means you have to follow it. Sorry I’m not sorry.” Gary chuckled arrogantly, pulling his copy from his back pocket.

“First off, you little shit, the handbook is not an absolute code. While managers like myself are requested to follow it; we are not required. Secondly? You misquoted that.”

Gary scoffed. “Like hell I did.” He flipped open the book, rereading it. “Oh, sorry.” He snapped the book shut with a sardonic smirk. “‘All human employees are allowed break time for major holidays.’ Like that makes a difference.”

“Actually. It does.” Sarah grinned malevolently, clicking her fingers. As she did, the doors to her office snapped shut.

“Come again?” Gary’s grin faltered.

“You see, Gary… The world is a much, much bigger place than you’d imagine.” Sarah walked past him, her hips sashaying as she approached Scott.

“What the hell do you mean by that?” Gary turned to watch her apprehensively.

Sarah smiled gently as she looked at Scott. “Something funny happened this morning. I forgot my underwear, and this teeny tiny skirt certainly isn’t doing me any favors.” Her smile grew wider as she looked at the cashier.

“Um… Begging your pardon?” Scott frowned.

“These dipshits, I’d have expected this from. But you? I don’t know why, Scott. I had thought that an old hand like you would have more common sense.” Sarah frowned at him. He had always been such a good employee until this point.

“Sorry, ma’am.” Scott frowned. “I’d really rather spend Christmas with my family than work here, if that’s at all understandable. I think my work record has earned me at least that.”

“It’s earned you something.” Sarah chuckled, snapping her fingers.

Scott had just enough time to look surprised before his skin turned to cloth; his bones and muscles dissolving into a soft cotton weave. The other employees screamed as Scott’s body seemed to wither, then vanish--leaving only a pile of clothes behind.

Sarah stooped down to the pile, poking through it. She grinned with satisfaction a moment later, fishing out a pair of panties. “I wonder how it feels; knowing you’ll never speak again. On the other hand, you’ll never need to work again, either.”

Sarah twirled the panties around her finger as she headed back to Gary.

“Y-you bitch! What the hell is going on?” The man started to panic, his eyes wide with fear.

“You know what, Scott? This might actually be more of a punishment than what these little fuckers are getting. I’d imagine you’ll think it’s nice at first. You get a perfect view of my pussy, get to hug it daily… But what use is such stimulation without release? What comfort is there in sentience if you know you’ll be trapped like this forever.”

Gary’s face turned redder and redder with each passing second. “Answer me, God damn it!”

At that, Sarah turned to acknowledge him. “God? God has nothing to do with it.” She leaned in close, whispering her next sentence into his ear. “He wouldn’t even be bothered to trifle with a worm like you.”

Gary began to retort; then found himself cut off as his legs went limp beneath him. He tried to use his arms to catch himself, but those had gone numb too. The bearded man fell onto his chest with a loud thump, groaning in distress.

“What the hell is this?” He muttered, looking up at Sarah. His eyes widened. She’d been telling the truth; she really wasn’t wearing anything under that skirt.

“Like the sneak peek?” Sarah cooed tauntingly. “Get a good look, because this is the last thing you’ll ever see.”

Tom groaned as his body began to ache, a numb cramping filling him from head to toe. His features began to melt into a shapeless blob of flesh, even as the back of his body drew out into a  tail. The man’s skin darkened and darkened, until it was the dull brown of a common earthworm.

By now, the remaining employees in the room were positively screaming. Rachel tried to run, but she found every exit was locked. Bethany had fallen to her knees, saying a prayer over and over again. And Trisha was simply numb with shock, her eyes wide as saucers.

Sarah looked down to the earthworm beneath her, watching its transformation complete. “How’s it feel, Gary? You’re a sightless little grub, something that I could just squish beneath my boot.”

To prove this, she raised her right heel, placing it directly over Gary’s head. At the last second, she turned her ankle, letting it crush the lower half of his body instead. Most of his organs squirted from his back, and Gary began to writhe in earnest.

“Talk back to me, will you? You little. Disgusting. Worm.” With each word, Sarah ground her heel in more and more. Then she turned to the women in the room with a big smile. “Now, who’s next?”

Nobody answered her, and Sarah scowled, stomping her right foot on top of Gary; crushing him flat. “I asked who’s next?”

“Please, mercy!” Bethany gasped, looking up at the woman with wide eyes.

“‘Please, raise!’ ‘Please, vacation!’ ‘Please, mercy!’” Sarah mocked the woman’s tone, glaring at her angrily. “Don’t you have anything better to do than ask me for such fucking stupid pittances?”

Sarah snapped a finger at the shell-shocked Trisha. “And you! Always parroting everything she says! You’re just a needy bitch and a brainless parrot!”

Her words carried immeasurable power behind them. Bethany’s next plea was cut off as her tongue violently expanded in her mouth. The woman gurgled, pawing at her throat even as long and soft fur began to cover her face.

Trisha simply let out an avian screech, her nose and mouth pulling out into a beak. Sensing the impending change, she rose from her shocked position to paw at her face, her fingers fusing to shapeless nubs at the ends of her arms. Feathers began to force their way from every pore of her skin, and the woman screeched again.

Both of the women began to shrink into their uniforms. The fabric was heavy, weighing them down and ensnaring them within its confines. Bethany barked and Trisha tweeted in distress, the two becoming little more than animals. They scurried and flapped out from their uniforms to join Rachel in pawing at the door.

“All of you!” Sarah snapped, grinning as the three froze. “Come here.” She motioned them forwards.

Rachel quivered in terror, continuously sending worried glances to the animals at her side. “P-please don’t make me into an animal.” She whimpered.

Sarah grinned. “Don’t worry, dear. I happen to be all out of complete transformative magic for today.”

“R-really?” Rachel sniffled.

“Yes. You’ll just need to settle for being tiny, instead.” Sarah beamed maliciously.

Before Rachel could so much as squeak, she had vanished within the folds of her clothing. It had taken less than three seconds for her to shrink from a fully grown woman to a tiny doll.

The diminutive woman peeked out from her clothes, her eyes wide in terror. “M-mercy!” She squeaked in horror.

“Mercy?” Sarah tapped her lower lip idly. “Tell you what, go clean up that worm and we’ll talk about mercy.”

Rachel looked at her tiny hands, then back up to Sarah in fear. “But I don’t have any tools…”

“You have a mouth, don’t you?” Sarah’s response was as quick as it was callous.

Rachel started to cry, but made her way over to Gary’s mangled body nonetheless.

Sarah watched her for a moment before turning to the women-turned animals. “And as for you two…” She pointed at Bethany. “Go play in traffic.” Then Sarah pointed at Trisha. “And you? Go fly into the power lines by our competitor’s store. You might as well be useful for something.”

The woman snapped her fingers again, unlocking the doors and windows to the building. The dog and bird continuously screamed their denials, but set off obediently nonetheless. “Oh, I love it when pets are obedient. Almost a pity they’re so disposable.” Sarah cooed, turning back to Rachel.

The tiny woman had finished with much of the task, licking up the last of the remains as Sarah watched. “T-there.” She croaked, wiping the side of her mouth. “Now, mercy?”

Sarah laughed. “Of course! It was never an option. But thanks for making this an easier mess to clean.”

Before Rachel could reply, Sarah punched her hand forwards. A beam of purplish light fired from her closed fist, striking Rachel in the stomach. The woman howled and screamed as layer by layer she was erased from existence. Skin, muscle; then viscera were shredded into nothingness; then her bones simply evaporated.

Sarah chuckled, looking at the slowly rising cloud of steam where a person had once stood. “It’s good to be the boss.” She said, walking to the bathroom to slip on her new pair of underwear.