Annie Morphs 03

Be a Bear Workshop

‘Come on, do a bear,’ I asked Annie.

She scowled at me, and for a second, I thought that was the start of her transformation.

‘I. Am. Not. Doing. A. Bear.’ protested Annie. ‘You are not treating this seriously. I can attune my body to any species in the animal kingdom. I can turn into any creature, large or small, at will.’

‘So do a bear!’ I insisted. ‘If you do anything, why not do a bear?’

Annie scowled again, and this time there was a definite hint of a fang or two.

‘This isn’t a cheap trick, you know. I can literally become absolutely anything.’

‘I know. I can’t wait to see you as a bear.’

Annie let out a playful mock scream.

‘If I do change into a bear, will you shut up about it?’

I nodded vigorously.

Annie rolled her eyes and sighed, admitting defeat. She unglamorously pulled of her swimsuit, muttering curses under her breath all the while. She flung it at me with surprising accuracy. It had almost dried off from our swim in the sea, but it still stung as it thwacked me in the face.

‘Right, start with the fur. Always the fur first.’

As announced, brown fur emerged all over Annie’s body, unevenly at first, but with a shake of an arm or leg it gradually covered every inch.

‘Then bigger, bigger, unnh!’

She strained with the effort of expanding her body, bulking it out to almost half as big again as it was originally. I don’t know if the yeti was a real part of Annie’s animal kingdom, but if it was, I bet it looked something like she did now.

‘Claws and paws...’

Flexing her hands and feet turned them into fierce bear claws. Now she was starting to look the part.

‘And finally: the head.’

The peculiar furry version of Annie’s face that topped her ursine bulk began to distort into the familiar muzzle of a great brown bear. Nose and ears were reshaped and rearranged as appropriate.

She growled.

‘Don’t eat me!’ I cried, and was surprised to hear there was a hint of genuine fear in my joke.

And that’s how I found out that bear laughter is actually terrifying.