Annie Morphs 05

Elephants Love Buns

I came home to find an elephant in my back yard.

‘Come on, this is a bit much,’ I said to the unexpected pachyderm. ‘You can’t go parading around as a wild beast whenever you feel like it. What will the neighbours say? Please change back this instant.’

I knew it was my metamorphic friend Annie practicing her transformations once again. With a disgruntled trumpet from her trunk, she acknowledged my request and began to become human again.

Her massive bulk began to diminish, the tough folds of her grey skin smoothing out as her body shrank. Thick limbs started to reduce as they no longer had so great a weight to support.  Colour flushed into her hide, the softer skin of her emerging smaller frame all pinkish and warm. Huge ears shrivelled away to almost nothing and her tail swung its last before coiling up into her spine. Her limbs could now be differentiated as arms and legs, human hands and feet shaping themselves at the end of each. Long blonde hair flowed from her head, covering her small ears. Her body was now flexible enough for her to get off all fours and stand up. She looked like a fatter version herself, but even this extra mass was dispensed with after a grunt and a flex of her muscles. Annie stood there, naked, almost human. The only thing disturbing the image was the small trunk and tusks that still protruded from her face.

‘Bit stubborn, the ol’ trunk,’ said Annie, unembarrassed to be standing outdoors with no clothes on. ‘Sorry, you’ve got to go!’

She closed her eyes and wrinkled her brow, obviously focussing on her task. Slowly, at last, the trunk and tusks shrank away leaving only Annie’s regular features.

‘Aren’t you cold?’ I asked. ‘It’s a shame nobody’s come up with something you can wear that will change with you. Or is that sort of thing only found in comic books..?’

‘I don’t really need clothes,’ said Annie. ‘Look.’

She put her hands behind her head and concentrated again. In seconds her entire body was covered with fine golden fur. She could have been a bizarre missing link exhibit from a Victorian museum.

‘Well, that’s still not for neighbourly consumption, is it?’ I pointed out. ‘Although, I’m not sure I should let you into my house if you’re going to moult everywhere.’

‘I think you should,’ said Annie. ‘because I’d like to show you some of the other changes I’ve been practicing. I think you’ll like it.’ Then she pointed at a paper bag that had been left on the back door step. ‘And I brought us some buns.’

I tried to appear nonchalant, but Annie had chosen her two-pronged attack well and knew exactly how I’d react.

‘Go on, then,’ I said. ‘I’ll put the kettle on.’