Meditations upon the Foxglove
Based on AkuOreo's "Foxglove Incense"

"Excuse me, but do you work here?"

Samantha Collins did her best not to grind her teeth but found herself only partially successful. It took several seconds to calm herself before she answered the customer, who held  a medium-sized laptop bag in her hands with an expectant expression. Only three feet remained between her and the door as she looked sideways at the woman.

"Actually, Miss, I'm off right now, but I'm sure another associate would be happy..."

"Hmph," the woman scoffed. "How rude."

The woman stormed away from her, muttering something about the terrible level of service in the store.

Her body almost seizing up in a fit of tension, she forced her stiff legs to march out the door before another fool approached her and asked another boneheaded question. The moment she crossed the threshold of Computer World's doors, she let out a rough sigh of relief. Another day of moronic questions, self-righteous fools and incompetent coworkers was over.

The idea that she had to be back here in less than twelve hours almost made her break down and cry.

Pulling her jacket tighter around her thin body to protect it against the biting cold of the Haverton’s winter wind, she wandered down sidewalk of the strip mall. Her eyes wandered along the other storefronts without actually seeing them. She tried to shake of the feelings of negativity and depression that threatened to smother her into a dark hole, but it was getting more difficult to do that every single day.

A slow rain began to fall from the thick gray clouds above. She looked up at the universe with misery, wishing it would simply leave her alone.

"Young miss! Yes, young miss!" an oddly accented voice came from a storefront down the line. A swarthy little man with a brilliant turquoise turban stood under awning, waving to her frantically. Samantha stared at him in utter confusion for a moment.

"Come to Hasid!" His waving became a great deal wilder. "Young miss come to Hasid and no get wet!"

The rain was coming down harder now, enough to soak through her thick jacket. Her car was at least a few minutes walk away so she scrambled under the awning with the odd little man.

At closer inspection, she found him to be dressed in a bizarre yellow turtleneck under a thick mint green trenchcoat. A pair of maroon trousers completed the painful clothing combination. The man looked like an escapee from the fashion police asylum.

"Hasid is pleased nice miss came to Hasid!" He smiled wide, showing enormous ivory teeth. "Hasid watched young miss leave electro store. Young miss did not look happy leaving electro store."

Samantha huffed in annoyance. "You have no idea."

"Ah!" But Hasid does!" the little man crowed. "Hasid can see young miss no happy with place!"

"What?" The man's peculiar speech stretched her brain farther than she wanted it to go.

"Hasid can help! Yes Hasid can!" He practically bounced with excitement, though Samantha couldn't figure out why. "Come into Hasid's shop and Hasid find a happy place for young miss!"

She glanced at the storefront, realizing she knew this place. Last month it had been an occult bookstore and a little while before that, it was an organic market. The shop seemed to have a new owner quite often for such a well-traveled strip mall.

Now though, the shop was festooned with wild tapestries of mad colors, from fuscha to brilliant aqua. A beaded curtain jangled in front of the very typical glass door, its beads knocking together in the soft wind of the rainstorm. The sight of the storefront nearly blinded Samantha, even more so than its owner, who scampered to the door and opened it for her with that same mad grin.

The man was definitely an oddball. Yet Samantha was in the middle of one of the busiest strip malls in Haverton. She glanced back at the entrance to the Computer World, which acted as the anchor store for the entire shopping center. Just a glimpse of the hated logo was enough to force her inside, if only to get her away from its neon glow.

“Hasid very happy young miss come in!” The owner babbled as he closed the door against the cold air. “Weather not nice, not good for young misses to be out in!”

He bustled into the store, jabbering away incoherently. Samantha quickly lost sight of him among the racks and shelves of his shop. For a moment, the multitude of scents overwhelmed her. Her head swam at the first lungful of air inside the stuffy room.

“Yeah, right,” she called after him. “Young misses like me hate getting wet.”

She actually did hate getting wet, especially getting wet and cold, but she had meant it as a sarcastic jab.

“Hasid knows!” The strange accent floated through the room as she heard several muffled bumps. “Hasid does not like weather too! But all places have things like wet rain from sky. All places, sad.”

Against her better judgment, the young woman stepped further into the store. There were a thousand different varieties of bottles, jars and candles lining the shelves. In fact, when she looked over to the next aisle, she realized she was actually in some kind of candle shop. It definitely explained the nearly explosive scent of the place.

Hasid popped his head out from the other end of the aisle, barely visible in the dim light from several candelabras in each corner of the room. That crazed grin was still pasted onto his face.

“Young miss take look around! Let Hasid know if young miss like something you find!” He laughed. It sounded like a clown on several different illegal drugs.

Once he vanished again into the depths of the dark store, Samantha began running her finger along the labels of the various incenses for sale. Some of the scents were things completely alien to her, but definitely had had unique names.

“Dragon’s Blood, Phoenix’s Ashes, Rainbow Glade, Nature Mystery?” she whispered to herself, laughing a little at the titles. They sounded so fantastical that she could hardly believe it.

Her eyes wandered over the sticks until they reached the only thing that sounded halfway normal.

“Ah! Foxglove Incense!” a voice chirped only a foot behind behind her. Samantha let out a yelp of fright and whirled to face the diminutive shopkeeper. “Yes! That perfect for young miss! Definitely take young miss to other place!”

The constant yammering about this ‘other place’ was beginning to irk her.

“What are you talking about?” There was a strain of boredom and exasperation in her tone. “What is this other place?”

“Hasid knows. Hasid was looking for this one for young miss.” He pointed happily at the green stick of incense, jumping up and down in glee. “Hasid thought it was in back. Hasid sometimes forgets things.”

“But what does it smell like?” she asked, realizing that she probably wouldn’t get a straight answer about this ‘other place’ business. Maybe she could at least extract some information from the man though.

“Smell like?” Hasid’s head cocked as he looked at her quizzically. “Oh yes! Smell like! Young miss will like! It has very warm scent. Make young miss warm and tingly. Everywhere! Especially in bosom!”

Samantha had to blink a few times before the last words penetrated her mind. Even then, she felt compelled to ask for clarification.

“It also tingle rear!” Hasid clapped his hands, his eyes shining with merriment. “Really everywhere. Young miss never bothered by cold again! Young miss want to buy from Hasid? Hasid not charge much!”

The scent of the candle shop and the half-coherent words of the little man began to make Samantha a little dizzy. It was quickly becoming too much for her.

“Okay, okay, just give me one of these foxglove incenses, then I need to go.”

“Hasid knew young miss have taste that is good! Hasid can always spot customers happy with future purchase! Five dollars American and it will be young miss’s good day now!”

By the time Samantha pulled out a five-dollar bill, Hasid somehow already had a small bag ready for her.

“Hasid include special stand for young miss! Hasid hopes it make young miss very happy and warm!”

The man continued to babble his compliments as she left the store, eager to be out in the clean air.

* * *

The wet woman slammed the door to her car after pulling her workbag from the passenger seat. Once again, the traffic had been utterly horrid. Combined with the stress of work and the odd encounter with Hasid, a raging migraine was now assaulting her brain. She stomped up the stairs from the carport to the front door of the tiny little two-bedroom condo she shared with Carli and her boyfriend Juan.

The moment she entered the house, she could hear the creaking of their bed. With an annoyed huff, she pounded her way through the living room, making sure that they knew she was home. The creaking lasted a little longer before it stopped.

Carli’s face peeked out of her door, her dark brown hair framing the flushed brown face.

“Um, hi, Sam,” she giggled.

“I told you when I was getting home, Carli,” Samantha snapped.

“Come on, Sam! We’re just having some fun!”

Samantha threw down her workbag into the worn sofa on the opposite side of the kitchen. “And I told you when he moved in that I didn’t want to hear anything!”

“Fine, Miss Crabby!” Carli stuck out her tongue at her roommate, who only glowered back. She huffed a little and shut the door.

Samantha let out a grunt and flopped onto the couch, kicking her workbag onto the floor in annoyance.

“I hate my job, my roommate’s an immature child who loves to screw like a rabbit, I’m stuck in this crappy condo and I can’t remember the last time a guy even glanced at me!”

In a fit of annoyance, she tore off her itchy work polo and threw it across the room in a huff. It snagged one of the speakers of the surround sound system and sent it crashing to the ground.

She began to curse loudly and incoherently. The door to Carli’s room opened for a second and two pairs of eyes peeked out. She snarled at them and the door quickly closed again without another sound.

Forcing herself to calm down enough to steady her hands, she marched into the kitchen to make herself a quick dinner of leftover meatloaf. By the time the microwave had reheated her food, she felt vaguely calm, if incredibly depressed. Plopping back down to the couch, she turned on some mindless sitcom and tried to escape her thoughts.

Yet during the entire show, her mind refused to focus on it. It just whirled around and around, thinking about the way her life had turned out. She had such dreams in college, of doing art or sculpture or maybe becoming a teacher one day. She wanted to do something that actually mattered. But now she was stuck at a dead-end job at Computer World, answering inane questions day in and day out.

With a sigh, she dropped her head, nearly close to tears when she caught sight of the garish electric lime bag from the candle shop. It was sitting against the side of the sofa, the small green stick of incense poking out of its paper sheath. She reached down and snagged it, running it under her nose.

The smell jolted her, a powerful floral fragrance with a hint of musk. Just as Hasid said, there was something warm about the smell, though she couldn’t begin to describe it better than that. Just that brief whiff cleared a tiny portion of her mind. She took a deep breath and felt some of the tension in her body evaporate.

Staring at the stick of incense for a long second, she finally shrugged.

“Why not?”

Stopping to grab a set of matches from the kitchen, she took the stick and the bag into her little room down the hallway from Carli’s bedroom. The thin blue carpet greeted her feet with only a little warmth as she padded across it and sat at her bed. It took her a few moments to change into her most comfortable pajamas, a deep purple top and a pair of worn tan shorts. They were perfect for lounging around the house on a rainy day. After she changed, she stared glumly at the full-length mirror on the door, opposite her twin-sized bed.

A mousy brown-haired girl stared back at her, looking alone and dejected. The floor lamp in the corner dimly lit the pale brown eyes that matched her boring, average face. Her thin frame had practically nothing in the way of curves that would attract any guy’s attention. Even her coworkers virtually ignored her, conveniently forgetting her when they threw store parties after bad days.

Samantha forced herself to turn away from the mirror and glanced at the bag. A plain ceramic burner was in the bottom of it. When she lifted it, the light shone off in startling patterns that vanished the moment she moved it. When she looked closer, she had no idea where the patterns had come from, as the entire thing composed of a nearly flat, rounded dome with a small hole in the center for the incense stick.

Shaking it off as trick of the light, she placed the foxglove incense stick into the holder. An image of a monk kneeling in meditation popped into her head. It was probably from her yoga classes a few months ago. Their teacher had been big into meditation during yoga.

The idea of finding some inner peace appealed to her, so she placed the burner upon the ground and knelt before it. She felt a little silly doing this in her own room, but the door was safely locked and she suspected that despite her comments, Carli and Juan were making themselves plenty busy.

There was a flash of fire as she struck the head of a match against the rough surface of the matchbox. She glanced at the flickering flame for a moment, then placed it against the tip of the green incense stick. When she blew out the match, a faint glow sprung from the tip of the stick. Samantha watched it for a few moments until a faint stream of purple smoke curled up through the air.

The young woman’s chest rose and fell gently, her eyes fluttering closed. It was difficult to try to find any peace in her mind with the madness of the day’s events still whirling in her memories, but the smell of the foxglove incense was beginning to help. As her breathing became deeper, the scent filled her nostrils and her mind, lulling it into a sense of serenity.

Her mind drifted through the ether, faint voices echoing through her consciousness. It was difficult to make out the words, but the voice sounded familiar. She had to fight to concentrate long enough to recognize it as being Hasid, the strange shopkeeper. He kept going on about the wonders of being warm, tingly and the other place. She should have found it annoying, but there was something inside her that resonated with the words. That something began to grow outward, washing across her mind as it flowed from the memories of Hasid’s voice.

Then an incessant itching on her right foot distracted her. With her eyes still closed, she reached down and attempted to scratch it. When her hand met soft, pliable fur, it didn’t quite register. But the itching stopped, so she simply ignored and tried to regain a measure of tranquility. Yet the moment she felt herself begin to slip again, her left hand tingled with the same annoying sensation.

This time, when her short claws itched the velvety hair on her wrist, she noticed.

Her eyes sprang open and she tried to let out a screech of fear, but the sound barely traveled through the thick tendrils of purple smoke that twisted around her. Her head snapped to her left hand where she saw a thick brown glove of fur covering her normally pale skin. The right hand was identical, with small white claws sticking out of each finger. She knew what she was going to see on her feet before she managed to force her eyes to look.

Sure enough, they were covered in a wash of brown fur, which was swiftly creeping up her legs only to be tinged with a faint reddish orange hue. With unbelieving amazement, she watched as it slipped up past her shin.

Samantha jumped in place when she felt a pinprick at the base of her spine. An overwhelming desire to push washed over her and she felt herself unwillingly shove her hips back hard against an invisible force. Another muffled shriek passed her lips as a thick tail burst from her spine, followed by two more. She glanced behind her to see the telltale orange fur and white tip of a fox’s tail, though there appeared to be three for some bizarre reason.

She was about to let out another cry of fear when she felt something soft brush against her ears. Her new paws shot to either side of her head, only to find her ears gone. With a shiver of horror, her paw crept up her scalp until they felt the unmistakable caress of soft fur in two triangular shapes. She let out a soft yip as she felt her ears pop and a wash of sound poured through her mind. For a moment, she could hear the creak of Carli’s bed.

Then something pulled at her nose. She blinked in surprise, jerking back a little, but again the pulling sensation came, this time centered around both her mouth and nose. Grinding her teeth together, she felt as if she was some putty sculpture being stretched by an enthusiastic child as her nose and jaw began to stretch forward. Her vision swam at the peculiar sensation, only to watch as she grew an actual muzzle. Helpless, she could only watch as a sprout of fur sprang to life behind her new black nose and sweep back over her face. The itching feeling nearly drove her mad, but it was at least quick. She could feel the last bit of the transformation run down her face to her shoulders as a burst of white fur appeared above her bosom.

Her mind in a nearly blind panic, another impulse to push tore at her consciousness, this time centered on her chest. Just to get a moment’s relief, she tried to let it out slowly, but it was as if someone had opened the floodgates. Somehow, her vulpine face blushed in surprise as her breasts began to swell rapidly against the purple fabric of her pajama top. Embarrassment filled her as she watched them stretch the shirt to its breaking point within moments. Tears began to form in the clothing as they grew far beyond her normal size.

Time froze for an instant as she peered at the picture in her door mirror. A very well endowed half-fox, half-human girl sat there, her legs bent at the knee and her hands between her thighs, pushing against the ground. Most of her chest, abdomen and upper thighs were still human, but everything else was a human-sized fox. The absurd sight of the three tails sprouting from her rear added to the sheer unreality of the scene, but not nearly as much as her new fox’s visage. And all the while, the foxglove incense burned away steadily, filling the air with violet snakes of smoke.

With a final sound of dismay, she watched the fabric of her top finally gave up the battle and burst at the seams, falling to tattered shreds around her. She was at least thankful her bosom hadn’t expanded any further. A moment later, the speed of the fur upon her legs doubled and it reached her hips. Her shorts quickly went the way of her top as her hips and rear burst outward, the fur sweeping from her waist up her stomach. She felt it roll down her back as white tufts of fur flourished upon the new curves of her chest.

As the transformation of her upper half and bottom have began to grow closer, the purple haze around her thickened to a point where she could barely see. She coughed as it began to fill her lungs and she wondered if she would suffocate after transforming into some bizarre fox-human hybrid. In a moment of detachment, she thought that such an event would be a rather disappointing outcome.

A feeling of warmth surrounded her as the two halves met beneath her breasts. The smoke around her suddenly burst with a flash of green light. A hoarse scream shot from her muzzle at the sight, certain she was going to die.

Then the cloud around her simply began to fade away. Samantha coughed a few lungfuls of lilac smoke up, but it didn’t seem to have any further effect upon her. She simply stared down at the innocent-looking green stick of incense, happily smoking away in its tiny ceramic burner.

Within a minute, the air was once again clear, save for a tiny twirl of mist coming from the tip of the burning stick. Her eyes wandered to the mirror, praying that it had somehow been some mad hallucination brought on by the foxglove incense.

Two emerald green eyes set in the orange and white fox’s face stared back at her. Her black ears twitched as she ran a paw along her nude, furry body. It hadn’t been a hallucination. Despite the fact that this was all simply impossible, she had become some sort of foxgirl.

There was a knock at the door and Samantha released a screech of utter terror.

“Don’t come in here!” she cried, her voice sounding a little higher than it had been before. But it was still essentially the same voice.

“I’m not gonna, you silly fox!” came Carli’s voice from behind the door. There was something a little strange about it as well. And the fact that Carli just called her a fox made her head swim in confusion. “Just wanted to let you know that Kevin called. He’ll be here in a few. And he has a surprise for you!”

She didn’t know any Kevin. But at the moment, she needed to figure out what had just happened.

“Uh, okay! Thanks!” Samantha responded, trying not to sound like she was in a blind panic. She could hear Carli leaving with a faint hopping noise.

With a burst of insight, she grabbed the bag from Hasid’s store. Peering inside, she saw a small card that she knew without a doubt had not been there before. With her new paws, she gently lifted the card to her eyes and began to read.

“Hasid hope young miss like!” She read aloud. She couldn’t believe that he actually wrote the same way he talked. “Young miss find other place much like place she from. Still wet rain come from sky. Young miss still work in electro store. Still in same room of condo with other happy miss. But Hasid change a few things for young miss. Young miss be happy with changes!”

Her eyes nearly crossed in confusion. However, when she looked around her room, there were subtle differences. Like a small picture of the foxgirl she had become and what appeared to be a cross between a cougar and a man. She felt a little thrill when she looked at the picture of him, thought she couldn’t fathom why. The clothes thrown into the laundry basket in the corner under the window were different, a size much better suited to her new curves. And the picture on the wall above her computer now showed her family as a family of human-fox hybrids where once very average humans once smiled.

Her mind latched onto the only possible reason for all of this. But she needed one more bit of proof first. After throwing on a soft robe she found in her closet and wrapping it tightly around her, she peeked out the door and called Carli’s name.

Down the hallway, the face of a anthropomorphic rabbit popped out, her brown fur glistening in the light from the television.

“Yeah, Sam?” she answered, her nose twitching in the way only a rabbit could.

“Oh, nothing,” Samantha said, her eyes wide.

The rabbitgirl shook her head, her big ears flopping about and disappeared from sight.

“Silly fox,” she could hear faintly over the laugh track of some television show.

She retreated into the room and closed the door. She gingerly stepped across the carpet and sat upon the bed, staring at her new body.

The foxgirl was still sitting there when another knock at the door startled her.

“Y-yes?” she called through the door.

“It’s me, Sammy,” said a deep male voice, which sounded quite excited about something. “Can I come in? I have something to show you!”

She crept to the door and opened it a sliver. Outside stood the cougarman, grinning broadly at her, dressed nattily in a light blue dress shirt, slacks and a red silk tie. It took her a moment to realize that this must be Kevin, the cougar from the photo on her nightstand.

He held a manila envelope in his hand. When she opened the door wider, he handed it to her as if it was some sacred artifact. She was shocked to hear an actual purr come from the cougar’s chest.

“It’s what you’ve been waiting for!” He seemed positively jubilant. “Open it!”

She studied the envelope for a moment and noticed the return address. It was from the Kipler Art Institute in Capian City, one of the most prestigious art colleges in the area. Despite the new fur on her body, she found herself eagerly tearing open the package with her index claw and pulling out the contents.

It was a letter of admission, a course catalog and a notice informing her that the school had awarded her a full scholarship.

The foxgirl’s green eyes shone in astonishment. The cougar swept her up in his arms with a roar of joy, to which Samantha yipped in surprise.

“I’m so proud of you!” he cried. “And with the promotion I just got we can finally afford our own place in Capian City!”

He twirled her around as Samantha hung on, breathless with a combination of utter joy and total loss. Carli came bouncing up, squealing in joy as she practically smothered the beleaguered foxgirl in a tremendous hug. Juan, who now appeared to be another rabbit, joined in the congratulatory celebration.

Despite herself, Samantha soon was laughing, sharing in the excitement of her friends. She smiled up at Kevin, thinking he was actually quite handsome. She could have definitely done much worse for a boyfriend. They shared a rather passionate kiss a moment later, to the chittering giggles of Carli and the knowing smile of Juan.

She woke up the next morning beside Kevin and realized that the new life Hasid gave her may have been strange, but it was something she could definitely learn to live with. After she arrived in the parking garage attached to the Computer World strip mall, she was sad but not really surprised to find that Hasid’s shop had utterly disappeared. She smiled as she passed the empty storefront where she had discovered the strange little man.

The cool winter air didn’t bother her as she walked the length of the strip mall to the Computer World’s entrance. She walked into the store manager’s office handed in her work uniform. The departure was sudden but still amicable. Though the ferretman was sad to see her go, he was excited for her new opportunities at the art institute and her go without a fuss.

When she left Computer World for the last time, she sighed in joy.

“I’ll never have to answer that stupid question again,” she said, her tails wagging happily.