Opening up the crate, Dr. Caroline Marcus looked down with
boredom at the contents. As assitant director in charge of acquisitions for the
museum, this new batch of items seemed rather dull to her. Nothing of any
particular interest.
Holding her nose in disgust, she started carefully pulling the artifacts
out, not wanting to damage anything. Another, smaller museum had
recently been forced to shut down, and Caroline had worked hard to get
some of the artifacts sent to her, but she was greatly disappointed, noticing
that what she had seemed to be mostly the leftovers or scrap. Still, she didn't
want to break anything. These were still valuable antiques and historical
treasures.
One item however caught her eye as she unwrapped the packing paper
from around it. It was a small statuette. It stood just under a foot tall,
carved of a dull greyish stone. Examining it, she decided that it was probably
Norse. A depiction of one of their great warriors or one of their Gods most
likely.
It has to be one of the Gods she decided. Probably either Baldur or
Loki by the looks of him. But then again, worshippers of Loki weren't all
that common, so if it was Loki, this statue might be rather rare and
interesting indeed. Caroline decided that she definitely needed to look into
this one a bit more. After all, these religious idols weren't that uncommon,
but one of Loki would be a rather uncommon find indeed. Most likely
though she decided, it was probably Baldur, but who knows.
Setting the statuette on the table as she reached for the next artifact,
she missed seeing the small statues eyes start glowing green for a brief
second, as if something within had just woken up, after a long sleep.
Looking up after several hours of cataloging, Caroline realized that it
was time to get home. Her husband Mark, and their two kids, Beth and
Tony would be getting worried. Sighing, she put her coat on, and turned
around, not noticing as her elbow bumped the small idol, knocking it into the
duffel bag she'd set by the table.
Without noticing the difference, Caroline picked up her bag and
started heading home, glad to be done for the day.
Getting home, Caroline was happy to see that Mark was home too,
and hurried inside, giving her husband a kiss, and being surprised to find
dinner already set.
At the dinner table, Mark sat, smiling, a small piece of corn caught in
his well trimmed beard, telling Caroline about his day at the office. Tony,
their energetic 12 year old son was kicking his 15 year old sister Beth under
the table, much to her annoyance, which she loudly shared with everyone.
Just like every night, Caroline Sighed.
After eating, Beth and Tony were left to clean up, while Caroline and
Mark went into the living room. Caroline stopped, remembering her
dufflebag, and went to clean it out. She was surprised when she looked
inside, seeing the idol lying on top. "Shit" She muttered, knowing that
she'd really be in trouble for taking this home if anyone found out. She
immediately decided that no one at the museum would. She'd take it right
back in the morning when she went to work. Absently, she set it on the
bookshelf where she'd remember to see it in the morning.
Tony ran to his room, glad that the dishes were finally done. That
stupid sister of his kept bossing him around, thinking that she could since
she was older. That really made him mad. Turning on his TV, he plugged a
video game in, and started to play, forgetting about his annoyance almost
immediately.
A couple hours later, his mom came in, telling him it was almost
bedtime. Reluctantly, Tony shut off his game and started getting ready for
bed. After he'd gotten ready, and his mom said good night, shutting the
light off, Tony waited quietly for several minutes. Quiety he got up, turning
on the flashlight that he kept near his bed, and reached under his bed, pulling
out a magazine.
Smiling, he opened the Playboy, staring in fascination at the
centerfold. He wasn't sure just what some of the older boys saw in this yet,
but he knew that the centerfold was definitely hot. Very beautiful indeed.
He smiled, enjoying the picture and the slight feeling of naughtiness, of
doing something knew he wasn't supposed to. "Man" he said, "I wish I
could get my hands on a girl like that"
Just another room away, the idols eyes glowed green faintly, and the
lips almost seemed to smile.
Getting ready to go to work, Caroline went and made sure that the
kids were both up, so that they could get ready for school. Getting Beth up
wasn't a problem, and usually wasn't. Going into Tony's room, she saw
him on his bed, completely curled up in his blankets. Smiling she grabbed
the blanket and yanked, saying "Get up sleepy"
Caroline screamed, seeing a young woman in her sons bed, with no
sign of him. The girl had dark reddish blonde hair, seemed to be about 19,
and was obviously very well endowed. She was also completely naked.
Hearing the scream, the girl opened her eyes, sitting up, looking a
little confused. "What's up mom" she said. Then she looked down, and
started screaming as well.
"I can't explain it either" Caroline told Mark, who stared at his son,
in shock. Beth seemed to think it was a little funny, that her brother had
suddenly changed. They all stared at Tony, dressed only in his Moms robe,
and looking extremely uncomfortable. He tried to peek down the front of his
robe, but Caroline slapped his hands back. "Stop that she scolded him.
Obviously Tony couldn't go to school like this, and neither Caroline
or Mark was ready to go to work until they figured out what was going on.
Noticing that Beth had already missed the school bus, they decided that she
might as well stay home too.
Reluctantly, Tony told them about the Playboy under his bed, not
knowing if that had anything to do with his overnight change, but afraid to
leave it out. His parents took it better than he expected, not being nearly as
angry as he'd thought they would be. They had larger things to worry about
at the moment though, so let his confession go by.
After worrying awhile, Tony broke the silence with the
announcement, "I have to go to the bathroom"
Sighing, Caroline said "I'll take care of this" and led Tony into the
bathroom, reminding him to sit down. After he'd finished, she showed him
how to wipe himself, leaving both of them red with embarrassment at the
odd situation.
Noticing that Tony kept getting curious and trying to take peaks at his
new body, Caroline decided to keep him from getting too curious, and tried
dressing him up in some of her clothes. She didn't have a bra quite his size,
so quickly ran over to the neighbors, telling the neighbor woman that her
"niece" had just ran away from home, forgetting to even bring any clothes.
The explanation worked well enough to get a bra loaned. Caroline made
sure that Tony was decently dressed, and not exposing too much. He was
obviously hating being dressed up as a girl, less so than his being one. That
only seemed to make him curious.
"Here he is" Caroline said, announcing Tony who came in, feeling
rather embarrassed to have his family see him like this. He really felt
uncomfortable. He noticed that he was taller than before, but only by a
couple inches at most. What was the oddest, besides not having anything
between his legs, was all the weight on his chest. His chest stuck out so far,
he thought he was going to fall forward, or run into things with those things.
Beth was looking at Tony, mouth open, unable to believe that this
was Tony. "I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT MY KID BROTHER HAS
BIGGER BOOBS THAN I DO!" she whined, making Tony feel better that
he was at least annoying his sister still. And he didn't even have to do
anything but stand there.
Smiling, Tony grabbed them, "Yeah, they're lots bigger" giggling at
the look of anger on Beth's face.
"Its not fair" Beth whined as she ran into her room, making Tony feel
a little better.
"Cut that out Tony" his dad scolded him, while his mom glared at
him, making him feel a little guilty. He shook the feelings off, thinking that
she deserved it. He looked down at the protrusions again, and was curious
to look at them a little better, but his mom wasn't giving him the chance to be
alone or to investigate, leaving him a little annoyed.
Beth sat on her bed, crying into her hands. It wasn't fair. Her
brother gets turned into THAT, and she couldn't even get a date with
Tommy at school. She put a hand to her breasts, thinking how much smaller
they were than Tony's. She was average sized for her age, and still
growing, but still she felt envious. "I wish I were bigger" she mutters to
herself.
In the next room, unnoticed by anyone, the idols eyes glowed green
for a second then died away.
Beth suddenly felt odd. Her bra felt tighter. A grin broke out on her
face. Somehow she was going to change to. The bra kept getting tighter,
and she tore her shirt and bra off, anxious to see the changes. She'd show
Tony who was bigger.
Putting her hands to her breasts, she felt them growing, then realized
that her pants were feeling tighter too. Curiously, she pulled her pants off,
feeling herself getting bigger. Suddenly, she realized that something was
wrong. This wasn't right at all.
Staring down in horror, she saw her waist getting larger, and her legs
as well. She was getting fatter as she watched. "NO" She screamed,
realizing that she had gotten too fat for any of her clothes. She looked at her
arm in disgust, seeing the flab hanging off. She started crying again, feeling
herself still growing larger.
Mark and Caroline heard the scream, and rushed into Beth's room,
stopping in shock as they saw their daughter sitting on the bed, which was
barely holding her weight. She was huge. Incredibly obese. Between 400
and 500 lbs they guessed. Her boobs were mammoth, and all fat, and
everywhere, fat spilled from her body.
"Oh my god" Caroline said, unable to believe this. First her son, then
her daughter. She couldn't believe this. And whatever it was, was
spreading. Suddenly she became incredibly aware that she and Mark were
very likely to be next if they didn't figure out what was going on.
Horrified, she realized that they'd better find whatever it was quick.
Mark immediately suggested that they leave the house, go to a hotel or
a friends house instead, since whatever it was could be around the house.
Sadly, Caroline pointed out that they'd never be able to get Beth even into
the car, and they weren't about to abandon her. Reluctantly, they ruled that
option out.
Caroline tried to comfort the sobbing Beth, while Mark tried to figure
out what was going on, and what they could do about it.
Tony stared at his sister in horror. That couldn't be Beth. He saw
his sister in that blob of flesh, and felt sorry for her. He felt sorry for all the
mean things he'd done to her, and ran to his own room, crying in shame, as
if feeling that he were somehow the cause.
Tony cried into his pillow for awhile, ignoring the pressure on his
chest as he lay on his new breasts. Finally, he stopped crying, forcing
himself to sit up. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he accidentally scratched
himself with one of his fingernails, then held his hands out, to stare at the
offending nail.
This wasn't right. He wanted to get back to normal, and wanted Beth
to be normal too. Finally, he just put most of his trust in his father, sure
that dad would make everything all right. That's what dads did.
Mark paced back and forth across the living room, deeply worried.
He'd always prided himself in being a calm and rational man, but this was
beyond anything he had ever imagined. Still, he forced himself to stay as
calm as possible, knowing that he couldn't help his son or daughter if he
panicked Still, it took every ounce of willpower to keep himself from
running out the front door screaming.
He listened to Caroline in Beth's room, trying to calm her down and
comfort her, feeling horrible about whatever had befallen his daughter. He
wanted desperately to call the hospital, but knew that they wouldn't be able
to do anything about, whatever this was. He tried guessing what it could be.
Secret government experiment run wild? Aliens? or something even more
strange? He couldn't guess.
As Mark paced, something caught his eye on the bookshelf, making
him stop. Stepping closer, he saw the small gray stone idol, and his blood
froze. Cautiously, he stepped back, getting very nervous. "Honey" he
called to Caroline, "Can you come in here?"
"What is it?" she asked, her eyes red from crying. Mark just pointed
at the idol. "Oh my god" Caroline muttered to herself, remembering the idol.
She wasn't sure how it was responsible, but knew somehow that it was. It
all started when she brought that THING into the house.
Mark stepped forward to pick it up, but Caroline stopped him, not
knowing what it would do. They had to get away from it. "Come on Tony"
Caroline shouted, "We're leaving"
Mark heaved, trying to get Beth standing. He grunted, and finally got
her up, with Caroline's help, but his back began to hurt. "Damn" he
muttered to himself, silently wishing that he were only a couple years
younger.
Suddenly Mark fell, tripping over his own pant legs. He looked
around in horror as everything in the room started growing. Beth and
Caroline looked down at him, surprise in their eyes. Finally Mark seemed to
stop shrinking. He felt himself buried in his own clothes, but try as he
might, he couldn't get them off of him. He yelled for help, but only heard a
baby's cry.
Beth fell back to her bed, hearing it creak in complaint of her massive
frame. She just stared at the baby on the floor as her mom picked it up,
trying to comfort it, to stop the crying. The baby, her dad, stopped crying,
and shivered against the offered shoulder.
Caroline held the shivering baby shocked. This was her husband.
She desperately wanted to leave, and only held herself back because of Beth.
She couldn't get Beth out by herself, and probably not with Tony's help
either. She felt trapped, stuck with that statue.
She started to reason that nothing happened to her carrying it home,
or at the museum. It must be safe to handle. At least that's what she tried
telling herself. But then, what about it was causing all this. Caroline asked
Beth what she remembered about just before she changed.
"I don't know" Beth sobbed. Caroline soothed Beth a little, and had
Beth try remembering what happened. Finally, Beth was calm enough to
say how she was just crying, feeling jealous of Tony, when she started
growing.
As if hearing his name, Tony walked in, asking "Where's dad?" then
stopping when he saw the baby, knowing where dad was.
Caroline looked at Tony, then remembered what he'd said about
having the Playboy. She had a very bad feeling. If she was right, they
seemed to have a Monkey's Paw, right here in the house. Very bad news
indeed. She only hoped that it wasn't limited to the traditional 3 wishes
since they already seemed to have that. She hoped she could find some way
to wish things back to normal, without making things worse. If she could
even use the thing to wish at all. She still wasn't certain of her theory.
"Damn" she muttered to herself, "That thing has got to be Loki"
Slowly she approached the statue, almost in tears from Beth having
just begged her while she left, "Please mom, change me back. Please" She
shivered, determined to make things right. If she could.
She knew that the others didn't touch the idol when they changed, but
hoped that by touching it, she could control the wish. Briefly she wondered
if it only effected the person making the wish, then shook her head, refusing
to believe that. If so, Mark would never get back to normal, being unable to
make a wish as a baby. Suddenly she froze. She didn't hear anything from
Mark before he changed. "Maybe" she told herself, "It doesn't need to be
verbal" but not really believing it. Still, she had to try.
Carefully she picked up the idol, then turned to look at Tony, who
was watching her hopefully. She licked her lips, deciding to get the worse
case first. If it worked. If was such a useless word she realized. Slowly
she started. "I wish that Beth was back to her normal self, the way she was
before making that wish"
Caroline was pleased to hear a howl of pleasure from Beth's room,
then Beth come running out, looking the same as she did before, and looking
extremely excited, not even noticing her state of undress. Caroline felt a
surge of triumph, and hugged Beth, who was crying with joy. Tony looked
at her expectantly. "Patience" she told him.
She looked down at the baby she was still cradling in her arms, then
set the baby on the floor a few feet away. Feeling the triumph from the first
wish, she made her second, hoping it wasn't limited to one wish per person.
"I wish Mark were older" She realized her mistake instantly, not specifying
the wish. She had a very bad feeling about this, knowing that monkey's
paws were supposed to twist every wish.
The small baby in front of started to grow. She watched, feeling very
nervous, hoping that it worked out. Then it stopped. The baby had grown
older, but then stopped at about 5 years old. Mark looked up at her
confused. "Why stop me here" he said, sounding like the little boy that he
was"
Caroline shrugged, saying "At least it wasn't worse. Maybe I can
change you the rest of the way back" Mark nodded, waiting impatiently for
her to continue.
Nervously, Caroline looked back to the idol. Only two more wishes
to fix things. One for Mark, and one for Tony. For a second, she
considered making another wish, or using it to make them rich, but that
didn't sound too good. If this was the statue of Loki, that was bad news.
He was a god of mischief, which would fit what was going on. It was like a
monkeys paw. The less they used it, the better off they'd be. Steeling
herself, she prepared for the next wish.
Tony giggled, realizing that it was like Aladdin and his lamp. He
looked over at his dad, and his sister, then to his mom. He giggled, thinking
that Mom was the only one that hadn't changed. Since they could fix
anything with the statue, Tony said, "I wish mom was 12 years old", and
laughed at the look of horror that appeared on her face as she started to
shrink.
Laughing, Tony thought it was funny, watching his mom start getting
younger and younger in front of him, then shrinking to the same age as him.
Or at least the age he was supposed to be, he corrected himself. He smiled,
knowing that they'd fix it in a minute, but it was funny to watch, and he
couldn't resist.
Caroline stared in shock, unable to believe that Tony said that. She
felt her clothes al start getting loose on her and everything else around her
was growing a little as well. Even Beth and Tony were looking a lot taller.
She stepped back, tripping over her own pant legs, and falling backwards.
The idol flew from her hand, smashing against the floor with a loud crack.
They all stared at the idol, broken in two on the floor, in shock.
Three pairs of eyes turned to Tony, now the tallest of the group, in shock,
horror and anger. Tony stared at his mom, suddenly feeling really guilty.
He hadn't meant to ruin things. He'd only wanted mom to change too. To
see what it was like.
Caroline held the pieces together, and tried wishing, finding that
nothing happened. She wasn't surprised, still being in shock. They got
super glue from the kitchen, and glued it back together. Still though it didn't
work.
Holding it in her hands, Caroline stared at it. Then as if to mock her,
the idols eyes seemed to flash red for a split second, then the whole thing
crumbled into dust, falling through her fingers and being lost for good.
Holding her dusty hands to her head, she started to cry, amazed at
how easily it all came out. Mark hugged her waist, needing comfort himself,
as well as trying to comfort them. Neither of them wanted to have to grow
up again, or go through puberty again.
Beth shivered, thanking God that she got changed back before the
statue broke, and feeling sorry for her family.
They didn't know what they were going to do. What could they do
about their identities? Who'd believe any of them was who they said they
were, except for Beth who was unchanged. They didn't know, but Mark
tried to assure Caroline that they'd find some way.
Tony was in shock, realizing that because of his prank, his
childishness, he was stuck a girl forever. Sadly, he looked down at his
parents, thinking how small and helpless they looked, especially his dad.
He decided that he wasn't going to mess up like that again. He didn't think
that he could afford another mistake like that.
Caroline wiped the tears from her eyes, looking up at Tony. She
realized that they'd all be relying on him a lot from now on. Him and Beth
both. Tony was the only one that even looked like an adult, and would be
needed for whatever they did. Sadly, she smiled at Tony, thinking that now
he'd need certain help as well.
She'd have to teach him how to be a woman. Everything that girls
learned growing up, she'd have to teach him, and help him to cope with.
Clothes, manners, dealing with men, and unfortunately, the birds and the
bees as well. She almost giggled at the idea of him having a period,
wondering how he'd react. That at least should be some punishment for his
thoughtlessness.
Slowly, they started to make plans for their future, hoping that they'd
find some way.
The End