Story 23: The Donkey says....

 

Karren Heartens  was at the top of her game, a leader in the world of corporate advertising. She’d finally paid off the last of her debts, and her new salary ensured she’d be able to start that family she had always dreamed of... Yes, things were looking perfect for her.

Or rather, they were looking perfect… Right until she’d run out of gas in the middle of nowhere. The woman had hiked for what felt like two miles before she’d finally reached the first sign of civilization.

“Thank God…” Karren sighed, breathing out an uneasy sigh before loudly clearing her throat. “Hello! Is someone here?” Her cry seemed to echo around the farmstead, and she grinned as a woman walked out from a distant barn.

Then Karren’s grin faded as she saw that the woman wasn’t wearing the traditional overalls of a farmer, but rather a smooth and flowing set of white robes, like something from a Greek myth. Still, the woman waved back, and Karren let loose a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

Even if this farmer was crazy, at least she wasn’t unfriendly, too. That meant that Karren could probably pay her for gas without too much of a ‘convenience’ markup; maybe even get a ride back! “Hi!” Karren chirped happily. “I’m looking for some gas, my car just ran out, and it’s a little up the road.”

The woman nodded thoughtfully, then smiled gently as she began to speak. “Oh, I like the looks of you. That said… You’d be much better as one of my pets… Perhaps a cow? Or a sheepdog? No… A jenny is more fitting.” The woman’s voice flowed like silk, and were it not for her insane words, she’d be a pleasure to listen to.

Karren blinked, her eyes wide as her mind began to process what the strange woman just said.

“Sorry, was that too much for you? See, I’m Magic Trish.” She repeated herself. “And hon, you’re going to be just at home on my ranch.”

“On your ranch? There must be some misunderstanding; I don’t want to stay over. All I want is some gas, okay?” Karren asked, gulping worriedly. She’d forgotten that friendly-crazy could be just as dangerous as unfriendly-crazy, and her heart began to race with worry as the woman continued to speak.

“And now you don’t need to worry about driving again. You see how well life works out sometimes?”

The woman held out her hand like it was a gun, with her index and middle fingers outstretched. Then she brought her thumb forward, miming shooting it at Karren and sending a shiver along the girl’s spine, followed by a tingling along her backside.

(Little did she know that Magic Trish summon the Mysterious Zone and had it past through Karren.)

“W-what did you just do? I feel… Funny, like my spine is stretching…” Karren mumbled, her eyes flitting down to her back. Then she saw it, a long and ropy animal’s tail hanging from her backside. It was grey with a tufted black tip, and Karren gasped with surprise.

“Oh my God! That can’t be a part of me, can it? Is that really mine?” She asked loudly, her pulse beginning to pick up as she brushed against the offending appendage with her hands. “Oh my God… I can feel my fingers on this! It’s really a part of me!”

“Darned right!” The Girl chirped, both of her hands raising like pistols. She mimed firing both of them, and a strange tingling assailed Karren’s ears.

“N-no!” The girl squeaked, knowing it was too late to protest. Her hands flew to her ears to find them lengthening on her head, growing long and floppy. Coarse hairs pushed out from their length, and she whined loudly, feeling the long things beneath her hands.

“Oh my God, my ears! I’ve got animal… No, donkey ears!” Karren cried, backpedaling from the witch.

“And hooves.” The Girl chimed in, miming a quick double-tap with her finger guns.

Karren’s hands and feet cramped worse than anything she’d ever had in her life, the muscles aching like she had somehow sprained all of them at once. Her skin darkened, fingers and toes coalescing into solid black enamel; the same sort of stuff that would belong on a barn animal.

“Puh-LEE-ssuh!” Karren screamed, falling backwards onto the ground in pain. “It HAWW-uurrts so much! Don’t give me HAWWW-ves!” She rolled onto her side, curling into a ball and whimpering as she beat at the grass with her new donkey feet.

“Oh, is someone having a tantrum? But you have such cute legs… And such a cute snout, too.” The witch smirked, her fingers firing quicker than ever.

“No! No! NnnnHEE-AUUGH!” Her bray degenerated into a scream as her arms and legs cramped up, muscles and bones changing at the cruel witch’s behest. “HEE-HAAW! This is AWWWFfull! WH-WH-WHEEEHYYY AWWW-AWWW-ARE YOU DOING THIS! HEEHAWUHEEUHEEHAWWW!”

Karren brayed louder and instinctively kicked her hind legs behind herself, tearing small furrows in the dirt. She couldn’t help it; her face was hurting too much as it slowly began to stretch out into something inhuman! Her nose widened on her face and her teeth grew large and blocky, forcing her human mouth open.

“HGNEEE-AWW!” Karren screamed from behind her oversized teeth. Fat tears spilled down her cheeks as years of dental work were undone, her front teeth shoving her others messily aside as they grew out to oversized buck teeth. “NGHYYY look RHEEEE-dicul-AWWWWS!”

Worse, the changes weren’t stopping. Gray and coarse hairs itched their way out from the girl’s face as she continued to kick all of her donkey limbs in distress, her eyes squeezed tightly shut with terror. “It HAWWW-URRTS!” She moaned loudly, rolling from side to side in pain, her front hooves rubbing her cheeks with distress. “PUHHHEEESE CHANGE MEEEHAWWUHEEHAWUUHHAWWW!”

“What’s that? You want to be changed more?” The Girl said with a smirk, grinning with delight as she snapped her hands forward with a grin.

“NO! NAWWHEEHAWW! HEEEIIIIGH!” Karren’s brays rose to shrieks as her back cracked painfully, losing its feminine arch. Her spine creaked and cracked, neck lengthening to equine proportions as her hair pulled back into her skull, leaving her with a jackass’s Mohawk.

“My HEE-hair! NAWW! HEEAWW-UHEEEAW!” The once lady screamed, the latest change hitting her harder than the others had. “Oh God, I HEEve HAWW mane! HEE-HAW!”

“Yes you do!” Chirped the girl , a patronizing tone dominating her words. “And you also still have human clothes… For now. Don’t worry, I’ll get those nasty things off of you. I know you want to look your best for the jacks.”

“No-EEE! PHAWWWLHEE HAW! HEE HAW! HEEE HAWWW!” Karren’s voice degraded completely as the woman pointed at her. Then her body began to cramp, and her brays grew in volume as she instinctively scrambled to her feet, kicking her hind hooves in distress.

Her panic was well-deserved: her body had started to ache all over, her organs cramping worse than they’d ever done in her life. Karren knew that it was her heart and lungs expanding, or maybe her digestive system rearranging to accommodate her new asinine body.

“HEE HAW HEE HAW HEE HAAAAW!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, tears spilling down her cheeks as her clothes began to dig into her flesh. She was growing! Her body was losing its hourglass figure and gaining the blocky barrel of a barn animal!

Somehow this made her even more terrified, and Karren began to scream even louder, positive that her cries were echoing along the prairie. She kicked her hooves behind her frantically even more, a loud snort emerging from her big nostrils as her shirt started to tear; her jorts creaking as even denim found itself bested by her expanding body.

Then, with a loud RRRIIIP, her clothes tore free of her body, making the newly-made jenny blush in embarrassment as she brayed all the harder. “HEE HAW! HEE HAWW HEE HAWWW!” She bucked and bounced irritably, tossing her head from side to side and hating how much her goofy big ears shook with every motion.

“Oh? What’s that?” The Girl smiled, looking down to her with a wry smirk. “You’re hungry? Well then, by all means be my guest. There’s a whole salad bar in front of you.”

Karren’s eyes bulged as she realized what the woman was talking about, and she stubbornly shook her head, scuffing one of her hind legs. But despite her mind’s intents, her body started to move of its own accord, her head dipping to the ground, mouth opening wide to chomp down on the leafy greens.

Unfortunately, her crooked donkey teeth weren’t nearly precise enough to grab just the grass, and she got a good snoutful of dirt to accompany her meal. But to her surprise, she didn’t start chewing. Then she realized: the Girl had returned control of her body, meaning she had to choose to eat the grass.

Disgusting as it was, the fear of resisting was too much for Karren, and she slowly started to chew on the grass, smacking her lips loudly as she ate. The worst part of it wasn’t the texture, the feel of dirt in her mouth, or even the knowledge she was eating like a common animal. No, the donkey’s greatest disgust stemmed from how it didn’t taste bad to her, her tongue having lost all of its human sense of taste.

“Aw, see? I knew you’d like it! It’d certainly be bad if you didn’t, considering this is going to be your food from now on.” The Girl crooned, bending over to scratch at the jenny’s ears. Then her head snapped up, a smile growing on her face.

Karren followed her gaze to find a young man walking towards them, a gas can in his hands and a nervous smile on his lips. “Hey! You wouldn’t happen to have any gas, would you? I kind of ran dry.”

“Oh, what a coincidence.” The witch smiled at him, petting Karren’s ears more. “I just got a new jenny… I suppose she could do with a jack.”

The man laughed, so blissfully ignorant of who he was talking to. Karren wanted to scream at him to run, to get way before it was too late. But all that came from her mouth was a loud “HEE HAW!”