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Blessing or a Curse

By CalexTheNeko

Luke stood at the entrance of the zoo. He felt somewhat awkward in his current position. That was to say he was dressed in long pairs, a dress shirt and close toed shoes. It just felt... It baffled the mind why anyone in any universe ever would choose long pants over the much more comfortable shorts. Still... For some reason that escaped him this was considered the more presentable option when it came to making an impression. And that was his goal today.

He took a deep breath and moved past the ticket office. At the gates he showed a paper he brought with him and they waved him right in. It wasn't long before he found his way to zookeeper's office. He slowly raised his hand to knock on the door... Only for it to open all on its own.

"Spooky." Luke muttered as he stepped inside. He found himself in a dusty looking office. It wasn't quite what he expected. He had assumed the office would be full of old pamphlets for the zoo, advertisements, paperwork and a few animal themed posters or decorations. Instead it was covered in cobwebs, old dusty crystals, a glass ball on a table... And some kind of black pot filled with what looked like a soup that had expired years ago.

The only thing stranger than the office was the owner who resided in it. If Luke was being generous he might have said she looked elderly. Which was to say with this use of the word he might also describe a mammoth skull. Her hair was white and tangled, her nails yellow and at least four inches long, and she dressed in faded black robes that may have been the only thing in the room older than her.

"Who!? What!?" The woman seemed surprised at Luke's entrance. "I don't know who you are or why you think you can just waltz in here! But I'll-"

"I'm Luke and I'm here for the job interview!" Luke tried to interrupt her.

"The job interview what?" The woman paused. "Oh right the new exhibit!" She suddenly moved a hand through her wild hair as if trying to recover her composure and calmed down. "I forgot that was today."

"Wait new exhibit?" Luke tilted his head. The old woman who he was assumed was the zookeeper was making him more than a little uncomfortable. However, he really wanted this job. If it meant having to put up with a somewhat shady boss... Well that was the price you paid to get your first zoo position.

"Oh yes!" The woman seemed uncertain for a moment. "The new exhibit that you'll be working on! That's why we we're hiring. Because we needed help. Because of the new exhibit. That you'll be in."

"Um... Okay then." By now Luke had a number of warning bells going off in his head. But again, it was hard to get a foot in the door in these types of jobs. He would just have to put up with some weirdness if that's what it took.

"Right then... Luke was it?" The woman seemed hesitant for a moment but moved on. "I'm Anatha Matize! I'm the zookeeper here. But most people just call me Auntie Matize."

"It's nice to meet you Ana-"

"Auntie."

"Auntie Matize." Luke held out his hand to shake Matize's hand. She stared at it for a few moments as if unsure of what to do before taking his hand and shaking it. He couldn't help but notice her skin had a sandpaper-like texture.

"Now then about the interview..." Auntie Matize continued. "Let's see um... What makes you want to work at the zoo?"

"Oh that's easy!" Luke smiled. It seemed they had moved on to the normal part of the interview. "You see I've always wanted to-"

"Fantastic answer!" Auntie Matize interrupted. "You're hired!"

"Wait what?" Luke stared at her blankly. "Just like that?"

"Just like that!" Auntie Matize responded. "Now then... What would you say your favorite animal is?" For some reason she began to flex her fingers as she asked this. It was as she was trying to stretch them.

"Well I really like otters-" Luke started to speak but was interrupted again.

"What an ironic twist!" Auntie Matize shouted. "Our new exhibit is going to be about otters!"

"That's great!" Luke smiled. "But it's not really ironic."

"I'm pretty sure it is." Auntie Matize replied.

"Not... Really?" Luke tried.

"Oh but you see! That's because you don't know yet about... THIS!" Auntie Matize pointed thrust her finger outward at Luke. As she did a beam of blue light like lightning leapt from her fingers striking him.

"ARRRGH!" Luke let out a grunt of pain. However as soon as did the pain subsided. "What was that?" His question was followed by a loud ripping noise as something tore a hole through the delicate cloth of his dress pants. Luke let out a gasp and looked back trying to see what it was. He now had a long rudder-like tail just sticking out of the back end of his spine.

"And now you begin to see the irony of the situation." Auntie Matize spoke up.

"This is... This is..." Luke stared in disbelief at his tail. It moved with a mind of its own. As he stared brown fur began to cover his ears as they moved to the top of his head.

"A cruel and ironic fate is it not?" Auntie Matize smiled, showing off her rotting teeth.

"This is awesome!" Luke gave a shout as his nose turned black and grew in size.

"I'm sorry what?" Auntie Matize nearly fell over from what she heard.

"I've always wanted a tail!" Luke said as he wagged his new tail happily. Whiskers sprouted from near the tip of his nose. A short thick brown coat of fur began to grow in over his body.

"You realize it's more than just a tail right?" Auntie Matize responded. "Soon you'll be covered head to toe in fur."

"That's great!" Luke smiled. "Does that mean I can get out of these dress clothes? They're... Really just not my style. And they're starting to feel a bit scruffy over this fur."

"Um well uh..." Auntie Matize seemed at a loss of words. "I mean I guess wearing them is going to be impossible soon anyway."

"Sweet!" Luke quickly took his shirt off and then stripped off his shoes and socks. He stood in just his pants as he looked down at his feet. They were changing. Black pads were forming on the bottoms of them as webs were forming between his toes. His nails slowly changed into sharp claws. He paused and looked at his hands noticing they were undergoing a similar change.

"It is not sweet!" Auntie Matize shouted. "What is wrong with you? Don't you understand! You're about to spend the rest of your life stuck in a zoo exhibit!"

"Well you did say I got the job." Luke nodded. He was starting to shrink in size. He gripped at his pants with his new claws trying to keep them from falling off.

"It's not a job, it's imprisonment." Auntie Matize said. "It's my thing. I'm an evil witch. I lure in hopeful people and trap them for the rest of their lives."

"So let me get this straight." Luke looked up at the witch. His pants fell down around his ankles as he fell down onto all fours adopting a quadruped stance. "Not only does my new job include room and board... But I have job security for life?"

"But! No!" Auntie Matize looked horrified. "You're turning into an otter! You're going to be an animal forever!"

"This just gets better and better!" Luke grinned. "So should I see myself into my exhibit, or are you going to have someone escort me?" Luke finished shrinking at this point. Other than the fact he was talking he looked almost entirely like a normal otter.

"Stop enjoying this!" Auntie Matize shouted. "I have a long history of evil deeds and I won't have you turn this into some kind of... Ugggh, magical blessing!"

"But it is great!" Luke stuck his tongue out. The changes finished completely and soon he was no longer able to talk. He was left just squeaking happily and looking very smug about his current situation.

"This is... This is not happening." Auntie Matize rubbed her hands to her face. "If someone finds out about this my image will be ruined. Look just..." Auntie Matize picked Luke up in her arms. He squeaked happily at that. "Just... Get into your enclosure before someone sees you here and figured out what happened."

It didn't take long for Auntie Matize to drop Luke off in his new home. He took to it with gusto. The new otter leaped into the water and began to swim around on his back quite happily. Auntie Matize let out a disgusted grunt before leaving him there.

The next month Auntie Matize's Zoo won an award for having the happiest animals on Earth. Her screaming over this can still be heard.

The End