Standish
"Standish"
Written by Mobius
The following is a small transformation story, one of my first ones. It is completely clean. It involves a young man getting what he deserves as the new nanny transforms him into an otter. Will he ever escape the clutches of his new punishment? Who knows? All characters and locations are fictional, unless otherwise stated.
Standish's eyes shut tight with laughter as he heard the scream of the woman in the room across the hall. Maybe this was it; maybe this nanny would be the final one. Standish was sure that four rats in her bed would compel her to leave. If not, he would have to resort to more dangerous creatures, like a snake or something.
Of course, Standish didn't want to hurt anyone; he just wanted to have a good time, like every other mischievous prankster of the age of his age. Besides, being 16, he could take care of his younger brother just fine without the help of a nanny or anything. His mother had pleaded with Standish many times, but Standish insisted that, since he could not get a job at his age, he could take care of his 8-year old brother just fine.
The nanny, Standish could tell from how her screams were moving down the hall, that she was running from the house. He laughed to himself, stopping only to congratulate his own genius. Then a ray of light fell on Standish's face. The silhouette of his mother, arms akimbo, stood in the wide open doorway, her form silhouetted by the light coming from the now abandoned room across the hall. In the silence, he thought he could hear the squeaking of rats.
"This is the last straw!"
His mother whispered furiously, trying not to wake Standish's brother.
"I've been saving a nanny just in case you could not comply with my simple wishes. You have finally broken my patience! You will find this nanny quite...unorthodox. I have given her the O.K. to curb your malicious actions through any forms of punishment!"
Standish was a bit uneasy, but he figured this nanny was just as scared of snakes and disliked salt in her tea as much as any other nanny.
"She will be here in the morning. I hope, for your sake, that you do not welcome her in the same manner as the other nannies that I have hired. Good night!" she said, still furious, turning quickly and marching back towards her bedroom.
Standish turned over, thinking of returning to the old trick of setting up a trip line that triggered a rush of water from a carefully planted water hose. It was old, but it worked every time, so long as the nanny did not see the trip wire. He wondered what his mother meant when she said that the nanny was rather unorthodox. Unorthodox? What exactly did that mean? Did she use punishments from the middle ages, such as the iron maiden or something?
Standish decided that he would find out soon, and closed his eyes.
Standish finished breakfast, jumping up at the ringing of the front doorbell.
"That would be her. I don't need to remind you to be on your best behavior."
Standish walked to the front door, along with the rest of his family, his brother and his mother, to greet the new nanny.
His mother opened the door, and there stood the new nanny, in bright green robes, and a small hat on her head. She was rather beautiful and young, not like the other nannies. To Standish's surprise, she was in quite a good mood, and not only that, completely dry. The nanny must have noticed Standish's surprised face, because she turned to him first.
"Oh, this must be Standish! I have heard so much about you. I think that you and I are going to be good friends. You might have a problem trying to get rid of me..."
She stood up straight, looking at his mother. "Well, here I am! Madeline Hesst at your command! Where shall I be staying?" Standish's mother smiled pleasantly and escorted her to her new room. Standish's brother looked up, not saying anything, going back to eat the rest of his breakfast. Standish looked outside the front door, trying to see the cleverly hidden trip wire. He could not see it. Standish stepped out further, stooping down to find the thin wire, looking to the side to see that the water hose was in the same place as he had placed it this morning. Standish took one more tentative step forward, and met a slight resistance, knowing that it was too late, and he had tripped the very trap he had set up to greet the new nanny. Cold water blasted the side of his torso and face as Standish stepped back quickly. The water kept blasting him, freezing him to the bone, but he was no longer on the wire. Standish backed up more, moving towards the house, trying to escape the cold grasp of the water hose. It seemed no matter where Standish went the water followed his movements exactly. He looked up to see the hose floating in the air, its blast directed towards him. And nearby stood the bright green robes of the new nanny, Madeline.
"Corpus Lutra!"
"What the--", Standish replied, as a powerful force seemed to hit him in the gut. He keeled over, the water still spraying him. Suddenly, he kind of liked the water. He wasn't so annoyed at its forceful spray, and instead enjoyed the cool, refreshing feel of it on his face. What he didn't know was that his face was not quite the same. Small hairs were growing on it, slowly getting thicker as his face pushed out into a snout. He fell down on all fours, finding it a bit easier than keeling over, holding his stomach, which was now boiling with anger, like he had eaten something quite nasty. What was really going on was that his internal organs were rearranging, new ones appearing and old ones disappearing. He finally felt his body change when his ribs and spine exploded with a fire as they changed positions slightly, bone grinding against bone, shrinking in size along with Standish's general stature. His shoulder crunched as they moved closer to his body, changing his arms into front legs, fitting him in a quadruped stance. He coughed. He felt something dislodge from his teeth and he opened his now beady, black eyes to see his teeth lying on the ground, feeling new, sharper teeth push out of his gums.
Standish finally realized what was happening to him when his hands sprouted fur, growing small pads on the fingers and becoming webbed. He watched his hands turn into paws, watched the spread of fur travel up his arm and across his chest as he shrank smaller and smaller, his body and neck becoming elongated as he transformed into a freshwater otter.
Finally, the spray of water stopped, a portion of his mind wishing it hadn't. His eyes darted around feverishly until they fell on the nanny. She had done it! She had said some incantation that had turned him into this...this...animal. He looked at himself, standing up on his hind legs. He couldn't help but notice that his front paws rested on his chest, not at his sides like a human would. He was stuck in this quadruped position, cursed to walk on all fours like the animal he was. He saw past his furry chest to his short, webbed paws, sharp little claws at the end of each toe.
He looked back up at the nanny. She walked forward, conjuring a cage in front of her.
"I see you like to play practical jokes! Well, so do I. You're in for a treat! Every time you try and disobey me, you will be stuck as the appropriate small animal for the remainder of 24 hours. You will be an otter until this time tomorrow. And if you keep up your bad behavior, you might be one again."
Standish looked up at her. "24 hours!" he yelled. "What about all the stuff I want to do?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't speak otter. I'm fluent in cat, though, if you ever turn into one of those."
Standish made a quizzical expression, which was comical on the small otter, who was dripping wet and still standing on his hind legs.
"Awww, you look so cute like that! Maybe your mother would prefer you to stay like this. Now into the cage, young master." She motioned with her hand, and Standish, without being able to control his own movements, got back on all fours and walked right into the cage. The moment he was back in the cage, he was able to control his body again, and immediately twisted around, tripping over his own four legs, still trying to get used to his new quadruped body. But it was too late. The nanny had already closed the cage door. "Actually, I'm going to propose the idea to her. You can't do much mischief in a cage all day. It would be quite easy to fill a terrarium half with water and half with rocks, then throw in a few clams every day. You would be a great pet like this. In fact, I'll ask her."
They walked inside the house, a strange couple, one completely unprepared for what was to come.