The Foolish Boy
#4 of Transformation Stories
A short, unorthodox, and simple donkey transformation, requested by an anonymous person. I put up a time limit to submit this one and just barely made the time by one second. One second!
"Lenny!" The ten-year-old winced when he heard one of his teachers shout his name. Earlier, he had been laughing to himself when he came up with the idea - a simple whoopee cushion in the staff room and some fake vomit in their fridge - and couldn't help but laugh out loud once he set it up. Now, though, as he heard the teacher coming his way, he began to think that maybe it wasn't such a good idea.
The cafeteria fell into a hush as Mr. Orville, the strictest teacher in the school, walked in. If he showed up for someone, it was a guaranteed detention sentence for the poor soul. He neared the table he sat at, prompting the rest of the children to distance themselves. "Lenny Mathews, your limit on demerits and my patience has worn off. You are to report to the principal's office immediately."
"For what?" Orville crossed his arms and glared at the boy.
"Don't play dumb, especially with me. You know what you did, and our cameras caught you doing it. Must I get your parents on the line again?"
"No..."
"No, what?"
"No, sir." He grabbed his backpack and reluctantly followed the older man out of the lunchroom.
Lenny sat in a chair just outside the principal's office. His initial discouragement had already expired by the time he reached his seat and Orville had left him to his own devices.
"Why do adults have to be so strict?" he muttered, bored. "It's not like I hurt anyone like a bully would. Adults nowadays really need to loosen up, seriously." Eventually his name was called and he reluctantly got up and entered the principal's office. Contrary to what he was expecting, she was smiling at him, which put him mostly at ease.
"Hello, Mr. Mathews. How can I help you?" she asked, though Lenny had a feeling she knew why he was here. Still, he had no intention of pretending she didn't.
"Mr. Orville sent me here, Ms. Veronica."
"Ah, right." She pulled out a white paper and adjusted her glasses. "This is a report of your more... creative, shall we say, activities throughout the school year." The boy shifted in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable with where he sat. "Let's see... you've thrown snow at passing cars in the winter, put a paper ball under someone's butt before they sat down..."
"You have to admit, that broke the boring mood going on." He chuckled to himself as he remembered the event. The class was getting dreary from covering the events of the Civil War, and he thought everyone could use a good laugh in the form of a clever prank. He had, when the teacher wasn't looking, tossed a paper ball into her seat, and when she shot up with a yelp, the room erupted into laughter.
"History isn't something to be taken lightly, Mr. Mathews."
"But I can't see in the dark."
"Hmm... good point. Regardless, your actions have earned you five demerits, and it's time to cash in." Veronica then pulled a small, pink slip of paper from a board on her desk and began to write on it. "Now, I know you mean well, but this is the way it goes." Lenny knew very well what that slip was and inwardly groaned.
"Aww, could you lighten up? You sound just like every other adult... except for, you know, the whole 'pretending-I'm-attacking-your-ego' thing."
"Huh? Never mind. I'm not the one who has a problem with your admittedly harmless pranks, but as the principal, I have to take action... and you know what?" She looked up at the boy and smiled as she held up the slip.
"What is it?" To his surprise, she tore the slip to pieces and tossed the pieces off her desk. Before he could ask why she did that, he saw her ears elongate and gain a thin coating of brown fur. He rubbed his eyes, wondering if his allergy had finally caught up with him.
"Perhaps we're all being a little too harsh on you, Lenny." Veronica spoke as if she hadn't noticed her ears changed, maintaining the gentle tone she had earlier. Her nostrils flared as her nose and jaw stretched out and her hair changed to a light brown color.
"Um... uh... ?" Needless to say, he was stunned, unable to make heads or tails (or tail in this case) of the situation.
"What is it? Is there something on my face?" The boy found it strange that the slowly changing lady was still able to speak to him, despite her new, vaguely familiar features. Her brown shirt and black pants merged together as the changes accelerated, becoming the brown fur that soon covered her entirely. "What's the matter, young man?"
"I- I don't... understand..."
"Well, you're right," she answered as the last changes took hold. "You were just trying to bring some color into the school. I know class can be boring, but we all only have one life to live. You're still young and need some stimulation to keep going." The sound of hooves smacking the ground followed by the school bell ringing brought him out of the trance he was in from staring at the new donkey seated in front of him.
"The, um..."
"Detention? Forget about it. You just get back out there and have some fun. Take a load off." Lenny was all too happy to get up and leave the office, but as he headed back to his classroom, he had the feeling that he was in for some excitement, ready or not.
"Ah, Lenny, so glad you could join us today." Lenny inwardly groaned as he remembered the nasally tone belonging to Ms. Sevrin, a somewhat eccentric science teacher. The only reason he didn't like her is because she would frequently make him stand in front of the class and demonstrate the day's experiment. He couldn't help but notice, however, that she didn't speak as if she had been waiting for him specifically; rather, she sounded pleased to see him for a different reason.
"What's going on?" He took an empty seat and pulled out his homework assignment.
"Before you came in, we were in the middle of discussing why silver may or may not be effective on a were-creature," she replied, giggling once she was done. Oddly, no one else seemed to question her joke, but Lenny did notice that her face was starting to push out much like the principal's before she became... whatever she became.
"Silver?" In fact, as he looked around, he saw that the same thing was happening to everyone else, but he could not understand why he was the only one unaffected.
"Yes, indeedy! Silver's great at keeping werewolves at bay. We don't know why, but who cares!" Okay, now there had to be some supernatural force at work. There was no way Sevrin would be that happy over something that didn't even make sense. Werewolves? Really? One more glance around the classroom revealed that all the other boys and girls had turned into the same animal as the principal, and once he looked at the teacher, he learned that she had joined them. He was even more convinced when the clothes everyone wore simply conformed to fit their new bodies.
"Um, may I be excused?"
"Absolutely, young man! I hope you'll join us tomorrow for a fun time!" Lenny hadn't expected to get away with such an odd request, but he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Taking the initiative, he quickly got up, packed his things, and left the building.
That night, as he sat in his room, Lenny went over just how crazy his day had gotten. He thought for sure he was going to be spending an hour in the detention room, but instead he got a crash course in the supernatural. He looked online for some information, unable to identify what it was the principal and the others turned into.
"She had brown fur all over her body, a short-haired tail, and long ears... Oh! That's it! That's what she looked like." One click on the image later, and he learned that she had turned into a donkey. He couldn't help but gasp in fright as he recalled the story of Pinocchio, the puppet-turned-real-boy. There was a point where ill-behaving little boys were snatched up and taken to some island where they slowly turned into donkeys and led miserable lives, and he now had the feeling he was doomed.
"Lenny! Dinner's ready!" he heard his mom call. Sighing sadly, he got up and headed downstairs.
"What are we having?"
"I got this urge to make some salad. Meat doesn't sound as appetizing as it used to," she explained. "Honey, why the long face?" Ironically, her own face started getting longer as her nose and mouth protruded slightly.
"I... it was just paranoia over nothing. Just some silly daydream," he said. As he looked at the bowl of assorted vegetables, he couldn't help but drool a little; the spread looked absolutely scrumptious. His stomach grumbled, much to his embarrassment.
"Well, I guess that can wait. Come, it's time for supper." Both of them took a seat after filling their bowls with the food. "So, how was your day?"
"Weird. Mom, you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you, but everyone turned into donkeys!"
"Oh, my. That does sound unbelievable, but I'm sure it's not as bad as you think it is."
"Wait, huh? No questions about my sentence?" It was then that he got a good look at his mother's face, learning (to his surprise) that she was also turning into a donkey. "Am I cursed?"
"What was that?"
"Nothing harmful, Mom." He quickly polished off the rest of his salad, and when he was done, he found himself on his mother's back. "What's happening?"
"Dear, I think it's time for bed. I'll give you a lift." Lenny decided that at this point it was pointless to worry about his fate as he was taken to his room. Yet, as he settled into his bed, he wondered why no one seemed to be miserable like he thought. In fact, everyone seemed very happy, and he couldn't help but envy them for it.
"I wanna be part of the herd, too..." Had he stayed awake a second longer, he would have seen red fur sprout out of his arms, but as it were, his dreams were filled with sunflowers, forest creeks, and the other donkeys from earlier.
"Good morning, Lenny. Welcome back."
"Hey there, Lenny. Ready for a fun-filled day?
"Lenny! Good to see you!"
The new red-haired donkey couldn't help but grin at all the greetings he got from the other students and teachers. Their grins were quick to spread, and soon the entire school was filled with smiling faces. Even Mr. Orville cracked several smiles as the students filed into his classroom. He went to the principal's office to check on Ms. Veronica, but to his surprise, she was gone! All that remained was a reconstructed pink slip on the desk.
"Have fun, Lenny," it said. "Everyone deserves it!" Lenny grinned and ran into the hallway, eager to play with his new friends.