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Double Trouble 2
The Second Excursion
By Curious4ever
Part 1
Up until recently my life had been filled with bending, contortion and identical twins with psychic abilities. No, I'm not a circus performer; I'm just a normal eleven year old boy. Or at least this is what my life has turned into ever since the fateful day I encountered an ancient mystical medallion.
It was the beginning of another school day and I couldn't wait. Ever since I arrived on this world I've been an identical twin. My brother and I attend a contortion school where every boy is an identical twin and I've been enjoying every minute of it. I had never been a great student before when I had to spend hours every day learning math and spelling and history, but now all of my classes involved bending techniques, posture and balance and my favorite subject, synchronized contortion.
It had been over a month since I first arrived here and to everyone that knew me I had lived here all my life and I also felt the same way too. The few remaining memories that I had of my old life felt more like a dream than anything else. I knew that before I came here I had never worn a unitard before but now it felt so natural that I couldn't imagine myself wearing anything else. My brother and I had a closet full of them and our bureau drawers were also jam packed with them. We were always on the lookout for new ones that we could wear to competitions or just relax in.
All of the boys in my school wore a unitard and it was a necessary article of clothing when doing contortion which we did constantly throughout the week. The only boy who didn't wear one was Lucien. He was the only boy in school who wasn't an identical twin and instead of doing contortion he took ballet. So it was very common to see him walking around in a colorful shirt and tights. Another interesting thing about Lucien is that he was able to recognize which identical twin he was talking to. No matter how many times we tried to fool him by telling him that we were the other twin he would always point out our true identity. The last time I made a wager with him to try and get him to tell me his secret I ended up being his partner in a ballet of Peter and the Wolf that he performed where I played the wolf. As if that wasn't bad enough he had all of the judges believing that I was a girl and not just a girl but also his girlfriend, Winnie.
Because of this I don't spend a lot of time hanging out with Lucien, instead my brother Billy and I spend what free time we have with our friends Mark and Toby. There had always been a friendly rivalry between us and a great deal of that was put to rest when we competed together last month in a huge competition at our school.
I was just putting on a red and black striped unitard when Billy walked into the room dripping wet.
"Don't let Mom see you getting water all over her floors," I said. "You know that she tells us to dry off in the bathroom after taking a shower."
"I know that David, you don't have to remind me," Billy said. "I just wanted to take another look at the medallion before we have to bring it to school."
He looked sadly at the ancient medallion which was the grand prize in our competition last month. It was the same medallion that had brought me into this world and I couldn't understand how it had become the prize in our competition. The reason we were bringing it into school was so we could give it to Mark and Toby. After the four of us won the award we all agreed that each set of twins would keep the medallion in their possession for one month and then give it to the other twins to hold onto.
He picked up the small plastic case that held the medallion.
"I really hate having to give this to Mark and Toby," he said.
"We'll get it back again in a month when it is our turn."
"I really wish there was some way that we could keep it," he said.
At that moment I was momentarily blinded by a sudden burst of light in the room.
"Did you just see that?" I asked.
"See what?" he replied.
"That blinding flash of light. You didn't just see that?"
"I didn't see anything," Billy said as he placed the plastic container back on the bureau.
"Maybe it was my imagination. Now hurry up and get dressed. Mom has breakfast ready for us and I'm starving."
He laughed as he dried off and got into his unitard. "You're always starving."
I grabbed the case with the medallion and the moment I touched it I felt a slight tingle in my body. I didn't think much of it at the time because all I could think of was the delicious meal that Mom had ready for us.
We both dashed downstairs and we almost ran into Mom as we sprinted into the living room.
"Billy, David, how many times do I have to tell you that there is no running allowed in the house?" she asked.
Billy gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Sorry Mom," he said. "We're just super anxious to go to school today."
"You're always anxious to go to school," she said. "Why is today any different?"
"Because after school we are going to Lucien's party," he said.
I was a little startled by this statement because this was the first that I had heard about a party especially one that involved Lucien.
"I'm not sure that I remember that one," Mom said.
"Sure you do Mom," Billy replied. "It's a sleepover party and you said it was okay for us to go because tomorrow is Sunday and we don't have any school on Sunday."
"I guess it will be all right," she said. "Now hurry up and eat or you'll be late for school."
As we headed for the kitchen I did some of our silent speak talk. It was our special way of communicating with each other when we didn't want anyone else to hear us. We had been doing it all our life and it wasn't until a little while ago that we heard someone refer to it as telepathy. But we still preferred to call it think talk.
"What's this about a party?" I thought to him.
"It's the party at Lucien's that we were invited to," he thought back.
"Why don't I remember it?" I thought.
He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe you're too busy thinking about our mid-year exam today. I told you that we've got nothing to worry about. We're the best in the class."
A few seconds later we were both at the breakfast table. I placed the case with the medallion on the table as I looked at our refreshing breakfast of a cup of yogurt, a banana and a glass of juice. Our sister Jenny sat across from us. As usual she was dressed in her cheerleader's uniform and she had her nose stuck in a book.
"What are you reading?" I asked.
"Just studying the latest cheers that we have to do today," she replied.
"I'm glad that we don't have to read books for any of our classes," I said. "School wouldn't be any fun if I had to read for it."
"I didn't think that either of you could read," she said.
I thought about what she said and I suddenly realized that what she said was true. When I lived my life in the other world I definitely knew how to read but since coming here and going to contortion school it was an ability that I had somehow lost. I couldn't remember a single book, or paragraph or word that I had ever read. When I looked over at the book she was reading all of the lettering appeared as meaningless gibberish to me.
"We don't need to know how to read," Billy said. "Our comic books have pictures and we can tell what is going on just by looking at them."
What Billy said was true and I didn't seem too concerned over the fact that neither of us could read or write. Contortion was our life and there was no need for any of that silly reading stuff that girls like to do.
Billy finished drinking his glass of juice and he stood up and grabbed the plastic case.
"Come on David, let's go. We've got more important things to do than talk about stupid girl stuff like reading."
He got up from the table and I followed him to the front door where our mother was waiting for us.
"Hurry up boys or you'll be late," she said as she kissed us each on the forehead.
We ran out the door and hurried down the street to school. We got there just a few minutes before first period. Waiting for us on the front steps were Toby and his brother Mark. Today they were both dressed in a yellow unitard with green horizontal stripes. I didn't remember ever seeing either of them wearing that one before so I figured that it had to be new.
"Cool unitards," I said.
"Thanks," Toby replied. "They were a present from our Uncle Demetri."
"Did you bring it? Did you bring it?" Mark asked anxiously.
"Yes, I have it right here," Billy said as he handed Mark the case with the silver medallion.
As the two brothers held the case I thought I saw another bright flash of light but nobody said anything about it and I was afraid to mention it again.
"I can't wait to take this home," Mark said as he started to walk inside.
"Don't forget that we are going to meet up with both of you later after school so we can all go to Lucien's party," Toby added just before he turned around and followed his brother.
"I guess there must be a party if Toby and Mark know about it," I said as we went inside.
When we got to class our teacher, Mrs. March, was already there along with the rest of the students. When the semester first began we had six sets of identical twins in this class but now it had grown to over a dozen pairs. Several sets of twins had already twisted themselves into the chair position that my brother and I had made famous about a month ago at the competition and a few others were still trying to master the position.
Standing alone in a corner was a set of brown haired twins wearing pure white unitards. It was Terry and Harry and they were always looking for an excuse to get out of taking their test. I wondered what phony excuse they were coming up with this time.
When the bell sounded Mrs. March welcomed the class.
"Good morning students," she said. "As you all know today we were scheduled to begin your mid-year final exam, but that will have to be postponed because we have some very special guests visiting with us today.
"Yes!" Terry and Harry said as they gave each other a high five.
At that moment there was a knock on the door and two identical looking men stepped into the classroom.
"Children, I would like to introduce you to Peyton and Clayton Jenkins and they're from the school board," Mrs. March said. "They are here to see two students in our class."
"Good morning children," Peyton Jenkins said. "As Mrs. March has informed you, I am Peyton Jenkins and here with me is my identical twin Clayton. It seems like only yesterday that the two of us were students at this very school."
"That's right," Clayton added. "And we are here because Principal Carson has given a glowing report about an amazing set of twins and we have come to see them perform."
We all looked at each other wondering who they were talking about.
"Is David and Billy in the classroom?" Peyton asked.
Billy and I quickly raised our hand and we ran over and stood in front of the two men.
"Hello Billy, hello David," Clayton said. "We hear that you won your school's competition last month."
"Yes sir," I said. "But we did it with our friends Toby and Mark."
"So we have heard," Peyton said. "But we were told that the idea for the two teams to perform together was your idea. Is that true?"
I nodded. "Yes sir."
"That was a very imaginative idea," Clayton said. "Have you and your brother come up with any other creative contortion moves."
"No sir, not yet, but we can show you our chair routine," I said. "It's the one that we did at the end of the competition."
They both nodded. "That would be fine," Peyton said.
Since that routine required another set of twins we went over to talk to Terry and Harry and see if they would perform it with us since Toby and Mark were not in the same class as us.
After agreeing to help us out we quickly went over with them the necessary moves that they had to do in order for us to perform the routine. The four of us went into the center of the room and started to limber up. A very important part of any contortion routine was making sure that everyone involved was extremely limber before attempting any type of contortion.
Before I even began to limber up I noticed that Terry had already started and he was bent over backwards with his head against his leg. It was a very basic maneuver and was something that we learned in first year contortion. That was the problem with Terry and his brother. Neither one of them was very original or creative. In fact they always wore the same white unitards to school every day. I couldn't imagine what my life would be like if I couldn't wear a different color unitard whenever I wanted. They were so comfortable that we even slept in them.
It didn't take me long to limber up and soon we were ready to perform. While we had been limbering up Mrs. March left the room and returned a minute later with a couple of chairs for the two men to sit on.
Terry and Harry got down on the floor and faced each other. They lifted their legs backwards until they were high above their heads. Then they bent them down until their feet were just a few inches above their heads. A few second later Billy got on top of their thighs and lay on his stomach facing frontward. He raised his legs backward forming the back part of the chair and lifted his arms midway to create the arms of the chair.
The moment he was fixed in position I leaped up and landed upside down with my hands resting firmly on his butt which at that time was the seat of the chair. With my two legs high above me I twisted them in opposite directions and raised my head slightly and looked at the two men.
The Jenkins brothers looked very pleased at our performance and we held this stance as they rose from their chairs and slowly walked around us. I looked down at Terry and Harry and they both looked like they were feeling the strain of supporting both Billy and me. They were both grimacing very hard and I had to whisper down to them.
"Keep in position," I whispered. "We're almost done."
By that time the two men had returned to their chairs and they began clapping their hands.
"A wonderful performance boys, truly a remarkable feat of dexterity and creativity," Clayton said.
"You may now relax," Peyton added.
As soon as he said that Terry and Harry broke formation and me and Billy tumbled down to the floor.
When we got to our feet the two men were standing just a few feet away.
"We are very interested in having the two of you perform in a special statewide competition," Clayton said. "And if the other two boys that originally performed with you are available we would like them to appear as well. I believe that the crowds would be amazed to see two sets of twins performing together."
"Expect to receive further information in the mail in a few days," Peyton said as the two men headed for the exit.
When they were gone Billy and I hugged each other.
"Can you believe that?" Billy thought to me. "We're going to be in a statewide competition."
"I know," I thought back. "I can't wait to tell Toby and Mark about this. They're going to be so excited."
I was so thrilled about the news that the rest of the day just flew by and before I knew it the final bell sounded and it was time to go home.
Billy was so anxious to get home that he ran all the way and when he got inside the house he ran up the stairs two at a time. Fortunately I was able to keep up with him.
"This is so exciting," Billy said as we got into our room. "I've never been to a costume party before."
"Costume party?" I said in disbelief. "Wait a minute. You didn't tell me that it was a costume party. I don't have a costume to wear."
"Of course you do," he said with a silly grin. "Don't you remember that Lucien sent two over for us? Yours is on the bed."
I still couldn't understand why I didn't remember anything about us being invited over to Lucien's house for a costume party. But there must be a party because Billy was so adamant about it and when I walked over to my bed there was a small sleek cat's costume lying on it.
Picking it up the material reminded me a lot of the stretchy material that our unitards were made out of. Other than the patch of white on the front and a little in the ears the entire costume was black all the way from the big ears on top and down to the feet. Unzipping the zipper in the back I stepped into it and then I had to squirm my way fully into it. It was a very petite size and I wouldn't have tried wearing it except for the fact that it was the only costume that I had. I finally managed to get the entire costume on and it was an extremely tight fit. It was a very good thing that the material stretched as much as it did otherwise I might not have been able to fit into it. The head piece was connected to the rest of the costume and the only thing of me showing was my face through the small opening in the head. When I looked at my reflection in the mirror I noticed that a tiny bit of hair was sticking out of it.
"Can you help zipper me up in the back?" I asked. "I can't reach it."
Billy came over and zipped me into the costume. It took him a while to get the zipper up all the way due to the extreme tightness of the costume.
"It's a super tight fit but I think it looks kind of nice," I said. "What do you think?"
"You look fantastic," he said as he grabbed the long black tail. "It's even got this neat looking tail."
He gave it a little tug. "You were right, this costume is on really tight," he said. "The costume didn't pull away from you when I yanked on the tail."
"Yeah tell me about it," I said. "And I thought that our unitard was the tightest thing I've ever had to wear."
He bent down and handed me a pair of white gloves that were lying on the floor next to the bed.
"You need to put these on," he said. "It looks like they're part of the costume."
I put on the gloves and they were extremely soft and not only that but they were very nicely padded.
Then he walked to a chair and picked up a brown chipmunk costume. It was basically a brown unitard with a long brown tail and thin black stripes running up the back and over the headpiece. Just like the cat costume it looked like it was going to be too small for him but he started to put it on anyway. Unzipping it in the back he wiggled his way into his tight fitting costume. When he was done pulling the headpiece over his head I struggled to zipper it up for him. It wasn't easy but I finally managed to do it. The two ears popping out of the headpiece weren't as large as the ones on my costume.
"I kind of wish that you could have gotten a cat costume too," I said. "Then we would still look identical. But I guess yours is okay, it's even got a long fluffy tail."
He wiggled his butt back and forth. "Time to do the chipmunk dance," he sang.
"I can't wait to see what Toby and Mark are wearing to the party," I said.
He headed for the hallway. "We'd better be going," he said. "We're supposed to meet up with them on the way there."
He wiggled his butt a few more times. "Chipmunk dance, chipmunk butt, chipmunk, chipmunk, chipmunk dance," he sang some more.
"Boy, I can't believe that Lucien got the sizes of our costumes so wrong," I said. "These things are so small that a kindergartener would have a hard time getting into them."
We left the house and when we stepped outside there was a bit of a chill in the air. I felt a little cooler than usual because the costume that I was wearing was so thin and tight that it was almost like having on a second skin.
A short time later we were passing a small park when Billy stopped and sat down on the grass.
"What's the matter? Why did you stop?" I asked.
"I just felt a little dizzy. I should be all right in a few minutes."
"Are you sure you don't want to go back home and talk to Mom about it?"
"No, I'll be okay," he said. "I just need to be alone for a bit."
"Okay, I won't be too far away. Shout out if you need me."
As I strolled around I noticed that we were the only two people in the park. It was such a quiet and relaxing place that I decided to sit on a nearby hill and take in the scenery. The hill was pretty small and it was surrounded by large mushrooms. There was still a cool breeze in the air but I wasn't feeling cold anymore. My tail was lying close to a small pile of dog poop so I grabbed it and held it in my hand.
I sat there for a few minutes looking at my tail and admiring it. The craftsmanship of the costume was very elaborate and it was much nicer than any Halloween costume that I had ever worn before. I couldn't get over how real it looked.
I sat there for a time just holding the tail and feeling how soft it was. I was feeling very relaxed and my mind began to wander when suddenly a large stray dog passed by me. He stopped and came back towards me. He stood a few feet away and stared at me.
"Hello," I said. "You're a very pretty doggy. What's your name?"
He growled and suddenly started to bark. I was so startled that I accidently pulled on my tail and felt a sharp pain.
"Ouch!" I shouted.
My scream frightened off the dog but I was more concerned about the pain that I felt. I hadn't felt anything earlier when Billy pulled on my tail so I couldn't understand why I would feel something now. Just to be sure that everything was okay I grabbed the tail again and gave it a hard yank. This time it felt even worse than the last time.
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" I screamed.
I tugged several more times and each time the pain got worse. I don't know how but the tail was no longer just a piece of the costume it had somehow become a part of me as well. I began to panic and I felt all around the back of the outfit in an attempt to find the zipper and get out of it. The padded gloves that I wore made it nearly impossible for me to grab anything. I attempted to pull them off but they refused to come off. I continued feeling around for the zipper but no matter how hard I searched I couldn't find one. I pulled on the headpiece and it wouldn't come off either. The pain that I felt when I tugged on the large cat ears was just as painful as when I pulled on the tail. It was like the entire costume had somehow adhered itself to my body. By now I was starting to freak out and I began talking to myself in an attempt to calm down.
"Okay David, there is nothing to worry about," I said. "This is just a cat costume. It's just a very tight fit and there's nothing to worry about. I'll just go back and find Billy and he can help me get out of it."
I got to my feet and I suddenly felt a slight tingling in my head and when it was over I had forgotten what I had been so worried about. As I headed back to Billy I was impressed by how fragrant the flowers smelled. When I first arrived I couldn't smell them but now the scent seemed to be all around me. Not only did I notice a difference in the scent of the flowers but I also detected other smells as well. These were scents of things that were nowhere to be seen.
I had just passed a small patch of trees when I spotted Billy lying on the ground on his stomach. Sitting just a short distance away were a few small chipmunks. He turned his head and smiled when he spotted me.
"I'm feeling a lot better now," he said.
I stared at him for a few seconds and then I noticed something odd about his costume. I wasn't a hundred percent sure but it looked like his costume was now covered in brown fur and it now extended over his hands. I reached down and felt the costume and it was made entirely of soft fur instead of stretchy fabric. I touched the end of his headpiece but I couldn't feel any seams or edge. Not only that but in addition to the black stripes he had on his back and head he now had a long white stripe that went all the way from his butt to his head. I knew that it hadn't been there before and I couldn't understand how it had gotten there. As I looked I could swear I saw another smaller white stripe appear about a foot away.
Before I could mention it my body began to tingle and my entire skin felt very itchy. I started to scratch like crazy everywhere that I could reach. The scratching felt so good and I didn't stop until I managed to scratch every part of my body. When I looked down at my costume it appeared slightly different. It no longer had the look of a skin tight unitard but instead it resembled short black and white fur. When I touched it all I could feel was fur and no fabric.
"That's strange," I said. "This has all changed into fur."
"It's a cat costume, it's supposed to have fur, just like mine," Billy said.
"I guess so," I said. "But it feels like the fur is growing out of my skin."
Billy hopped to his feet. "Come on, we still have to meet up with Mark and Toby," he said. "This is going to be an awesome party. Lucien said that there's a special prize for the first four guests to arrive."
We walked along for several minutes until I suddenly picked up the scent of another person that I knew. I couldn't believe how strong my sense of smell had become. It was like I had acquired a cat's powerful sense of smell but I wasn't sure how that could have occurred.
"Do you smell that?" I asked.
"Smell what?"
"That scent. I know that scent. It smells like Toby. But how do I know that? I never noticed a smell about him before."
"It's probably your imagination," Billy said.
But it wasn't my imagination because at the moment I walked behind a giant tree and spotted Toby kneeling down on the grass with his hands arched up. With the exception of his face his entire body was covered in a white unitard. The white headpiece was attached to the rest of the costume and two long white floppy ears poked out of the top. With his big white bushy tail there was no mistaking that he was dressed in a bunny costume. He was smiling as he looked up at us.
"Hey guys, just taking a rest and enjoying this beautiful day," he said as he leaned forward and smelled a yellow flower.
"Hey Toby, that's a neat costume," Billy said.
"Yeah it's very nice," I said.
As I looked at him a little more closely I noticed something very peculiar. In the past minute his costume had changed slightly and now instead of the white unitard he had been wearing it looked like he was now covered from head to toe in white fur. Not only that but he now had three fingers on his hands and toes.
"Wait a minute," I said. "Why does your costume have fur? It didn't have it a minute ago."
He gave me a puzzled look.
"What are you talking about David," Billy said. "His costume has always had fur, just like ours."
"You're just upset because you don't have an awesomely cute costume like mine," Toby said. "It was a very tight fit when I first put it on but I don't even notice that anymore."
"Hey, we'd better get a move on or we'll be late for the party," Billy said.
"Yeah and I want to win that special prize for being one of the first four guests to arrive," Toby said as he got to his feet.
As we started to walk down the sidewalk I noticed something odd about Toby.
"Hey Toby, didn't you use to be a few inches taller than me?" I asked.
"I don't think so, why?" he asked.
"Because now you barely come up to my shoulders," I said. "And Billy's even shorter than you. I think you're all shrinking."
"Are you sure that I wasn't shorter than you?" Billy asked.
"Of course I'm sure. We're identical twins. We've always been the same height."
"It's probably just your imagination," he said. "If I was shrinking don't you think I would notice it?"
"Yeah, I guess so," I said.
"I don't feel any different," Toby said. "Do you Billy?"
"Of course not," Billy said. "David's just been acting a little strange today. He even forgot about the party today"
"How could he forget that?" Toby asked. "Lucien throws the best parties ever!"
"Hey look, there's Mark!" Billy shouted.
I looked in the direction where he was pointing and spotted a short boy in a colorful bird's costume standing on top of a large rock. His arms were outstretched and his legs were crossed. The only part of his body that showed through the costume was his face and I thought it looked a bit odd because Mark always had brown eyebrows and now they were blonde. The headpiece was all green with a yellow beak sticking out of it. The remainder of his costume was a mix of green and blue and orange. The costume was very elaborate and it looked like his chest and arms were covered in colorful feathers. On his legs he wore a pair of bright yellow tights.
"You look awesome Mark," Billy said.
"Yes he does," Toby added. "Don't you think so David?"
Mark jumped off the rock and walked over to us. When he got closer I noticed just how short he really was. Before he used to be the same exact height as Toby but now he was half his brother's size.
"Yeah, he looks amazing," I said. "That costume is very colorful. But aren't you shorter than you used to be?"
"No," he said.
"He looks the same to me," Billy said.
"And to me," Toby added.
I looked down at the three of them and I couldn't believe how short they all were and yet none of them thought anything was out of the ordinary.
"I thought at first that Lucien got me the wrong size costume," Mark said. "I had a very hard time putting it on because it was so small. But now it fits so perfectly that I can't even tell that I'm wearing it."
"I feel the same way," Toby said. "It's like I'm not wearing anything at all."
They started to walk away and I was just about to follow them when I had the strongest compulsion to sit down and clean myself. I sat on the curb and began to lick the back of my right hand. After that was done I continued down my arm. I was in the process of licking my elbow when Billy came back.
"This is no time for that," he said. "We've got to hurry or we'll be late for the party."
I stopped cleaning myself and I stood up. "Sorry, I don't know why I did that. I must still be a little sleepy. I could go for a little cat nap right now."
He grabbed me by the hand and pulled me along.
"No time, no time," he said.
We continued marching down the street. From time to time I noticed that Toby seemed to be hopping more than he was walking while Billy would stop occasionally to pick up an acorn that he found on the ground.
I had never been to Lucien's house before and I was amazed to find that he lived in the largest house on the street. It was a very old house with a colossal front porch with over a dozen tall columns.
"We're here, tweet," Mark said.
"What did you say?" I asked.
"I said, we're here."
When I looked at him it seemed like the top part of his costume was totally covered in colorful feathers. When we first saw him there was only a small section that had feathers on it but now they were all over. Not only that but his arms looked very different. They looked more like feathery wings than arms.
At that moment the front door opened and Lucien appeared in the doorway. He was dressed in a green shirt and brown tights. He kicked his right leg straight up into the air and held it there for a few seconds as he balanced on the tips of his left foot.
"I was just finishing up my ballet exercises when you guys rang the bell," he said.
As we walked up the front steps I couldn't help but notice that they seemed a lot steeper than steps that I was used to. The oddest thing is that when we stopped to greet Lucien he seemed to be incredibly tall. He was more than triple my size and four times as high as everyone else. All this time I thought that they were getting smaller and I hadn't realized that I had also shrunk.
"Glad you guys could make it," he said. "Wow Mark, you're looking very colorful today. I love your tail, such beautiful feathers."
"Thank you, chirp, chirp," Mark said proudly.
It wasn't until Lucien mentioned it that I noticed the long tapered tail that Mark had. I could have sworn that he didn't have one when we first met up with him but it was definitely there now. His colorful tail feathers matched so perfectly with the rest of his body that it was hard to believe that it was just a costume.
"Did we win the prize? Chirp, chirp," Mark said.
"Yes, you've all won a very special prize," Lucien said. "Once you're inside you'll get exactly what you deserve."
"I hope it's some tasty nuts, chip, chip, chip,"" Billy said. "Or maybe some nice juicy acorns. I just love nuts so much."
"Wow, Billy, great costume, I almost didn't recognize you," Lucien said.
"Thank you, chip, chip," he said. "You have a very nice place. Lots of nice tall trees. Tall trees. I really love trees. Do you think that I can climb any of them? Chip, chip."
"I'm sure that can be arranged," Lucien said. "Maybe after lunch."
"Lunch? Tweet, tweet," Mark said. "I'm so, chirp, hungry, chirp. Do you have some sweet, tweet, tweet, sunflower seeds? Tweet!"
"More than you can eat," Lucien said. "Just head into the dining room."
"Okay, chirp, chirp," Mark said as he spread out his wings and flew inside.
"And nuts for me? Nuts for me?" Billy asked.
Lucien nodded. "Just follow your friend."
Billy suddenly got down on all fours and scampered into the house. Finally Toby hopped up to the door on all fours.
"Bun, bun, bun, bunny," Toby said as he hopped inside without saying a word to Lucien.
"Wow I can't get over how fantastic they all look," Lucien said. "Especially you."
"Thanks, but why are you so tall?" I asked. "Why does everything look so big?"
"I'm not tall, everything is just the size it's supposed to be," he replied. "You're just short. That's why I had to order such small costumes for the four of you."
"I don't remember being so short," I said. "And why aren't you in costume?"
"I am," he said. "I'm in my Peter and the Wolf costume."
"I have a peculiar feeling that something very strange is going on."
"You need to relax, take things easy," he said. "I told you, everything is just the way it's supposed to be."
"What do you me... me... me... meow, mean?" I asked.
"You'll find out soon enough," he said. "Now come inside, the fun is just beginning."
When I got inside there were no signs that a party was going on. There was no cake or colorful streamers or any party materials to be seen. Not only that but we appeared to be the only guests that had arrived.
"Where are all the other guests and purr, purr, prizes?" I said as I struggled to get all the words out.
"There are no other guests," he said. "I just invited the four of you."
"Just us? Why?"
"I'll explain later," he said. "Why don't you go into the dining room with the others and have something to eat. You must be hungry."
I hadn't noticed it until he mentioned it but I was very hungry. In fact I was starving and I couldn't wait to get something to eat.
I walked across the room and I couldn't get over how gigantic everything was. I didn't feel any different but from the looks of things I must have shrunken a great deal since leaving our house. Lucien and the furniture looked so tall and it was taking me forever to walk across the floor to get to the next doorway. Even the wooden door seemed enormous as I stepped into the next room.
This room was very similar to the last one in that everything in here appeared gigantic. In the distance I spotted a colossal oak table with six humongous chairs around it. It was all so high up that it was difficult to see everything up there. The chairs were so huge that I didn't know how I was ever going to be able to get up and sit on one. My neck was beginning to hurt because I was constantly looking up at everything. It took me a few moments before I could finally see my friends. Billy was standing on edge of the large dining room table while Mark stood perched on the arm of a chair. It was a bit longer before I spotted Toby huddled on the floor in the corner of the room.
As I looked at them I couldn't get over the strong resemblance they had to the animals that they were dressed up as. Mark's legs were much shorter and thinner than they were a few minutes ago and he now had a set of claws instead of feet. When he stretched out his arms they were filled with even more colorful feathers and they resembled a set of wings more than anything else. His face had some human features but that was the only part of him that still looked human.
Billy appeared to be just as transformed as Mark. Just like Mark his body was so small that he had to have been less than a foot tall and except for his face the rest of his body was that of a brown chipmunk.
The worse of the bunch was Toby. His appearance was transforming right before my eyes and I stared in disbelief as his very familiar face transformed into a cute furry rabbit's face.
I looked around for Lucien but he was nowhere to be found. I headed back to the door but it was now closed and the doorknob was so high that there was no way that I could possibly reach it. It wasn't until I tried to grab it that I noticed that my white padded gloves were gone and now I had two white furry paws. As I stared in astonishment at my newly transformed paws I was equally surprised when a set of sharp claws popped out of my tiny fingers.
"What's happening to me... me... meow?"
To be continued in part 2
The Second Excursion
By Curious4ever
Part 1
Up until recently my life had been filled with bending, contortion and identical twins with psychic abilities. No, I'm not a circus performer; I'm just a normal eleven year old boy. Or at least this is what my life has turned into ever since the fateful day I encountered an ancient mystical medallion.
It was the beginning of another school day and I couldn't wait. Ever since I arrived on this world I've been an identical twin. My brother and I attend a contortion school where every boy is an identical twin and I've been enjoying every minute of it. I had never been a great student before when I had to spend hours every day learning math and spelling and history, but now all of my classes involved bending techniques, posture and balance and my favorite subject, synchronized contortion.
It had been over a month since I first arrived here and to everyone that knew me I had lived here all my life and I also felt the same way too. The few remaining memories that I had of my old life felt more like a dream than anything else. I knew that before I came here I had never worn a unitard before but now it felt so natural that I couldn't imagine myself wearing anything else. My brother and I had a closet full of them and our bureau drawers were also jam packed with them. We were always on the lookout for new ones that we could wear to competitions or just relax in.
All of the boys in my school wore a unitard and it was a necessary article of clothing when doing contortion which we did constantly throughout the week. The only boy who didn't wear one was Lucien. He was the only boy in school who wasn't an identical twin and instead of doing contortion he took ballet. So it was very common to see him walking around in a colorful shirt and tights. Another interesting thing about Lucien is that he was able to recognize which identical twin he was talking to. No matter how many times we tried to fool him by telling him that we were the other twin he would always point out our true identity. The last time I made a wager with him to try and get him to tell me his secret I ended up being his partner in a ballet of Peter and the Wolf that he performed where I played the wolf. As if that wasn't bad enough he had all of the judges believing that I was a girl and not just a girl but also his girlfriend, Winnie.
Because of this I don't spend a lot of time hanging out with Lucien, instead my brother Billy and I spend what free time we have with our friends Mark and Toby. There had always been a friendly rivalry between us and a great deal of that was put to rest when we competed together last month in a huge competition at our school.
I was just putting on a red and black striped unitard when Billy walked into the room dripping wet.
"Don't let Mom see you getting water all over her floors," I said. "You know that she tells us to dry off in the bathroom after taking a shower."
"I know that David, you don't have to remind me," Billy said. "I just wanted to take another look at the medallion before we have to bring it to school."
He looked sadly at the ancient medallion which was the grand prize in our competition last month. It was the same medallion that had brought me into this world and I couldn't understand how it had become the prize in our competition. The reason we were bringing it into school was so we could give it to Mark and Toby. After the four of us won the award we all agreed that each set of twins would keep the medallion in their possession for one month and then give it to the other twins to hold onto.
He picked up the small plastic case that held the medallion.
"I really hate having to give this to Mark and Toby," he said.
"We'll get it back again in a month when it is our turn."
"I really wish there was some way that we could keep it," he said.
At that moment I was momentarily blinded by a sudden burst of light in the room.
"Did you just see that?" I asked.
"See what?" he replied.
"That blinding flash of light. You didn't just see that?"
"I didn't see anything," Billy said as he placed the plastic container back on the bureau.
"Maybe it was my imagination. Now hurry up and get dressed. Mom has breakfast ready for us and I'm starving."
He laughed as he dried off and got into his unitard. "You're always starving."
I grabbed the case with the medallion and the moment I touched it I felt a slight tingle in my body. I didn't think much of it at the time because all I could think of was the delicious meal that Mom had ready for us.
We both dashed downstairs and we almost ran into Mom as we sprinted into the living room.
"Billy, David, how many times do I have to tell you that there is no running allowed in the house?" she asked.
Billy gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Sorry Mom," he said. "We're just super anxious to go to school today."
"You're always anxious to go to school," she said. "Why is today any different?"
"Because after school we are going to Lucien's party," he said.
I was a little startled by this statement because this was the first that I had heard about a party especially one that involved Lucien.
"I'm not sure that I remember that one," Mom said.
"Sure you do Mom," Billy replied. "It's a sleepover party and you said it was okay for us to go because tomorrow is Sunday and we don't have any school on Sunday."
"I guess it will be all right," she said. "Now hurry up and eat or you'll be late for school."
As we headed for the kitchen I did some of our silent speak talk. It was our special way of communicating with each other when we didn't want anyone else to hear us. We had been doing it all our life and it wasn't until a little while ago that we heard someone refer to it as telepathy. But we still preferred to call it think talk.
"What's this about a party?" I thought to him.
"It's the party at Lucien's that we were invited to," he thought back.
"Why don't I remember it?" I thought.
He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe you're too busy thinking about our mid-year exam today. I told you that we've got nothing to worry about. We're the best in the class."
A few seconds later we were both at the breakfast table. I placed the case with the medallion on the table as I looked at our refreshing breakfast of a cup of yogurt, a banana and a glass of juice. Our sister Jenny sat across from us. As usual she was dressed in her cheerleader's uniform and she had her nose stuck in a book.
"What are you reading?" I asked.
"Just studying the latest cheers that we have to do today," she replied.
"I'm glad that we don't have to read books for any of our classes," I said. "School wouldn't be any fun if I had to read for it."
"I didn't think that either of you could read," she said.
I thought about what she said and I suddenly realized that what she said was true. When I lived my life in the other world I definitely knew how to read but since coming here and going to contortion school it was an ability that I had somehow lost. I couldn't remember a single book, or paragraph or word that I had ever read. When I looked over at the book she was reading all of the lettering appeared as meaningless gibberish to me.
"We don't need to know how to read," Billy said. "Our comic books have pictures and we can tell what is going on just by looking at them."
What Billy said was true and I didn't seem too concerned over the fact that neither of us could read or write. Contortion was our life and there was no need for any of that silly reading stuff that girls like to do.
Billy finished drinking his glass of juice and he stood up and grabbed the plastic case.
"Come on David, let's go. We've got more important things to do than talk about stupid girl stuff like reading."
He got up from the table and I followed him to the front door where our mother was waiting for us.
"Hurry up boys or you'll be late," she said as she kissed us each on the forehead.
We ran out the door and hurried down the street to school. We got there just a few minutes before first period. Waiting for us on the front steps were Toby and his brother Mark. Today they were both dressed in a yellow unitard with green horizontal stripes. I didn't remember ever seeing either of them wearing that one before so I figured that it had to be new.
"Cool unitards," I said.
"Thanks," Toby replied. "They were a present from our Uncle Demetri."
"Did you bring it? Did you bring it?" Mark asked anxiously.
"Yes, I have it right here," Billy said as he handed Mark the case with the silver medallion.
As the two brothers held the case I thought I saw another bright flash of light but nobody said anything about it and I was afraid to mention it again.
"I can't wait to take this home," Mark said as he started to walk inside.
"Don't forget that we are going to meet up with both of you later after school so we can all go to Lucien's party," Toby added just before he turned around and followed his brother.
"I guess there must be a party if Toby and Mark know about it," I said as we went inside.
When we got to class our teacher, Mrs. March, was already there along with the rest of the students. When the semester first began we had six sets of identical twins in this class but now it had grown to over a dozen pairs. Several sets of twins had already twisted themselves into the chair position that my brother and I had made famous about a month ago at the competition and a few others were still trying to master the position.
Standing alone in a corner was a set of brown haired twins wearing pure white unitards. It was Terry and Harry and they were always looking for an excuse to get out of taking their test. I wondered what phony excuse they were coming up with this time.
When the bell sounded Mrs. March welcomed the class.
"Good morning students," she said. "As you all know today we were scheduled to begin your mid-year final exam, but that will have to be postponed because we have some very special guests visiting with us today.
"Yes!" Terry and Harry said as they gave each other a high five.
At that moment there was a knock on the door and two identical looking men stepped into the classroom.
"Children, I would like to introduce you to Peyton and Clayton Jenkins and they're from the school board," Mrs. March said. "They are here to see two students in our class."
"Good morning children," Peyton Jenkins said. "As Mrs. March has informed you, I am Peyton Jenkins and here with me is my identical twin Clayton. It seems like only yesterday that the two of us were students at this very school."
"That's right," Clayton added. "And we are here because Principal Carson has given a glowing report about an amazing set of twins and we have come to see them perform."
We all looked at each other wondering who they were talking about.
"Is David and Billy in the classroom?" Peyton asked.
Billy and I quickly raised our hand and we ran over and stood in front of the two men.
"Hello Billy, hello David," Clayton said. "We hear that you won your school's competition last month."
"Yes sir," I said. "But we did it with our friends Toby and Mark."
"So we have heard," Peyton said. "But we were told that the idea for the two teams to perform together was your idea. Is that true?"
I nodded. "Yes sir."
"That was a very imaginative idea," Clayton said. "Have you and your brother come up with any other creative contortion moves."
"No sir, not yet, but we can show you our chair routine," I said. "It's the one that we did at the end of the competition."
They both nodded. "That would be fine," Peyton said.
Since that routine required another set of twins we went over to talk to Terry and Harry and see if they would perform it with us since Toby and Mark were not in the same class as us.
After agreeing to help us out we quickly went over with them the necessary moves that they had to do in order for us to perform the routine. The four of us went into the center of the room and started to limber up. A very important part of any contortion routine was making sure that everyone involved was extremely limber before attempting any type of contortion.
Before I even began to limber up I noticed that Terry had already started and he was bent over backwards with his head against his leg. It was a very basic maneuver and was something that we learned in first year contortion. That was the problem with Terry and his brother. Neither one of them was very original or creative. In fact they always wore the same white unitards to school every day. I couldn't imagine what my life would be like if I couldn't wear a different color unitard whenever I wanted. They were so comfortable that we even slept in them.
It didn't take me long to limber up and soon we were ready to perform. While we had been limbering up Mrs. March left the room and returned a minute later with a couple of chairs for the two men to sit on.
Terry and Harry got down on the floor and faced each other. They lifted their legs backwards until they were high above their heads. Then they bent them down until their feet were just a few inches above their heads. A few second later Billy got on top of their thighs and lay on his stomach facing frontward. He raised his legs backward forming the back part of the chair and lifted his arms midway to create the arms of the chair.
The moment he was fixed in position I leaped up and landed upside down with my hands resting firmly on his butt which at that time was the seat of the chair. With my two legs high above me I twisted them in opposite directions and raised my head slightly and looked at the two men.
The Jenkins brothers looked very pleased at our performance and we held this stance as they rose from their chairs and slowly walked around us. I looked down at Terry and Harry and they both looked like they were feeling the strain of supporting both Billy and me. They were both grimacing very hard and I had to whisper down to them.
"Keep in position," I whispered. "We're almost done."
By that time the two men had returned to their chairs and they began clapping their hands.
"A wonderful performance boys, truly a remarkable feat of dexterity and creativity," Clayton said.
"You may now relax," Peyton added.
As soon as he said that Terry and Harry broke formation and me and Billy tumbled down to the floor.
When we got to our feet the two men were standing just a few feet away.
"We are very interested in having the two of you perform in a special statewide competition," Clayton said. "And if the other two boys that originally performed with you are available we would like them to appear as well. I believe that the crowds would be amazed to see two sets of twins performing together."
"Expect to receive further information in the mail in a few days," Peyton said as the two men headed for the exit.
When they were gone Billy and I hugged each other.
"Can you believe that?" Billy thought to me. "We're going to be in a statewide competition."
"I know," I thought back. "I can't wait to tell Toby and Mark about this. They're going to be so excited."
I was so thrilled about the news that the rest of the day just flew by and before I knew it the final bell sounded and it was time to go home.
Billy was so anxious to get home that he ran all the way and when he got inside the house he ran up the stairs two at a time. Fortunately I was able to keep up with him.
"This is so exciting," Billy said as we got into our room. "I've never been to a costume party before."
"Costume party?" I said in disbelief. "Wait a minute. You didn't tell me that it was a costume party. I don't have a costume to wear."
"Of course you do," he said with a silly grin. "Don't you remember that Lucien sent two over for us? Yours is on the bed."
I still couldn't understand why I didn't remember anything about us being invited over to Lucien's house for a costume party. But there must be a party because Billy was so adamant about it and when I walked over to my bed there was a small sleek cat's costume lying on it.
Picking it up the material reminded me a lot of the stretchy material that our unitards were made out of. Other than the patch of white on the front and a little in the ears the entire costume was black all the way from the big ears on top and down to the feet. Unzipping the zipper in the back I stepped into it and then I had to squirm my way fully into it. It was a very petite size and I wouldn't have tried wearing it except for the fact that it was the only costume that I had. I finally managed to get the entire costume on and it was an extremely tight fit. It was a very good thing that the material stretched as much as it did otherwise I might not have been able to fit into it. The head piece was connected to the rest of the costume and the only thing of me showing was my face through the small opening in the head. When I looked at my reflection in the mirror I noticed that a tiny bit of hair was sticking out of it.
"Can you help zipper me up in the back?" I asked. "I can't reach it."
Billy came over and zipped me into the costume. It took him a while to get the zipper up all the way due to the extreme tightness of the costume.
"It's a super tight fit but I think it looks kind of nice," I said. "What do you think?"
"You look fantastic," he said as he grabbed the long black tail. "It's even got this neat looking tail."
He gave it a little tug. "You were right, this costume is on really tight," he said. "The costume didn't pull away from you when I yanked on the tail."
"Yeah tell me about it," I said. "And I thought that our unitard was the tightest thing I've ever had to wear."
He bent down and handed me a pair of white gloves that were lying on the floor next to the bed.
"You need to put these on," he said. "It looks like they're part of the costume."
I put on the gloves and they were extremely soft and not only that but they were very nicely padded.
Then he walked to a chair and picked up a brown chipmunk costume. It was basically a brown unitard with a long brown tail and thin black stripes running up the back and over the headpiece. Just like the cat costume it looked like it was going to be too small for him but he started to put it on anyway. Unzipping it in the back he wiggled his way into his tight fitting costume. When he was done pulling the headpiece over his head I struggled to zipper it up for him. It wasn't easy but I finally managed to do it. The two ears popping out of the headpiece weren't as large as the ones on my costume.
"I kind of wish that you could have gotten a cat costume too," I said. "Then we would still look identical. But I guess yours is okay, it's even got a long fluffy tail."
He wiggled his butt back and forth. "Time to do the chipmunk dance," he sang.
"I can't wait to see what Toby and Mark are wearing to the party," I said.
He headed for the hallway. "We'd better be going," he said. "We're supposed to meet up with them on the way there."
He wiggled his butt a few more times. "Chipmunk dance, chipmunk butt, chipmunk, chipmunk, chipmunk dance," he sang some more.
"Boy, I can't believe that Lucien got the sizes of our costumes so wrong," I said. "These things are so small that a kindergartener would have a hard time getting into them."
We left the house and when we stepped outside there was a bit of a chill in the air. I felt a little cooler than usual because the costume that I was wearing was so thin and tight that it was almost like having on a second skin.
A short time later we were passing a small park when Billy stopped and sat down on the grass.
"What's the matter? Why did you stop?" I asked.
"I just felt a little dizzy. I should be all right in a few minutes."
"Are you sure you don't want to go back home and talk to Mom about it?"
"No, I'll be okay," he said. "I just need to be alone for a bit."
"Okay, I won't be too far away. Shout out if you need me."
As I strolled around I noticed that we were the only two people in the park. It was such a quiet and relaxing place that I decided to sit on a nearby hill and take in the scenery. The hill was pretty small and it was surrounded by large mushrooms. There was still a cool breeze in the air but I wasn't feeling cold anymore. My tail was lying close to a small pile of dog poop so I grabbed it and held it in my hand.
I sat there for a few minutes looking at my tail and admiring it. The craftsmanship of the costume was very elaborate and it was much nicer than any Halloween costume that I had ever worn before. I couldn't get over how real it looked.
I sat there for a time just holding the tail and feeling how soft it was. I was feeling very relaxed and my mind began to wander when suddenly a large stray dog passed by me. He stopped and came back towards me. He stood a few feet away and stared at me.
"Hello," I said. "You're a very pretty doggy. What's your name?"
He growled and suddenly started to bark. I was so startled that I accidently pulled on my tail and felt a sharp pain.
"Ouch!" I shouted.
My scream frightened off the dog but I was more concerned about the pain that I felt. I hadn't felt anything earlier when Billy pulled on my tail so I couldn't understand why I would feel something now. Just to be sure that everything was okay I grabbed the tail again and gave it a hard yank. This time it felt even worse than the last time.
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" I screamed.
I tugged several more times and each time the pain got worse. I don't know how but the tail was no longer just a piece of the costume it had somehow become a part of me as well. I began to panic and I felt all around the back of the outfit in an attempt to find the zipper and get out of it. The padded gloves that I wore made it nearly impossible for me to grab anything. I attempted to pull them off but they refused to come off. I continued feeling around for the zipper but no matter how hard I searched I couldn't find one. I pulled on the headpiece and it wouldn't come off either. The pain that I felt when I tugged on the large cat ears was just as painful as when I pulled on the tail. It was like the entire costume had somehow adhered itself to my body. By now I was starting to freak out and I began talking to myself in an attempt to calm down.
"Okay David, there is nothing to worry about," I said. "This is just a cat costume. It's just a very tight fit and there's nothing to worry about. I'll just go back and find Billy and he can help me get out of it."
I got to my feet and I suddenly felt a slight tingling in my head and when it was over I had forgotten what I had been so worried about. As I headed back to Billy I was impressed by how fragrant the flowers smelled. When I first arrived I couldn't smell them but now the scent seemed to be all around me. Not only did I notice a difference in the scent of the flowers but I also detected other smells as well. These were scents of things that were nowhere to be seen.
I had just passed a small patch of trees when I spotted Billy lying on the ground on his stomach. Sitting just a short distance away were a few small chipmunks. He turned his head and smiled when he spotted me.
"I'm feeling a lot better now," he said.
I stared at him for a few seconds and then I noticed something odd about his costume. I wasn't a hundred percent sure but it looked like his costume was now covered in brown fur and it now extended over his hands. I reached down and felt the costume and it was made entirely of soft fur instead of stretchy fabric. I touched the end of his headpiece but I couldn't feel any seams or edge. Not only that but in addition to the black stripes he had on his back and head he now had a long white stripe that went all the way from his butt to his head. I knew that it hadn't been there before and I couldn't understand how it had gotten there. As I looked I could swear I saw another smaller white stripe appear about a foot away.
Before I could mention it my body began to tingle and my entire skin felt very itchy. I started to scratch like crazy everywhere that I could reach. The scratching felt so good and I didn't stop until I managed to scratch every part of my body. When I looked down at my costume it appeared slightly different. It no longer had the look of a skin tight unitard but instead it resembled short black and white fur. When I touched it all I could feel was fur and no fabric.
"That's strange," I said. "This has all changed into fur."
"It's a cat costume, it's supposed to have fur, just like mine," Billy said.
"I guess so," I said. "But it feels like the fur is growing out of my skin."
Billy hopped to his feet. "Come on, we still have to meet up with Mark and Toby," he said. "This is going to be an awesome party. Lucien said that there's a special prize for the first four guests to arrive."
We walked along for several minutes until I suddenly picked up the scent of another person that I knew. I couldn't believe how strong my sense of smell had become. It was like I had acquired a cat's powerful sense of smell but I wasn't sure how that could have occurred.
"Do you smell that?" I asked.
"Smell what?"
"That scent. I know that scent. It smells like Toby. But how do I know that? I never noticed a smell about him before."
"It's probably your imagination," Billy said.
But it wasn't my imagination because at the moment I walked behind a giant tree and spotted Toby kneeling down on the grass with his hands arched up. With the exception of his face his entire body was covered in a white unitard. The white headpiece was attached to the rest of the costume and two long white floppy ears poked out of the top. With his big white bushy tail there was no mistaking that he was dressed in a bunny costume. He was smiling as he looked up at us.
"Hey guys, just taking a rest and enjoying this beautiful day," he said as he leaned forward and smelled a yellow flower.
"Hey Toby, that's a neat costume," Billy said.
"Yeah it's very nice," I said.
As I looked at him a little more closely I noticed something very peculiar. In the past minute his costume had changed slightly and now instead of the white unitard he had been wearing it looked like he was now covered from head to toe in white fur. Not only that but he now had three fingers on his hands and toes.
"Wait a minute," I said. "Why does your costume have fur? It didn't have it a minute ago."
He gave me a puzzled look.
"What are you talking about David," Billy said. "His costume has always had fur, just like ours."
"You're just upset because you don't have an awesomely cute costume like mine," Toby said. "It was a very tight fit when I first put it on but I don't even notice that anymore."
"Hey, we'd better get a move on or we'll be late for the party," Billy said.
"Yeah and I want to win that special prize for being one of the first four guests to arrive," Toby said as he got to his feet.
As we started to walk down the sidewalk I noticed something odd about Toby.
"Hey Toby, didn't you use to be a few inches taller than me?" I asked.
"I don't think so, why?" he asked.
"Because now you barely come up to my shoulders," I said. "And Billy's even shorter than you. I think you're all shrinking."
"Are you sure that I wasn't shorter than you?" Billy asked.
"Of course I'm sure. We're identical twins. We've always been the same height."
"It's probably just your imagination," he said. "If I was shrinking don't you think I would notice it?"
"Yeah, I guess so," I said.
"I don't feel any different," Toby said. "Do you Billy?"
"Of course not," Billy said. "David's just been acting a little strange today. He even forgot about the party today"
"How could he forget that?" Toby asked. "Lucien throws the best parties ever!"
"Hey look, there's Mark!" Billy shouted.
I looked in the direction where he was pointing and spotted a short boy in a colorful bird's costume standing on top of a large rock. His arms were outstretched and his legs were crossed. The only part of his body that showed through the costume was his face and I thought it looked a bit odd because Mark always had brown eyebrows and now they were blonde. The headpiece was all green with a yellow beak sticking out of it. The remainder of his costume was a mix of green and blue and orange. The costume was very elaborate and it looked like his chest and arms were covered in colorful feathers. On his legs he wore a pair of bright yellow tights.
"You look awesome Mark," Billy said.
"Yes he does," Toby added. "Don't you think so David?"
Mark jumped off the rock and walked over to us. When he got closer I noticed just how short he really was. Before he used to be the same exact height as Toby but now he was half his brother's size.
"Yeah, he looks amazing," I said. "That costume is very colorful. But aren't you shorter than you used to be?"
"No," he said.
"He looks the same to me," Billy said.
"And to me," Toby added.
I looked down at the three of them and I couldn't believe how short they all were and yet none of them thought anything was out of the ordinary.
"I thought at first that Lucien got me the wrong size costume," Mark said. "I had a very hard time putting it on because it was so small. But now it fits so perfectly that I can't even tell that I'm wearing it."
"I feel the same way," Toby said. "It's like I'm not wearing anything at all."
They started to walk away and I was just about to follow them when I had the strongest compulsion to sit down and clean myself. I sat on the curb and began to lick the back of my right hand. After that was done I continued down my arm. I was in the process of licking my elbow when Billy came back.
"This is no time for that," he said. "We've got to hurry or we'll be late for the party."
I stopped cleaning myself and I stood up. "Sorry, I don't know why I did that. I must still be a little sleepy. I could go for a little cat nap right now."
He grabbed me by the hand and pulled me along.
"No time, no time," he said.
We continued marching down the street. From time to time I noticed that Toby seemed to be hopping more than he was walking while Billy would stop occasionally to pick up an acorn that he found on the ground.
I had never been to Lucien's house before and I was amazed to find that he lived in the largest house on the street. It was a very old house with a colossal front porch with over a dozen tall columns.
"We're here, tweet," Mark said.
"What did you say?" I asked.
"I said, we're here."
When I looked at him it seemed like the top part of his costume was totally covered in colorful feathers. When we first saw him there was only a small section that had feathers on it but now they were all over. Not only that but his arms looked very different. They looked more like feathery wings than arms.
At that moment the front door opened and Lucien appeared in the doorway. He was dressed in a green shirt and brown tights. He kicked his right leg straight up into the air and held it there for a few seconds as he balanced on the tips of his left foot.
"I was just finishing up my ballet exercises when you guys rang the bell," he said.
As we walked up the front steps I couldn't help but notice that they seemed a lot steeper than steps that I was used to. The oddest thing is that when we stopped to greet Lucien he seemed to be incredibly tall. He was more than triple my size and four times as high as everyone else. All this time I thought that they were getting smaller and I hadn't realized that I had also shrunk.
"Glad you guys could make it," he said. "Wow Mark, you're looking very colorful today. I love your tail, such beautiful feathers."
"Thank you, chirp, chirp," Mark said proudly.
It wasn't until Lucien mentioned it that I noticed the long tapered tail that Mark had. I could have sworn that he didn't have one when we first met up with him but it was definitely there now. His colorful tail feathers matched so perfectly with the rest of his body that it was hard to believe that it was just a costume.
"Did we win the prize? Chirp, chirp," Mark said.
"Yes, you've all won a very special prize," Lucien said. "Once you're inside you'll get exactly what you deserve."
"I hope it's some tasty nuts, chip, chip, chip,"" Billy said. "Or maybe some nice juicy acorns. I just love nuts so much."
"Wow, Billy, great costume, I almost didn't recognize you," Lucien said.
"Thank you, chip, chip," he said. "You have a very nice place. Lots of nice tall trees. Tall trees. I really love trees. Do you think that I can climb any of them? Chip, chip."
"I'm sure that can be arranged," Lucien said. "Maybe after lunch."
"Lunch? Tweet, tweet," Mark said. "I'm so, chirp, hungry, chirp. Do you have some sweet, tweet, tweet, sunflower seeds? Tweet!"
"More than you can eat," Lucien said. "Just head into the dining room."
"Okay, chirp, chirp," Mark said as he spread out his wings and flew inside.
"And nuts for me? Nuts for me?" Billy asked.
Lucien nodded. "Just follow your friend."
Billy suddenly got down on all fours and scampered into the house. Finally Toby hopped up to the door on all fours.
"Bun, bun, bun, bunny," Toby said as he hopped inside without saying a word to Lucien.
"Wow I can't get over how fantastic they all look," Lucien said. "Especially you."
"Thanks, but why are you so tall?" I asked. "Why does everything look so big?"
"I'm not tall, everything is just the size it's supposed to be," he replied. "You're just short. That's why I had to order such small costumes for the four of you."
"I don't remember being so short," I said. "And why aren't you in costume?"
"I am," he said. "I'm in my Peter and the Wolf costume."
"I have a peculiar feeling that something very strange is going on."
"You need to relax, take things easy," he said. "I told you, everything is just the way it's supposed to be."
"What do you me... me... me... meow, mean?" I asked.
"You'll find out soon enough," he said. "Now come inside, the fun is just beginning."
When I got inside there were no signs that a party was going on. There was no cake or colorful streamers or any party materials to be seen. Not only that but we appeared to be the only guests that had arrived.
"Where are all the other guests and purr, purr, prizes?" I said as I struggled to get all the words out.
"There are no other guests," he said. "I just invited the four of you."
"Just us? Why?"
"I'll explain later," he said. "Why don't you go into the dining room with the others and have something to eat. You must be hungry."
I hadn't noticed it until he mentioned it but I was very hungry. In fact I was starving and I couldn't wait to get something to eat.
I walked across the room and I couldn't get over how gigantic everything was. I didn't feel any different but from the looks of things I must have shrunken a great deal since leaving our house. Lucien and the furniture looked so tall and it was taking me forever to walk across the floor to get to the next doorway. Even the wooden door seemed enormous as I stepped into the next room.
This room was very similar to the last one in that everything in here appeared gigantic. In the distance I spotted a colossal oak table with six humongous chairs around it. It was all so high up that it was difficult to see everything up there. The chairs were so huge that I didn't know how I was ever going to be able to get up and sit on one. My neck was beginning to hurt because I was constantly looking up at everything. It took me a few moments before I could finally see my friends. Billy was standing on edge of the large dining room table while Mark stood perched on the arm of a chair. It was a bit longer before I spotted Toby huddled on the floor in the corner of the room.
As I looked at them I couldn't get over the strong resemblance they had to the animals that they were dressed up as. Mark's legs were much shorter and thinner than they were a few minutes ago and he now had a set of claws instead of feet. When he stretched out his arms they were filled with even more colorful feathers and they resembled a set of wings more than anything else. His face had some human features but that was the only part of him that still looked human.
Billy appeared to be just as transformed as Mark. Just like Mark his body was so small that he had to have been less than a foot tall and except for his face the rest of his body was that of a brown chipmunk.
The worse of the bunch was Toby. His appearance was transforming right before my eyes and I stared in disbelief as his very familiar face transformed into a cute furry rabbit's face.
I looked around for Lucien but he was nowhere to be found. I headed back to the door but it was now closed and the doorknob was so high that there was no way that I could possibly reach it. It wasn't until I tried to grab it that I noticed that my white padded gloves were gone and now I had two white furry paws. As I stared in astonishment at my newly transformed paws I was equally surprised when a set of sharp claws popped out of my tiny fingers.
"What's happening to me... me... meow?"
To be continued in part 2
Here is the sequel to my previous short story Double Trouble. That story featured a young boy who discovered an ancient medallion that changed his entire life around. After finding it he wakes up in a world where every boy is an identical twin and they all attend contortion schools. In this adventure, David, our main character thinks that he is going to have a normal day at contortion school but things get out of hand when he attends a party thrown by the mysterious Lucien, a fellow student who loves to taunt David. As with the first story I based this one on some illustrations drawn by Barry Blair, one of which features David in a cat costume. The second part is already completed and will be posted by the weekend. Let me know if you enjoy this adventure and perhaps I will write more about David and his friends.
© 2016 - 2025 Curious4ever
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wow this was a rare instance where I start reading a story for one reasons (who doesn't love contortionist?) than it transitions into a TF story? Ok talk about an amazing surprise! Also great way to tie so much great art into a single cohesive story. I wouldn't think it possible if I hadn't just read it!