Jak dashed upstairs, box underarm, hoping that no-one would notice. With any luck, it was the present he’d bought for his younger brother – Jake’s birthday was the next day, and Jak couldn’t afford to hold on as his folks would skin him if he didn’t buy his brother a present. Quickly hurrying into his room, Jak silently closed the door behind him and tossed the box onto his bed. Carefully opening the packaging, he pulled out the actual present in a shower of polystyrene peanuts.

His brother was four tomorrow, and was in need of a new teddy bear as his old one, a hand-me-down from Jak, had fallen apart a few weeks ago and their parents hadn’t got around to replacing it. While he loved his brother dearly, the sixteen year-old Jak was getting a bit tired of the kid creeping into bed with him for a cuddle with his favourite family member every night, so he’d decided to take the responsibility of replacing the teddy upon himself. In his hands he held a large stuffed wolf, his brothers (and his for that matter), favourite animal, and for a minute he was worried that it might be too big for his brother (although why he hadn’t thought that when he’d signed for the box and seen its size was a pondering that failed to cross his mind), but he dismissed the thought with a shrug – after all, his brother would only need it when he went to bed as surely he was too old now to be carrying the thing around with him.

The toy’s fur felt nice and soft in his hands and he fought the urge to cuddle it. It was a fight that he lost and he hugged it tight justifying it to himself ‘As a caring big brother, it’s my duty to check this thing out for the little tyke properly and I can’t do that without giving it a test hug.’ Looking down he noticed that pinned to the plushy’s ear was a large cardboard tag with the manufacturer’s name and the name of the toy printed on in big colourful letters. Turning it over he read the safety information on the back –

Soft Wolf Plushy, size XL. For small children only – not suitable for anyone over the age of ten years old.

“What the - ?” Jak asked no-one in particular, “Why would they put that on there? Is it supposed to be some sort of joke for the parents, parodying the usual ‘not suitable for children under thirty-six months?” Yawning, he shrugged it off. Kicking the box onto the floor and brushing the peanuts off his bed he lay down. “Feeling a bit sleepy – think I’ll give this thing a proper test.” He chuckled curling up and pulling a blanket over himself.

In fine print below what he’d read was printed –

Improper use will result in reality shifts.
Reality altering accessories and toys are copyright Magic Inc.

He awoke, not realising that he’d even fallen asleep. ’Wow!’ he thought I must really have been sleepy – I was only joking when I said I’d give it a proper test.’ Stretching, he sucked on his teeth trying to get rid of the furry feeling he always got when he woke up in the morning. Groaning, he looked at his alarm clock and was shocked to see that it was in fact the next day.

Stumbling into his en suit, he turned on the tap and splashed some cold water onto his face. Blinking the water out of his eyes, he looked down at his hands and straightened up in shock. A fine greying fur covered them and his fingers had started to shorten and swell up. Frozen still momentarily he watched as leathery pads formed on the palms and finger tips, and as his fingers, now looking more like a dog’s toes, fused together, or more precisely somehow became stitched together. The fur stared spreading up his arms as he raised his comically oversized hand – paws he corrected himself – for a closer inspection.

He tried to gasp, but for some reason his mouth wouldn’t open. Dropping his paws which were blocking his view of his shaving mirror, he looked at his reflection and his eyes widened in horror. Fur had also appeared around his mouth, and his nose had turned into the same leathery material as the pads on his paws. Further, as the fur spread across his face, his now sewn shut mouth had begun pushing forwards to from a muzzle. Transfixed, he watched as his hair receded and was replaced by fur. His ears disappeared under the fur, and then pushed out at the top of his head now in a curved triangular shape, just like a dog’s ears. ’Or a wolf.’ he thought, remembering the stuffed toy now lying on his bed.

The fur now covered most of his body and had reached his waist. If he could he would have gulped, fearing what was coming next, but fortunately (if you can call it that) his attention was drawn away from that area and back to his reflection. He watched as his shock-widened eyes grew larger and turned into fabric. Carefully he prodded his eyes with his paws and was confused to find that not only did it not hurt to do so, he was also still able to somehow see out of them. Feeling a furry sensation in his mouth again, his gingerly pushed his tongue against the stitching in his mouth, tearing it open. Once more to his horror, instead of a human tongue, out popped a semi-circle of red felt which was immediately held in place by new stitching, pulling his muzzle into a sort of smile.

By now, the fur had reached his knees and a second wave of transformation started in his forepaws. Almost unnoticeable, the bones and flesh beneath his fur began to melt away into stuffing. Despite this, he was still able to move his arms and bend them at the elbows, and as the changes spread into his torso, he was still able to stand upright even though he no longer had a spine. He looked down and watched as the ‘toes’ of his hind paws fluffed up as the last of his insides turned to stuffing. A sharp pain in his ear drew his attention back to the mirror, and he saw that a tag like the one on his brother’s present had appeared pinned to the right one.

A wave of dizziness hit him as the third stage of the transformation kicked in. Swiftly he shrunk down until he was the size of a small child about the age of two or three. As his new height settled in, the dizziness wore off and he looked around. Stepping out of his trousers and pants which no longer fit, he looked around the room. Everything looked so big, and his tee-shirt felt like a tent on him. Shrugging it off, pragmatically deciding that he didn’t need it now that he was a plushy and that it would be more of a hindrance than a help anyway, crept towards the en suite door. Fortunately for him, as he could no longer reach the door handle, he’d left it ajar and he was able to push it open.

Toddling into his bedroom, he immediately set out for the door, but unlike the en suite one, this one was firmly shut. Jumping up and down, he tried to grab the handle, but his paws had nowhere near enough flexibility to grip the handle or even opposable thumbs. Without warning, the door was thrown open, and a strange boy walked in. Jak looked up and guessed that the guy must have been the same age as him, but he had no idea who it was. The boy looked down at him and smiled.

Eyes narrowing, or at least they would have had he been capable of it, Jak looked up into his face and suddenly realised who it was.

<<Jake?>> he gasped, but his brother couldn’t hear him.

“Hey,” asked Jake rhetorically “How’d you get in here Jak?”

<<This is my room!>> cried Jak exasperated, but Jake couldn’t hear him, after all, all Jake could see was a plushy. <<What’s happened?>> Jak asked as if his brother could really answer. Instead, Jake lifted him up and cuddled him.

“I’ve been looking all over for you,” smiled the teen who, now that Jak looked closer bore a resemblance to how Jak had been before the transformation, both in bearing and clothing. As Jak craned his neck, he noticed that the room had also altered – no longer was it his bedroom, now it was a small lounge type room for his brother to hang out in.

<<What?>> wept Jak without tears <<This can’t be. I’m not a plushy – I’m a...I’m a....I’m...I’m a plushy.>> Acceptance began to set in – some last gift of the curse as reality settled down. Memories of his life dimmed, although they were not completely forgotten. As he was carried out of the room, Jak thought <<I guess this isn’t so bad. Being a living plushy could be kinda cool. And it’s nice to see my baby bro has grown up to become like me like he always wanted.>> Smiling just as his body was, he cuddled up closer to Jake and fell asleep.