Cat Food (Story)

(Another 'extended caption'-style story; first person POV.)


I won't say if I regret it or not, but I think I'll always remember that day about a few months back when I dared my friend Lysan to eat a bagful of cat food.

He loved his cat, Hyko, and was always feeding him new kinds of cat food with hopes of making him happier. There was really only one kind of cat food Hyko would ever eat, and he would consistently snub all the others. One day I met Lysan on his way out of his home, carrying an open bag of cat food that looked like little fishes. "At it again, I see," I said.
"Oh, hi Paro. I just don't get why Hyko won't try anything new. I mean, he didn't even sniff at it! I'm sure it can't be that bad..."
"Maybe you should try it," I said.
"What? Cat food is for cats. I really wish I could just speak cat though, so I could persuade him to try something new every once in awhile." He was trying to change the subject.
"Come on, I'm sure it can't be too bad for humans--they always reinforce those things with a lot of nutrients, right? Besides, the pet store's put a two-returns-per-month limit up since you started going there, and this is the third."
"Ah, man, you're right. I guess I just thought for sure Hyko would like it. But this didn't come from my usual store anyway."
"Where'd it come from then?"
"I got it at a stand at a farmer's market...heh, I guess I really can't return it then."
"So try it. Dare ya. Just one piece?"
"Fine," he said, seeing I wasn't about to leave him alone about this, "I'll do it."

Since the bag was already open, Lysan just got one of the little fish-things between his thumb and index finger and stuck it in his mouth, chewing slowly and swallowing. "Hm, it's not bad, actually," he said. "Say, you want to catch a movie?"
"Sure."

We started walking in the general direction of the theater. He took a few more out of the bag, and munched on them in silence. We were talking about something, I think a video game, and I was watching the sidewalk ahead, so I didn't notice anything. After awhile I looked at him again, though, and noticed that he was at least a full foot shorter than me! He was supposed to be my height. I pointed it out to him, but he just shrugged and kept talking. I tried to stay calm and continued the conversation, but started glancing at him periodically.
He started to get slimmer; His torso, arms, and legs all seemed smaller, yet his long-sleeved shirt, belt, and black pants actually seemed a bit tighter. Them his hair started to get longer, reaching to his shoulders in the back.

"I really wish you had a mirror right now," I said.
"Why?"
"Your hair has grown in the last few seconds more than it usually does in a week."
"Hah, yeah right." I hadn't noticed it before, but his voice was higher than normal too. He kept eating the cat food; the bag still looked full even though he must have been eating large handfuls for fifteen minutes by then.
His hair turned a light purple color and kept growing, and at the same time his ears started to get bigger. They got points to their ends, and then started to grow small bits of hair all over them and twitch. Before long they were big enough to stick out from the sides of his head, past the hair, which now reached down to where his belt was. I wouldn't have looked there otherwise, but now I found that the black jeans weren't just tight on the slender legs.

He stopped. "What are you looking at?" he asked. His voice sounded like a girl's, actually.
"Um, you. I think you're turning into a girl.."
"Hm. Well, that would explain me being shorter, having long hair, huh?"
"Why are you so cheerful about this?"
"I dunno." He took another mouthful of the cat food, and suddenly a long tail sprouted from his back, the same color as his hair and just about as twitchy as his ears.
"A tail?" I said. Lysan looked at it and nodded.

"Seems this is some really weird cat food," said Lysan, grinning before getting another bite.
"Wait, so you're going to keep eating it even if that's what's causing--?"
"Yeah. I'd rather be completely female than somewhere really awkward in between. Besides, these are good."

That seemed like a very good argument, so instead of trying to argue I said, "You know, Lysan isn't a good name for a girl.."
"How about Lysra then?" she said--I say she now because at this point her chest was starting to grow. We started walking then, and by the time we got to the theater she had filled out completely, and there was no doubt. Sometime when I wasn't looking a black scarf had appeared.

"Say, do you think they'll let me take this stuff in? Or am I gonna have to hide it somew..." She noticed I was staring and paused in putting another piece of the food in her mouth. "What?"
"Um, nothing," I said, blushing a little. Unfortunately for me, Lysra was kind of cute.