Suddenly, three chairs magically appeared in the room where the family was standing. Soon James, Jeremy, and Cindy found themselves sitting in the chairs. They all looked around at each other trying to understand what was happening to them.
"Where's mom?" asked Cindy and Jeremy said in unison.
They looked around and noticed Laura was sitting on the floor, but instead of sitting normally, she had kicked off her shoes and was crouched on the floor like a dog.
The family continued to stare as they realized that Laura’s thighs were thickening, growing more muscular. At the same time, her calves were shrinking and her feet were extending. Laura couldn’t believe her eyes, her legs were changing, but she couldn’t feel a thing. No tingling, burning, aching, no nothing. Her toes swelled, causing her toenails to fall to the floor. What really made her stare was the sight of her big toe shriveling to a tiny nub as it slowly moved past what once was her ankles. Once the swelling stopped, tiny black claws began to emerge from the tip of each toe.
Cautiously, she raised her left foot into the air. It now looked like a hairless dogs paw. Testing her new appendage, she raised it as high as it would go and even surprised herself. She was able to slowly scratch behind her ear. In shock, she quickly slammed her paw to the floor. Her nails clicking on the hard surface.
“Honey, are you okay?” James asked with a quiver in his voice.
Laura tried to speak, “I...I...” but the shock of what had just happened was too much.
"Go ahead" the witch said, "Speak girl."
"Arf! Arf! Arf!, Oh my God did I just bark?" Laura asked.
"Good girl" replied the witch, as she tossed a dog treat towards her.
At the sight of a dog treat being tossed towards her, Laura reflexively leaped up into the air and artfully caught the little morsel in her mouth. She then crouched down on all fours and began noisily chomping on the tiny dog treat.
Her husband and the children tried to move, but some mysterious force was keeping them firmly fixed to their chairs. “Honey, what's happening to you?” asked James.
Laura just looked over at him and let out a small warning growl, and promptly went back to happily chewing on her dog treat.
“I don't think she wants to share!” cackled the witch.
“What did you do to her legs and feet?” demanded James. “And why is she acting like this?”
“I told you,” said the witch with a fiendish smile that sent shivers down his spine. “I get so lonesome here. And an older woman like myself shouldn't be alone without a good guard dog, after all.”
He looked back at his wife in horror. She had finished eating the dog treat and was now licking crumbs from her lips. Her tongue was now much longer, fatter, and darker in color. It seemed wetter and more flexible, easily licking crumbs from the outside of her cheek. Her teeth now looked longer and sharper too.
"We never meant any harm by coming here. Just change her back and we'll leave at once. You'll never see us again!”
