Carl tried pulling the bookmark away from the page, but it was like trying to pull a brick out of a wall - it was stuck on but good. And he saw with rising despair that even as he kept trying, the changes were continuing.
He watched as his hands grew slender and graceful, the fingers elongating and the nails turning bright red, and the skin turning a rich cinnamon brown. He felt rather than saw a cascade of long, graceful hair flow down to the middle of his back. His clothing strained as his chest blossomed outwards into two magnificent breasts and his hips and butt grew round and curvy. He felt himself shrink, then raise slightly as his sneakers turned into a pair of spike-heel pumps. Finally, his shirt and pants fused and transformed into a midnight blue dress with a neckline that plunged down to the navel and a slit up the skirt exposing almost every square inch of a now very feminine looking right leg.
In shock, Carl, dropped the book, which immediately snapped shut, and ran over the mirror in the next room. This set Carl's new body in a series of motions that were unfamiliar in the extreme, but entirely displeasing.
Carl stopped at the mirror in shock. There, gazing back at him, was his mind's-eye view of the book's protagonist, the sexy Latina bombshell Lucinda Leon.
Dios Mia! Carl said "This - this is a dream!" he - she continued, not realizing that she was still speaking fluent Spanish. "It isn't possible! It cannot be happening!"
Even as she said it, she felt a wave of dizziness overtake her. She shook here head, sending long sandy tresses flowing. When she re-opened her eyes, her memory seemed fuzzy. There was something she needed to do - but what?
Then, she spotted the car keys laying on the table. Of course! she thought to herself, Now I remember where I must go - and what I must do once I get there!
Lucinda Leon grabbed the keys and exited the apartment, intent on her destination. Unseen by her, the hourglass continued its countdown.
