Anne stood there holding the rock, her face a mess of confusion. "I think I'd better sit down," she said finally. She looked at the stone, then at the two female leapords. "This is nuts!" she said finally, "I remeber getting you two on contract! How could you be a pair of high school kids?"
Jon growled lowly, he had to make her understand, but without a voice it was impossible! Karyn whined in her cage, attempting the same. Neither of them really wanted to be mothers!
Anne, for her part, was sitting there trying to make sense of the information that had sprung into her head. It was like having memories that she didn't know how to access. She shook her head and walked over the Karyns cage. "I... I guess that you kinda messed up, didn't you?" she said sweetly but a little flat. She was just beginning to understand, really, what was happening.
The zookeeper started to pace the floor, mumbling. "This is too much. Two minutes ago these were just two leapords to me, now magic is real, and I can do whatever I want with this stone?" She shook her head, "It just doesn't seem possible. It's just too much."
She stopped and sighed, looking at Jon. "I'll try and find a way to get you two back to normal, but I need to be careful. I mean, look what happened to you two." She managed a small smile, "It's funny, but now I guess I'll have the power to do what I really wanted to do. It's always been my wish to personally add to the zoo's breeding program...."
Jon yipped, but too late. The zookeeper shimmered suddenly and vanished, dropping the rock to the floor. A moment later, a cage appeared containing a very confused female African lion.
Even as the former zookeeper was trying to comprehend what had happened, a pair of handlers walked into the room and started to push her cage away. "Busy day in the breeding program, isn't it?" He commented as they shoved the huge cage toward a metal door. "When all these females give birth, we'll be the most popular zoo in the state!" They linked the cage to the door and opened it. From where he was sitting, Jon could see a little of the lion habitat. "Out you go," said the handler as he gently proded the new lioness with a stick.
Still confused, and in some ways thinking it was all a dream, the lioness stepped into the enclosure, and then vanished behind the steel door. Jon felt his heart sink. The poor zookeeper was going to get her wish.
