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Nebro slouched in his seat, groaning at the sound of laughing children. His little brother, Rory, bounced in the seat next to him, eyes transfixed on the stage in front of them. It was Rory’s birthday, and he’d been asking for months to go to the circus. But, when the day came, both their parents had emergency meetings, leaving Nebro as the only to take him.
Nebro blew a dark lock of hair out of his face, crossing his arms disdainfully. He hated everything in front of him. The fake bubbliness of the performer, the neon colors of the tent, the loud, cheerful music. Every part of it was so obnoxious. He looked up at the stage with tired eyes. A clown girl bounced across the stage, an ill fitting magician's coat thrown on over her usual get up. She performed trick after trick with practiced clumsiness, to the oos and ahs of her child audience. Nebro rolled his eyes, beginning to deconstruct each trick in his head. The card was behind her hand, the flowers were up her sleeve, all the painfully obvious smoke and mirrors. It was the most fun he could have to pick apart the hokey act.
Then, the clown took center stage, as spotlights began to search over the audience. She put a hand to her brow, panning her gaze over the audience. “Boys and girls, for this next trick, the amazing Polly will need a volunteer from the audience!”
“Yeah, real amazing.” Nebro muttered, rolling his eyes as he slumped further into his seat.
Polly put a hand to her ear, her eyes going wide as she listened to the crowd. “What’s that I hear?”
Nebro squinted as the spotlights converged on him, recoiling from the sudden brightness. He scowled up at the stage, seeing the clown's plastered grin staring back at him.
“Oh ho ho? Does this one doubt the power of the amazing Polly? Why don’t you step up here, and see for yourself what I can do!”
Leaning back, Nebro turned his gaze away from the stage. “So you can pull some lame prank in front of everyone? Yeah, no thanks.”
“Is the big boy scared of little ol’ Polly?”
Nebro sighed at her heckling. “Are you just gonna goad me until I do it?”
Polly nodded, holding out a gloved hand, as a drumroll began to play. Nebro groaned, rolling out of the chair and getting to his feet. “Okay, fine. But only to get this over with.”
The clown threw her hands up, and the children cheered as Nebro made his way to the stage, taking his spot next to Polly. With a flourish, she removed her hat, rolling it across her arms, before offering it to Nebro. “Please, inspect this hat, inside and out. See that it is completely normal!” He took the hat, flipping it over in his hand. He felt inside it, tweaked the brim, then shrugged, handing it back. Polly grinned. “Now, if you would hold still, we’ll just get this up here,” she placed the hat on his head, “and with the magic words, this boy will DISAPPEAR."
Nebro raised an eyebrow. “Wait, what?”
Polly raised a hand, setting it on top of the hat. “lepus, mutatio!” And with that, she shoved the hat down.
It was suddenly quiet, and dark. Nebro couldn’t see anything, just a seemingly endless void. He tried to move, but his body wouldn’t respond. He could feel his arms start to tingle, with the sensation moving up to his shoulders, and quickly spreading across his body. At the same time, the darkness felt like it was pressing in on him. It was soft, molding to him, as if he were surrounded on all sides by massive pillows, gently squeezing him. They rubbed and shifted, slowly massaging his body, until he could barely feel himself anymore. He felt lost and disoriented, dissociating from himself as he grappled with what was happening. Then, there was a light from behind him. He tried to turn his head, tried to see what was coming, but stayed stuck in his position. He felt something grab him by the back of his neck, as he was yanked backwards into the light.
His eyes blinked open, as he adjusted to the light and sound. He was back in the tent, looking out at the audience. All at once, everything felt louder, yet muted, ringing like a firework had gone off in his ear. He shook his head, getting his bearings, as he realized he wasn’t standing on the ground, but being lifted off of it. He craned his neck, seeing Polly’s beaming smile shining back at him. But something was different. Was she… taller?
Nebro looked down at himself, eyes suddenly wide as he took in what he saw. His body was gone, and in its place, a small, fluffy form. His limbs were short and stubby, with soft paws twitching as they tried to find purchase. His whole body was painted with patches of pastel colors, blues and yellows and pinks. A colorful ruff fluffed out around his neck. He twisted his body, seeing a short, fluffy tail shook above his rump. Horrified, he turned back to Polly.
“Ta-da! Say hello to my wonderful assistant, Bauble, the Funny Bunny!” She lifted a bright red clown nose, pressing it to Nebro’s new muzzle, as the audience of children roared with laughter and applause.
Nebro began to squirm, kicking his new legs as he tried to free himself from the clown's grasp.
“Oh, someone's getting antsy! Poor Bauble doesn’t always do the best with crowds. Everybody say bye bye to Bauble!”
The audience echoed the goodbye as Polly held the hat below Nebro. But before she dropped him in, she leaned in close.
“Don’t worry, silly. You’ll learn to love the circus.”