Attic fun

“Oh, I wonder what these are," Janice exclaimed, her eyes shining with excitement as she pulled out two dusty, leather-bound books from the shelf. She had been rummaging through her grandmother's attic for hours, searching for something, anything, that could break the monotony of the dreary afternoon. The books looked ancient, with pages yellowed by time and corners worn from years of neglect.

"What are they?" her friend Mark asked, peering over her shoulder. One seemed to be titled body, the other was titled mind.

"They claim to be books of spells," Janice said, her voice hushed in mock reverence then she laughed. She flipped through the brittle pages, her fingers tracing the intricate diagrams and arcane symbols etched into the paper. "Look at these. Aren't they amazing? They look pretty old. Someone had fun making these joke books!”

Mark leaned in closer, his curiosity piqued despite the skepticism etched into his features. "What are you supposed to do with it?"

“I don’t know! Let’s try and see! It might be fun!” Janice’s voice danced with the thrill of discovery as she randomly stopped at a page titled “Female transformation.”

The incantation was written in an archaic prose that Janice nor Mark struggled to recognise but it was legible. Janice’s heart raced as she read the incantation aloud, her voice growing stronger with each syllable.

As the final word left her lips, the room grew eerily still. The shadows stretched and the air thickened, as if the very fabric of reality was being pulled taut. A soft hum resonated through the attic, and the dust motes swirled in a lazy dance around the flickering candlelight. Mark’s skepticism waned, replaced by a growing sense of unease.

The pages of the book began to flutter, turning themselves to reveal more spells and incantations. Janice’s eyes grew wide as she watched in amazement. The symbols on the pages started to glow, casting an otherworldly light across her face. Without warning, the book slammed shut with a bang that echoed through the room, and the candle’s flame shot upward before settling down into a normal size.

“Is anything different?” asked Mark. She blinked as she realised that until moments ago she had been man but… something had clearly changed. She looked down at her body and saw that she had grown breasts, and her skin was now a soft shade of brown, unlike her former pale complexion. She was dressed in woman’s clothes, but they felt as if they were her own. She was no longer Mark; she was Marcy, and she had no idea how it had happened.

Janice frowned as she looked at Mark, eyes widening. “Mark! Or my god! It worked! You’re a girl!”

Mark’s hands flew to her new breasts in shock. “What the hell did you do, Janice? Did you turn me into a girl?” Her voice had changed too, now higher pitched and melodic. “Undo it!”

Panic spread across Janice’s face as she frantically flipped through the book. “I-I don’t know how! It must have been the spell. I didn’t think it would do this!”

Mark’s confusion turned to anger. “You didn’t think? You didn’t think it was a good idea to read some random incantation from a book that could potentially mess with our lives forever?”

Janice held up her hands, palms out. “I know, I know. But we can fix this. We just need to find the counterspell. Or figure out what happened. Maybe there’s something in here that explains it.”

Mark glared at Janice, her new body feeling alien and wrong. “We’d better. This isn’t funny anymore. I’m freaking out here! I must be a foot shorter!”

Janice’s eyes widened even more. “Okay, okay, let’s not panic. We can get through this. We just need to stay calm and find the right spell to reverse it. Maybe there’s something in the other book that can help us out.”

Mark, still in shock, took a deep breath and tried to calm down. “Fine. But you better hurry. I can’t go out like this. What if someone sees me?”

“Then they’ll see the a girl. No big deal.” Janice suggested. “Hey there is a spell here that helps you cope with changes. Maybe I should cast that?” She suggested.

Mark, feeling more than a little overwhelmed…