Chapter 2
Maddie ran deeper and deeper into the mysterious forest. As she looked behind her, the trees seemed to close the path she was taking. After running for what seemed like hours, she stopped. She swore she had heard something. Then she heard it again! It sounded like…..scratching. She looked ahead of her and saw an unidentifiable figure, much smaller than her. She was about to call to it, when she suddenly heard a growl behind her. Fearing it was her parents, who had caught up to her, she slowly turned around, and came face to face with a wolf.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" The wolf pounced on her, baring its shining teeth. Just when the worst was about to happen, the wolf was forced back by something hitting it. Then, with a soft whimper, it ran away. Maddie, shaking with fear, got up and saw what had saved her. What she saw startled her. The moon had shined just enough light on him. It was a small, teal animal, wearing a hat. At first, Maddie thought it was a duck because of his duck-like beak. But then she saw a beaver tail sticking out of him from behind. But what was the strangest of all was that…..he looked like a cartoon character that popped out of the TV. Maddie's panicked expression turned into joy. "THANK YOU!" She scooped up the creature in her arms, and started hugging it tightly. "YOU SAVED ME! THANK YOU SO MUCH! CAN I TAKE YOU HOME WITH ME?" She asked so many questions that she didn't notice what was happening to her body, but the platypus noticed. Her arms turned darker, and began bristling with fur. Her nose turned into a muzzle, and her ears grew larger and wider. He watched as her nightgown seemed to melt into her body, being replaced with a furry tummy. She had transformed from a live little girl to a cartoony fawn. Nervously, the platypus tapped on her. Maddie looked at him with confusion, and then he pointed at her arms. Maddie nearly fainted when she looked at them. She dropped him to the ground and stared at her hands-turned-hooves with horror.
"Wha-what's going on?" She felt her arms. She felt her ears twitch and touched them. Panicking, she saw a puddle of water and ran toward it. The moment she saw her reflection, she made the loudest scream she could. The platypus turned and began walking away. She could solve this on her own….right? Maybe she could seek help somewhere else, but this was definitely not HIS problem. But lo and behold, he was struck with worry. But how the heck would he change her back? He had no magic powers. Then he remembered something: His owners. They were good with this stuff, they could make some sort of ray gun to change her back to a human. He sighed. He lived miles away from where they currently were. It would at least take a few days. Not the worst way to go. He walked over to the trembling deer and shook her arm. She looked down at him. "Can you turn me back? I don't want to be a deer!" He sadly shook his head and pointed toward the distance, and made a gesture to follow him. "Where are we going?" He knew there would be a lot of questions, especially how this all happened in the first place, so he figured he should introduce himself to her. He knelt down and traced something in the dirt. Maddie read it, and then looked up as the new friend then pointed to himself. "Your name is Perry?"