She swallowed. Already she was beginning to feel a strange intoxication. Her affection for Binky faded from her mind, replaced by indifference. "It's working," she marveled.
Inside Binky's house, a number of his friends had gathered to play games and attempt to dissuade the boy from giving up his role on New Moo Revue. They included Arthur, Francine, George, Muffy, Fern, Van, and Beat.
"The kids won't stop making fun of you just because you quit the show," said Fern, who was sitting in a chair opposite Binky.
"They will sooner or later," replied Binky from his seat on the couch. "But if I stay in the show, they'll make fun of me forever."
"You need to show them you're not afraid of them," said George, who was seated next to his bully-turned-buddy Binky.
"How do I do that?" Binky wondered.
As George opened his mouth to answer, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," offered Arthur, who was in the chair closest to the front door.
(Author's note: You all know what's coming next.)
When Arthur opened the door, he saw a familiar face. "Oh, hi, Prunella."
What Prunella saw stunned her beyond belief. Standing before her was the most intensely gorgeous aardvark boy--no, boy ofany species--she had ever laid eyes on. As her brain clouded over, it dawned upon her that Dolly hadn't told her the full truth about the potion.
"Ar...thur..." she mumbled deliriously.
Arthur swore he could see Prunella's pupils dilating. Before he knew what was happening, Prunella's arms were wrapped around him, and she was kissing every part of his face, including his lips and glasses.
"Stop it!" cried Arthur, lashing out frantically but failing to push the older girl away.
"Arthur, I love you...ooohhh, I love you..." Prunella gushed. The other kids watched in amazement, wondering whether the rat girl's feelings were genuine or it was all a joke.
Finally Arthur managed to twist free of Prunella's grip. "Stop kissing me!" he commanded in a shrill, panicked voice. Prunella lunged at him again, but he took refuge behind a coffee table.
It appeared to him that Prunella's eyes were filling with tears. "You...you don't love me," she moaned as streams of salt water appeared on her cheeks.
Then a brilliant idea occurred to her love-fogged mind. Wiping her tears, she turned and raced through the still-opened front door.
Hardly able to see through the saliva on his glasses, Arthur fumbled his way to the door, closed it, and fastened the deadbolt. Francine came up behind him, looking a bit concerned. "What was that all about?" she asked.
"Uh, I don't know," said Arthur, wiping his glasses on his sweater. "But it was kinda scary."
About ten minutes passed, as each of the kids in turn urged Binky to reconsider his decision. "You don't have to react to them," Muffy told him. "Just ignore them."
"You don't know what it feels like, Muffy," Binky replied. "Nobody ever makes fun of you."
"Of course not," said Muffy arrogantly. "My manners are impeccable, and my clothes are always in fashion."
The doorbell rang again, and Arthur rose to answer it. This time he peered through the peephole, only to find to his chagrin that Prunella was standing on the top of the access ramp with a tray of hors-d'oeuvres in her hands.
Arthur turned to the others. "It's her again," he announced darkly. "This time she's got food."
Beat jumped to her feet. "Let me open the door," she proposed. "I don't think she'll try to kiss me."
Arthur stood aside as the rabbit-aardvark girl pulled open the door, allowing Prunella to step inside. "Oh, that looks scrumptious," Beat commented in her refined British accent.
"They're crackers with chocolate-hazelnut spread," Prunella informed her. "I'd like Arthur to...no, wait!"
But she spoke too late, as Beat had already grabbed one of the chocolate- frosted crackers and taken a bite out of it. The other kids (with the exception of Van) had risen from their seats, and were starting to surround Prunella and her tray of goodies.
"Hey, those do look tasty," Binky remarked.
"Do they have sugar?" Van wanted to know. "I can't have sugar."
What happened next, happened very quickly...
Beat gazed into Arthur's glasses and felt an overwhelming attraction. The boy stepped backwards nervously as she advanced toward him, her mouth agape, her eyes bulging.
Binky and George were helping themselves to the snacks when Muffy said to them, "I'm sure they're delicious, but I'm watching my weight." Suddenly the Muffy they knew disappeared, replaced by a glorious angel of light...
Prunella became speechless and desperate as she watched her friends partake freely of the potion-laced treats, but her mood turned to fury when she saw Beat wrap her arms around Arthur's neck and plant a wet kiss on his quivering lips. Quickly setting the tray on the kitchen counter, she grabbed Beat by the shoulder and yanked her away from Arthur, shrieking, "Get your hands off him!"
Muffy wasn't sure what to make of Binky and George, who were staring at her as if under a hypnotic spell. "Muffy, I love you," mumbled George, stepping cautiously toward her. "Muffy, I want to kiss you..."
Then Binky stuck out a huge fist to block George's way. "Hey, nobody kisses Muffy but me!" he bellowed threateningly.
Muffy started to whimper in fear. Beat shook a finger at Prunella, yelling, "Arthur ismy boyfriend, you git!" Francine and Fern watched in astonishment, certain that a fight would break out any moment, and idly plucked crackers from the tray.
Van rolled his chair up to Fern. "Hey, I don't think you should eat that stuff," he warned, but too late...the girls were already chewing.
Fern turned to Van as if to ask, "Why not?", but instead of Van, she saw a being of infinite beauty sitting in a wheelchair. She bent over and reached for him...
Francine was about to look at Van as well...when she suddenly realized what the duck boy meant. She knew what was happening...she was the cause of it, and she had already fallen victim to it...
Placing her hands over her eyes, she began to mutter single-mindedly, "I mustn't look at a boy...I mustn't look at a boy..."
"I'm warning you, Beat!" Prunella growled, clenching her fists. "I'm bigger than you!"
"You may be bigger, but I'm..."--Beat raised a foot and sent it crashing down on Prunella's, causing her to howl in pain--"...smarter!"
"Back off, shrimp!" Binky shoved George with all his might, sending the moose boy into an out-of-control plunge toward the carpet. Bruised but undaunted, George jumped to his feet and glowered at Binky as he tried to think of a way to rescue his beloved Muffy from the clutches of the much-larger boy.
"Unhand me, you brute!" Muffy roared at the lovesick Binky as he tried to pull her closer. Then George was reminded of a cartoon he had seen once...and he knew exactly what to do.
As Arthur fled through the front door from the girls who were disputing over him, and Francine pushed her way past Binky and Muffy with her eyes still covered, and Fern sat on the lap of the perplexed Van, passionately kissing his beak...
...George reached for the tray on the kitchen counter and stuffed all of the remaining crackers into his mouth. He chewed and chewed, and then began to snort. Steam appeared to shoot from his nostrils as he pawed the carpet with his shoe.
Binky, who had almost succeeded in pressing his lips against the unwilling Muffy's, looked over at George...and became afraid. The young moose seemed to have expanded to twice his original size.
As Binky drew his hands away from Muffy in hopes of defending himself, George charged.
His antlers smashed into Binky's solar plexus with awesome force, sending his rival hurtling against the wall and sprawling to the floor.
Binky lay on his stomach, groaning with pain. Beat and Prunella stopped fighting long enough to notice Arthur's absence, and hurried through the door after him. They were followed by Francine, who still held her hand over her eyes and muttered, "Mustn't look at a boy..." Van politely asked Fern to cease kissing him and depart from his lap, but the poodle girl only sighed ecstatically and started to lick his cheek.
And George received an unexpected reward. "My hero!" cried Muffy, throwing her arms around him and kissing him gratefully on the lips. He was in heaven.
Half a block away, Alan strolled casually down the sidewalk, accompanied by the blissfully grinning Dolly. "I don't know what to say to him," Alan admitted. "If I were him, I wouldn't have taken the job in the first place."
"I think wearing a costume and entertaining children is a noble profession," Dolly remarked, her grin unbroken. "He should be proud."
To their surprise, Arthur came running toward them, screaming in terror. They barely had a chance to step to one side as he whipped past them. "I wonder what scared him," said Alan curiously, and then Beat and Prunella nearly plowed into him and Dolly as they ran by in hot pursuit.
"Arthur, come back!" Prunella called out.
"Arthur, I love you!" Beat shouted sweetly.
"So that's what scared him," quipped Alan, glancing over his shoulder.
Then he looked ahead again...and all he saw was Francine, hand over eyes, rocketing toward him like a rogue missile.
WHAM!
Dolly's grin faded slightly as she gazed down at the two kids who had collided with each other and landed on their backs. As Alan slowly pulled himself up and brushed the dust from his shirt, Francine shot to her feet and glared angrily at him. "Why don't you watch where you're going, you..."
"...boy..."
Alan watched in befuddlement as the girl's expression rapidly changed from annoyance to fascination. From Francine's perspective, Alan was growing more handsome with each passing moment, and she knew all was lost. Her only hope was to attempt to explain the situation before her brain melted.
"Don'teatthechocolateDollyputalovepotioninit!" she managed to blurt out before she was seized upon by an uncontrollable urge to throw herself into the arms of the gorgeous hunk of boy standing before her.
Dolly looked on as Francine repeatedly kissed the alarmed Alan, and her grin slowly vanished. "Oh, dear," she muttered in an embarrassed tone. "I've made a serious mistake."
TBC
