Arnold smiled as he pulled the mask on over his face, looking at himself in the mirror. He had bought the raccoon mask from a pawnshop because it had looked cute, and had been itching to try it on all day, even though he would never do anything like that to something obviously antique. The moment he put it on he knew something was wrong, as his face started to tingle, and the mask suddenly felt tight and very hot. His first reaction was that he was having an allergic reaction to something in the mask, but that was quickly pushed aside when he removed the mask and it abjectly refused to budge. It was stuck solid. He tried to get his fingers under the mask but somehow, simply couldn’t, it was almost like there was no gap between the dark wood of the edge of the mask and the skin of his head. Then he turned his attention back to the mirror. The mask looked totally different. Instead of slightly chipped paintwork it was covered in fur. It had to be, the paint didn’t gleam or move like that. His jaw dropped open in surprise, and so did the mouth of the mask, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth that were defiantly not human. He felt inside it, and was rewarded with the sensation of a hand in his mouth, causing him to jump and cut his pa… hand on his new teeth.
”Oh my god. What the hell is going on?” he exclaimed, putting niceties aside in his shock “This… This can’t be real!”
Real or not, as he stared at his reflection in the mirror, he watched as his hair started to turn grey and alter, until it ran continually back from where the fur of the mask ended. He ran a hand through it trying desperately to find the gap between his head and his mask, but finding only soft, warm fur and skin underneath. Arnold blushed as he rubbed more, feeling the tingling spread from his face to his neck and down onto his stomach.
He decided not to lift his shirt up, mostly because he didn’t want to see what was going on. It quickly became itchy all over his chest as the tingling. His belly rounded out a bit as the fur started to move down his arms. It quickly covered them, grey up to the top of the wrists, then black fur, which covered his hands. He watched with wide eyes as his fingers began to shorten, his two middle fingers merging into one as his nails altered, becoming sharp paws. Then there was a crack, his thumbs shifting positions. He tried to cry out as he realised his hands were now essentially useless paws, but all that came out was a panicked chattering noise. He looked around as his heartbeat sped up, trying to get a grip on the bathroom doorknob. The new configuration of his hands made this impossible however. Even using both paws he was unable to get a good enough grip on the brass knob to turn it, but kept trying. Anything to keep his attention off of the tingling that was now busily spreading down his back, gently easing his tailbone into lengthening. It was of little use, and soon he was staring at the large ringed tail sprouting from just above his behind. 'Oh god' he thought 'this just cant be happening, people just don’t turn into things!' He shivered again, feeling the tail twitching with his anxiety and fear as he felt the tingling spread down his legs, knowing that there was fur growing there too. He now had his eyes tightly shut and was making quiet, scared noises. He didn’t want to know what was going on anymore. He just wanted to wake up and find it was all a dream, that none of it had happened. That he was plain old Arnold in his boring old life, but he couldn’t, it was far too… too real to be anything but real life. He hesitantly took a step back, feeling his feet… paws click against the tiled floor of the bathroom.
The feelings seemed to subside as Arnold backed up against the wall, panting lightly and looking around. 'I… I think its over… please let it be over'. But it wasn’t. Just when it seemed that Arnold had been spared what he knew would be the other part of the change, he felt a feeling like someone pushing down on his head, not hard, but insistent. He shivered and risked a glance, opening his eyes on a world that was growing around him, and rapidly too. He was glad when the folds of his now huge shirt obscured his view, keeping him from seeing the growing environment. The feeling of being compressed into his new size was almost enough to make him sick anyway. Then, he felt the last stage. His proportions must have shifted during his shrinking, because he knew his for… his arms and legs felt shorter. Now, with a series of cracks and pops, that sounded painful, but thankfully didn’t feel that way, what was worse than the pain, was feeling himself being pushed onto all fours, his head realigning into his new quadruped position. When this had completed, the sensations died away, leaving Arnold confused and afraid as he crawled out from his shirt, looking around the now huge bathroom. He shivered softly, his nose catching the scent of a human. His scent. He could smell how scared he’d been! It hung in the air and bolstered Arnold’s own fear, part of his mind saying if something as big as a human was this scared, then a little racoon like him should be on the look out. He shook his head to clear the thoughts. Walking up to the door and scratching it like a dog, he wanted out of this fear filled room, it was making his mind feel cloudy and fuzzy, 'No… I’ve already become a racoon physically, I don’t want to lose my mind to it too' He shivered, pawing at the door more frantically until he heard it. His roomies voice.
“Boy? Where are you?” Came her voice, calling from the other side of the door.
Arnold wasn’t sure how to reply, but something seemed to bypass his mind entirely, and he began to chitter excitedly, jumping up and down 'like… Like a pet' He thought 'why am I acting like this? Its only Miss… I mean my roommate.' Arnold stepped back as the bathroom door opened, and his roommate smiled
“There you are!” she said, grinning down at him “I was getting worried!”
She lifted him before he could move back, and once in her arms, he relaxed, starting to chirr as his mind filled with yet more fog.
“Don’t worry, you’ll remember who you are” She smiled, stroking the racoons back, “but soon, you won’t care, you like being my pet”
'Y... yes', Arnold thought, the simple touch altering his thoughts 'Arnold likes being your pet'. He churred louder and nuzzled against his mistress willingly and yawned, he was suddenly tired from his little experience, and wanted to sleep.
His mistress smiled, carrying her new pet into the living room and letting him curl up on the couch, stroking him softly as he dropped off to sleep

THE END?