"This can't be happening," I tried to tell myself, but I wasn't very convincing.
Partially because of my new high-pitched girly voice, and the fact that the cute little mouse-girl in the mirror was still matching my every movement.
She had a gorgeous rounded face, with full wide pink lips and deep soulful brown eyes. And notably, her lips were healthy, rather than split and swollen. There was no large ugly bruise around her left eye either. Her long soft sandy brown hair had a sort of wild carefree look to it. And rising up above that hair were her two big round mouse ears, coated in a fine layer of tan-coloured fuzz.
Then there was that other minor detail, of how the best friend I'd known since I was about nine years old didn't even look human anymore. Instead she appeared to be some kind of drop-dead gorgeous elvish beauty, complete with long pointed ears.
And that wasn't even taking into consideration the fact that my t-shirt was now like a huge oversized nightshirt, my big hoodie was practically a tent on my tiny body, and my jeans were pooled on the ground around my small delicate feet. The end of my long slender tan-coloured tail was down there too, wrapped nervously around my right calf and ankle to avoid getting accidentally stepped on by the other bar patrons.
Which, yes, not only was I suddenly a tiny mouse-girl but I'd been pantsed in the middle of an unfamiliar establishment full of strange people. And if that happened any other time in my life I'd have instantly died of embarrassment. In this open-air swamp venue though, nobody else seemed to even notice, let alone care. Other than the hungry-looking catgirl, who was still quietly watching me from where she sat near the far end of the bar.
I finally lowered the big heavy hand-mirror as I looked up at my friend again. "Nia? Please tell me 'fairy wine' is just a really strong drug, and all this is a very detailed hallucination? Then please tell me how to make it stop?"
She shook her head, "Sorry J. You're not hallucinating, all this is real."
"In that case I have some questions," I told her. I probably sounded unnaturally calm, but that was only because after everything else that happened tonight it was either stay calm or completely fall to pieces.
"Where are we?" I asked. "What happened to you? And why do I look like a little mouse-girl?"
My best friend took a deep breath then gestured, "Folks call this place 'the crossroads', since we use it to cross between the mundane world and the magical realm. But more specifically the bar itself is called Gruffudd's Grove."
"Ok," I nodded slowly, "Go on."
She grimaced slightly as she gestured at herself, "This is my true form, this is what I really look like. I'm fae, so are my parents. And they didn't really move to Ottawa, they just decided to leave the mundane world behind. Now they live in a nearby fae enclave."
I continued staring at her while I waited for her to answer my last question.
"I'm sorry," she sighed. "The short answer -- no pun intended -- is for a human to see through the veil into the magical realm you just need to consume a bit of fae food or drink. Then the veil parts and you get to see what's on the other side, all the magical stuff that's normally invisible to human eyes."
"Ninety-nine point nine times out of a hundred that's all that happens. Most first-timers never get anything worse than a little dizziness or a bit of nausea." She paused there to give me an apologetic look, "Once in a while though, a human will have a stronger reaction. And um, it looks like you got lucky."
"Lucky," I stated flatly. "How is any of this lucky?"
Nia cringed slightly then shrugged, "I mean, at least your face healed up? No more black eye or split lip. And there's no way your dad will recognize you like this."
I took a deep breath then asked, "Am I stuck like this forever? Or is there some way to change back?"
"Oh!" she smiled, "No of course you're not stuck! Right now you're sort of halfway-through the veil? Like one foot in, one foot out. You can see the magical realm all around us, but any humans who showed up here would be able to see you too. All it takes to break the spell is just consume some mundane human food. Then all this magic stuff disappears, and you pop back to normal again."
Her smile faded as she reminded me, "Of course that means you'll be alone in the empty swamp again. And you'll probably end up having to deal with your dad after all. But if that's what you want to do then I can order you a human drink right now."
"Or," she added as her smile returned, "If you're up for it I can order us a couple proper fae drinks instead. That'll solidify our connection to the magical realm, and we'll basically 'vanish' from the mundane world. Humans won't be able to see us anymore, and we won't see them."
"Then we can go spend the weekend at my folks' place if you like?" she added, "Tuesday morning we'll have some human food and snap back to Earth in time for classes."
I stared at her for another few seconds as I slowly worked my way through all that in my head. Then I asked, "If I have some fae food so I can stay here for now, will that do anything else to my body? And will I still be able to turn back to normal again later?"
Nia nodded, "Absolutely! Like I said you're sort of half in half out right now, more fae food will just pull you the rest of the way through the veil. But it only takes a single bite of human food to break the spell, so to speak. So Tuesday morning we have a granola bar or something and pop! Back to normal."
"Alright," I said as I thought it through one more time. Then I finally agreed, "Ok. I'm still freaking out internally, but you're right. I don't want to have to deal with my dad again any time soon. And it'll be nice to see your folks again."
"Except they won't recognize me," I added with a frown. "And what do I do about clothes? I can't exactly go around like this."
My friend was already grinning happily as she exclaimed, "Yes! Don't worry about clothes and stuff, we'll figure that out. Why don't you grab us a table? I'll fetch us some proper drinks, then we can work out our plans for the long weekend!"
I didn't even have a chance to respond before she turned and dashed off to get us some enchanted booze. So I glanced around for somewhere to sit as I muttered a quiet, "Alright then."
There were actually a couple empty tables, and I automatically selected the one that wasn't right next to the hungry-looking catgirl. Except I knew better than to just start walking, while my feet were still practically trapped in the pile of denim that was my pants. So I carefully stepped out of them, and ended up leaving my shoes and socks behind along with my jeans and underwear.
I could feel my cheeks burning, but my hoodie was so big on me now it hung down past my knees so it's not like anyone could see anything. Then I crouched down to gather up the lower half of my wardrobe, but first I had to pull up my hoodie sleeves again. And that's when I realized that big heavy mirror was gone.
"Ok that's not even fair!" I complained to myself. "Bad enough when stuff's appearing and disappearing around me, how does stuff vanish like that while I'm still holding it?"
I finally bent over to gather up my pants and shoes, then walked barefoot over to that other table. And that opened my eyes to another brand-new experience, as I discovered moving around in this new body felt completely different. Like my centre of balance was different and my legs and hips didn't move like I was used to, but my long skinny tail did a great job of keeping me steady regardless.
As freaky as having a tail was though, there were a couple more surprises that were even bigger. One being the sensations of having two new heavy weights on my chest, and the way they bounced and jiggled around under my hoodie and t-shirt when I moved. And the other being when I realized my guy junk was completely gone. I could tell was still something down there, like it wasn't completely numb or anything. It felt different enough though that I could guess I now had girl junk instead.
Needless to say, by the time I was at the table I was dealing with a lot of very confusing new emotions, along with all those physical sensations. And part of me was curious enough I was tempted to take a quick peek under the hoodie, to get a look at this new body. But another part of me was scared about how that might make me feel.
Not knowing what to do with my extra clothes I left them on the floor under the table, then I was forced to sort of jump-hop up to get my butt on the seat. I even managed to avoid sitting on my tail, and the chair was big enough for me to easily wrap my tail around my left hip so the end could hang down by my dangling feet. Except I didn't like having my bare feet out in the open like that, and the air was still kind of chilly, so I pulled them up then shuffled around a little until I was sitting cross-legged with my hoodie tucked underneath. Which was actually really warm and comfy. Even my tail was tucked away, wrapped around my waist and curled up out of sight on my lap.
Once I was comfortably seated in the chair I clued in to what I hoped would be the last indignity of the evening. My chin was only slightly higher than the tabletop in front of me, so I probably looked like a toddler sitting at the grown-up table. I just hoped nobody came along and offered me a booster seat.
In all it was probably barely a minute since Nia went to get the drinks, and the whole experience left my mind racing while my emotions churned. Maybe the most confusing thing was how much I wasn't freaking out about any of the physical stuff. Like ok I was a little freaked out about the magic and the supernatural beings and my best friend turning out to be not human. But compared to all that, my biggest complaint about being turned into a tiny mouse-girl was that it was a surprise.
Basically I knew I should be experiencing dysphoria, but I was pretty sure that wasn't happening. Which didn't make any sense to me. I was a guy, I wasn't supposed to be ok about having boobs or girl junk. Or about being tiny and cute.
A moment later I scowled as I mentally chastised myself then told myself I wasn't 'ok' with any of this, I was just accepting it in a calm level-headed way. Because I was a guy. I was supposed to be tough and strong and stoic. Anyways I knew if my dad found out I got turned into a small cute mouse-girl then started acting like I liked it he'd absolutely kick my ass. And it's not like he needed any more excuses for that.
"Hey J! What's on your mind?" Nia asked as she appeared by the table. "You were frowning pretty hard there."
I startled slightly at her sudden arrival, but managed not to squeak in surprise. Then I blushed and pouted as I mumbled, "Just thinking about my dad. And how hard he'd beat me if he caught me like this."
My best friend made a sour face as she set a couple big bowl-shaped glasses down on the table, "Bah! Forget about him, for now at least. After you've drank this you'll be firmly anchored on the other side of veil, it'll be like you're an entire world away from the guy."
"Yeah," I nodded. "So what are we drinking?"
I had to pull up my hoodie sleeves again to free my hands, then my cheeks heated up once more when I realized I needed to use both of them to hold the glass steady. It was probably only the size of big coffee mug, but it felt like a small fish-bowl thanks to my new stature. And unlike a mug it didn't have any handles, just smooth rounded glass all the way around. It was half full of a thick yellowy-orange liquid, and as I brought it a little closer my nose twitched to the scent of something fruity.
Nia smiled as she watched me for a few moments before finally replying, "It's basically fruit punch spiked with a bit of fae alcohol. Nothing too strong, we don't want to knock you out right off the bat."
"Hey I'm no lightweight when it comes to booze," I protested.
My beautiful best friend smiled at me as she raised her glass. Which she was able to hold just fine with one hand. I pouted again as I raised mine too, like a little toast between us. Then still holding it with both hands I leaned in and had a tentative first sip. It was fine though, and like she said it was basically fruit juice. Maybe a little heavy on the mango, but I was sure there was some orange and banana in there as well. She was right about it being weak too, I couldn't even taste the booze.
I had a deeper sip, then a gulp or two before setting the heavy glass bowl back down on the table. "That's pretty good. I could probably get used to it."
"I'm glad you like it," she replied with another smile. Then she added, "I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but you look so fucking adorable like that, you know? I mean you're so small and cute, sitting crosslegged on the chair all bundled up in your hoodie like it's one of those wearable blanket things."
I just rolled my eyes then had another quick look around the bar. Everyone else was still minding their own business, enjoying their drinks and conversation and everything. So I picked up my glass and had another gulp of juice before focusing on Nia again.
"So you're a fae?" I asked, "And your parents are fae? And them moving to Ottawa was a lie, to cover for the fact that they went back to living in some magical realm? And now we're there too?"
Nia nodded, "Yeah that about sums it up. They live a little ways north of here, like about a thirty minute walk? Maybe a bit further."
I wasn't sure about walking that far barefoot so I asked, "You don't have ride-shares on your world?"
"Wait!" I added before she could respond. "If you're from another world doesn't that mean you're an alien? Are we on another planet now? Like I'm the first human to venture to another world?"
My friend giggled, which somehow sounded almost musical to my big mouse ears. She was still smiling as she shook her head, "We're not on another planet silly girl! This is still Earth, it's just a different side most humans don't even know about."
"And for that matter," she added with a coy little smirk, "You're not exactly human right now either, cutie."
Hearing her call me a 'silly girl' left me blushing for some reason, while some strange feelings fluttered around in my tummy. Same with being called 'cutie'. So I puffed my cheeks out and pouted at her for a couple seconds.
Then another question crossed my mind, "So ok, if I'm not human then what am I? Like what would you call me? What's your word for mouse girls or cat girls or Sasquatch guys or bear dudes?"
"Our word for Sasquatch is Sasquatch," she replied in a matter-of-fact tone. Then after another gulp of her drink she added, "Some fae refer to folks like you as beastkin. Or more specifically, you're a mousekin. None of those terms are derogatory by the way, just factual."
I carefully picked up my big glass and had another gulp or two of the punch before setting it back down on the table. Then I asked, "And all these different folks are just always here, walking around? But humans can't see them? How do we avoid walking into them, or accidentally running them over on the road?"
"Two different things," Nia explained. "If they're firmly on this side of the veil then it's like we don't exist to the mundane world. Can't see or touch or interact with each other. Like a completely different world I guess, but it's still the same place. If we're over on the mundane side of things then we're disguised so we fit in. Like how I usually look when I'm there."
Before I could comment on any of that she asked, "How are you doing by the way? I'm sure the drink's helping, but you seem a lot more relaxed now. No major freak-outs pending?"
I shrugged, "Nah. The drink's not doing much, it's pretty weak like you said. And yeah I guess I'm ok? Now that I'm over all the shocks and big reveals and stuff, it's kind of interesting."
"Actually it's pretty cool," I admitted. "Just like you said it would be."
She grinned, "Yeah! I'm glad you're feeling better now J! I was really scared when I saw how the fairy wine was affecting you, but you seem pretty relaxed now. Happy even."
"In fact," she added thoughtfully, "I don't think I've seen you smile this much since you got that game console for your twelfth birthday."
My cheeks turned red again as I lied, "I'm not smiling!"