The Challenge

Stock Used:

Woman: Storm's Stock
Dolphin: Enchanted Dreams

"For Heaven's Sake," Valerie was clearly exasperated.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Gerald, clearly puzzled.
"You can't honestly believe everything you read on the Internet."
"I don't. But it would be a hoot if it were real."
"Being able to transform people into mythological creatures? Give me a break!"
"I suppose you are right."

Kenneth flipped to another web site. Valerie, another of the world's ever growing collection of Internet widows, merely shook her head and returned to her reading.

Kenneth, though, couldn't leave it alone. He visited and revisited the site. It had a guarantee. Most hoax sites didn't. It had a fancy online ordering system. Again most hoax sites didn't. After nearly two weeks, his curiosity finally overrode his logic and he ordered the kit.

It arrived two days later and Kenneth, not wanting Valerie to laugh at him, hid the kit away and practiced in secret. Some months later, at the height of the summer, he brought out the bare essentials. Valerie, just back from her job at a fancy restaurant, had changed into her bikini and was about to go swimming in the nearby ocean.  Kenneth, with an odd smirk on his face, blocked her way. She immediately took in the strange stick in his right hand and the oddly glowing orb in the other hand.

"You didn't! You bought that hoax site's junk, didn't you?"
"Not junk and definitely not a hoax. Want me to show you?"
"Oh bullshit, Ken, bullshit. You could no more change a person's shape with that stupid thing than I am my own boss."
"It works! I've tried it."
"You're delusional. Too much time in the house playing magic and not enough time doing real world things."
"I am not. And it does work."
"Crap. Shape changing is strictly impossible."

Her voice shifted from the slight edge of unbelief it held at the beginning to one of derision. Clearly she hadn't expected him to waste money and time on something so stupid.

"Impossible, is it?" Kenneth's anger rose. He hated being bullied by his wife in anything. "Then explain this!"

He pointed the rod at her, waved it over her, muttered a few words and it was all over.

Valerie felt her legs weakening. Something pushed out at the base of her spine. It was soon as long as her legs and began to spread her legs apart. Her legs were weakening, shrinking and flattening at the same time. Within seconds, she found herself toppling over the edge of the sand. The water soon quieted and the glow broke up into a collection of sparkles that slowly faded in the water. She took stock of her new form. A mermaid with a dolphin's tail instead of scales. She reached around and felt the stiff caudal fin growning from where her buttocks used to be. She was completely speechless for several long seconds.

"You can change me back, right?" she asked.
"I hope so. I've never tried the mermaid spell before."