The Wishbringer
By: Lance Holloway


	An odd noise woke me up.  I raised my head up from my pillow and
looked around the bedroom.  A shadowy figure stood in the corner.  My
heart raced.  I managed to work up the nerve to ask, "Who's there?"

	The figured raised an arm, and the lights turned on.  "Why, Lance,
I thought you would be happy to see me."  The woman stood there in a large
billowing cloak.  A hood hid her head deep within.

	It knew my name.  "W-w-who are you?"

	She snickered. "I am the Wishbringer.  You have wished long enough
for one thing.  I am here to give you that wish."

	"My wish?" my heart kicked into overdrive.  Could it be true?
"How do I know you aren't just some crook who broke into my apartment?"

	"Even with me standing before you, you still doubt.  You want a
demonstration?"

	I nodded slowly.

	"Very well."  She snapped her fingers.  Bolts of electricity
radiated from her hands extending to about a foot.  I could tell she had
done something to me.  I felt different.

	"Look at yourself.  Do you need further proof?"

	I looked down and saw that I was covered in light brown fur.  Even
my huge feet and tail were covered in fur.  A tail?  A large kangaroo tail
was attached to me.  The rest of me was now kangarooish, too.  I hopped
out of bed and marveled at my new kangaroo body.

	"See.  Now do you believe me?" she asked.

	I nodded, and she snapped her fingers again.  In a flash I was
back to my normal human self.

	"So, what are you here to do?" I asked still curious about the
details.

"I am here to grant you your wish to be something else," she said in an
over dramatic tone.  "You only get one wish, and only one form."

	"So, I couldn't be a were-creature?"

	"No, I can't do that.  You have to choose one form, and that will
be it.  It can be an animal, half human-half animal, or it can even be
something you made up."  She gestured slightly to my closet where my
Wigamalefis costume was stored.

	"Only one?" I asked.

	"Yes.  Only one."

	"I need to think about this."

	The hood nodded.  "I understand.  Take your time."

	I sat down on the bed thinking about what I could be.  The
possibilities were endless.  Being a moose was the first thing on my list.
But, should I be an anthropomorphic moose or a real moose?  The brief time
as a kangaroo stayed in my mind too.  That would be a nice form to have.

	The Wishbringer paced the floor.  She looked at my rack of movies.
"Mind if I watch one?" she asked.

	"No, go right ahead," I said and continued to think.

	She took a few movies and walked into the living room and turned
on the TV and VCR.

	I tuned out the noise of the TV as I continued thinking.  I
thought and thought.  Finally after several hours, I decided to stick with
being a morphic moose.  That way I would be a moose and I could still do
human things.  If I could go out in public.

	I walked into the living room. The Wishbringer was sitting on the
couch eating popcorn.  She was watching "Mulan."

	"I know what I want to be," I said.  "I wish to be...."

	She snapped her fingers.  Her eyes were still glued to the TV set.

	I could feel the changes.  It was different than the demonstration
she gave me earlier.  I could actually feel the bones and muscles
shifting.  My ears grew longer, and I could feel the start of my antlers.
My arms and legs got skinnier as did my torso.  "Moose's torsos aren't
skinny," I managed to say to myself before I saw that I wasn't growing
brown fur.  I had red scales.  My belly was turning orangeish.

	I started shrinking.  Fortunately, because I could feel the start
of a tail inside my shorts.  I became completely enveloped in my clothes.
I crawled my way out of my shorts and shirt and saw a large red nose in
front of me.  I looked at the rest of me, and I was a small red lizard.
Just like the one on TV.  No, I was a dragon.  I was Mushu from the
"Mulan" movie.

	"Mushu?  You turned me into Mushu?" I yelled.

	"I hope you like it," she said not even looking.

	I hopped up on the entertainment center right in front of the TV
and turned it off.  "Look at me.  You turned me into Mushu.  I wanted to
be a moose."

	"Oh, I'm sorry.  I must have read your thoughts wrong," she said
and waved a hand.  The TV turned back on.  "Now, go back to sleep.  I want
to finish this movie before I go."

	"Before you GO!?" I yelled.  "You aren't going anywhere until you
fix this.  I didn't want to be Mushu."

	She snapped her fingers again.  I looked around the room in
confusion.  "What was I angry about?" I asked.

	"Nothing.  Can you move, Mushu?  I'm watching your movie."

	I turned around.  "Oh, sure.  I LOVE this part.  See that's where
I...."

	"Don't tell me!"

I climbed down off of the entertainment center and scurried up on to the
couch next to the Wishbringer.

	"You know, Wishy?"

	"What, Mushu?"

	"I don't think I want you to change me into anything.  I like me
being the way I am.  Mushu, the great."

	She patted me on the head.  "I thought you would see it that way."
She snickered slightly.

The End