Riddle for the Ages
Riddle for the Ages
by: Theo Winters
Written for Leasara
Tasha picked up the wooden box from the table of knick knacks. It was small, maybe five inches by six and made out of a dark wood. Each surface of the box was inlayed with black markings that twisted and swirled over the wood; wrapping around each warn corner and around what looked like the seam for the lid.
She pushed gently at the top, and then pulled at it, neither action opened the box. Looking closely at it she tried to see if there even was a lid or if it was some sort of puzzle box. She could almost make out what could be a hidden catch disguised by the inlays, but it didn't move either.
Still, she was now intrigued by the odd box. She stroked her hands over the smooth surface as she turned back towards the single young man who was manning the garage sale. She walked up to him, pushed her shoulder length black hair back up behind her ear. "How much for this?" she asked, holding out the box.
The young man looked at the box before he picked it up from her hand. He looked over every side of it then shrugged. "Five bucks."
With a smile Tasha pulled a bill from her purse and handed it to the young man, who returned the box back with a shrug. She tucked it back into her purse and left the garage sale, walking the eleven blocks to her apartment. It was a nice day out, not to hot and not to cold so the walk was nice.
Her mind kept turning over the box, trying to place everything she had seen to see if she could come up with a new way to open it. By the time she got home she simply couldn't wait to try it again. As soon as she was inside the door she dug the box out of her purse and looked it over very closely as she traced her fingers over the inlays.
Her exploration netted her three more small spots that looked like hidden catches. She started to press at them, all at once then one at a time. With a little experimentation she discovered if she pressed two that were diagonal to each other they sunk in, the two other catches popping out.
With a little more fiddling she found that she could push the two exposed latches towards the top of the box and with a pop the lid snapped open.
Tasha smirked a bit as she pulled off the lid of the box, surprised to find only a small rolled up piece of paper hidden inside.
Setting the box down, she picked up the paper and unrolled it, finding a note written in a slightly smudged black ink. "I'm a creature of myth and legend, I guard the treasures of the past. My key is hidden behind my words, and until answered I shall be steadfast."
"The whole point of the box was to hide bad poetry? I can think of more interesting things to keep inside of it," she said, rolling the paper back up and carefully setting it back in the box. Without another thought she snapped the lid back on and locked it back into place.
Without really being aware of it she walked across the studio apartment to sit on her small bed. Her mind turned back to the poetic riddle as she started top pull at her shirt, beginning to feel a bit hot under her clothing. It felt like the room was simply to hot now, the heat rolling over her in waves. Without thinking she pulled her t-shirt off and threw it away. That helped a little bit, but the warmth really wasn't going away.
Closing her eyes Tasha leaned back on her bed, starting to pant as pricks of sweat broke out over her arms and chest. It was uncomfortable to her but not so much that she wanted to get up and do anything about it. In fact it really wasn't that uncomfortable and more like a bit itchy, and there was an odd pressure growing over her back.
She grunted with annoyance when she realized the pressure was from her bra. With her eyes still closed she reached behind her back and unhooked it. The fabric of the cups snapped forward as her breasts surged out and bounced down against her chest. It was a rather odd feeling considering her breasts were small and perky.
Blinking in surprise she looked down at the bra as it hung from her arms. There was no way that the bra belonged to her, or rather her breasts didn't belong in the bra. They were much larger than they should have been and were still growing as she watched. She cloud feel them pressing down against her chest and starting to press together.
"What in the world?" she asked softly as she stood up, the bra falling down her arms to drop to the floor. She rushed to the bathroom which provided a very unusual feeling as her breasts bounced and swayed with every step she took, as her hair billowed out behind her. Flicking on the lights she looked at herself in the mirror. Her breasts were massive! Not something like a striper would have but still very large.
Turning to her side she looked at her profile, surprised at how much the extra flesh changed her basic shape. Her long black hair swirled around her back, the ends tickling around between her shoulders.
Tasha spent a few moments staring at her new endowments before she noticed that her hair was growing. The heavy locks started to brush around the hem of her jeans. Grabbing her hair she pulled it in front of her face, trying to look at it, trying to see what why it was growing.
Nothing came of it, but the hair seemed to stop once it was long enough to cover the curve of her rear end.
She turned in place, her hair fanning out around her as her breasts swayed from side to side. She looked over her shoulder at her reflection for a few moments. The long hair did look nice but she had always found it a pain to keep up and had never grown it much past her shoulders, now she had three feet of long flowing hair to deal with.
Reaching back she ran her hands through the long hair, feeling the pressure on the scalp as she tugged gently at it. Shaking her head she watched it dance all over her body. Every part of her was starting to feel a little bit off, the prickling at her skin was growing worse and her feet were beginning to feel odd in her shoes.
She turned and stumbled back to the bed, tripping over her feet as the pressure in her shoes quickly grew to the point that she could see the material starting to strain. She dropped down onto the bed and kicked off her shoes, holding her feet up to look at them past her large breasts.
There was clearly something wrong with her feet, they were oddly misshapen and her toes looked completely wrong. In fact her feet really didn't look like feet anymore but something far more animalistic.
Crossing her left leg across her knee she pulled off the sock and let out a gasp at what she saw. Her foot had stretched out and her ankle had grown more prominent. Her toes had gotten fatter yet shorter, the toenails reshaping into black claws. A thin layer of tan fur covered the exposed flesh, fur that was growing thicker by the moment. The bottom of her foot had changed as well, thick black pads starting to form over the ball of her foot and her toes. It wasn't a foot anymore, it was a paw.
Tasha dropped her leg as the claws on her right paw were starting to rip through the fabric of her sock. She sat on her bed, starring down at her changed feet over her changed breasts, her new hair hanging over her face and almost to her knees. She knew she should do something, but she had no idea what that something could be.
Wiggling her new toes she leaned back and let out a sigh, the poem running though her head again. She shivered and felt a tingle running up her legs. Pulling up the cuffs of her jeans she saw that the fur was starting to reach her knees. She could also feel swelling in her hips and her rear end making her pants even tighter than before.
She struggled to her feet and started to work her pants off, forcing them down over her hips to reveal that the fur was almost at her waist, her lower legs were covered in it and the muscles under the skin where starting to shift and grow stronger.
As she stepped out of her pants she felt something pop in her hips. With a yell she fell forward, landing hard on the carpet and bouncing against her large chest. Grunting in annoyance she lifted herself onto her hands and knees, or at least she tried. Instead she found herself balancing on her hands and her new hind legs.
"Damn," she said with a low growl as she tried to stand up, using the small bed to try to support herself. She couldn't do it, something had changed with her hips. They simply weren't made for standing upright anymore.
A chill ran down the length of her spine, followed a moment later by a feeling a growth at the base of her back. Craning her head back she watched with an odd bit of detachment as her spine started to grow longer, the tan fur covering the growing length of her new tail. She could feel it as it grew, the length of it rubbing against the fur of her hind legs. It was a wonderful feeling and without warning she felt herself start to purr, the rumbling shaking the center of her chest.
Tasha closed her eyes, her upper body starting to tingle as the warmth rolled across her chest and back then down her arms. Her hands were growing even warmer as she felt them start to twitch. She looked down at her hands; her fingers had begun to shrink as her palm grew larger fur starting to cover the skin. In only a few moments her fingers were simply gone, leaving behind the same fat feline toes as her feet.
She lifted one hand watching as it reshaped itself into a large paw. Placing it back down on the floor she shifted her weight around on all four paws, her tail flicking slowly behind her. Her arms were starting to stretch out, the fur filling out along the length of her new forelegs. As the fur wrapped over her shoulders she felt them pop and shift around, stretching and rolling under her new fur. At the same time her neck twisted as her head snapped up right to look forward, leaving her still human head and neck on top of the feline body.
Tasha shivered on her four paws, feeling her body starting to shake. Other than her head and neck the only human part of her left was her large breasts, hanging between her forelegs.
Without a thought she lay down in the center of the studio apartment. Her head was still spinning around, her body feeling both right and wrong at the same time. She wanted to panic, but she couldn't, in fact the only thing in her mind was the riddle, running around and around behind her eyes. It was oddly comforting to her.
A jolt ran along her back and across her shoulders, causing her to throw her head back in an animalistic roar, her hair flying all about her body. The heat was almost burning across her shoulders, odd jolts of pain running through her body. She dug her claws into the carpet, pulling at it she felt something burst out from her back. They stretched out over her new body, growing larger with every passing moment until they brushed against the walls of the small apartment.
Looking back over her shoulders she let out a gasp. Wings, she had wings! Without a thought she folded them against her back and then slowly flexed them outwards again. They were huge and beautiful, the feathers dark brown with streaks of black near the edges. A smile crossed over her face as she felt the warmth starting to fade away from her now body.
Tasha shook her head, her black hair falling around her. She carefully walked across the room, her new shape much larger than her old form, her head almost brushing against the ceiling. She wasn't sure what had happened to her and not sure what she could do. The riddle ran through her mind once more: "I'm a creature of myth and legend, I guard the treasures of the past. My key is hidden behind my words, and until answered I shall be steadfast."
"A Sphinx," she finally answered. A warm jolt passing through her and she knew she got the question exactly right.
Without another word the sphinx walked over to the box and carefully picked it up in her forepaws. She pressed a tiny latch with her claw, feeling it pop open. A moment later the room fell away from her to be replaced by a large open plain covered in yellow and brown grass. The sphinx dropped the box and launched herself into the air, flying into the perfect pink sky.
As the box fell to the ground the studio apartment reformed around it. The single room was empty... other then the box and Tasha's discarded clothing.
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This story was written and copyright 2010 by Theo Winters, reposting and archiving are allowed as long as this copyright notice and the author's name are not removed. This story cannot be published without permission of the author. Violators will be transformed.