If You Lie

by Tekwolf

Bad things happen when you lie. That was the statement that Jody had always heard. He had to laugh when people told him this now. He had considerably more experience now, than when he was younger and had found through trial and error, that lying got him out of far more trouble than it got him in to. He had lied fluently ever since about the first grade and now that he was in Junior High, his form was almost perfected.

He lied to the principal, his teachers, his parents, friends and to any and everybody that came along. Jody really didn't care if this hurt anyone, as long as he didn't get in trouble. He had become selfish and self-serving over the years as he became the accomplished liar. Due to all of the people that he had hurt, he had few friends. There was however one such person. She had stood by him when others would not. She had watched Jody hurt others, despairing as things got worse and worse.

Then came the fateful day, when he told the final lie that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Stacy had tried to tell herself that he was her friend and wouldn't ever hurt her. Jody had gone into the parking lot, when he was supposed to be in study hall and keyed a teacher's car, who had given him a failing grade on a test. It didn't matter that he had earned it, he was going to get revenge. He took a key and deeply scratched the paint from the side of the car. Then he slipped back into the study hall without the teacher in charge even seeing him.

Jody was fingered by the principal as the culprit, but no one had seen him do it. The only other person that had a pass to be in the hall at the time was Stacy. Jody thought about it for a minute, then shrugged and told the lie.

"Well, I saw Stacy heading that way today," he lied. "I was sitting near the door when she went by."

The principal knew that he was lying, but couldn't prove it. He was given no choice but to suspend Stacy, pending an expulsion hearing. He hoped to prove that Jody did it before then. Stacy was stunned. She had gotten a hall pass to go to the bathroom and had gone straight there and back, but had no way to prove her innocence. Her mother came and picked her up and said nothing all of the way home.

When they went inside, her mother asked her," You really had nothing to do with it did you?"

"No Mom," Stacy said," I know that it was Jody, but he lied. I thought he was my friend, so why would he do this?"

Stacy started to cry. Her mother came over to her and put an arm around her to comfort her. She told Stacy," Child, I never told you this before and I hoped that I wouldn't have to unless you found it for yourself, but you are the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. This means that you can do things that others can't. The reason that I'm telling you this now, is that I think its high time that Jody was taught a lesson."

Stacy smiled and she and her mother talked late into the night and by morning, Stacy had a plan firmly in mind. Jody was going to learn to tell the truth or else. She made plans and got the spell together. Her mother helped her to get everything just right. She called Jody and asked her to meet him at the park. He was surprised that she wasn't mad at him, but he agreed to meet her.

Stacy had gotten there earlier and made her preparations. When Jody arrived and looked around, he saw nothing amiss. He told Stacy," Hey, I'm sorry for getting you in trouble yesterday."

Well, Stacy had heard this before and knew that it was the standard response to the people he had wronged. She went ahead with the spell. "Jody, I have something for you," she told him. She handed Jody a small braided chain loop made from the tail hair of a mule. "It's a good luck charm."

"Thanks, Stacy, you're such a good sport about all this." Jody placed the chain around his wrist and when Stacy saw this, she took his hand and chanted the spell that she had devised. Jody felt a warmth around his wrist where the hair touched him and gasped," What was that?"

With the spell firmly in place, Stacy told Jody exactly what she thought of him," That was a dirty thing to do to me Jody!" "Why couldn't you take your medicine like a man? Why are you always laying the blame on others instead of dealing with it? Well, now there will be consequences if you continue to lie. I placed a spell on you. Every time you lie, a part of you will change into a mule. If it goes too far, it will be irreversible and you will become a mule forever."

"Yeah, right," Jody told her. He reached down to rip the bracelet off of his wrist and found that he could not. It was as strong as steel now and no one could remove it but the one who had placed it there. Jody looked over at her with a stricken look and said," Stacy, please take this thing off of me."

"Not until you learn a lesson. You have hurt me and others with your lying and now you are going to stop or else," Stacy replied. "Remember what I told you and tell the truth and nothing will happen to you. If you keep lying, pretty soon you will be grazing in a pasture."

With a sort of sad laugh, Stacy left and went home. She still liked Jody, even after he had treated her like this and hoped that he would be able to change. All she wanted was for him to be honest for once in his life. But, if she couldn't have that, at least he would not be able to hurt anyone else by lying.

Jody stood there and watched her leave. He felt bad about the situation. He knew that Stacy must have been really hurt to do something like this, so he vowed to try and be better. He walked home. As he went in the door his mother asked," Jody is that you?"

"Yeah, mom, its me," he replied.

"Have you finished your homework yet," she asked?

"I sure have mom," he yelled back.

Then, suddenly, there was a flaring pain on his wrist and too late he remembered the curse. His neck started to itch and it felt as though his skin was crawling. He hurried up into the bathroom and took off his shirt. As he looked into the mirror, he saw that new hair was growing from his neck and part of the way down his back. He had a mane! He reached back, grabbed a handful of the hair and pulled. OUCH! That hurt. Jody knew then that it was his. Well, it wasn't all that bad. He could hide it with his jacket.

Damn, he'd have t watch what he was saying more closely. He went to bed early and got up the next morning and went to school. During math class, Robert shot a spitball at Jody and hit him in the head. Jody immediately retaliated. He threw a wad of paper at Robert, who ducked and the paper his Mrs. Jones in the back.

"Alright, who's the wise guy," she asked?

No body said a thing. She stared at the class for a moment and looked over at Jody. His reputation was all over the school and well she knew that he probably had something to do with it. "Mr. Kiley, did you throw the paper that hit me," she asked Jody?

"No Ma'am," Jody said without thinking. Once again he felt the pain on his wrist and a surge at his back. He was suddenly uncomfortable sitting in the desk and asked to be excused. The teacher stared at him for another moment, then said Ok. Jody hurried to the bathroom to see what damage had been done this time. He went into a stall and took down his pants. There he saw a strange thing! He had a tail! The thing had created a bulge in the back of his pants, but he still thought he could hide this too.

He Moved the new addition around and extended it, marveling at the feelings that he was getting. He carefully tucked the tail back into his jeans and put his clothes back on. As he got back into class and sat down, he had to sit in a funny way, so as not to inadvertently pull on it. Finally, the bell rang and he was able to go home. He was rushing out of the door, when he ran into Stacy. He gave her a scared look and hurried past. Stacy wondered how it was going with him, but he hurried away before she could ask.

Jody bolted into the house and went into his room. He lay there on the bed and said to him self," I can live with this. It isn't too bad." He felt a flare and another surge. It was down low, but still in front. He screamed and ripped his pants off and found what he feared. He was no longer human down there. He looked down and saw fur and nothing else that looked familiar. He sobbed, glad for once that his mother wasn't at home yet. He put on clothes as best he could and went back downstairs. Walking was uncomfortable to say the least. He had to find Stacy and make her take this spell off. Enough was enough!

He stopped and wrote a note to his mother. "Mom, I'm going to the store for some things, I'll be back shortly." He felt the burn and this time, it was his ears that changed. It seemed that writing a lie counted also! He ran upstairs and looked. He saw ears that stood out from the side of his head and were long and furred! Jody was beside himself now, He stormed downstairs, grabbed a hat to cover his latest affliction and ran to find the cause of the changes.

He got to Stacy's house and knocked on the door. Her mother came to the door and told Jody that she wasn't there. Jody asked where she was and Stacy's mother asked what he needed. "I need help with homework," he lied. Too late he realized what he had said and felt the now familiar feeling. He turned away from the closing door and stumbled. His feet throbbed and changed. He didn't even bother to look down as his shoes burst. His legs changed slightly also to accommodate the altered feet.

Jody stumbled onward. He was heading for the park, where Stacy had gone to study. He saw her across the way and stumbled over to her. He was boiling mad now. How dare she do this to him? He was going to make her undo this. He went over to her and grabbed her shoulder roughly. Startled, Stacy fell over and lay there with Jody towering over her. She could almost imagine that there was blood in his eyes. He ripped his pants off, then his shirt.

"Look what you've dome to me bitch," he yelled! "I thought you were my friend" "I never did anything that bad to you and I never hurt all that many people. I always treated you good and then you do this." The feeling returned, but Jody was so mad now he didn't even notice. "You're just jealous because I can get out of trouble and you can't. Those others are so stupid and I can get away with anything I want. You are going to pay for HEEEE- HAWWWWW.

Jody tried to continue with his tirade, but could no longer do anything but bray. His neck stretched out longer and his face and nose pushed out. He tried to stop it, but he had gone too far now. Six lies chained together were so much more powerful that the others had been and the change moved forward relentlessly. Fingers fused and grew into hooves, as his arms grew longer. A bristly hair came through his skin and rapidly grew into fur. His back cracked and he fell to all fours. His body continued to expand for a few moments and the physical change was finished.

Jody stood there in all his glory, as a mule. He was still mad and trying to bray out his anger at Stacy. As he vented his fury, another thing happened. Gradually, Jody forgot why he was so mad. He blinked and looked around. The grass here looked so good. He bent down to try it. God, what was he doing? As he munched, his mind clouded more and more as the mule took over. In but a few short moments, what had been a human was fully a mule, changed by the potent spell.

Stacy got up off of the ground and watched the former Jody eat. He couldn't stop lying. He had been so used to it, that he no longer knew the difference between them. Well, he had made his own bed, now let him lie in it. He couldn't hurt anyone like that ever again. She started home to tell her mother what had happened. She heard a clip clop behind her. She turned around to find the mule following her. She tried to shoo it away, but it wouldn't leave.

It seemed like Stacy had a new addition for her grandparents farm. It followed her all the way there and through the gate. Stacy climbed back over the fence and watched the mule make itself at home in the pasture. It reached down to graze on the lush grass and Stacy laughed. She had warned him that he would be grazing if he didn't stop. She thought," See what happens when you lie!"

End

If You Lie copyright 1998 by Tekwolf.