Breakfast was equal parts mundane and adventure. It was hard to even find words to describe how something could be completely ordinary and routine yet at the same time be a new and unique experience.

Just a few days ago, I'd have made two slices of toast, three eggs and six strips of bacon, and I'd have eaten all that without a second thought.

Now I sat cross-legged on the sofa holding a little bowl in one hand and a teaspoon in the other. I scrambled two eggs, and added one chopped-up strip of bacon into it. It was entirely satisfying and in fact I wasn't even sure I'd be able to eat it all. Maybe next time I'd skip the bacon, or only cook one egg.

And it tasted a lot better than I remembered. I wasn't sure if that was because as an old man my taste-buds had faded with age, or if being part-cat made my senses that much more acute. Whatever the reason, I was really enjoying my simple little breakfast.

The other two cats were enjoying their breakfast too, but for them it wasn't anything new. They were just sharing their usual tin of chicken and gravy.

It seemed like everything I did or experienced this morning led to more questions, and thinking of Ludwig and Wolfgang was no exception. My cats obviously still knew me despite how completely different I was. Did the magic change them to know me? Or were they just naturally able to recognize their momma regardless what she looked like?

Did they notice the changes to our home? Would they miss jumping on the piano? Thinking of that, I recalled Ludwig could be a real pest at times when I was trying to use the MIDI keyboard, and it took me a year to get him to stop chewing on the cord for my bass. That in turn reminded me of last month, when Wolfgang attacked the blinking lights on my sequencer, resulting in my carefully planned performance turning into some kind of cat-induced sonic seizure.

I smiled at the memory and wished I'd managed to record the incident.

Then my smile faded as I found myself asking if any of those things really happened. They couldn't have, could they? I only did the spell last night, so all the memories I had of this life had to be false. Right?

Either way it left me with still more questions, and a slight feeling of unease.

Eventually I pushed away all the questions and the uneasy feelings. I finished my breakfast then rinsed out the bowl and left it in the sink along with the little frying pan. It was nearly ten o'clock. Today was Thursday, it was June twenty-fourth, and the sun was shining.

I still wanted to speak with Selene again, but I wasn't sure a phone call would do it. For one thing she wouldn't be able to see what her spell had done to me, and I worried she might not believe me about the feline attributes. Then there was the whole matter of becoming a girl. That was something I still didn't really know how to react to.

Whenever I stopped and thought about it or looked down at myself, I felt myself smiling while my tail and ears stuck upwards in a gesture of happiness. But it was completely unexpected, and certainly wasn't something I'd asked for.

So while I wasn't especially thrilled at the prospect of spending half the day in the car driving up north then back again, I did feel like I ought to visit Selene and her shop in person to try and get to the bottom of all this.

First though, I actually needed to get dressed.

I'd been nude when I woke up this morning, and hadn't until just now even thought about clothes.

That was also unusual for me, I always used to be covered up. I hated being reminded of my body before. That seemed fairly natural though, it was old and fat and just generally unpleasant, so of course I kept it out of sight, out of mind.

Although, I tended to do that when I was younger too. Even as a young man I never really felt comfortable with myself, now that I thought about it. It was yet another strange thing I was left wondering about. Perhaps as Ariana I was just more relaxed and comfortable with my body, or with nudity in general. Or maybe it was related to my feline side, after all cats didn't wear clothes.

Whatever the reason, I certainly hadn't felt the least bit uncomfortable with my new body or my nakedness so far this morning.

Back in my bedroom I opened up the closet and stared. I wasn't surprised to find a whole new wardrobe waiting for me, but it was still a strange experience to see it. Equally strange was the way everything seemed new and novel while also being familiar.

I grabbed a black and grey plaid knee-length skirt and I could remember where I bought it, but at the same time I'd never seen it before in my life.

Next I picked out a cute little dark-grey v-neck top, and I knew along with the skirt it was one of my favourite outfits. Then I moved to my dresser and found a matching black bra and panties set. It was a very simple outfit and in a few minutes I was dressed. I finished it all off with a cute pair of black leather sandals.

When I was done I went into the bathroom and turned on the light to get a good look at myself in the full-length mirror.

Once again my tail and ears stood up, I had a smile on my face, and another little flurry of butterflies in my tummy. I grinned at myself and realized I had some cute dimples in my cheeks. That brought a little colour to my cheeks as I blushed slightly.

I was still smiling as I turned slightly to look at myself from different angles, then I noticed something new with the overhead lights shining straight down on me. My hair looked completely black when I looked earlier, but under direct light I could see a dark grey pattern in it. As I turned my head again I suddenly realized what I was seeing and my cheeks went red.

"Oh my Gods I'm a silver tabby," I gasped as I stared at myself. Suddenly the grey and black rings on my tail and the grey and black ears made perfect sense. If my hair hadn't been so dark the stripes and bands would have been much more obvious. They'd be noticeable outside in the bright sunlight though, and that knowledge kept me blushing a few minutes longer.

Finally I pulled myself away from the mirror and back out to the living-room. I gathered up all my ID cards that Wolfgang was playing with earlier and tucked them back in my wallet. Then that and my phone went into my purse, and I slung the purse over my left shoulder.

I gave both the cats a hug and kiss and told them, "You boys be good! Momma's going out for a few hours, but she'll be home by tonight."

Then I paused again as another thing sort of hit me. When did I start calling myself the cat's momma? When did I start referring to myself as a she? And why did it feel so completely natural and normal?

More questions for Selene, I decided. I finally exited the condo and took the elevator down to the parking garage. I pulled my key-fob out of my purse as I made my way to my spot.

The magic obviously reached all the way down here, overnight my big black luxury SUV had been replaced by a cute sporty little silver coupe. By that point I was almost used to this sort of thing and didn't even bat an eye as I approached.

I tapped the remote and the doors unlocked, then I slipped in behind the wheel. My tail automatically wound around to the right like I'd been doing that for years, and I dropped my purse on the passenger seat. I started the car, and some fun up-beat music began playing through the sound system.

As I pulled out of the parking garage and got on the road, I found myself singing along with the tune. It was a nice song, and I while I didn't know the artist I thought she had a nice voice. I wasn't quite sure of the genre, something between pop and electronic dance. The song was about half over when I thought to look at the screen on the dash to see if it had any information about the singer or the song.

I felt my cheeks colouring again as I realized I'd spent the last minute or two singing a duet with myself. I had a little USB drive full of my own music plugged into the car radio. It wasn't bad though, and I continued listening and singing as I headed north.

There was about an hour's worth of music on there, and about half of it was original while the rest were cover songs. The covers were an eclectic collection of old and new, but the one that made me blush the most was my rendition of 'Ariana' by Alphaville. Apparently I tweaked the lyrics to make it all about me specifically.

Same as last week, the drive took me just over two hours to get from my condo to the small tourist town. It was enough time to let me listen to all my songs twice, and I sang along with every one of them during the drive. I'd never been much for singing before, but I chalked that up to the annoyingly low voice I'd originally suffered with.

I pulled my little car into the same parking lot, then pulled a mask out of the storage compartment in the centre console. I ended up staring at it for a few seconds.

The mask was pink, and had a smiling cat mouth and cat whiskers drawn on it in black pen. I felt myself blushing yet again as I slipped it on. In addition to the 'artwork' on the front it was different in that the elasticized straps went all the way around my head, rather than looping over the ears.

That made sense of course, my ears weren't sticking out the side of my head like everybody else. Mine were on top, poking up through my hair.

The realization left me feeling uneasy again. I wasn't a normal person. I was strange, different. I was part cat. How was this possible? How could I walk down the street or into a shop without people freaking out? If someone asked how I got my feline traits, what would I tell them?

I felt a little panic taking hold as I sat there in my car and tried to calm down again. I took a few deep breaths and told myself, I was only walking from the car to the magic shop. Selene would have answers. She'd explain what happened. Everything would be ok.

With my calm restored a few minutes later, I finally emerged from the car. My purse went back over my left shoulder, and I tried not to feel too self-conscious about my ears or tail as I walked the short distance from the parking lot to the magic shop.

By the time I got to the shop door my mood was back up again. There was no back pain, no wheezing, I felt fantastic. Being small and healthy and light on my feet felt amazing after so many years stagnating at a desk.

I pulled open the door and stepped into the shop, and the strong smell of incense hit me once again.

From behind the counter to my right Selene smiled as she greeted me, "Hello again Miss Lloyd. What brings you back this way so soon?"

There was another little flutter of butterflies in my tummy when she called me 'Miss Lloyd'. It felt really good hearing that, but it also left me wondering how she even recognized me. When I was here last week I looked very different indeed.

I also realized she didn't comment on my ears or tail, and that made me wonder if she somehow knew this would happen. Or if she maybe caused it.

My expression grew darker and my ears folded back, while my tail hung straight down between my legs and the tip twitched slightly. I pulled my mask off since Selene wasn't wearing one either, and I recalled what she said about them last week.

I marched up to the counter and demanded, "What did you do to me?!"

PurpleCatGirl

Can't wait to find out what happens next? Join our Patreon and get immediate access to the next chapter and more! Patrons have already read how this story ends, and you could too!
https://www.patreon.com/purplecatgirl