Before the third knock on Lisa's door, the world went black, and Karl felt like he was being sucked backwards through a vacuum cleaner. He awoke on the floor just inside the door of his apartment with a massive headache.
At first, he thought he was still at Lisa's apartment, but quickly recognized his surroundings. Slowly getting up, he saw that it was somewhere between dark and daylight outside. Looking at the clock on the wall, it read six thirty two, but was that in the morning or the evening?
Checking his watch, he found that it was evening, but none of that mattered, really. How did he get here? Was he hit on the head and dragged here? His headache surely would support that idea. Feeling his head, there was no knot or sore place, so maybe not.
Rising to his feet, he saw a note taped to the refrigerator. In red ink and a coarse scrawl, the note said:
You were told to stay away. Why did you not do as we say? Aren't you seeing enough to know that you are not in control?
Changes will come no matter what you do. It's part of life now, the new life for you. Lisa does not want to see your face. Recognize our power and know your place.
Reading this note, Karl remembered for the first time the note left last Friday night nailed to his door. Searching his memory, he went to the recycle bin but only found aluminum cans and a few ashes. Looking back at the new note, he held it up to the light. That is blood, not ink.
At that moment, the paper vaporized before his eyes and fell gently to the floor in a small pile of ashes.
Now, for the first time since this started, Karl knew that there was something unnatural in play, or he was crazy. So far, his voice had changed and his handwriting, too, but trying to recall the first note, he remembered something about days of change and wondered if more were coming. What, why, and when were still questions.
Since Lisa's name was in the last note, he also realized that this was tied to his breakup. Could Lisa somehow be doing this? How could she? Was she a witch? Did he even believe in witches?
Karl knew Lisa; she could not possibly have hidden this sort of thing from him, could she?
Whatever was happening, getting his relationship restarted with Lisa suddenly seemed much further away. He still loved her, but not knowing what was going on meant that he needed to take a step back and figure things out.
Karl forced down a bowl of cereal and milk, but just had no more appetite. He started making notes about when his voice and handwriting changed, trying to tie them somehow to Lisa. It made no sense at all.
He set his neatly written notes on the coffee table beside the note Vicky had left him last Friday taped to his TV, and noticed that the handwriting was almost identical, right down to the circular dots over the i's. Finally, around ten thirty in the evening, he decided to call it a night and went to bed.
He just knew he would not be able to sleep, but as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out like a light. The crack of thunder just before midnight did not even disturb him this time. He slumbered on, dreaming vivid Technicolor dreams.
Change four: Wednesday. Color my world.
Waking at six in the morning, Karl got up and started his day. His thoughts immediately returned to what happened at Lisa's apartment (yeah, what did happen?), how he got home, and the mysterious note he found when he woke up. It all seemed so surreal and so B-movie cliché.
He lay there for several minutes, once again trying to make logical sense of an illogical set of events. Finally giving up, Karl decided that the world was not going to stop, so he could not stop, either.
He did not have time to run today, and since he missed yesterday afternoon at the job site, he needed to get to work early. Karl went into the bathroom and started his shower. Washing his blond hair and using the special conditioner for dyed hair, he got out, toweled off, and stepped over to the mirror.
Wiping the steam from the mirror, he picked up the blow dryer and started drying his nearly shoulder-length locks. It took longer to dry long hair, but he loved his shiny mane. He parted it in the middle and combed it down the sides. Yes, it might be a tad feminine, but he was confident enough in his manhood to deal with it.
Following the shower, the world seemed a little less overwhelming. Sure, the notes were scary, but the only thing that had changed in his life was his handwriting. It was not great to have a swirly, feminine writing style, but he mostly texted and emailed anyway, so it did not really matter. If that was all that was going to happen, then he could live with it.
Karl checked to see if he needed to shave, but it had only been three days and so his beard had not started to show up. With that time saved, he put on deodorant and went to get dressed. Pulling open his underwear drawer, he absently reached in to grab some boxer briefs. He pulled a pair out and put them on.
Next, he grabbed a pair of work pants from the closet and noticed, curiously, that they were a pastel purple. That was strange. All his pants were black, brown, or khaki, he mused. Looking further in the closet, he saw all of his pants were various shades of light colors; some were bright and some muted, but none were in typical work clothes' drab tones.
Moving on to his shirts, all of them were much the same: bright pinks, purples, electric blues, lemon yellows, greens, and some reds, too. Nothing grey or brown or khaki could be found. He noticed for the first time that even the boxer briefs he wore were a dusty rose pink. Was he going color blind?
Looking around his room, his curtains, bedspread, sheets, and rug were also in what could only be described as feminine colors.
Walking out into the den, his rug there was baby blue with little pink swirls, and his couch was a pastel yellow instead of the brown it had been. Nothing looked right. Was this another change from the so-called curse? Well, this one was no big deal, either. These were not colors he would pick, but they were just colors, and they did brighten the place up.
Picking a bright yellow golf shirt with blue piping and sporting the company's logo, Karl continued getting dressed. His work shoes were a scuffed baby blue, and the tamest socks he could find were orange and white like a dreamsicle. The boys on the crew are sure gonna give me a ribbing, but I can take it, he said out loud.
Reaching into the bespoke pastel rose colored fridge, he grabbed a strawberry yogurt and coffee. He turned on the stereo and started streaming his favorite Adele album. Singing along in his beautiful soprano voice, he could match her note for note.
Growing up, he had taken a lot of grief about his high-pitched voice and acquired a southern drawl, but now he loved being able to sing this way. Those who knew him realized he was all man, even if he did sound like a Georgia belle.
After eating, he grabbed his keys, phone, and laptop and headed out. Looking in the parking lot, he did not see his black and matte grey Jeep four by four. Instead, in his parking space, he saw what could only be described as a Barbie Jeep. It was still a Jeep four by four, but any sense of masculinity was gone.
Pink paint, with the word Barbie written in glittery silver where it had once said Renegade. It had purple wheels and bubble gum colored seats, and the spare tire cover bore the familiar Barbie face. This cannot be my Jeep, he thought. Looking at the license plate, there was his custom BikeDude plate, and when he pressed the pink key fob, the doors unlocked.
This curse is getting out of hand now, he fumed. You cannot mess with a guy's ride. Sure, he could get it repainted or just trade it in on something else, but this was embarrassing. This was far worse than his handwriting or his clothes changing. For now, though, he had no choice but to go along with it. Part of him thought he should be freaking out, but somehow he remained calm.
Having no time to do anything about the vehicle, he got in and left for work, fuzzy pink dice swinging from the mirror. At least his music had not changed. He rolled the windows down and sang loudly along to each pop hit that played. This was not the usual selection of Nirvana and other grunge classics that would have been heard the week before. Instead, these were straight from a teenage girl's hit list. Karl liked them because his voice was so well-suited to belting out hits from Taylor Swift, Rihanna, and Ariana Grande. It was not that he did not still like grunge, but he loved singing more.
Arriving at work, Tank was just getting out of his massive Ford Raptor pickup. Taking one look at the pink machine pulling up, he just shook his head. What have you done to your Jeep, Karl? he asked incredulously. Karl got out, and Tank did another double-take. And what about those clothes? You are not planning to wear those on the job, are you?
Karl lied, saying, Yeah, something happened in the washing machine. I must have put some wrong colors together on the hot wash cycle. Tank gave him a sideways look and said, Okay, buddy, whatever you say.
Did you put your Jeep in the washing machine with those clothes?
It is okay, hun, I mean Tank. I know the boys will give me what for, but I can take it, Karl replied, laying on the syrup of his patented drawl extra thick.
Tank had known Karl since junior high school and had stood up for him when people gave him grief about things like his voice, longer hair, and how he wrote. He knew Karl was straight as could be, but sometimes he did question his choices.
The day went fairly normally, though the guys did give Karl some ribbing about his clothes. They were used to his voice, and though they gave him a hard time that day, most thought the clothes somehow fit with his voice and hair, and it was much less of a thing than it would have been the previous week.
Karl rode with Tank, so no one saw his Jeep that day, either.
Tank started to ask that afternoon, as he was dropping him off at the office, if Karl wanted to get a beer. However, looking at his clothes, he thought better of it. He was not sure if he was in the mood to defend Karl again at the bar.
After getting in his Jeep, Karl decided to go to the strip mall near his apartment on his way home. They had a Walmart there as well as a local fresh market. Karl went into Walmart first and picked up some new Dickies khakis for work. Even though today was not so bad, he needed to get some normal clothes for work. He did not know if the clothes would stay this color, but he had to try.
He also bought some plain white boxer briefs and a black golf shirt. He would live with the boots and socks for now. On the way out, he bought a Runner's World magazine, too.
After Walmart, he went to the Fresh Market and bought fresh salmon, lettuce, and veggies. He had not been eating well and knew he needed more nutritious foods. He also bought some locally produced soy milk as he heard it was better for you than cow's milk.
Arriving home, he put the groceries away and made a light dinner. He had a long run planned for the morning and decided to go to bed early. Throwing the Walmart bag on the couch, he was in bed by nine in the evening and went right into slumber.
Just before midnight, he heard a crash from the kitchen and bolted upright in bed. He went to investigate and found a broken glass on the floor. He cleaned it up and went back to bed, falling asleep immediately and not hearing the loud midnight crack of thunder once again.
The witch: Jeannie Dobson.
When Jeannie first met Karl, she liked him. He seemed kind and harmless enough, and she had never seen Lisa so happy. As the months of their relationship wore on, though, another emotion started to creep in. Jeannie had been best friends with Lisa since they were in the second grade.
Except for a summer when Jeannie went with her grandmother to Europe, she had never spent time apart from Lisa. She was more than a friend. Jeannie loved Lisa like a sister, or so she always thought.
Once it became clear that Karl and Lisa would likely be together for good, Jeannie realized that she was getting jealous of Karl. For months, she wrestled with her wanting Lisa to be happy and her growing desire to have Lisa for herself.
When the bistro incident occurred, Jeannie saw a chance to break them up for good. However, when she talked to Lisa and saw how deeply hurt and how deeply in love with Karl she still was, Jeannie relented and did help them mend the relationship. Afterwards, she resented helping Karl and vowed that if he messed up again, she would not repeat the effort.
As close as Jeannie and Lisa were, there was a secret Lisa did not know. Jeannie's trip to Europe that summer with her grandmother was not just a vacation. No, Jeannie's grandmother was a high witch, and she recognized that Jeannie could be a powerful witch, too.
The trip to Europe was to evaluate and develop her powers and teach her the rules for using them. These were not your stereotypical witches, and their vows were to only do good, protect the innocent, and prevent evil from succeeding. Jeannie took those vows and had almost never used her powers; frankly, they scared her.
That Friday night when Lisa went to Karl's apartment, Jeannie was at a meeting of the local Wicca coven with her grandmother. Lisa called her after leaving Karl's apartment, but Jeannie could not answer during the meeting. She did read the desperate text that followed and then listened to her voicemail.
Jeannie texted Lisa not to go home but to instead meet her at the Fortis Beach Pier. She told Lisa she had to take care of some things, but that she would be there as soon as she could. As the coven meeting was breaking up, Jeannie pulled her grandmother and another senior witch aside and told them what Karl had done to Lisa. She told them, I have a plan. We have to stop Karl from hurting Lisa or any other woman ever again.
Her grandmother listened closely to what Jeannie wanted to do to protect Lisa and agreed.
The other senior witch was reluctant, though, and thought the plan was too cruel and would be in violation of their sworn vows. That goes too far, the other witch said. There must be something else we can do to protect Lisa. In the end, they compromised.
Karl would not be killed or incapacitated but would instead be changed in a way that would keep him from being in a position to hurt Lisa or any other woman. The change would be gradual, and Karl's health and life would be protected. He would suffer anew every day, but the suffering from each change would only last a couple of days. In these couple of days, reality would slowly mold itself around the change.
The magic power required for this transformation was significant. Only one change could be performed per day, and it required that the caster of each day's spell be very near Karl when the spell was invoked. It was decided that Jeannie would be the caster. She had Lisa's key to Karl's apartment and would be able to go over after Karl was asleep.
Additionally, a resilient spell would be cast on his bed to make sleep come very easily to Karl. Lisa would not know of any of this. As the reality shifted to encompass the changes with Karl, they would also help ease Lisa's pain as well.
The first night, a simple hair change was cast in order to test out the change ability. Jeannie was shocked at how much energy it took. She was exhausted when she made it home that night. However, by morning, she felt fine again. As that progressive change went well, each day saw a new and more difficult change. Following the handwriting change and Karl's observed trip to the doctor, it was decided that they needed to make things easier for Karl.
So, in addition to the spell cast that day to change his color palette, Jeannie's grandmother cast a second spell that would also help Karl be more accepting of the changes. This second spell would help with the simpler changes, but as changes progressed, Karl was still in for a stressful adjustment.
Things almost went wrong when Karl visited Lisa and Jeannie's apartment, but luckily, Jeannie arrived in time to intervene. Karl managed to get to Lisa and was starting to tell his lies about last Friday, but Jeannie was able to stop him and, with her grandmother's help, removed the memories of the encounter from Karl and Lisa.
They then took Karl home and wrote a warning note to Karl. The notes were more theater than magic, but Jeannie hoped they would make Karl nervous.
Change five: Thursday. Stop squeezing my shoulder.
Karl awoke Thursday morning to his alarm at four thirty after another good restful sleep. He rolled out of bed and stretched, wondering what today would hold. Would there be another change to join his new pastel color scheme?
He hoped not. The changes to his wardrobe, apartment, and Jeep were no fun. As he looked around, he did not see any immediate signs of change. Great, he thought. Maybe this is over. Maybe Lisa, if she is behind this stuff, is finally cooling down.
Karl headed for the kitchen to have some juice before his run. Karl then grabbed his now hot pink running shorts from the drawer, rolling his eyes as he did, and then put on a blue Nike Miler shirt with, what else, pink trim. As he by then expected, his socks and running shoes matched the rest of his running gear. What did not quite match was the fit of his shirt. Karl wore a size large in his workout shirts, and they fit so that the seams at the sleeves were flush with the edge of his broad shoulders. Today, however, he noticed that the seams hung down over an inch onto his arms. Are they changing my sizes, too? I feel like I am being gaslighted, he thought.
Undeterred, he grabbed his favorite (oh no) bright purple earbuds and walked to the door. Looking at his military green Garmin Fenix seven watch, he stamped his light yellow and pink clad foot petulantly. Now his watch was rose gold with a rainbow strap. Heavens me, they do not even make the Fenix in that color! He said aloud in his lovely voice.
Oh, well, at least it was still dark, and no one would see him during most of his run. Grabbing a bright aqua scrunchie, he put his shoulder-length blond hair in a high ponytail and headed out.
Today, Karl was running the entire half-marathon course. It would be his only run at the full race distance before the actual race. The start and finish line for the race was four miles away, but the course came within a couple of blocks of Karl's apartment. So, he decided to start at what would be mile five and run the course back to where he began.
It would not be the course in the order they would run it on race day, but he would still get to experience the entire distance. He chose to run this early in the morning to avoid traffic and so he would have time to make it to work on schedule. The course also ran very close to Lisa's apartment, and he hoped (and dreaded) he might see her out for a run, too.
Starting his favorite mix of female pop vocalists on his watch music app, he started his run. Before a mile, he was in the groove and even singing some of the hits out loud. He only stopped once at a local park to get some water from a public fountain, but otherwise made the run nonstop.
His time was at eight minutes and fifty-six seconds per mile, even with his brief water stop. That was thirteen seconds per mile faster than the target time!
He momentarily thought happily about how much he would beat Lisa in the race, but then remembered, sadly, that none of that mattered anymore.
Karl arrived back at his apartment around six in the morning and went into the bathroom for his shower. Were the tiles in his bathroom always pastel pink? He mused. As he removed his shirt, he checked the size tag.
It was still a size large on the tag. He then noticed, looking in the mirror, to his horror, that it was not the shirt that had increased in size; it was his shoulders that had decreased in size. Not only that, but his arms seemed thinner, too. Okay, now there are physical changes, too?
I am going to have to confront Lisa. This is going way too far. It is one thing to turn everything pink, but to make me weaker. It is too much!
Karl's body no longer looked like the V-shaped profile of a swimmer. He was now more of a string bean.
Whatever he did, he still needed to get a shower. So, he stepped into the tub and shower. Feeling his legs, he decided they needed a shave. He kept them shaved for running. While he was at it, he shaved his armpits, too. With no chest hair and sparse light arm hair, he was very sleek.
Only the cute tuft of hair around his impressive cock remained. He did not really have time to wash his hair, but it was wet with sweat, and he decided he had to anyway. It would have to dry on its own today.
His normal routine of washing and conditioning had kept his blond locks looking bright and shiny with no split ends, and he was not going to chance messing that up.
Stepping out of the shower, he was calmer now. Maybe I am making too much of this. Did my shoulders and arms really shrink? Karl knew they had, but somehow could not quite admit it to himself. No man likes to think they are suddenly weaker.
He was also reluctant to think that Lisa would do anything like this to him and also a little scared to confront her. He would sound crazy on top of being a cheating boyfriend. What Karl did not know was that the fragrance in the shampoo he used was the magical tool used to keep him calm and redirect his thinking a little so these changes did not send him off the deep end.
Karl looked in the mirror and stroked his face. I am so glad I do not have to shave like most men. God blessed me with this smooth face, and I am forever grateful for that, he thought with a smile. Karl then went to the couch and grabbed the Walmart bag from the previous night. Half expecting to find the clothing changed to some off the wall bright color, he was pleasantly surprised to find the khaki pants, black shirt, and plain white boxer briefs he had purchased the night before. Yay! Something is going right today, he said out loud. However, looking further in the bag, his Runner's World magazine was not there. Instead he found a Running Girl magazine. Was I that out of it when I bought this? he wondered.
Putting on his khaki and black clothes along with a pair of bright green socks and his light blue work boots, it did not look quite right, but at least he was not all bright colors and pastels today. He was disappointed, however, to see that the new shirt also draped off his shoulders excessively. He just shrugged his diminished shoulders, grabbed a Gatorade, and headed out to work without any more troublesome thinking. Shaking his head at the Barbie Jeep, he got in and drove off, once again singing along to a female vocalist.
He had not had anything to eat that morning, so decided to pull into his favorite fast food drive through for a quick breakfast. Pulling up to the speaker, Karl heard the familiar voice of Carol, the high school student he usually encountered in the evenings at the drive through, saying, Welcome to Billy's, what can I get you today? Karl ordered two egg white bagels with Canadian bacon and a large coffee. He figured he could splurge today since he had made that long run. When Carol heard his voice, she said, Oh, hey, Mr. Simmons. Karl commented, What are you doing here in the morning, sweetie? Aren't you missing school? Carol replied that, as a senior, she could arrange her schedule and did not have any early classes this term.
Karl pulled up to the window and paid for his food. When Carol handed him his coffee, he asked, Do you have any soy milk? I am trying to cut back on dairy fat. She shook her head no but said, I will ask the manager if she can get some for next time. Karl replied, Well, aren't you the sweetest thing. Thank you. Have a good day.
On into work, Karl again arrived at the same time Tank did. Tank looked at him and said, What is up with you? Why are you wearing those drab colored clothes? One thing I always can count on is you showing up looking like you just stepped out of the Candyland board game. Today, though, you look like a sad downer.
Karl was surprised to hear Tank's comments. Why is Tank saying that? Yesterday he gave me a hard time about my Jeep and clothes, and today he does not mention the Jeep and is surprised that I am wearing normal clothes.
You are so funny, Tank. I can always rely on you for a laugh, sugar lump, Karl responded. Nothing more was said, and they went into the office to get the work assignments for the day. Vicky and Cindy also commented about his dull clothing. Are they the ones being strange, or is it me? he again wondered.
The guys on the crew also recognized the change in his dress and asked questions. He just let it go and went about his day. Today they had a rush job to put in sod at a new condo complex. The original contractor had not shown up to do the job, so the owners were under the gun and called Fortis Resort Services in a panic. They had to have it done before the grand opening the following weekend and were willing to pay a huge premium to get it done. This was backbreaking work, but work that Karl always enjoyed. He was proud that he could pick up a roll of sod in each arm and roll them out side by side without putting them down first. No one else but Tank could do that. Today, though, Karl could not. In fact, he could barely pick up one roll, and even then he had to lay it down before rolling it out. Did I really lose strength? I cannot believe I cannot lift more than one. Maybe my run took too much out of me today. Yeah, that is probably it. I will be back to normal after a good night's sleep, he rationalized. With his hair remaining a little damp, the aromatic shampoo was still doing its job.
If anyone noticed Karl's lack of strength, they did not say anything directly to him. After the first couple of sod rolls, he made a point of avoiding any lifting he could so there would not be any questions. Some of the men, though, noticed that Karl was not helping with the work as much as normal and mentioned it to Tank. Tank said, Well, you know, you guys are right. Technically Karl is supposed to pitch in on these rush jobs, and you know he always has in the past. Defending Karl, Tank went on to say, I think he is feeling a little under the weather. I am sure he will be back at it tomorrow. The crew seemed satisfied, and nothing more was said. Despite Karl's somewhat effeminate quirks, they had grown to like him.
They finished the job just as the sun was going down. It was a long hard day, but the profit from the rush jobs was always high, and George Frankel always shared some of that extra with his crews. Today's work would net each man an extra one hundred fifty dollars. They were handed the bonus upon return to the office and all left in very cheerful moods. Before leaving, the guys made a plan to meet that night at The Beachcomber Bar so they could drink some of their bonus. Karl, a little worried over his lack of strength, was not planning to go. However, Tank prevailed upon him, and he relented. The clincher was that tonight was a karaoke night at The Beachcomber, and Karl loved to show off his singing pipes.
Karl went straight home and took off his work clothes. He jumped in the shower, washing his hair once again to get out the dirt and sand he had picked up while handling the sod. Taking extra time with the conditioner, he made sure that his lush head of hair was taken care of. He dried his hair with his salon quality hair dryer, making sure to keep it on the lowest heat so as not to damage it. He styled it into a cute tousled layered balayage lob. He had not been out much lately and wanted his hair, as one of his favorite features, to be noticed. Dressing in a salmon pair of linen shorts and a pale yellow golf shirt, he was still concerned, looking at the shirt, that it was too large for him. But nothing he had was any better, so he went with it. Donning a pastel pink and white pair of boat shoes, he grabbed his keys and left the apartment.
The bar was less than a mile away, and he briefly considered riding his bike, but he knew it would mess up his hair and decided to drive.
The Beachcomber Bar was mostly a locals hangout. They specialized in the usual beach bar things like oyster nights, shag dance contests, cheap beer nights, and, on this occasion, karaoke. Tonight, in fact, they were having a karaoke singing contest with the winners getting dinner for two and four free drinks. There were separate contests for men and women.
Karl arrived and looked around the restaurant for the rest of the crew. He did not see anyone, so he sat at the bar to wait. He had not been to the Beachcomber before and did not know anyone. The bartender approached him and said the classic, What will it be? Karl replied, I think I will have a Corona with a lime, if you please, honey. The bartender replied, Sure, um, miss? Karl started to correct him, but this had happened before due to his voice and he was used to it by now. Returning with his drink, the bartender said, Here you go, honey. Karl looked at him but again said nothing. Looking around the bar again, he saw over at a table near the little makeshift stage, of all people, Mandy from Skip's Bistro. Part of him wanted to go over and say hello, but knowing how much trouble he was in right now with Lisa, he sat where he was. While he was looking, Mandy spotted him and waved. He sheepishly waved back, hoping she would not come over herself.
The crew started to arrive, and they got a big table in the middle of the bar with a good view of the stage. They ordered more drinks and appetizers for the table. A toast was made to Tank and Karl, and they reciprocated, ordering a round of shots. Eventually everyone ordered food, with most enjoying Beachcomber's famous hot wings. Karl had a salad with boiled shrimp and a light lemon vinaigrette dressing. As the drinks flowed, the conversation became louder and more colorful, but they were a good bunch of guys so it did not get out of hand. Eventually, an MC stepped on the stage and announced the singing contest. He invited participants to sign up, motioning to a clipboard by the karaoke machine, and write down two selections to sing from the bar's extensive karaoke catalog. The winners would be judged by crowd applause, with any ties being settled by the bar staff.
Karl jumped up immediately and grabbed the clipboard. He brought it back to the table and cajoled three of the guys to sign up. He tried to convince Tank to sing, but he adamantly refused. Karl knew why. He and Tank had once sung a karaoke duet at a bar. A drunk idiot had thought Karl was Tank's gay boyfriend and had harassed him relentlessly. It did not end well, with the moron in the emergency room and Tank in jail for the night. No charges were filed, but Tank's karaoke days were over.
Once the table had filled out their information, Karl returned the clipboard to the stage and sat back down. Slowly, over the next half hour, a dozen or so other patrons signed up as well. One of them was Mandy. The MC returned to the stage and announced, Okay, we will randomize the order of singers and call you up on stage one by one. You get three chances to sing your two songs, so you can mess up one and start over. Once everyone has sung, we will call you back on stage for the voting. The winners each get a steak dinner for two and four free drinks, house brand liquors only.
First up was a member of the crew, Tony. He sang the Brooks and Dunn classic Ain't Nothing 'Bout You and Luke Bryan's Drink a Beer. Tony did a respectable job, but Karl knew the guy had no chance to beat him. Next up was Mandy. She sang Sheryl Crow's Soak Up the Sun and Katy Perry's Smile. Mandy was amazing. Her voice fit those songs perfectly. Karl was glad he was not competing with her. One by one the rest of the singers finished. No one could touch Mandy among the women there, and when Karl stepped up as the second to last singer, he was confident that no one could beat him on the men's side of things. Karl had selected Adele's Oh My God and Camila Cabello's Don't Go Yet. His voice was in excellent alcohol liberated form, and he opened up wide, belting out the lyrics. It is so freeing to sing like this, he thought as he finished his second number. The crowd applauded, and he walked off the stage. The last singer was another member of the crew, Jose. Jose sang I Got Loaded by Los Lobos and Eden Muñoz's Chale. The first song got rousing support, but Jose struggled with the second selection.
All of the contestants were then called back on stage, and the MC went down the line holding his hand above each one and asking for applause. Mandy and Karl got, by far, the most support, and he knew the prize was his. The MC gestured over to the bar and asked, Do we have our winners? The bartender responded, Yes and no. We have a clear winner for the men. It is Tony! Karl was dumbfounded. Tony did okay, but there was no way he could have won over him. The bartender continued, On the women's side we have a tie. I have spoken to management, and because these two singers performed so well, he has decided to award both of them the prize. The winners are Mandy and Karli. Karli? Who is Karli? The MC walked over to Tony and handed him his prize envelope, walked over to Mandy to give her the prize, and then, to Karl's astonishment, the MC handed the third of the prizes to him. He looked down at the envelope. It read Karli.
The guys at the table saw what had happened, and about half of them burst out laughing. Karl turned bright red. He was so embarrassed. Yes, his voice had caused confusion before, but surely when people looked at him, they knew he was a guy. Karl gathered himself and started back to the table. He wanted to just get out of there but knew he had to be the bigger man and tough it out. On his way to the table, Mandy stopped him and said in a voice that reminded Karl of his own, You were amazing up there. You deserved to win, apple dumpling. Karl thanked her and then sat back down.
Karl stayed another half hour and then paid his tab and left. Walking out, he ran into Mandy again. She stopped him and said, I know you are embarrassed, darling, but you should not be. A singing voice like yours is like honey dripped down from heaven. Karl nodded and started walking away. Mandy touched his arm, like she had that day at the bistro, and said, I hope that girl you were with is feeling better. You make such a cute little couple. Karl stammered, Yes, she is all better now. Thanks, lamb, for asking.
Karl drove back home reflecting on what had happened. He had the nagging feeling that he was missing something important. Yes, his clothes and other belongings had changed colors, and it looked like he might have lost a little arm strength, but that was all, or was it? He felt like his normal self otherwise.
Arriving home, he went into the bathroom to brush the alcohol taste out of his breath. Looking in the mirror, he asked himself, Do I look any different? Putting down his toothbrush, he smiled, showing his gleaming white teeth, and then studied his flawless skin and lush beautiful hair, thinking, Maybe my hair was the problem tonight. It is a tad more poofy than I normally wear it. I do not know. Looking at his rose gold watch again, he saw that it was almost midnight and he had a long Friday ahead of him tomorrow. I cannot worry about this tonight. I need sleep, he mumbled.
Karl stripped down to his underwear and crawled into bed. Almost before his head hit the pillow, he was out. Lucky for Jeannie, Karl had not bothered to look in his closet where she was hiding. She had come in moments before Karl returned. She had not noticed Karl's Jeep was missing when she first arrived and almost got caught. Now that Karl was asleep, Jeannie prepared the night's spell and began the incantation. Tonight's change would be the most significant yet and would take almost a week to complete its effect. Leaving his apartment, almost completely drained of energy, she smiled, knowing what was coming next.