Chapter 2: 2. Purring!

"Ok Nisha," I thought to myself as I straightened up and sat looking towards the dashboard again. "You've turned into a cat. And you're stuck in a mini-van on the side of a lonely country road, a few hundred kilometres from home. How do you solve this?"

It was quite the conundrum.

My eyes immediately fell on the little black cat plushy that was still clipped to my keychain. I was positive that little plushy was to blame. It seemed obvious in retrospect, no matter how improbable the idea that a two-dollar vending machine toy would have magical powers.

I stood up and leaned on the steering wheel with my left paw, and reached out with my right and bapped the plushy as I stated "Meow!"

Actually what I tried to say was "This is all your fault!" but it came out as a meow.

With a sigh I slumped back on the drivers seat, then let out a little yelp. I'd sat on my tail and it felt very unpleasant. My cheeks went bright red and I grimaced as I adjusted my position so my tail wasn't underneath me.

Once I was comfy again I glanced around out the windows. I hadn't seen or heard any other cars come by, but I couldn't help worry that someone might come along and think my mini-van was abandoned with nobody but a cat inside. And with the keys in the ignition, I was concerned someone might decide to try and steal the van and me with it. Or worse, they'd kick me out before driving away. Then I'd be a cat on the side of the road with no way to call for help.

Call for help? My gaze dropped down to the dash again and I spotted my phone, still on the little shelf under the radio. If I could get it out, maybe I could send Danica a text.

I had no idea what I'd tell her, but I'd worry about that once I got my hands on the phone. For that matter I didn't even know if I'd be able to compose a message. I was pretty sure touch screens reacted to paws, there were loads of cute videos where cats used phones or tablets. The real question was whether or not I had enough fine motor control to type. That was another problem I'd tackle later. The first step was getting the phone.

It took a few seconds to come up with a plan. I figured if I could hook one of my claws into the corner of the case I'd have enough leverage to pull it off the shelf. It'd fall to the floor, and if I was lucky it'd be face up. If it landed face down I'd have to try and flip it, but between my claws and nose that shouldn't be a problem. I might be a cat, but if I understood concepts like smartphones I could certainly figure out how to flip one over.

After another second or two to psych myself up, I took a deep breath then went for it. I reached out and carefully, deliberately, picked up my phone.

Then I sat there for a few seconds staring at it, because while my plan worked even better than I expected, something wasn't adding up again.

I bit my lower lip and frowned at the shiny black rectangle in my hand, but it wasn't till I caught my reflection in the phone's dark screen that I finally realized what was different.

"Holy crap!" I exclaimed. And hearing the sound of my voice I immediately followed up with, "Oh my Goddess!"

Suddenly my hand was shaking and I nearly dropped the phone as I looked down at myself.

I wasn't a cat anymore, or at least not entirely. I was mostly human, but I wasn't the same human I'd been yesterday. A low rumbling sound vibrated through my chest as a wide smile settled on my face.

That big clumsy ungainly body I'd been cursed with was gone. Now I was a small young slim girl, sitting crosslegged on the drivers seat of my mini-van. I was nude, and my long black furry tail was wrapped around my right hip and curled up on my lap. My silky-smooth jet-black hair hung straight down to my lower back, and sticking up on top of my head were two black fuzzy cat ears.

The euphoria I felt in that moment was almost overwhelming, I didn't know whether I wanted to laugh or cry or both. And the rumbling vibrations got even louder.

Then it hit me that I was purring and that happy thought made me purr even louder.

I decided I needed a better look at myself, but it took a couple tries to unlock my phone. It didn't recognize my fingerprint or my face, but my passcode worked just fine. I quickly opened the camera app and switched to the selfie cam to get a better look at myself.

"Oh my Goddess!" I exclaimed happily, then the purring resumed.

There was no denying it, I was a cute young catgirl. I looked about the same age as Danica, seventeen or perhaps eighteen.

With the phone in my right hand I reached up with my left and felt my ears. The touch tickled slightly and I twitched my ears, then gasped again in amazement. Next I set the phone aside and touched my tail. The tip twitched and I giggled at the unexpected sensations.

"Ok Nisha," I said to myself as the purring tapered off and I tried to get serious. "You turned into a cat overnight, now you're a catgirl. It's half past eight in the morning and you're still in the middle of nowhere? What do you do next?"

That was easy, I needed to send Danica a text message so she wouldn't worry. I apologized for sleeping in and told her was going to be a bit later than expected getting home. I promised I'd be there when she got got home after school.

Once I sent that off I was ready to go. I uncurled my legs and sat up properly, then let out another giggle and started purring again.

With the seat in its usual position I couldn't reach the pedals, and I could barely see over the steering wheel. Fortunately the van had power seats, and it took less than a minute to move the seat forward and up so I could reach the pedals and see where I was going. I was about to start the motor when I realized I'd skipped an important step.

"Ok wait," I smirked. "Gotta get dressed first, silly kitty!"

It was hard to stay serious when I was so happy I was practically giddy.

With a big grin on my face I climbed over the centre console and into the back to find some clothes. I ignored the uncomfortable suit I was wearing yesterday though, and grabbed my travel bag instead.

My tail was swishing back and forth as I started digging around in the bag until I found the track pants and hoodie I'd brought incase I wanted to visit the hotel gym. There was a t-shirt in there too, and I grabbed that as well.

The track pants were miles too big, but they had a draw-string to keep them up. The bigger problem was what to do about my tail. I ended up just letting the pants hang low at the back with my tail sticking out above them. The t-shirt was just as over-sized on me, but I wasn't looking to win any fashion contests. I just wanted to drive home without getting stopped by the cops for indecent exposure. Finally I pulled on the hoodie, and that was like a tent on my new body.

I also fished my wallet out of the discarded suit pants, and pulled out all the cash then stuffed that in one of my hoodie pockets. I was still hungry, and I figured I could get food at a drive-thru without attracting too much attention.

Dressed and ready, I climbed back into the front seat. I reached for the keys but froze just short of touching them.

My eyes were on that little black plushy, and I was positive that's what caused all this. I touched it last night and woke up as a cat. Then I bapped it this morning, and turned into a catgirl. I didn't want to risk touching it and turning back into a cat again.

Or worse, I shuddered at the thought of it turning me back into my old self.

So using just my thumb and forefinger, I carefully grasped the van's key. Making sure to keep my other fingers and hand well clear, I twisted the key and started the engine.

I double-checked that I was still a cute catgirl, then with a sigh of relief I pulled on my seatbelt. Finally I opened the GPS app on my phone to make sure I knew where I was going. It took a few seconds to load, but sure enough I was just about a half hour west of London.

At that point there was only one thing left to do. I turned on the radio and turned up the volume. It was already set to Danica's favourite satellite channel, and up until yesterday I felt self-conscious and embarrassed about the fact that I had exactly the same taste in music as my seventeen-year-old daughter.

That wasn't a problem anymore, because now I was a cute teenage catgirl and was already wiggling in my seat to the rhythm of the pop and dance hits thumping through the sound system.

At long last I put the mini-van in gear and got moving. I turned it around and headed south, and a few minutes later I was back on the highway. And less than a half hour after that I was at a drive-thru in London, where I got a carton of milk and a breakfast sandwich. The guy in the window stared at my ears and called me miss, which triggered another wave of euphoria.

Then it was back on the highway, and I continued driving east as I enjoyed my breakfast.

It was about half past eleven when I finally pulled into the driveway at home. And it was Monday, so Danica wouldn't be home from school for another four hours or so. I'd need at least that long to figure out what I was going to tell her, how I was going to explain what happened to me.

You are reading story Meow! at novel35.com

I carefully turned off the mini-van and pulled the keys from the ignition, then I dropped them into my hoodie pocket for now. My phone went into the other pocket, and before I left I remembered the second capsule kitty. I grabbed it from the cup holder and stuffed it into the same pocket as my phone, and finally emerged from the van.

Fortunately there weren't any neighbours out and about so I didn't have any awkward conversations as I practically skipped up to the front door. I pulled my keys back out of my pocket and shuffled them till I got the house key, then unlocked the door and stepped inside. It was only when I pulled the key from the door that I realized I was touching that little black plushy again.

I froze for a few seconds as I stared at it in my hand, I was almost holding my breath as I waited to see if anything happened.

"Who are you?!" my daughter demanded as she stepped from the kitchen into the hall. "What are you doing in my house?"

Her voice made me jump slightly and I dropped my keys, then spun around to face her. My heart skipped a beat and I felt a flutter of giddiness.

I knew I was smaller, but I hadn't realized how much smaller until I found myself looking *up* at my hundred and sixty-eight centimetre tall daughter. I was easily fifteen centimetres shorter than her now, and that send another flutter of emotions through me.

My heart and mind were both racing as I tried to figure out what to say. I pushed the front door closed behind me, then grimaced "Danica it's me, dad. I mean Nisha. You're uh, not going to believe this but I turned into a catgirl?"

She stared at me and stated in a flat tone, "You're right, I don't believe you. Who are you for real, and how do you know my dad's secret name?"

Not knowing what else to do, I started to babble. I reminded her about when I came out to her, the conversations we had about me being trans and how I kept finding excuses to put off my transition. I recounted a few embarrassing events from her life and mine, things neither of us would ever tell another soul.

By the time I was done the two of us were sitting at the kitchen table, Danica had a can of soda in front of her and I had a glass of milk. And her expression had shifted from skeptical disbelief to wide-eyed shock.

"How did this happen" she asked as she stared at me. "Dad you look really cute and this is amazing, but it's also impossible!"

I got up and carefully picked up my key-chain from where I'd dropped it just inside the door. Then I sat back down at the kitchen table and held it out so she could see the little black kitty plushy.

"I'm sure it was this," I said. "I touched it last night before I went to sleep, and when I woke up I was a cat. Then I bapped it this morning, and turned into a catgirl."

Danica reached out and took it from me as I gasped "Don't touch it!"

It was too late though, she'd already taken the tiny plushy off my key-chain to examine it. And she was still herself.

"Huh," I frowned. "That's weird."

"Did you do anything else?" she asked. "Where'd it come from anyways, I don't think I've seen this before."

I frowned as I thought back, then I felt my cheeks colouring as I remembered. "I um, meowed at it last night? And when I bapped it this morning I tried to talk, but it came out as another meow."

My daughter suppressed a giggle, then she looked at the little plushy in her hand and stated "Meow?"

I gasped and cringed, but nothing happened. She was still herself, and I was still a catgirl.

"Maybe whatever happened doesn't have anything to do with this?" she said as she put it down on the kitchen table.

"Maybe," I frowned. I reached out and poked at it as I said an experimental "Meow?"

I didn't notice anything at first, until I realized Danica was staring at me with wide eyes and her mouth was hanging open. Then I gradually realized she looked even taller than before. And my eyes were about the same level as the table.

My tail started twitching back and forth as it dawned on me what happened. I was still sitting on the chair, but my track suit and t-shirt were in a little pile underneath me.

I stood up on the chair, then hopped up on the table. I was about to put my paw on the little black plushy when my daughter swept me up into her arms and started cuddling and petting me while she squealed in excitement.

She hugged me to her chest and continued petting me as she exclaimed, "Oh my gosh dad you're so cute! And your fur's so soft! Aaaaa this is amazing!"

"Danica put me down!" is what I attempted to say, but what came out was a series of cute meows and mrows.

It took me half a minute to squirm my way free, then I landed on the table and bapped the plushy as I asked "Please make me a catgirl again?"

That also came out as a meow, but fortunately that's all it took.

My daughter's eyes went wide, then she blushed and looked away. "Uh dad? Clothes?"

"Eep!" I squeaked.

I was sitting crosslegged and naked on the kitchen table, but I scurried off and quickly pulled on the t-shirt and the track pants.

Once I was presentable Danica picked up the plushy cat again and sighed as she stared at it. "So it's magic, but it only works for you? That's pretty cool, but I was kind of hoping it'd work on me too."

"Why?" I asked in surprise. "Do want to be a cat?"

She shrugged, "I wanted to try it? And I think it'd be neat to be a catgirl. Like I said, you look really cute."

Her cheeks took on a pink hue as she admitted, "I might be jealous."

I wasn't sure what to think of that, but a moment later I remembered something.

With a grin, I fished the second capsule out of my hoodie pocket and put it down on the table in front of her, then retrieved my little black cat plushy.

"I got that from the same place as the black one," I told her. "It hasn't been opened, nobody else has touched it. Maybe it'll work the same?"

Danica's eyes lit up as she picked up the plastic shell. With a grin she popped it open and plucked out the little grey and black striped kitty. It was made of knitted yarn just like mine, and even had the same green knots for eyes.

My heart was racing as I watched my daughter gently hold the little plush toy. And with a hopeful smile on her face she took a deep breath and said, "Meow?"

I noticed the small plush tabby's eyes seemed to sparkle in the mid-day light.