Some time had passed since Hypr went on a jog with the cheetah. She still hadn’t upheld her end of the deal to become a blueberry with him. There were many excuses as to why.
“We’re really swamped right now.”
“We don’t have enough juice for both of us.”
“Blue really doesn’t go well with this outfit.”
What the cheetah was saying wasn’t untrue but she also had an underlying fear of the side-effects the blueberry juice had. It only grew bigger the bigger and bluer Hypr got.
One day, Hypr came into the juice bar, his fur tinted bluer and his body bigger than ever before. “Good morning!” he greeted the cheetah.
“Oh, good morning,” the cheetah replied, trying her best not to show how concerned she was. “Do you want your usual?”
“Yes please.”
The cheetah reached beneath the bar to grab a bottle of blueberry juice. “Um, Hypr, you didn’t happen to smell a blueberry pie on your way over here, did you?”
Hypr was confused. “Huh? No, I don’t think so. I’ve been trying hard not to. I don’t want to get stuck again.”
“Oh. I was afraid of that…”
“What do you mean?”
The cheetah sighed and let it all out. “Hypr, hadn’t you noticed that you’ve gotten bigger and bluer ever since you’ve started indulging in the blueberry juice?”
Hypr paused and looked down at himself. He knew that his body was more round than it used to be and that his fur could easily be classified as blue but he never really gave it much thought. “You think this is because of the juice?”
“I do. I really think it is. Look, I know you can make your own decisions and everything but I can’t help but worry that one day you won't be able to get out of your house.”
Hypr didn’t really know what to think. He stood there mulling over his thoughts. At last, he said, “I appreciate that you’re so concerned about me. I don’t want you to worry. Being big and blue has never stopped me from getting out of my house before and I’ll try to make sure that it doesn’t.”
“Does that mean you’ll cool it with the blueberry juice?”
The blueberry cat laughed. “Just a little bit. I do like being a blueberry, after all. You’d understand if you ever were one.”
“Heheheh. Yeah…” the cheetah chuckled awkwardly.
Something sparked in Hypr’s mind. “Wait a minute. Is that why you haven’t had any blueberry juice yet? Because you’re afraid this’ll happen to you?” The sheepish smile on the cheetah’s face said it all. “When would you say these side effects started?”
“I don’t know. Around your eight or ninth consecutive drink.”
“I don’t expect you to drink that much. You promised that you’d only become a blueberry once. That’s all.” The cheetah hesitated. “I promise I’ll tone it down. I’d love to share a drink with you.” He gave the biggest, most irresistible cat eyes he could muster. The cheetah never stood a chance.
“Oh, alright! I suppose I do owe you that much.” Hypr beamed. “I’m going to change into something more casual. The boss would kill me if I ripped this uniform.” The cheetah turned her attention to a lemur behind the bar. He was new at the job and brewing a juice. “Prepare a blueberry juice for me. I’ll be right back.” She started up the staircase.
“Hey wait!” Hypr called, “Aren’t you the boss?”
“And your point being?” The cheetah called back and she disappeared into her apartment.
Once she was out of sight. Hypr turned to the lemur. “Excuse me?”
“Huh, yes?” said the lemur.
“What kind of juice are you brewing?”
“Oh, uh, strength juice.”
“Perfect! Do you think you could add a little bit to our blueberry juices please?”
The lemur, thinking nothing of it, agreed and did just that.
“That should negate some of the blueberry effects,” Hypr thought, “She’ll be very surprised.”
By the time the cheetah had come back down, the drinks were ready and waiting. “Alright,” she said, grabbing one, “Guess we’re going to the field then?”
“Yup. I suppose we are.”
“Great, lead the way then.”
They got to the field and Hypr eagerly got out his blueberry juice while the cheetah slowly got hers.
“You know, for a cheetah, you’re not doing this very quickly,” teased Hypr. The cheetah glared. “Heh. I’m sorry.”
“No, no, it’s fine,” reassured the cheetah, “It’s just… I need a moment to hype myself up.”
Hypr wanted to roll his eyes; he knew how fun being a blueberry was. But he smiled warmly, letting the cheetah take all the time she needed.
She took a deep breath and held her bottle up to Hypr. “Cheers.” They clinked their bottles and drank their blueberry juice. Hypr much more enthusiastically than the cheetah. She knew the effects were coming any minute. “So… Is there a special feeling I should be aware of before-?” She was cut off by a strange feeling in her stomach. “Never mind, I think I feel it.”
Sure enough, both of their bodies started turning blue. Well, the cheetah’s fur was turning blue. It was hard to tell with Hypr’s already-tinted fur. Where once it was yellow, the cheetah’s fur was turning blue. Neither of them were really paying attention but she and Hypr could’ve sworn that there was a faint hint of a green border where the blue fur met the yellow fur. Her dark spots didn’t appear to change but if you looked very closely, her seemingly black spots had actually turned a very dark shade of blue.
Truth be told, the cheetah didn’t really mind that her fur had changed color. It was the next part that she was really dreading. The funny feeling in her tummy didn’t go away. If anything, it intensified. “Okay, here we go,” she sighed as she braced herself.
Her belly started to get rounder and rounder. Hypr’s belly was too but at a much slower rate. It was almost as if he was waiting for the cheetah to match his size. As her body got rounder and rounder, the cheetah blushed. It stood out heavily against her blue fur. Hypr noticed it easily.
“Hey, it’s okay,” he said and offered his hand. The cheetah didn’t hesitate to grab hold of it. “Being a blueberry is fun! Besides, you might not even get that big.”
“...I hope not,” was all the cheetah could muster. In her anxiety, it never occurred to her to make a brew that would have her grow only to a specific size.
Her body was getting round now. Any minute now, she’d be so round that her arms and legs would be practically non-existent. She braced herself in anticipation. Strangely to her, it didn’t happen. Instead the funny feeling in her belly faded away and was replaced by a full feeling. Although her body was round enough to roll, she was still able to use her arms and legs. Albeit, only just. Her clothes didn’t even rip though they didn’t cover her body they way they used to either, with her belly now exposed. The cheetah took a moment to collect herself and look herself over.
Meanwhile, Hypr had stopped growing too. Usually, he’d grow to be much bigger but today, he was only a little past the point of being completely round. “Hey, it actually worked!” he said. It was fortunate that the cheetah was too busy looking over herself to catch his comment.
“Well,” he asked directly, “how do you feel?”
“I… I don’t know,” admitted the cheetah, “Very… full.” She paused for a moment before asking, “How long does this last?”
“Didn’t you make the drink?” Hypr replied.
“Oh, right. So I guess… not too long.” The cheetah tried to move. She could walk but it was much more sluggish than what she was used to. “My goodness, Hypr, how do you move like this?”
“Oh, I don’t.” The cheetah stared at her fellow feline. “Yeah, I just sit back, relax and just exist as a blueberry.” With that, Hypr rolled back to bask in the sun.
“Oh right…” The cheetah, with some hesitation, went over to sit next to him.
“Yeah, this is nice,” sighed Hypr.
“Sure, I suppose,” said the cheetah. She was used to constant activity and moving around. Taking a moment to just sit back and let the world roll by was surreal, to say the least.
She tried to sit still but it wasn’t long before she began to fidget. So much so that she bumped into Hypr.
“Hey.”
“Oh, sorry!” The cheetah tried to settle down again and actually did manage to keep still… for about three seconds. “Nope sorry. I just can’t sit and ‘just exist.’”
Hypr shrugged. “Well, you can’t exactly run as a blueberry.”
The cheetah smirked. “Oh yeah? We’ll see about that!” She quickly went for a run around the field. Well, a better word would be “immediately”, she was nowhere near quick. She didn’t go very far before she had to stop and take a breather. Hypr was trying hard not to laugh.
“Just… Just a… Warm up…” the cheetah wheezed between deep breaths. Once she got her breath back, she tried again, determined to get in a good run. It was most unfortunate that between her tunnel vision and her big belly obstructing her view below her, she tripped over a rock and fell forward.
“Hey, are you okay?” called Hypr.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” said the cheetah, giving a thumbs-up. She blinked. To her, it seems that Hypr was spinning. It wasn’t just Hypr, the whole field was spinning. No, it wasn’t spinning, she was rolling.
Three thoughts were going through her head. One, she must look very silly right now. Two, she didn’t care if anyone thought she did look silly. Three, if she couldn’t go for a run, maybe she could go for a roll.
She went for it. She shifted her weight and began rolling faster. Hypr watched with amusement. The cheetah was reaching the edge of the field now. She shifted her weight and turned surprisingly easily. In no time, the cheetah was rolling laps around the field.
“Hey, this is kind of fun,” she thought. Hypr watched on, glad to see she was enjoying herself.
“Alright, that’s enough,” said the cheetah after a while. She was coming towards Hypr and intended to stop next to him. She stuck out her leg to try to slow her down. It was working at first but very quickly, her leg just rolled under her. “Huh? What the?!” She tried again but the same thing happened.
Hypr could see the cheetah was coming towards him and fast. “Hey, you’re coming in a little hot, don’t you think?”
“I know!” cried the Cheetah, “I can’t stop!” She kept trying to use her legs and her arms to slow her down. She had a little more luck when she used her tail but even that rolled under her too.
She had slowed down significantly but still wouldn’t be able to stop in time. She bumped into Hypr, sending the blueberry cat rolling. Fortunately, he didn’t roll too far and quickly came to a stop. The bump killed the cheetah’s momentum and she stopped too.
“Oh dear,” she said, “Hypr, are you okay? I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, I’m okay,” said Hypr.
“Oh good. I guess my legs as they are now don’t really work as brakes.”
“Yeah. I would’ve thought that the strength potion would’ve helped.”
The cheetah paused. “I’m sorry, the what?” Hypr froze. He didn’t mean to say that out loud. The cheetah held her glare. “Come on, out with it, cat.”
Rather sheepishly, Hypr explained how he asked the lemur to add in some strength juice to their blueberry juice. “I thought that maybe the added strength juice wouldn't make you too big. It is the first time you’d be a blueberry, after all.”
“Ah. the new guy must not have blended it right. The juices need to be blended a certain way if you want two effects at once.”
“That does make sense.”
They paused for a few awkward moments before the cheetah said, “You were trying to make blueberrification more pleasant for me?”
“Yeah. I guess it didn’t really do anything, did it?”
“No, no. That’s very sweet of you to try. Thank you, Hypr.”
“Oh. Well, you’re welcome.”
“I will say, though, being a blueberry wasn’t the worst experience ever. We will need to find a better way to stop rolling, though.”
Hypr smirked at this. “So you’re going to be a blueberry again?”
“What?! No, no, no!” clarified the Cheetah, “Well, not for a long while, anyway. I’m certainly not making a routine out of it.” At that moment, her body was starting to slowly shrink as the blueberry juice started to wear off. “Oh, speaking of which. I think I’d better head back now. It should fully wear off by the time I start work again.”
“Are you going to be okay?” asked Hypr.
“Oh sure. A strength potion won’t hinder me.”
“Okay then. See you tomorrow?”
“See you then.” With that the cheetah started to make her way back to the juice bar.
Hypr stayed in the field a little while longer until he could use his legs to walk home. By the time he got home, he was back to the way he was before drinking the blueberry juice that day. Still big and blue but fully able to use his arms and legs and just small enough to fit through his front door. He had just shut the door behind him when he felt an odd sensation within him.
“That must be the strength juice kicking in,” he thought, “I wonder if this could be a chance to rearrange my furniture.”
His thoughts were interrupted by something creeping into his vision. At first, he thought it was a snake and jumped back. When the “snake” jumped with him, his fear quickly turned to confusion. Upon further inspection, it wasn’t a snake at all. It was an elephant trunk. His elephant trunk. In his shock, he reached for his ears. Indeed, they were much bigger and flag-like than before. He looked back at his tail. It was not as fluffy as it should’ve been except for the tuft at the very end.
“I’m turning into an elephant?!” he exclaimed. A million thoughts were running through his head. “What was up with that strength juice?!” “It was still being worked on, I suppose.” “Wait, am I gonna get bigger?!” That last thought was answered for him as his body began to expand again. “I’d better get back outside while I can still fit through.”
He went back to the door, each step more booming than the last. He struggled a little with the knob. Although still dexterous, his hands weren’t as dexterous as before. By the time he got the door open, he had fully turned into an elephant and couldn’t squeeze through it anymore. He was stuck in his house.
Hypr stared for a moment. Then he chuckled. “Guess I’ll just have to wait this one out,” he thought as he shut the door. “Now, about that furniture.”
As he turned and started walking back through his house, he tripped on the rug and started falling forward. “Whoa, whoa!” Instinctually, he used his trunk to break his fall. It was just enough to keep him from breaking through the floor as he landed.
He held his trunk up and waved it in front of his face. “Phew!” He breathed a sigh of relief. “That was a near thing. Hey! Maybe we can use this to stop rolling as blueber-” He stopped as another thought struck him. “Oh no…”
Meanwhile, a large elephant was wedged behind the counter at the juice bar where a cheetah had been standing just moments ago. It happened suddenly. One moment, she was finishing the new batch of the strength potion, the next, her nose grew longer into a trunk, and everything about her grew bigger, her ears, her arms, her legs and even her belly. She was surrounded by customers wondering where their drinks were.
The lemur stood there, flustered. “I’m just gonna finish up the drinks in the back, okay?” And he disappeared behind the door.
The cheetah was not happy. “HYPR!”
