Depressed Wombat

  “Here we go…” Simon sighs under his breath as he turns off his car and takes out his phone. Unlocking it, he is greeted once again by a long string of messages and images from his neighbor listing out all the tasks and specifications. A week ago, Simon’s neighbor had to fly overseas to a business convention for a few days; knowing that his son will host a party behind his back. After accidently finding out Simon’s ability to shapeshift, he blackmails Simon into infiltrating the party as his niece to record the activities. Reading the tasks and scrolling through multiple Instagram images of his neighbor's niece, Simon gets to work. Quickly looking up to ensure no witnesses during his transformation, he takes a deep breath and focuses on his body. Suddenly loud cracking sounds fills the car as Simon’s shoulders snap inwards making his collarbone more prominent while his spine lengthens and curves. “Urgh… I hate this part…” he groans, watching his legs grow longer as his kneecaps po...

  Soaking wet, Kris stands outside a rather ominous iron gate waiting for the receptionist to take him out of the storm. Flicking his blond hair back, he straightens his jacket as the gate slowly opens with a deafening screech. Looking up at the building, Kris slightly regrets his decision of walking into an isolated building deep in the woods without telling anyone. “Ah, you must be Kris, following your call this morning. Are you here to participate in the trial?” the receptionist asks, twirling her hair in front of him. Trying to avoid staring at her soft breasts, Kris fumbles with his phone before pulling out his notes. “Uh… no. I’m looking for my friend who went missing a few days ago. This is one of the places he mentioned” Kris stutters, looking around and noticing the rather modern furniture in such an old building. “Oh! I don’t think your friend will be here, but you’re welcome to have a look” the receptionist smiles, standing up and pointing to a large metal door. “Just wa...

  “Thanks for driving me to the venue man” Jake says, grabbing his ticket from the seat behind. Looking out the window, he sees couples hand in hand walking up the grand staircase to the company event. With a sigh, he opens the door and waves Patrick goodbye before walking towards the hallway alone. Shaking his head in pity, Patrick watches Jake walk up the stairs before driving off back home. Since Jake’s recent break-up, he hasn’t been the best mentally, and the company ball made things worse since the spare ticket reserved for Jake’s now ex-girlfriend is non-refundable. After driving for a few minutes, Patrick looks to the passenger seat and realizes that Jake left his wallet on the seat; as a good friend, he decides to turn back and quickly return it back to Jake. Finding a place to park, Patrick hops out of the car and hurries to the hallway in search of his friend. He finally finds Jake sitting alone on the couch outside the main room with his phone in one hand and a tiara in...

  “Come on! We’re already ten minutes late” Sara shouts from the other side of the house. Max sighs with frustration as he carefully slides his laptop into his bag and places his headphones into the compartment on the side. Looking at his phone, he sees his friend message him once more bragging about the new game they are about to play. “I said I’m not going sis. Who cares about Chinese New Year…” Max grumbles, swinging his backpack over his shoulders as he begins to walk out of the house. Ignoring his sister’s protests and anger, he continues to walk out before his sister grabs his arm and pull him back in. “Fuck off sis… I rather spend my time with my friends than this pointless celebration” Max snarls at Sara as he shakes her grip off. “Our neighbors invited us… so just go” Sara snaps back but realizes that nothing will stop her younger brother from running off to spend time with his friends. Watching Max stomp out, she shakes her head in defeat as she tries to come up with an e...

  You smile to yourself as you open up your backpack to reveal a crumbling tome carefully sandwiched between your laptop and notepad. Slowly pulling out the contents, your excitement only skyrockets as the binding around the tome clicks open and ancient writing greets your eyes. Flipping open your notebook, you find all the translations and hints your friend left you with clear directions on how to use the spell. You continue to read the notes, realizing that for every spell, there is an equal and opposite reaction like Newton’s third law. Shrugging your shoulders, you skip ahead and prepare for the spell. “ Okay… body swap… ” you mutter to yourself, flipping to the correct page on the tome as your laptop powers on, revealing an image of a Chinese model posing in front of a camera. Reading the notes one final time, you put one hand on the tome and one hand on the computer and begin to chant. After a few minutes, you complete the spell and silence fills the room. “ Did I say somethi...

  “ Dude… that movie was amazing! ” Dan laughs as he turns the car towards the highway, smiling to himself as he recalls his favorite scene. After spending the afternoon at the cinema with his friend Harry, the two head back home to have dinner and continue gaming throughout the night. “ The ending was so unexpected ” Harry interjects, winding down the window as the car picks up speed before entering the highway. With a sigh of relief, Dan congratulates himself for coming up with such a good idea to distract Harry from his recent break up. “ Watching movies with you are so much better than with… Sara ” Harry mumbles, remembering all the times he spent time with her watching movies and eating popcorn. “ Hey hey, come on man. Don’t think about her ” Dan interrupts, trying to keep his friend positive throughout the day. “ Hmm what do you wanna get for dinner? ” Dan asks, changing the topic as he speeds down the highway in an attempt to avoid the awkward conversation in the car. “ What...

  With the morning rays illuminating the back of Jake’s head, he impatiently taps his foot on the new tiles of his local café. After noticing the store opening a few days ago, he decided to try it out before catching the train to work. Looking over the shoulders of a few customers in line, he sees a barista fumbling with a stack of take-away cups, clearly flustered from the long queue. Realizing that he has already invested a fair amount of time in the queue, Jake decides to wait his turn, occasionally looking at the poor staff with a look of annoyance. Finally reaching his turn, he walks up to the counter to see the barista hastily writing the previous order onto a cup before looking up at Jake. “Um… s-sorry for the wait… what would you like?” the barista stutters, wiping her forehead as Jake glares at her. “Long black. Hurry up, I’m already late for work because of you.” Jake shouts at the young girl who is already on the verge of tears. Before she can reply, the manager steps ou...

“ Hmm… these children are so inappropriate… ” Santa sighs, looking through his scroll of naughty and nice kids.   Tapping a few rows, he shakes his head at the wishes the kids wished for. “ What does James and Andrew want with bondage ropes and gags? ” he mutters to himself as Mrs. Claus walks into his room. “ The naughty kids wishing for bad things again? ” Mrs. Claus chuckles, seeing her husband deep in thought. “ I guess we’ll stock up on more coal for them ” she says, passing a note to an elf who quickly dashes out of the room. “ That’s it… If they want something dirty… They can have it! ” Santa grumbles, circling two names on his list he plans on testing his new toys on. Stomping to his workshop, he quickly gets to work before the big day tomorrow, constantly muttering under his breath at the children nowadays. ///// Tiptoeing down the stairs, in the early hours of Christmas, William quietly shuffles to the living room where their Christmas tree sits shimmering with ornaments ...