Forum Wars

Forum Wars.

Beth ran her hands through her red hair. “I don’t want to do this.”

“Then you should have thought about that before you decided to play hooky and gotten yourself into a heap of trouble.” Mr. Gongsel pushed her into the chair. “I told you that this shop is special. Did you listen? Nooo!”

“I wasn’t playing hooky. I just went out for some fun with my friend Dex.”

He narrowed his eyes, and she could see just how old he really was. “Is that why I had to use one of our more expensive potions to deflate you and your gigantic breasts and ass? Did you find that water inflation potion fun?”

“I umm. . .” She groaned as she looked away from all of his wrinkles. “I didn’t even know what I was drinking. I am sorry.”

“Hmph. I knew I would have been better off if I could have gotten my nephew to work for me. But no. He wanted to become a big-time streamer.” Mr. Gongsel waved his hands in the air. “I will make so much money and have everyone love me. It will happen just like that. Pfft. That fool.”

“But people really like streamers.”

He twisted Beth around in her chair. “My nephew should have gotten the job here where he belongs. With family. So, I don’t have to be stuck with stealing little sneak thieves like you.”

She rolled her green eyes. “Will you let it go? I am sorry for skipping out on you already.” She turned around in her chair and put her elbows around the keyboard.

“But I am not, I repeat, am not dealing with angry customers with your shop all day. It is degrading, even for my standards.”

“Would you rather I just fire you?”

She twisted around and waved her hands. “No, no. I don’t want to be fired. I need this job. You pay better than my last three bosses combined.” She grabbed his gnarled hand and kissed it. “I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful.”

Mr. Gongsel pulled his hand away. “Uugh, stop that. Look, just get on the computer and deal with the angry complaints.” He held up his and. “And be careful this time. Like everything else in the Potion’s R, Us shop, there is magic with our computers. Just dealing with complaints can have devastating effects on both you and the person you are conversing with.” He jabbed her on her shoulder. “Don’t screw this up, or I will turn you into a tree for the front of the store.

Permanently.”

Beth gulped. “I won’t screw this up. I promise.”

“I honestly don’t care if you do or don’t.” He looked outside. “That tree outside the store looks a bit withered. I think you might make a suitable replacement.” He laughed as he walked out of the room.

Beth sighed as she looked at the computer, a bead of sweat dripping down the back of her neck. “Well, I am not stressed, not at all.” She took a deep breath. “Ok, I can do this. How hard can dealing with angry people on the internet be.” She gulped. “It has to be better than being turned into a tree, right?”

She opened the link to the Potion’s R Us forum page. “Wow, there doesn’t really appear to be that many people here. I don’t know what Mr. Gongsel was talking about with angry customers.” She shrugged her shoulders and sat back. “This might be easier than watching the store.” She laughed as her chair began to wobble. “Oh shit.” Beth grabbed the side of the table. “That was a close one.”

As she sat back up, she heard a small ping. “What in the world was that?” She looked at her computer screen. “Huh. It looks like someone noticed that I logged onto the forums. How did they figure that out?” She blew her bangs to the side. “Well, I guess I will see what they have to say.”

Beth began to type away on the keyboard.  Hello. How is your day going? Do you want something from me?

“Of fucking course, I want something from you. You are the mod from Potion’s R Us!

I have been waiting days for one of you damn fools to log on and help me. Are you so busy that you can’t notice me, or are you just so self-inflated that you could care less?”

Beth sat back. “Holy crap. What a way to start off.” She pulled at the collar of her shirt. “And why does it suddenly feel a bit hot in here.” She reached down to type when she noticed her breasts were expanding again. “What the hell?” She jumped to her feet. “This is crazy. What the fuck is going on here? I haven’t touched anything in this shop in almost three days.” She grabbed her breasts as they pushed her blouse out. “Ugh, Mr. Gongsel was right. We need to be careful what we say. That jerk just made my boobs into melons.”

Beth sat back in her chair. “Ok, I have to explain to this person that they need to stay calm and have a civil conversation, or we will both suffer.” She took a deep breath and winced as her breasts brushed against her arms. “Ugh, and these things just shrank down.”

I know you are upset. But getting angry won’t solve anything. We need to choose our words carefully lest more pain befall the both of us. I know while you tell me about your big issue at hand, you don’t want anything to go wrong. So, I ask you to exercise extreme caution.

Beth sat back and waited. “There. I think that will help the person on the other end see just what is going on.” She smiled. “Oh, they are already responding. Ahh, people can be made to see reason. You just have to give them time.” She smiled. “There is some good in all of us, after all.”

Beth narrowed her eyes as she saw the response come onto the screen. “For one thing, don’t tell me how to feel. And another, what kind of company attacks someone trying to get help.”

Beth ran her hands through her hair. “Attack? How did I attack this person?”

She continued reading. “After your ill-framed post appeared on my screen, my hands tripled in size. I could barely type this. I am so angry right now. Do you have any idea what it is like to be so big? Maybe you should try it on for size.”

Beth gulped. “Oh shit.” Her body started to tremble, and she began to type furiously away.  I am not trying to attack you.” She winced as her feet burst through her shoes, and she fell down onto her knees to say eye level with the computer.  I am trying to say you need to be careful what you say so you don’t cause issues on the other end of the computer.  Beth looked up as the ceiling came closer.  For god’s sake, don’t let your anger consume everything and cloud your judgment.  Beth pushed back from the table as the walls closed in on her, the buttons popping off on her blouse. “Holy hell. Please stop growing.”

As if by command, her growth stopped. She took a deep breath and looked around. “That was a close one.” She lifted her left leg off the smashed computer chair to try to be more comfortable, her socks ripping in the process. “Ugh, I feel like I am in a box.” She pressed her feet against the wall. “This is just great. Mr. Gongsel is going to kill me. Huh?” Beth looked down as she noticed her forum antagonist was typing away. “Oh, not now. You just made me become too big for the room. Please stop it. I am sick and tired of your anger. Please stop taking it out on me.” She grabbed the sides of the computer. “I don’t want any more of this, you hear me. Just log off.” She remembered what Mr. Gongsel had told her and that she must stay there until the customer was done talking. “Please, I am begging you log off.”

“How dare you cause my body to evaporate. It is lucky I can hold myself together enough to still type. I am going to sue you and your wretched company for all you are worth, getting every last penny out of you heartless freaks. I am taking my business elsewhere. I want to be apricated and not deal with people so small-minded that they attack me through a computer. Have a horrible fucking day.”

Beth rolled her eyes. “At least it’s over.” She winced. “Ugh, now what?” She watched as her surroundings started to grow. “Well, at least I am not going to be so big anymore.” She smiled as she shrank rapidly, reaching her original height quickly. “Ahh, that feels so much better. Huh?” She continued to shrink, continuing to go down. “Hey! Stop already.” Her arms slipped through her shirt as her jeans fell to the ground. “Fuck this stupid magical bull crap.”

Beth fell backward onto her ass, the combined weight of her enlarged breasts and her shirt too much to bear. When she emerged from under the confines of her outfit, she realized she was just under a foot tall. “Ugh, that ass hole gave me one hell of a parting gift. I want from being huge to being tiny.” She pushed her bangs to the side. “Mr. Gongsel. Hello? I need some help in here.”

Beth sighed and looked around the room. “Well, this is just swell. He can’t really expect me to continue working like this. Right?” She looked at the computer chair on the other end of the room she had smashed with her foot just a few minutes ago. “Maybe it’s best he doesn’t come in here and see that I wrecked company property.”

She winced as she heard another ping on the computer. “Oh no. There is someone else.” She moaned and sat down, her boobs swaying back and forth. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take. What happens if they say something really crazy. I don’t want my body to change radically.” She put her hands on her breasts and sighed. “I am not sure if I should climb up there and deal with this.”

She shivered as she remembered what Mr. Gongsel had said if she messed up at her new job. She would be one of the new trees outside the shop. “Ugh, as much as I hate this, I don’t really have a choice. Unless I want to be sunbathing for the rest of my life.”

Beth stood up and took a deep breath. “Well, ok.” She looked at the table leg. “I will make my way up there and see what this person wants. And maybe try and get them to say something, so they will get me to grow again.” She looked down. “I can’t spend the rest of the day being this size. I just won’t have it.” She clenched her hands into a fist. “So, look out random person on the internet. I will do whatever I have to, so you get me back to my original height.” She made her way over to the table and rubbed her hands together. “Ok, I can do this.” She raised an eyebrow as she heard another ping. “And I better hurry. It sounds like I am going to have a rash of messages to go through.” She wrapped her arms around the table leg, her breasts rubbing against the cold metal.

“Ughh, this is. . .” She took a deep breath as she shimmied her way up. “Oh, fuck is this hard to focus.” She blinked her eyes as immense pleasure racked her body. “Holy fuck. I need to focus. I need to. . .” She moaned as she slowly slid back down. “Ahhhh.”

There was a bang on the door. “Beth. What is going on in there? Are you slacking off?”

She shook her head. “No, Mr. Gongsel.” She took a deep breath and pulled herself up, resisting the urge to moan. “I am working very hard.”

“Well, work harder, so I am not bothered with notifications on my own computer. You don’t want to have to worry about providing shade for the store, do you?”

“Of course not, Mr. Gongsel.” She pulled herself up onto the computer table. “I will do Potion’s R Us proud.”

“Just do the work I gave you. Nothing fancy.” She heard him walk away.

She sighed and sat down. “Phew.” She wiped the sweat from her forehead. “That was close.” She pushed herself to her feet and looked at her monitor. “I don’t need him to come in and see what kind of mess I have gotten myself into. Now let’s see here.” Beth moaned.

“What nonsense am I going to have to endure this time?”

She noticed there was a message waiting for her from a new person. “Why can’t you just show me what they posted.” Beth rolled her eyes. “I am small here.” She groaned as she walked over to the mouse. “Stupid magical computer. The damn thing can’t help me out when I need it. Hugh.” She bear-hugged the mouse and slowly dragged the cursor over and clicked on the message. “Ok, what does this crazy person want?”

“Hello. I am sorry to bother you at work. But I wanted to thank you and the other wonderful people at your store. If I hadn’t stopped in your store well, I think I wouldn’t meet my fiancé. It is truly a miracle. I don’t get why people come on here to call the people who work here such devils. You are far from it. You are miracle workers. You saved me from living my life alone. Even if it was one of the strangest experiences, I have ever had in my life. I still can’t fully explain it. Turning into a cat and my wife to save me from a vicious dog.”

“Anyways, I am rambling. I do that sometimes. Chatter, chatter, chatter. My dad says I will eventually get in trouble for not being able to shut up. Oh, I just realized I am still doing it. I am so sorry.”

“I will end with this. I think you people are angles, and I can never repay you.

Thank you so much. Angela.”

Beth smiled. “Well, that isn’t what I expected. What a nice heartwarming message.” She walked up to the screen and ran her hand across the warm glass. “After the last crazy person, I feel all nice and fuzzy inside.” She blinked her eyes. “Wait, I really do feel warm and fuzzy.” She rubbed the sides of her body. “What the hell did that person say that could cause a magical reaction?”

Beth fell onto her hands and knees. “Ugh, my back. It hurts so much.” She winced.

“Make it stop.” Suddenly long white wings extended out from her body. “Aughh.” She stood up and flexed her new appendages. “Huh? This can’t be real, can it?”

She shivered. “It’s not done? What is going on now.” She watched as the monitor started to shrink. “Oh, thank you. Thank you.” She ran her hands along the monitor as she started to grow. “I don’t have to be so tiny anymore. I may have these annoying wings, but at least I won’t have to worry about how I will get home.” She took a deep breath. “Yes. Oh boy, yes. Whoh?” She fell off the table and winced as she landed on her new wings. “Oww, that hurts.”

Beth pushed herself up and slid her new wings out from under her as she grew to her original height. “Remind me not to sit on these things again.” She rubbed her right wing. “It felt like I got my foot caught in the door. Yesh.”

There was another knock at her door. “Beth.”

“Mr. Gongsel. Don’t worry.” She grabbed her mangled chair and slid it over to where she was standing. “I am working very, very hard.”

“That isn’t what I want. I know you have been working. But it’s five.”

Beth looked at the clock in the corner of the monitor. “But I have only been in here for a few minutes. How can it be five already?” She rubbed at her forehead. “I couldn’t have been working for that long, could I?”

“You work for Potion’s R Us. Haven’t you figured out anything can happen?” The doorknob began to turn. “Now it’s time for your shift in there to end, Beth.”

She rushed towards the door. “I umm can do some overtime, sir. Yes. That sounds good.” She wrapped her wings around herself. “Have to keep those customers happy, happy, happy.”

“Beth. Open this door at once. This is serious.”

She shook her head. “I want to earn some more money. I well need it. I could lose my apartment.” She gulped. And I can’t let him see me like this. He said he would turn me into a tree. I need someone else to log on and turn me back into a plain old human.

“Beth, you don’t understand. You need to come out. Every moment you stay in there, you are losing precious minutes.”

“Yes, precious minutes I could be earning more work time.”

She heard a slam against the door. “No. Time flows differently in that part of the store. You don’t want to see your life just flow away, do you? Lose entire days out of your life because you are so concerned with your damn job.”

“What?” She gulped. “You put me in a damn room where I would lose hours out of my life? What the hell is wrong with you?” She flapped her wings. “And you were concerned I would fuck things up for you.”

“If you only stay in there for a little bit, there is little to no effect on you. But if you are in there for any longer, you could start to lose hours out of your life. I don’t need to tell you what happens if you are in there for a prolonged time beyond that.”

Beth took a deep breath. “But you said if I screw things up, you would. . .”

“I will still do that if you cost the company money, but you can’t hide in a magical part of our store and wither away to avoid it. Now get out here.”

Beth gulped.  Maybe I should have been fired. I don’t like this crazy place anymore.  She took a deep breath.  Well, I guess I don’t have much of a choice now, do I?

She closed her eyes and slowly twisted the handle. Beth took a deep breath as the door opened.  Here we go.

She opened her eyes to see Mr. Gongsel tapping his foot away on the other side. “What are you waiting for? An open invitation to walk out of that temporal trap?”

She shuddered. “You are not angry that I look this way?”

He grabbed her by her right wing. “I could care less if you were thirty feet tall and had fur. Now get out here.” Beth moaned in pain as he dragged her into the front of the store. “Is that what you were worried about?”

“Well, you threatened me. . .”

“I threatened you if you cost me money for the Potion’s R Us franchise.” He rubbed his forehead. “I should have been more clear, but I was worried you would have run off.”

She crossed her arms. “Ya telling me about some computer that will cause me to transform when people yell at me.” She rolled her eyes. “I am not sure I would have gone in there willingly.”

Mr. Gongsel raised an eyebrow. “Well, it’s not over yet.”

“Huh?”

“Last part of the day before you go home.” He pulled out a syringe. “I analyze your blood to analyze the changes so I can make more potions.”

She took a few steps back. “Your nuts. I was just a guinea pig in there, wasn’t I?”

“It is all part of working for Potion’s R Us, my dear. Some day you will be doing this to your new employee. Now sit down. It won’t hurt much. Afterwards, I can give you the antidote so you can lose those angelic wings.”

“You promise.”

Mr. Gongsel nodded his wrinkled face. “Of course. And I have some extra clothing for you as well, my dear.”

She sighed and held out her arm. “Get it over with.”

He smiled. “Welcome to the Potion’s R Us family Beth.”