Now Hear My Voice
by Winter

It wasn't a very impressive book. Nothing like that old leather-bound book with all the runes, which had awakened the monsters in the movie they had watched last weekend. Charlie still shuddered at the thought; he wasn't as fond of horror as his friends. So maybe it was a good thing this was just a tattered old paperback, with half the cover missing. His bushy red fox tail wagged lazily as he poked the thing. It stank of garbage, and Charlie couldn't believe that Tina had actually carried it around in her pocket. He almost giggled at the thought of how her pants must stink, too.

"So what's the big deal?" Mac asked. "Why call up a full formal Club meeting?"

Charlie turned to look at his best ever friend, and his wagging tail picked up its pace. Mac was a slender, light brown-furred otter boy; a whole year older than the rest of the Club members and almost four years older than little Jimmy, who was only six. Soon Mac would turn ten, and naturally he was so much cooler than them, knew so much more and was so much wiser to the world. At least, that was what Charlie thought. And what Mac tried to make his other friends think. Tina and Jimmy usually called him full of hot air. But he was older, that could not be denied, and he had a knack for leadership that made the others, though somewhat grumpily at times, mostly follow his lead.

The Club had no real purpose, and no real name. It was just the four of them, Mac and Charlie from Chestnut Street, pony girl Tina from Hawthorne Drive and the dragon boy Jimmy from Hazel Circle. The only kids their age in the whole suburb, and thus friends more or less by necessity. They would often complain about being stuck with such a bunch, but Charlie felt pretty sure that this was just talk. That they all really cared for one another every bit as much as he cared for them. These thoughts were pushed aside, though, as he watched Tina open the book and hold up the title page.

"What is it, what's it say?" little Jimmy piped up. He was soon about to start his first school year, and didn't read too well yet. "Hey, come on, guys, tell me!"

"H-hypni... hypto..." Charlie tried, struggling with the ancient-looking style of the letters. "Hypno..."

"Hypnotic Secrets," Tina stage whispered, and he joined in. "Hypnotic Secrets. Wow!"

"That can't be real, can it?" Mac asked, finally showing some interest. "I mean, that kinda stuff is fake, right?"

"Not this one," Tina beamed, tapping her hooves against the ground in excitement. "The guy who threw it away said it was dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Charlie asked nervously, his ear pressing flat against his head while he twirled his fingers. "H-how do you mean, dangerous?"

"I dunno. That's just what he said, then he walked away."

"Then..." he swallowed and tried again. "Then maybe we shouldn't be using it..."

"Aww, don't be scared, fox boy," Mac teased, gently pushing Charlie in the side. "What, are you afraid it'll actually work?"

"B-b-but what if it does?" Jimmy squeaked, clutching his long, blue-scaled tail to his chest. "It's scary!"

"You're both such scaredy-cats," Mac laughed. "A yellow red fox and a yellow blue dragon. That's so funny!"

"Well, you try it, then!" Charlie pouted, and little Jimmy nodded his agreement. "You get hypnotified!"

"Yeah, you get hypnoti-whatever!"

"I can do it," Tina said, grinning as Mac's ears suddenly drooped. "I've read the part that says how it's done, it's easy as pie."

"Hey, wait a minute..."

"Unless you're too fraidy, big boy," she taunted. "Scaredy-scaredy."

"Scaredy-scaredy," the other two piped in. "Scaredy-scaredy!"

"Am not!"

"Then let's do it!" Tina said, grinning. "Come sit down in front of me, Maccie."

"B-but..."

"Otherwise you really are a scaredy-cat."

Charlie laughed as his otter friend complied, dejectedly. No matter how many times they sprang this trap on Mac, he always seemed to fall for it. Challenge his courage, and he was lost. Jimmy edged up closer to Charlie, and they looked on excitedly as Tina went to work. She began by making sure Mac was perfectly positioned, all the while talking to him in a strangely toneless voice. When she had him where she wanted him, she ordered him to look right at her face, and not to look away. Charlie held his breath, feeling both scared and exhilarated.

"Are you comfy?" she asked, and Mac nodded. "Good, now hear my voice."

She kept on talking in a low, monotone voice for several minutes, while Mac stared at her, his eyes growing more and more blank. It was difficult for Charlie to hear what she said, but he guessed that the words were not the most important thing. When she could finally wave her hand in front of Mac's face without him blinking, she left him and walked over to the other two boys.

"It's done. Worked just like the book said it would." Jimmy squealed happily, but she hushed him. "Don't wake him up yet! So, what do we make him do?"

"Make him go buy us all candy!"

"No, it's gotta be something he would never do of his own free will, otherwise we won't know if it worked."

"Make him pay for the candy," Charlie suggested, and the other two giggled. "No, wait, I've got it. Make him dance."

"Huh?"

"Mac hates dancing. He told me once that the worst thing ever happened to him, was when their gym teacher made the boys dance with the girls."

"All right," Tina laughed, then walked back to the otter boy, who hadn't moved an inch. "Mac? Do you hear my voice? When I clap my hands, you're gonna start dancing. You hear? Dancing. It's fun, and it makes you happy, and you're gonna be so happy you can't stop dancing until I clap my hands again. Do you understand?"

"Yes." His voice was little more than a whisper. "I understand."

"Good. Then you may wake up."

It took a couple of seconds before Mac began to stir, then he blinked rapidly while shaking his head. He turned to look at the others, who just kept smiling at him. A frown appeared on his forehead, and he gave himself a thorough check-over before standing up.

"Okay, you guys, what happened? What did you do?"

"Nothing," Tina said, winking at Charlie and Jimmy, who bit back giggles. "Looks like it didn't work."

"I knew it wouldn't work." Mac grinned widely, and his usual cocky demeanour seemed to return. "All of that stuff is just boogers."

"You mean bogus."

"Whatever. And you saw, you all saw that I'm no scaredy-cat!"

"Yeah, we saw," they all agreed, then Tina continued. "So, what now? Anybody wants to go dancing?"

"Yeah!" little Jimmy squealed, bouncing up and down. "I love dancin'!"

"No way!" Mac exclaimed. "I hate that stuff. If you guys wanna, then fine, but I'm not doing it."

"Aww, come on," Charlie whined, bumping shoulders with his friend. "I'm sure you're good at it."

"No. Foaming. Way. Just forget it, okay!"

Just then, Tina clapped her hands, and Mac froze just as he was about to push Charlie away from him. Instead, he took a few hesitant step to one side, then back again. He grabbed the fox boy's arms and swung him around a couple of times, then let him go and started dancing on his own.

"Come on, dancer boy," Tina said and lead them towards the park. It was a beautiful summer day, and they all knew it would be full of people. All of whom would get to see a dancing otter boy. "Everybody, let's go!"

The park lay only a couple of minutes' walk away from the Club's meeting place, and was a large open green area with well-kept lawns for playing sports or having picnics, and with a playground that was mostly empty now that no Club members were there. They passed a couple of picnic tables, and halted a badminton game, as people turned to look at Mac. The otter boy was now tap-dancing along, but he would ever so often switch moves. Swaying his hips in a kind of disco way, hopping along in an improvised solo jenka or even grabbing one of the others for a few spins of waltz. When they reached the playground, and Charlie and Jimmy sat down on the car tyre swings, Mac was jumping around on his toes like a ballerina. They all laughed as he performed a classic pose with one leg stretched straight out, and his arms in a loop above his head. Just then Tina clapped her hands, and he froze again. The complacent smile on his face slowly died down, and was replaced with a look of horror.

"What the heck did I just do?"

"You danced your way through the whole park," Tina beamed, while the other two laughed so hard they almost fell off the swings. She pointed back the way they had come. "Look, people are applauding you."

"This is not true..." Mac muttered to himself, pressing his hands to the sides of his head. He was blushing so hard they could see the red even through his light brown fur. "This can't be happening, it can't be..."

But it was true. People were clapping their hands to his performance, and a couple of teenaged girls were even blowing him kisses. Dejectedly, Mac sank down on a swing and leaned his face against its chain. A deep, deep sigh escaped him, but then he straightened up and waved at his new fans, who cheered back at him. When he turned to the rest of the Club members, he looked perfectly happy again. That was one of the best things with Mac, Charlie thought. He never let things get him down for very long, and he always found a quick way back to all smiles and sunshine.

"Wow!" he said, shaking his head. "It really does work. Tina, I'm impressed."

"Thanks." The pony girl actually blushed a bit. "So, how did it feel?"

"Weird. It was like, I really wanted to do it. I had fun while I was dancing, even though you all know I hate it. I wasn't, like, forced or anything. I just wanted to."

"All right." Tina held up the book and shook it to get their attention. "So, who's next?"

Charlie glanced nervously at Jimmy, who was looking right back at him with something akin to fear in his eyes. Neither said anything, so Mac fished up a coin from his pocket and tossed it. Then he fixed Charlie with a smug grin on his face.

"You're up, fox boy."

"Hey, no fair! We didn't call heads or tails or nothin'!"

"Coin toss don't lie, Chaz. Get over there."

"You just picked me 'cause I called you scaredy!"

"It was a fair toss. Go."

"I'm not sure about this." Charlie's ears lay flat against his skull, and he fought an urge to flee. "I don' wanna dance in front of all these people."

"Don't worry," Tina said, patting his head as he sat down on a bench in front of her. She took a seat as well and opened the book. "We'll think of something else for you to do."

"Nothing embarrassing..."

"We'll see."

"Just something nice and quiet, okay?"

"Geez, all right! So... are you comfy?" He nodded. "Good. Now hear my voice."

She began talking again in that low, monotonous voice, telling him to sit still and to feel relaxed, to keep looking straight ahead but keep his eyes unfocused, to calm his mind and to stop thinking about stuff. To just sit there and listen to her, and to get more and more relaxed, more and more drowsy. Soon it was all a blur to him. A droning, never-ceasing blur that made his mind wander off to someplace where he couldn't quite reach it. As if trapped inside of himself, he felt rather than heard how Tina proclaimed that it was done, and talked to the others about what they were going to make him do. There were a couple of giggles, then she returned to his field of vision.

"Charlie? Do you hear my voice?" He wanted to say that they should quit it, that it hadn't worked, but instead he just nodded meekly. "Good. When I clap my hands, you're going to kiss someone you fancy. You're feeling full of love today, and you just can't wait to bring it out. So you're gonna give your heart's desire a really sweet kiss."

"I understand."

"Great. Now you can wake up." she turned to the other boys and glared at them. "I swear to you guys, if he kisses me I'm gonna get back at you!"

Charlie felt the paralysis lift, and he blinked a couple of times because his eyes were dry. His head felt kind of foggy, as if he had just woken up from a too-brief nap. The sunlight made him shield himself with one hand as he turned to look at the other Club members.

"So, what happened? Did it work?"

"Yeah," Mac said, grinning. "You've just run around the park on all fours, barking like a dog."

"No way!" The fox boy shook his head. "I don't remember any of it. I just heard your voice, and then..."

"Relax, Charlie," Tina interrupted. "You haven't done anything yet. He's just pulling your leg. You, good sir, are waiting for this."

With that, she clapped her hands loudly, and immediately the fog returned to Charlie's head. This time, though, it didn't paralyse him. This time it felt wonderful. He felt his heart swell, and the wide smile that spread on his face escaped his lips as a giggle. Oh, how beautiful the day was, and how happy he felt! It was a joy too big for one, something he just had to share. He looked around, surprised to see Tina glare at the other boys when his eyes went by her. All the people in the park suddenly looked beautiful to Charlie, and he felt his cheeks blush as he watched them, waving back at the girls who had blown kisses at Mac, and who were now winking at him. Then his eyes went back to his friends, and his heart was flooded with emotion. He really loved them all, but especially...

Without hesitating, he walked up to Mac and threw his arms around the otter boy's neck, then kissed him hard on the lips. Mac was his best ever friend, a boy he had known all his life and whom he would trust to the end of the world. Until that moment he hadn't realised just how much he loved Mac, but now he wanted to, needed to, express that love. Mac struggled a bit, tried to push him off, but Charlie hung on to him, mashing their faces together. And when the otter boy opened his lips to voice a protest, he slipped his tongue in between them. It was a wonderful, glorious feeling, and he did all he could to place all his love, all his heart in that kiss. His hands left Mac's neck and started roaming his back, holding and caressing, doing all he could to make his friend happy. Then Tina clapped her hands again, and reality came rushing back in. He froze in terror over what he was doing, too petrified to even gasp. Mac's tongue licked at his for a few seconds more, then it was over. The boys jumped apart, blushing like mad while staring at their own bare feet. From somewhere that seemed very far away he heard Tina wolf whistle, and little Jimmy was squealing with joy. He glanced up and met Mac's eyes for a second, then both of them looked down again. The otter boy covered the front of his shorts with his hands, and Charlie realised that he needed to do the same.

"Wow, you guys!" Tina yelled, laying an arm over each boy's shoulders while little Jimmy squeezed in between them all. "Sorry I had to stop that, but you guys were going x-rated. There are kids in the park, you know."

"That was fun!" Jimmy piped up, snuggling against Charlie's chest. "You guys were just like... like... like, like in a movie or somethin'. Do you really love him, Charlie? Huh? The deal was to kiss somebody you love. So, do ya? Huh?"

"I... uhm..." Charlie looked up a little bit, acutely aware that other people in the park were also looking at him. He met Mac's eyes again, just for a second, and before they looked away he thought he saw a faint smile on the otter boy's lips. The lips he had just kissed. "Sure. I mean... He's my best friend, of course I love him."

There were renewed rounds of applause, and a couple more wolf whistles before things calmed down. Tina broke the group hug, and Mac stepped back as well, still nervously studying his own toes. But little Jimmy clung to Charlie, hugging his waist.

"I'm your friend, too, ain't I?" he asked, his voice muffled by Charlie's shirt. "Won't ya kiss me, too, Chaz? Huh?"

Without saying anything, Charlie pushed the dragon boy back, then leaned down and kissed the tip of his nose. Just the slightest of touches, but it set off such a squeal of happiness. Jimmy started running in circles around the other three, while they sat down on the bench. They all looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

"That was kinda wild," Tina said. "Wow, that looked like it would never end. And you stopped fighting back real quick, didn't you, Maccie?"

"I... uhm... well..."

"Now we gotta get him to sit still," Charlie said, pointing his thumb at the hyper-active dragon boy. He noticed Mac's relief over the change of subject. They shared a brief smile. "Unless we're gonna stop now."

"No way!" Jimmy shrieked as he passed close to them. "I wanna do it, too!"

"Then you have to sit still," Tina told him, spinning around as she tried to make eye contact. "Can you do that?"

"Sure!"

After a couple of more laps around the bench, Jimmy sank down on it, panting slightly. He actually managed to sit completely still while Tina started talking to him in the hypnotising manner. Soon he had, like the others before him, that distant look in his eyes, and Tina joined Charlie and Mac. The two boys had been mostly standing still in the meantime, only now and then muttering something to each other, or sharing brief glances. Now they looked up at Tina.

"That was easy. Guess it helps if someone really wants to be hypnotised. So, who should he kiss?"

"No more kisses," Mac said, blushing slightly. "Just make him dance or somethin'."

"I know," Charlie said. "Make him run through the park in just his undies."

"Yeah!" Tina giggled. "That'll cool him off. All right, do you hear my voice, Jimmy? Good. When I clap my hands, you're gonna take off your shorts and your shirt and run through the park. It's so hot today, so warm in the sun, you just gotta cool off. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Jimmy answered in a soft voice, far from his usual high-pitched squeals. "I understand."

"Good, then you can wake up."

"Aren't you gonna tell me what to do?" Jimmy asked after he had blinked and shaken his head. "You talked a lot, but you gotta tell me what to do."

"I already did. Get going."

She clapped her hands, and Jimmy stared at her with a puzzled expression. For a couple of seconds they all thought it was a failure, but then Jimmy started wiping his forehead, as if he were sweating badly. He took off his shirt and tossed it aside, but still seemed too hot. Complaining about the sudden heat, he reached down and pulled his shorts off to reveal... nothing!

"Damn, he's got no undies on!" Mac groaned, slapping his forehead. "This is gonna be bad."

"Jimmy," Charlie started, but the boy had already got to his feet and started running, squealing loudly. "Oh, nuts!"

"Exactly," Mac said, grinning. "Look at him go."

Tina tried to stop the dragon boy, but he was too quick for her. And it seemed that his happy squeals were drowning out her wake-up claps. Jimmy took off at full speed out of the playground, with his tail raised high and his privates swinging freely. Down to the little creek that passed through the park he ran, scaring a couple of swans into a noisy flight, then back up towards the picnic tables. By now, all eyes were on him, and several people chuckled at the sight. The teenaged girls whistled at him, and tried to pat his backside as he passed them by, but he was too fast. He made one more trip around the picnicers, then headed back towards his friends, still screaming to the top of his lungs.

"Silly," Charlie said, fighting against laughing cramps as Jimmy sped by. "Oh, I wish we'd had a camera!"

"Don't laugh!" Tina scolded him. "The poor boy."

"Don't worry," Mac told her. "He's just a kid, it doesn't matter. Look at them, nobody cares. Kids can do stuff like this, it's okay."

"He's gonna hate me."

"No, he's not. If it had been me, I would've killed you to death. But I know little Jimmy likes to skinny-dip. It's no big deal."

They finally caught him as he came by a third time. Charlie caught the boy around the waist and lifted him up in the air, his legs still kicking madly, long enough for one of Tina's claps to work. Jimmy calmed down, and when Charlie set him back on his feet he remained standing still.

"What happened? Why am I nekkid?"

"We thought you were gonna run around in your undies," Tina said, blushing as she tried not to look at him. "I'm so sorry, little guy."

"That's okay," he said, putting on his shorts when Mac handed them to him. "But I never wear undies. They itches."

"Can you forgive me?"

"Sure." He pulled on his shirt as well, seemingly unfazed. "If you let us hypno-thingie you now."

"What? M-me?"

"It's only fain," Mac agreed. "We've all done it."

"I've seen you do it," Charlie agreed. "And we've got the book to read from. I could probably do it, too."

"I don't think so, guys. That man who threw it away was right. This thing's dangerous."

"No way!" they all said, then Mac filled in. "Not until you've had you turn. We're gonna make you dance, girl."

"You're gonna dance right up to cranky ol' Mr Chesterfield down on Oak Street," Charlie added. "And tongue kiss him."

"Yeah!" Jimmy piped up. "Butt nekkid all the way!"

"Listen, guys..." Tina tried, but the boys were all moving closer to her. "I mean it, nobody knows what might happen if we use this thing again. We oughta burn it."

Mac made a lunge for the book, but missed, and Tina took off running. The three boys gave chase, ignoring her screams and pleas. By the time they went past the Club's meeting place, they had gained on her, and the outcome was anybody's guess.