Shreds of an Archive

A Wizards Mistake

PROMPT: I have been practicing magic for years. But a few weeks ago something went wrong and I switched bodies with my cat. I had been researching how to change myself back when the town burned my house down for witchcraft. I hate this place

'Mrow' Seth muttered angrily to his cat- well, to himself- or I guess 'technically' he was saying it to himself. To put it simply, his cat stole his body. Or he stole his cat's body? Nevertheless they had swapped bodies and it really sucked for him, trading a human body for a feline body wasn't fair whatsoever.

    In retrospect, it could've maybe, possibly, been his fault, because he was the one who messed up a magic spell, and instead of making corn taste like pizza he ended up switching consciousness with his cat. No, it was definitely his cat's fault. No doubt about it.

    His body bumbled about awkwardly, his cat Cora still trying to get used to moving around on two legs, and she would often give up and end up crawling around on her hands and knees, trying to do a poor human imitation of yowling all the while. Whenever she got into a dangerous situation, which was very often, a short hiss was all it took for her to cower back and shove her now-oversized head under his bear-rug.

    It had been a day now, and no matter how bad he didn't want to leave his body alone with irresponsible Cora. He needed to change things back as soon as possible.

    Becoming a feline had its perks though, he realized as he strode atop a wooden fence, nimbly padding alone the narrow surface. For one, he always landed on his feet, which is something you don't really know you needed until you have it. Also, he could walk around without having to interact with the villagers who were prone to asking uncomfortable questions such as 'How was your day?' and 'Why are you in my house?'. They were honestly just inconsiderate. That's why he spent most of his time in his small, vine-covered cabin, learning magic.

    He made his way to the apothecary's cabin, and was stopped by a massive issue. He couldn't open doors, at least not with his physical body. And he couldn't use magic in front of the entire village in broad daylight. Shamefully he mur-wowed up at the door, yowling desperately. Eventually, the door creaked open, an old woman peeking out from behind it, before she could react he slipped inside, quickly darting in between her legs.

    "Oh!" The lady exclaimed "Don't go touchin' those!"

    Oh, but alas, he would go touchin' those, and touch away he did as he picked up a leather pouch filled with sulfur and other materials that were most definitely for another person's order, but they were his now. The old lady stumbled around chasing him, trying to grab her goods back before he eventually pulled a quick one eighty half feint and spun out the door.

    Smoke rose on the horizon, fading into the now dimming evening sky. I feel sorry for the old sod whose house is burning down he thought, a malignant grin spread across his feline face.

    Karma sucks. It was his house. Where's my cat!? He let out an angry yowl and padded closer listening in on what the surrounding crowd was saying.

    "Aye it's done, his black magic will plague us no longer!" A cheer rose up from amongst the people. They burnt down my house and are celebrating, he thought blackley. "We don't know for sure yet, we haven't found his body" a lady from the crowd cried out.

    "I was sure he was in there, and there's only one entrance and exit, I'm sure we'll see his corpse by the time this burns down." The first man said, an edge of doubt creeping into his voice. The magic door he thought, mind instantly darting to the secret passage he created between here and a nearby tree, it was done for his own entertainment but was proving to be quite useful.

    Not far from the magic door, he saw his body. Relief flooded through him. He bounded over to see that his cat was busy chewing away at a dead chipmunk. Disgusting, he thought.

    A quick ritual later, and he was back in his body, like nothing ever happened!

    Well, until the villagers saw him. Now he was running from torches and pitchforks, Cora, now back in her original body, hung from his shoulder lazily.

"Mrow" she yapped hungrily.