The sun crept into my eyelids as I lay motionless in my bed. I let out a yawn as I opened up my crusty eyes. I sat up and brushed the sleep out of my eyes as I shuffled across the bed sheets. I hopped out of my bed and walked over to the bathroom. Today was the day, the day I received my package. I was extremely excited about finally getting my hands on my Thunder Bay Puffins jersey; I had been waiting for it for a fair amount of time. UPS was going to deliver the parcel directly to my doorstep, and I'd finally have my team jersey. The Thunder Bay Puffins was a team for the Furry Hockey League, also known as the FHL. This jersey had their logo emblazoned on the front, along with my lucky team number: 00. I got ready as fast as I could; I wanted to be on standby for when my package arrived. 

It had been a long week of substituting for the Nittany Lions’ team mascot, transforming into various animals, and doing my taxes. Now, I could finally wear my team jersey with pride after a long week of nonsense. I wandered over to the washroom and brushed my teeth. After giving my face a good scrubbing, I wandered over to my closet and looked for some clothes. Unfortunately, my recent transformations had put a damper on my wardrobe. I had very few articles of casual clothing left, aside from suits and ties. However, after looking through my closet, I found my old Philadelphia Flyers Jersey!

I hadn't worn this thing in months, but it was always a fond favorite of mine. I tossed on a pair of old jeans that I hadn't worn in a while, and my makeshift outfit was complete. I ran downstairs to grab some breakfast, as my stomach grumbled along the way. I walked into the kitchen and poured myself a bowl of cereal and some milk. I took a few minutes admiring the beautiful day outside as I slaked my hunger. After scarfing down my breakfast, I walked over to the living room. I turned on the TV and watched the news until I heard a truck drive up. I turned and looked out the window to see the UPS truck in all its glory, parked right near my house. Something seemed off about the vehicle, but I couldn't quite figure out what that was. I just had the feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong, and that feeling was never wrong. I looked at the vehicle as I found my eyes drawn to the UPS logo. It just wasn't natural; something about that generic logo was bugging me.

I really didn't have time for this nonsense at the moment, as I saw the UPS man unloading my package from the van. I began to get excited - finally something was going to go right this week! I walked towards the door as I heard the man stepping onto the doormat outside. I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard the doorbell - the simple act of hearing that sound halted my body in its tracks. I suddenly started picturing the UPS symbol for no apparent reason as I fell to my knees. I looked down at my hands as my palms began to itch. I held my hands out in front of me as my palms started growing rough pads. "Not now!" I shouted, "Could you not wait 'til later?!" I couldn't believe how low I had just sunk - I was trying to reason with a transformation! It must have been one of those days. The familiar paw pads of an animal formed on my hands and fingers as the rough pads began to chafe. As soon as my paws finished forming, tiny brown hairs began to spring up from my hands. The hairs grew longer as they quickly began to blanket the area around my paws. My hands looked less like human hands and more like paws belonging to a wookie or something. My fingernails began to painfully rearrange themselves into powerful grey-colored claws. These massive claws jutted out of my fingertips as they finished forming.

My hands were now covered in thick fur and rough pads, but I still had one bigger problem to deal with: the UPS man was still at door, ringing the doorbell constantly. He had probably heard all of the screaming and was waiting for me to arrive. I decided to answer the door anyway, so I took one step towards the door and heard a rip. I was hoping to God that the sound I just heard wasn't the sound of my beloved jersey ripping! Unfortunately, I soon found out that it was. I looked down and saw my stomach beginning to expand out as rips formed in my jersey. As this happened, fur began to spread across my body. With each rip, a large tuft of brown fur was visible. This fur continued to grow in rapid succession as my body became heftier and fatter. The fur grew across my face and I could feel it growing in tandem across my legs. The part that I was most concerned about was that my jersey - one of my favorite personal items - was about to be torn to pieces. My body continued to bulk up as the jersey ripped apart at the seams. My body bulked up to the point where the jersey was torn to shreds. It fell off my body as I fell to my hands and knees.

"No! This can't be happening!" I shouted as tears rolled down my face. Even though it was an article of clothing, it was my prized possession. I won it in a special giveaway at a Flyers game; some of the team members had even autographed it! I was defeated; I never knew a transformation could push me this far! Not only did I lose my jersey, but I was now out of clothing to wear. My legs began to bulk up as well, as my pants became tight and uncomfortable. My increasing weight began to rip my jeans as long scar-shaped tears decorated the legs of my pants. The elastics holding the pants began to give way as my massive legs tore my pants asunder. The fur burst out of every rip and tear as my pants were pulled apart and torn to pieces. I felt my feet begin to bulk up as each foot quickly became massive. My shoes became extremely uncomfortable as they began to tear from the strain of the ever increasing size of my feet. Eventually, my feet burst forth from my shoes, tattering the once-durable fabric into bits of material.

I liked my shoes as well; they were given to me as a birthday present from my girlfriend. I have always hated how transformations would always destroy every single article of clothing in my wardrobe, but I guess it's just a thing that people have to deal with. I stood up and looked around the room. Everything seemed somewhat smaller and was getting smaller by the minute. I looked down and noticed that my perspective was slowly shifting. The room wasn't getting smaller; I was getting taller! That's something new, I guess; I don’t usually increase in height when I transform. I must've been almost seven feet tall once my growth-spurt had ended! I felt strangely empowered by this new level of size. It didn't really make up for the shredding of my beloved jersey, but it was a start! My jaw began to uncontrollably clench together as I felt the next change take place. My teeth became pointed and jagged as I felt my once-human molars morph into the cruel fangs of an animal. My tailbone started shifting and moving as it slowly began growing into something completely new.

I squirmed and twitched as the tail pushed out from my backside. It was covered in the same brown fur as the rest of my body, and was rather tiny compared to other tails I had possessed in the past. Once it was fully formed, I wiggled it around a bit to test it. The transformation was nearing its crescendo, and my transformation was nearly complete. Once again, I heard the doorbell ring. I couldn't believe that guy was still here! He either must have been really patient, or had nowhere else to be. The transformation worked its way up to my head as I felt it begin to expand. My skull shifted as it formed into an entirely different shape. It warped into the head befitting of a mammal as it continued to swell. My nose began to itch as the flesh atop it began to harden. It became hard and rough, feeling more like leather than actual skin. Once my nose had become an animal's nose, many new scents began to filter into it.

I couldn't restrict the amount of smells that came crashing through my nostrils, so I had to find a way to deal with the constant barrage of foreign stench. I held my paws over my nose as my face began to itch as well. My mouth began to push out as the bones inside of it began to arc. It continued to push forward as the muscles in my face began to tighten. My mouth and nose had formed into a muzzle, one befitting that of a beast. Complete with my new fangs, I now had the muzzle of a wild animal. My ears began to hurt immensely as I felt the sensitive flesh lining them begin to shift. My ears grew larger and larger; my fur-covered ears were now massive. I could hear every sound better than I could before, including the loud ringing sound of the doorbell. I ignored the doorbell for the time being; I was more curious as to what I had become.

I shuffled my hefty body across the floor as my furry feet rubbed up against the shag carpet. I walked up to the mirror and gazed at my reflection. My muzzle stood agape at the sight that stood before me. Standing in the mirror was an anthropomorphic bear, complete with a massive body and soft brown fur. I looked like something out of Narnia! What could've caused this to happen to me? Once again, I heard the piercing ring of the doorbell penetrate my now-sensitive ear drums. I tromped over to the front door as my massive paws smacked loudly against the floor. I was surprised that I hadn't caved in the floor with my giant bear feet! I made it to the door and moved my massive paw-like hand over the doorknob. I struggled for a bit; I wasn't used to opening doors with paws yet.

Eventually, I managed to get it open, and I saw the man with the package just standing there. He was grinning from ear to ear as he spotted my ursine form. "Oh, man! That's an awesome bear costume, dude!" He held out his hand so he could shake my paw, but I smacked it away in return. "This isn't a costume! I just transformed into a bear!" The man began shaking as he held the package; my response was making him feel very uneasy. "Oh, not again!" he shouted in a very angry tone, "I could get fired for this!" I bared my fangs as the man began to panic even more so. "You mean you caused this? You’d better hope this isn't permanent, or you may become more forgotten then a missing camper!" I shouted, right before I began roaring like the bear that I'd become.

"Whoa, don't be so angry! It's only temporary, man!" shouted the man, in an attempt to calm me down. I tried my best to calm myself and think rationally as the UPS man wiped off some sweat from his forehead. "So..." I began, as I properly regained my composure, "What caused this?" The man pointed towards his van. "That logo - which we have emblazoned on all of our vans - has been cursed for quite some time. No one really remembers who it was that cursed the company, since it happened so long ago. My supervisors tell me that the curse affects only those who don't work for the company, as a measure to prevent people from continuing their support of our service. The curse always transforms someone into some sort of brown animal: like a bear, dog, or horse. The curse used to be permanent, but we had witch doctors help us suppress it. Because of this, it only affects certain people now and only for a short amount of time," explained the man as he handed me my package.

I gripped it tightly between my paws and looked down at it. I had only just forgotten about the jersey that I had ordered; at least I had a replacement for my Flyers jersey now. I guess the transformation wasn't all bad; I had always been fairly fond of bears, in all honesty. "So, how long does the curse last?" I asked him. The man began to inch away as he chuckled hysterically. "Well, I uh...you'd best ask someone else!" He continued to inch away until I let out a loud growl at him. "You do realize bears can out-run humans, right? So I suggest you tell me how long this will last, or else I'm going to have to call Ranger Smith to pick up what's left of you!" It was a bluff, of course; I didn't have a violent bone in my body. Then again, he didn't know that. "It lasts...it lasts a month, I'm sorry." My anger returned. "A month?! I can't be stuck as a bear for that long! How can I go outside as a bear?" I asked as I bared my fangs at the man. He screamed and ran off before I had a chance to say anything else. I grunted and slammed the door; I guess there wasn't anything I could do about my current situation.

Once I got back inside my house, I tossed my package on the kitchen table and sat down in front of my ripped up jersey. I held the tattered fabric in my hand as I reminisced about all the good times I had with it: all of the girls that I dated while wearing it, all of the problems that I solved with it on my person, and all the stains that I scrubbed at for hours to get out. This jersey had been there for me until the very end, and I felt truly bad about this whole situation. I gathered up all of the tattered pieces of fabric and placed them gently in the garbage can. I shuffled around my kitchen and thought of what I should do next. Waiting this out for a whole month would take a lot of time and effort; there had to be some sort of cure or way I could burn away the time. That's when it hit me: I realized that bears hibernated! And it was winter, but I couldn't just go into hibernation on a whim. Or could I?

I was seriously considering it, but one question began to rub me the wrong way: could anthro bears hibernate just like regular bears? Maybe if I took some kind of drug, I'd be able to hibernate. Luckily, I had an unopened bottle of Hibernol upstairs, something that I never thought I'd be able to use! I thought of all the ramifications that would erupt from me being in hibernation for a month, and then weighed them against walking around town as a bear. When it came down to the final decision, I went with hibernation. It's better to go missing for a month than to be tranquilized and turned into a bear-skin rug! Or worst yet, I could get tossed into a zoo! I shuddered to think of changing back to a human while trapped in a cage full of bears! I guess I'm an anthropomorphic talking bear, but that fact would probably freak people out more! My mind was made up: I had to go into hibernation! However, bears only sleep in caves. Where was I going to find a cave in a rural American town? I guess the basement was as close as I could get.

I walked upstairs to get the bottle of Hibernol; I just hoped it worked on bears! As my big hefty bear paws tromped up the stairs, I thought deeply about the events of today: If UPS trucks have the chance of transforming someone into an animal, why bother with it? At first I thought it may have been a lie, just like the one about White-Cat. Then again, what kind of sane man would lie to a bear? I guess I'd have time to think about it, a very large amount of time. I knew that I had to stock up on food from the kitchen after I took the Hibernol. Bears need to stock up on large amounts of fat in order to hibernate through the winter. It was definitely going to be a long month, but I knew I'd get through it. Once I'm human again, the first thing I'm going to do is try on my new jersey. I just hope my human form doesn't retain any of my bear fat, or I'll have to order another one!