Hypr was stuck in his house for almost a week after having been turned into an elephant. Usually, effects of the drinks from the juice bar only lasted for a few hours at most. Of course, he had insisted on having a strength potion before it had been fully prepared properly. Not only had it turned him into an elephant, not only did it make him so big he couldn’t fit through his front door, the effects lingered for a long time. Much longer than he had anticipated. Those “unstable drinks”, as the owner of the juice bar called them, certainly had unpredictable effects.


Hypr had felt bored being cooped up in the house. He already rearranged his furniture four times and rewatched every movie he owned. He tried drawing with his trunk with varying degrees of success.


As the week wore on, there were signs that he was turning back into a cat. His fur was growing back, his hands were becoming more dexterous and most prominently, he was returning to his normal size. Since he hadn’t had any blueberry juice while stuck at home, he became less blue and round too.


“Not long now,” he thought as he tried to go out the door. He was still just a little too big to fit through. For as much as he wanted to get back out into the world, there was a small part of him that was relieved that he couldn’t. He was a little afraid about what the cheetah would say and do to him the next time they met. Still, she was his friend and he had to make sure that she was doing okay.


By the next morning, Hypr had shrunk enough to be able to fit through his door. He stepped outside for the first time in a week. He took a moment to take it all in and took a deep breath of fresh air.


“Okay,” he said at last, “let’s do this.” And made his way to the juice bar.


Hypr hoped the place would be full but it was in the middle of a slow period. No wait time to talk with the cheetah. Most of her elephant features had turned back to normal. The most noticeable thing was that she still had her trunk. She was also still a little chubby. Nowhere near as big as before but still but back to her original slim self. She looked up and saw Hypr. Her face grew very stern. It made Hypr nervous.


“Uh, heh heh, hi…” he said


“Hi,” the cheetah replied shortly.


“So… the strength potion…”


“Yeah.”


“I’m sorry, I never meant for this to happen.”


“I know.”


In a panic, Hypr started to get slightly defensive. “I didn’t know what would happen.”


“And yet you went through with it anyway.”


“But that lemur guy, he didn’t seem to think anything about it.”


“I’ve dealt with him.”


“Yeah but, but, but…” I was no use. Hypr knew he was at fault and nothing he could say would change that. He just waited for the cheetah to bring it down on him.


The cheetah just stared at the elephant cat for another moment before letting out a sigh. She wasn’t angry, she was disappointed. “Look, Hypr, I know you meant well but it’s clear to me that you know nothing about my drinks or how they work. You’re not entirely to blame for that but my drinks are very important to me. As a friend, I hoped you would respect that.”


“I do, I do!” exclaimed Hypr, “It was a stupid mistake and I admit that. I’m sorry, I truly am.” He looked down. “I’d really like to make it up to you.”


The cheetah lifted up Hypr’s chin with her trunk so that his gaze met her’s. Her expression has softened. “I appreciate that very much, Hypr and there’s a simple way you can make it up to me.” Hypr perked up a little bit. “I’m a little short-handed at the moment. How would you like to work here with me until you learn how the drinks work? Or until I lose the last of this weight. Whichever comes first.”


Hypr smiled. “I’d like that. That might actually be fun.”


“Good! Glad to hear it. I’ll see you back here bright and early tomorrow. In the meantime, would you like some blueberry juice?”


“Yes, please!”


So the cheetah handed Hypr a bottle and bid him farewell as he left.


Some time later, Hypr returned to the juice bar. Though he had finished his drink, he was no bigger or bluer than before. “Um, hey,” he said to the cheetah, “I think this may have been a dud. I didn’t turn into a blueberry.”


The cheetah smiled cheekily. “Oh, that’s because I cut you off.”


Hypr was stunned. “What?!”


“Yup. I’m not giving you the blueberrification variant until you learn how to make it yourself.” Hypr stared. “Oh, don’t give me that look. You’re a fast learner. You’ll be a blueberry again in no time.”


Hypr sighed. “Yeah, okay.”


“So, I’ll be seeing you tomorrow then?”


“Yup.”


“Bright and early.”


“Uh huh, bright and early,” echoed Hypr as he left the juice bar for the day.


Hypr lightly cursed under his breath as his alarm woke him up way too early for his liking. He knew a lot of the blame rested on his shoulders but that didn’t mean he was any more enthusiastic about early mornings. As he got ready and made his way to the juice bar, he decided to think of the positives. He was curious about the drinks. It would be interesting to learn how they worked.


He reached the juice bar just as the cheetah finished her morning run. “Morning, Hypr,” she said, “Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, are we?” Hypr could only manage a groggy “Mmhmm” in response. The cheetah giggled. “Oh well, we can’t all be morning people, can we? We’ll have you start by cleaning the tables before the customers arrive. I’ll show you where the spray bottle and rags are.”


It wasn’t long before Hypr set to work. As he wiped down the counter and table-tops, the cheetah was busily preparing some drinks.


Hypr was curious. “Shouldn’t you wait until the customers order their drinks before you make them?”


“You’d think that, wouldn’t you?” grinned the cheetah, “And we do a lot of the time. We also pre-make some of our more popular items so they can be handed out quickly. It keeps the lines from getting too long.”


“Huh. I guess that makes sense,” said Hypr, “Say, do you think I could-?”


“Whoa, slow down there, buddy. We’ll get there but you’re not ready to make the juice. Besides, you still got tables to clean.”


Hypr’s face fell. “Right,” he murmured and got back to work.


By the time the table and counter tops were clean and ready, it was time to let the customers in. The cheetah asked Hypr to watch her as she handled the customers. Hypr couldn’t help but feel a little anxious.


“It’s nothing to worry about,” reassured the cheetah, “Just watch me for now. All you have to do is be the nice polite cat, er, elephant-cat that I know you are.”


Hypr blushed, “I can do that.”


So the cheetah took the first few orders. There really was nothing to it; just noting what people wanted, taking their money and giving them what they wanted and their change. So much so that Hypr felt confident enough to take a few orders himself. If the cheetah was there beside him in case anything went wrong.


“You seem to be handling this well,” remarked the cheetah.


“Yeah, I suppose I am,” said Hypr. He was feeling pleased with himself.


“Do you think you’re ready to try it on your own?”


Hypr wasn’t so pleased now. “What? By myself?”


“Sure, you seem to be handling the customers well.”


“I suppose I could. But where are you going?”


“For a run to shed off some of this weight.” Hypr’s feelings were beyond words. “Hey, I believe in you. I wouldn’t be trusting you like this if I didn’t.” That made Hypr feel better.


He was anxious when handling the first few customers on his own but with each  new customer, he felt better about handling them. He was a little disappointed that the blueberry juice wasn’t selling as well as the other drinks. He even considered taking one for himself but thought better of it.


Sometime later, the cheetah came back into the juice bar huffing and puffing.


“Oh, hello.” said Hypr, “Did you have a good run?”


The cheetah had to take a moment to get her breath back. “No… I’m sorry to say… Not really,” she panted, “It’s… Running has not been easy… with all this extra weight.” She sounded disappointed.


“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Hypr.


“It’ll… It’ll get better. Now,” said the cheetah, changing the subject, “how’re things here at the store?”


“Everything’s been fine. We are running low on the strength juice, though.”


The cheetah perked up when she heard that. “The strength juice, you say?” She looked around the store. It was pretty quiet. “I think now would be a good opportunity to teach you how to make the juice.”


Hypr smiled. “You mean like the blueberry juice?”


“No, not yet. We need more strength juice so we’ll go with that first.”


“Oh, okay.”


Hypr followed the cheetah to the back where a majority of the juice ingredients were kept. It was mostly fruit, some frozen yogurt and one cooler with strange bottles in them.


“What are those?” asked Hypr.


“Those are the secret to the strength, speed, stamina and other juices like it,” said the cheetah. She pulled out a bottle that had the picture of an elephant on it and brought it over to a distiller. “This is essence of elephant,” she explained as she poured it in, “We distill it to the point where it has barely any effect at all. Hardly noticeable unless to look really, really closely. We then mix in fruit to enhance its ability to give strength. We even have a variant for muscle growth.” Then, as if to prove her point, she poured the distilled essence into a blender along with some mixed berries. “If customers want something thicker, we add ice or frozen yogurt.” She said some other things but Hypr was too busy watching the process to fully pay attention. “...and that’s pretty much it. If you get lost, you can follow the recipe card.” She gestured to a handful of posters posted on the wall.


Hypr broke out of his trance. “Huh? Oh, follow the recipe card. Got it.”


“Think you can handle making a batch of strength juice while I handle the til?”


Hypr blinked but said “Sure, I can do that.”


“Great because I’m gonna need it. Thanks, Hypr.” With that, she went back out to the front.


As soon as the door was shut, Hypr panicked a little. He really wished he had been paying attention. “Okay, calm down,” he told himself, “she said I could just follow the recipe card. Yeah, that’s good.”


He scanned the posters until he saw one that said “strength juice.” To his surprise and relief, the only fruit ingredient seemed to be mixed berries.


“Oh,” he thought, “that’s easy. She’s already done this one so I guess it’s ready to go.” He poured it into some bottles. Once it was gone, he took the distilled essence of elephant, blended it with more mixed berries and poured it into more bottles. He completed this process over and over, occasionally stopping to distill more of the elephant potion. He was always very careful when handling that. By the end of the day, a full batch of the new juice was ready. He felt very pleased with himself.


Even the cheetah was impressed when she came to check on him. “Well done,” she said, “You picked that up fast.”


“Well,” said Hypr modestly, “all I did was follow the recipe card.”


“In any case, I am very impressed.” Hypr couldn’t help but blush at the cheetah’s compliment. “Anyway, I just came to tell you that your shift is over. You can go home, I’ll prepare some more strength juice for tomorrow.”


Hypr was confused and a little disappointed. “But what about these?” He asked, gesturing towards the drinks he had just made.
“Oh, those aren’t for the customers. I’ll be using these as my own personal batch.” Hypr stared at the cheetah with a blank expression. “Since running ended up to be a bust,” her eye twitched as she said it, “I thought I’d try weight lifting to lose weight instead. It makes sense, both have ‘weight’ in the name.” She chuckled at her own joke.


Hypr chuckled too. “I have to admit, it wasn’t all bad today. Don’t be surprised if I’m making blueberry juice by the end of the week.”


“Oh yeah? We’ll see about that.”


“And I’ll see you in the morning.” With that, the duo bid each other good night and Hypr left for home.


The next morning, Hypr’s alarm clock woke him up. He reached over with his elephant trunk to turn it off, just like he’d been doing for the past week or so. To his surprise, it was harder to reach than before. As he got up and ready for the day, he noticed that he was closer to his original size too. “The effects must finally be winding down,” he said to himself. He went off to the juice bar expecting to see the same thing happening to the cheetah.


But when he did meet up with the cheetah, he found that wasn’t really the case. Her trunk had shrunken too but she was still as chubby as ever. Maybe even more so. Hypr knew better than to point it out, though.


“Good morning, Hypr,” she greeted, seemingly unaware of her unchanged weight, “You’re looking more feline today, I see.”


“Yeah, I definitely am,” Hypr said, trying to sound cool.


“Yeah. Finally, things are winding down. At this rate, you’ll be off the hook in no time.” With that, the cheetah went inside to ready the juice bar for the day. Hypr hesitated before following her.


“Yes, I certainly hope so,” said Hypr, under his breath.


The day went pretty much the same as before. Hypr and the cheetah handled the customers together until the cheetah left to have her fitness break. Taking some strength juice with her.


When she came back, Hypr was very surprised. Her belly and cheeks were noticeably rounder.


“Do you mind handling the customers today, Hypr,” she asked, “I’ll make the drinks in the back.”


“Sure, no problem,” replied Hypr. He really hoped there wasn’t one.


The store was busy all day and Hypr didn’t see the cheetah until the end of the day. She was most definitely chubbier now with a bigger belly. Hypr couldn’t help but think there really was a problem now.


It continued for several days. The less elephant-like they became, the more well-rounded she became. Hypr was worried but he didn’t dare say anything. By the end of the week, Hypr was completely back to normal and the cheetah was a cheetah again. A very chubby cheetah.


That morning, when they met at the store, the cheetah wasn’t smiling. Her belly was more round than ever. So much so that it was almost squished between the counter and the back wall. Her cheeks were plump too and formed dimples. Even with her disapproving look. It put Hypr on edge.


“Uh… Heheheh, good morning,” he said.


“Morning,” replied the cheetah, “You’re back to normal, I see.”


“Yes and uh… you’re uh…”


“Don’t beat around the bush. I know I’m big and I’d like to know why.”


Hypr winced. “I really don’t know.”


“Hypr, we’re both back to normal except for my weight. The only variable has been the strength juice you made.”


“I-I, I don’t know what to say. I followed the recipe card, honest.”


“Alright. Show which card you used.”


“Of course.” And Hypr led her into the back, the cheetah just barely squeezing through the door. The cat scanned the recipe cards until he found the one that said to add mixed berries. “That one!”


The cheetah examined the card. “I see… Did you read the fine print?”


“What fine print?” asked Hypr. He looked more closely. There, beneath “Strength juice”, in parentheses, were the words “muscle gain version”. Hypr’s fur stood on end.


“Read the one above it,” ordered the cheetah. Hypr did and it was for the regular strength juice. It said to add apples and bananas. Looking between the two, it was painfully obvious that they were meant to be added into the muscle gain variant too. “You only added the berries, didn’t you?” asked the cheetah.


“Uh… Yes?” said Hypr, trying to sound as innocent as he could.


The cheetah pinched the bridge of her nose. “Oh, Hypr. You seem to have invented some kind of weight gain juice.”


Hypr was in hysterics. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to!”


The cheetah sighed. “I know you didn’t. Now that I know what’s causing my weight gain, I’ll just stop drinking it and everything should be put right.”


That calmed Hypr down. “That’s good at least.” There was an awkward silence until Hypr asked, “So what are you going to do with the strength juice? I mean, the weight gain juice?”


“Well, I can try to pass it off as a limited time item, though I don’t know if it’ll sell well. Think you can handle it?”


“Yeah, I think I can,” said Hypr. Then a thought struck him. “Wait, does that mean I’m not off the hook?”


“Nope. You’re still on it until all of the weight gain juice is gone.”


Hypr sighed. He really should’ve seen that coming. Secretly, he was a little excited. It seemed like he'd stick around long enough to learn how to make the blueberry juice after all.