Early the next morning, as she was getting ready for school, Franny pulled down her copy of A Treasury of Monster-Making Techniques and turned to the chapter on transformations. In particular she studied the part that explained how to transform a little girl mad scientist into something else.
“I know just what to do,” she said, and she began combining honey, vanilla jelly beans, and pink soda. She poured the formula into a tall, pretty glass decorated with a happy sheep holding a puppy wearing diapers.
“Ugh,” she said. “How cute can you get?”
She put the mixture into one of her inventions, and programmed in her notes. The machine began to hum and shake, and buzz and bake, and then finally it binged, just like a microwave when your microwave popcorn is ready.
Franny gazed at the potion. She held her nose and drank it. She ran to the mirror and watched a strange transformation take place.
When Franny came downstairs to breakfast, her mom took one look at her and dropped her toast. Her dad choked on his coffee. Her brother’s eyes almost popped out of his head.
“Franny,” her Mother said, “you look so . . . nice.”
Franny did look nice. Her hair was cute. Her dress was pretty. Her shoes were adorable. She didn’t really look like Franny anymore, but she looked nice–kind of.
“Thanks, Mom,” she said. “Here’s a description of something I’d like prepared for lunch. It’s strange, and horribly exotic, but I’d appreciate it if you could give it a try.”
Her mom looked at the recipe that Franny had given her. “This says ‘jelly and peanut butter between white bread slices,’ ” she said. “I’m pretty sure I can make this, Franny. I’ve been making it for years.”
“Excellent,” Franny said, and she rubbed her hands together in a mad-scientist way.
