Operation P.I.N.I. was a go. Or in layman terms, Operation Prove I’m Not Insane. I had several ideas to prove I wasn’t mad and needed to be put in the insane asylum. One was to actually show someone the changes and hope for the best. I discarded that immediately. Along that line of thought, check myself into a medical facility. But that defeated the purpose of the whole exercise. I debated cutting a lock of hair off the tail and leaving it somewhere to be found and observe the results. But I needed results NOW. So I decided on the best of both worlds.

The plan was simple. I would smuggle myself, my iPod, the tail, and a similarly colored shirt into the bathroom. Then, I would put the tail under the door. Next I would wait for someone to knock. When someone knocked, I would make the tail move. When they grabbed it to investigate, I would have my hand ready to take the brunt of the pressure and pull it away. Then, I would open the door, iPod in my ears, “brushing my teeth”, similarly colored shirt in hand, and back-end hidden behind the door.

If they ignored the tail, it wasn’t real and I needed to somehow get on meds immediately. If they did grab it however, the tail was real, the voice was real, and I was screwed.

I was kneeling in front of the locked bathroom door the tail sticking out under the door and arranged around my body so when I stood up it’d be behind the door. Ear buds were in my ears but the iPod, which was on the counter, was off. Now all I had to do was wait.

“Sarah has the bladder size of a grape… She’ll be here soon. Now shush.” I whispered.

“Oh hush.”

I waited. And waited. And waited. Several times I heard people walk by. I tried to hurry the experiment by wiggling the tail every time someone walked by. But I guess no one noticed or it was fake. Hopefully the latter.

I didn’t answer because someone was going by. I heard a door click down the hall.

“Until someone wants in, or everyone goes to bed.”

I took my hand off the tail.

“It’s…” I began. Someone suddenly pulled hard on the tail. I stood up in surprise. “Ow!” I exclaimed.

“Who’s in there?” Mom called through the door.

“It’s me…” I replied, rubbing my tailbone.

“Can I have the shirt?”

I unlocked the door, maintaining enough clarity of mind to stick to the plan and keep my backside behind the door.

“Here, I was standing on it and you startled me…” I said, trying to keep the pain out of my voice.

I closed and locked the door when Mom left.

“Fuck.” I whimpered as I slide down the wall to the floor.

“Oh god…”

“I’m not Luna…”

“I’m Lucas... Not Luna.”

“Liar… You appeared in my head in the fourth grade… After I… Lost control...”

“You’re not real.”

The voice was becoming more and more feminine as it talked. Even singing it’s last phrase. I ignored it and tucked the tail back into my pants, making sure it didn’t bulge. I looked both ways in the hallway before scurrying back to my room.

As soon as it was closed I barricaded myself as much as possible. I had discovered two MAJOR things… I was indeed changing… And the changes were real. I didn't care about the voice. That much was all in my head at least. I pulled up my shirt to see the line of blue slowly, slow enough to take a while but still noticeable after a few seconds, creep up towards my belly button.

I watched the blue fur crawl up my stomach for probably half an hour. Then I became curious how it looked down there now. I pulled my pants off with a little difficulty due to the friction the fur gave, but soon I was laying in bed with nothing but my shirt on.

“Oh no.” I stated in shock. The blue fur had covered my entire pelvic region and was almost past my knees, which looked a little closer to the pelvis than they should have. Something however was missing. I felt around to make sure I didn’t miss it, but instead I found another hole.

“Oh no…” I whimpered as my finger accidentally slipped inside the new hole. “OH NO.” I pulled it out like it was going to bite me.

I just realized my voice not the same as I remembered. Still recognizably mine but higher pitched.

My feet did look strange. The second toes looked much thicker than usual, and the flat parts of the feet seemed longer and thinner…

I pulled off my shirt, fearing the worst. And I wasn’t disappointed. My nipples had lowered by nearly 7 centimeters!

“What’s happening to me?!” I whimpered loudly.

“YOU!” I exclaimed. “You’re the cause of all this!”

“What the hell are you talking about?!”

“Who isn’t allowing you then?!”

“If you know what’s going on then say it!”

“Since when have you listened to me?!”

I groaned. What was I going to do? I didn’t think it was a disease because, let’s be honest, what disease changes one's sex?! Odds were I wasn’t going to stop changing into, whatever I was changing into. So staying here in my room would be a death sentence because my family would call the government when they found out. So I had to leave. I didn’t know anyone well enough to stay at their place… It would be cold out so I couldn’t stay in an abandoned campground… Maybe just my car?

“Yeah… I could just drive my car somewhere and lay low until I can figure something out…” I said. I pulled my clothes back on, filled my lunch box with as many granola bars it could carry, and grabbed my jacket.

It was about 11 by now, so my sister and Mom were in bed by now. I grabbed a paper and pen and wrote:

Dear Sarah and Mom,

Something came up that I have to deal with… I’m fine, no one’s kidnapping me or anything, I just need a few days to figure something out. No I can’t tell you where I’m going because even I don’t know that. I hope to be back as soon as possible.

With regret,
Lucas

I set the letter on my pillow.

I grab my keys and lunchbox as I head out the door. I throw the jacket into the passenger seat and buckle in. I feel the seat catch on something on my back, but I’m too worried at what I’d find to look. I pull out of the driveway and turn right. As I pass a street light, my face is illuminated and I catch a glimpse of my ear, which looks oddly pointed. I can feel fur brushing against my shirt halfway between what used to be my chest region and my stomach. The same can be said for halfway down my calf.

It quickly dawns on me I can’t stay inside the town. At this rate, fur is going to be covering everything and with pointed ears I’ll look like some kind of wild animal. I get on a highway and go for a good five minutes. After that I turn down the wildest looking road I can find and keep driving.

After driving straight for nearly an hour I find what looks like an old logging trail cross the road. Figuring only an idiot would cut trees in the cooling weather in this day and age, I pull in and drive until the road is out of sight. The fur is at my shoulders now, and my legs have been covered for a while now, with too many joints in them to feel right. And my shirt feels tighter and tighter by the minute.

Feeling constrained, I unbuckle and take the shirt off. I’m greeted by two POMF’s. A dark blue feather drifts by my nose.

“I don’t wanna know. I don’t wanna know. I don’t wanna know…”

I look anyway to see what looks like almost completely formed bird's wings sticking out of my back, their feathers the same color as the blue fur.

“Fuuuuuuck…” I groan. I pull myself out of the driver's seat and into the back seat so I could maybe get comfortable. My legs bending in what should be unnatural ways. Slowly I feel the fur crawl up my neck and down my arms. The wind rushes by outside, causing something to flick on my head. I raise a hand to discover my ears have moved to the top of my head, fully triangular now. The hair that’s supposed to be on my head much longer than it should, falling over my closed eyes as I try to ignore the feeling of being changed. Eventually my head and arms get covered by the blue hair. And soon after that I notice feeling in my fingers disappearing, and mouth and nose extending from my face.

Finally the feeling of everything being changed stopped, my body felt weird and I had fur everywhere... I yawn. Even though I haven't technically been up very long, I needed a nap.

The light of the full moon falls through the trees and window just before I fell asleep.

Next Chapter: Chapter 5 The Renewal Estimated time remaining: 18 Hours