Not All Heroes Wear Capes

7: The Crappiest Chameleon

After her last interview, Cecelia cracks open a fresh drink. Her throat is parched because of so much conversation. Luci had seen fit to have an intense discussion with her, trying to get more information. She told her what she knew, but at this point—they were both about as knowledgeable as the other.

The papers on the table were shifted to reveal the file of the next participant. This person had never been to the lab or any of the other government-run facilities, so Cecelia was surprised that powers had manifested themselves at all. When the asteroid landed, crashing down in the Pacific, maybe its energy was dispersed into the water? There was only one way to be sure, and that way was headed to this room.

An assistant had opened the door. In stepped a woman known as Leilani. She had a friend with her who smiled briefly, then agreed to wait outside for her. As the shy woman sat, Cecelia wondered exactly how her powers would take shape. She had only looked down for a minute when a startled gasp met her ears. Her eyes rose to see the woman's skin transform into thick bark. Leilani's hair then joined it, sprouting leaves bright with fall colors.

"Oh, my god!"

"Yeah...it's less impressive when it happens at a work meeting."

"I'm sure. And it...always does this?"

"No, I can't control it. My body seems to have a mind of its own."

"Interesting..."

"If you say so. Look, how long do you think this is going to take? Don't really like being here and my friend is waiting."

"Oh, okay. Let me just get your story recorded."

Cecelia fumbles with her phone, trying not to ogle the odd individual sitting across from her. It's as if a real-life Groot had decided to take a seat and talk. Strange...

"Alright, you may begin."

LEILANI'S POV

So this whole thing started after I graduated from college. I decided to take a week-long vacation to go camping in Kauai, Hawaii. Going camping by myself after a long, stressful time with finals was exactly what I needed. I backpacked up into the Nounou Forest Reserve; I found a great little spot to camp for the night, or so I thought. Apparently not! I accidentally set up my tent and knocked down a cobweb full of baby Hawaiian Happy Face spiders. Not only that, but I must have made camp in the middle of Jackson's chameleon breeding ground.

I went to bed and had, at least I thought, closed my tent. However, I woke up the next morning to the fresh crisp forest air, with the tingling feeling of "things" crawling all over me. Not just the creepy feeling, but there are actual weighted spots all over my body. When my mind finally caught up with my body, I let out a blood-curdling scream. I have always had a fear of spiders, and there were hundreds of creepy crawlers all over me. But it wasn't just the fact that they were in my sleeping bag. The little bastards had gotten under my clothes, and I had at least thirty to forty young Jackson's chameleons under my clothes, eating the damn things.

So what did I do?

The only thing any logical, self-respecting person could do. I stripped naked while dancing around, swiping at all the spiders and chameleons. Now I can say that it had to look hilarious if anyone had been around to witness it. But luckily I was by myself.

I will be honest and say that I was extremely grateful to the young chameleons. I don't know if I would have been able to get all the little nasty bastards off me without their assistance. But I was still covered in not only spiders, but also in what I can only describe as a mixture of urine, feces, and saliva chameleon. Not to mention scratches from the chameleons trying to hang on while I was running or dancing, or whatever you would call it, around trying to rid myself of all external intruders. It was thoroughly disgusting. I am not one to be grossed out easily, but this, for me, was too much! To make matters worse, I hadn't had a place planned to wash off. I was supposed to just camp for the night and hike all day the next day before heading back to the hotel that I was staying at in Kapa. So instead of being able to get all the nasty, smelly residues washed off me, I had to wipe off what I could.