Anima: The Bird House

Chapter 1

ANIMA SYMPTOM LOG

DATE: August 27th

NAME: LYALL WILLIAMS

AGE: 20

SEX: Male

HYBRID: Unknown assumed B.O.P.

SYMPTOMS: Golden iris, increased vision perception, corners of eyes have small rust colored feathers. Feathers have since disappeared, vision has improved but iris remains gold in color.

SPECIAL NOTES: Patient was unaware of the condition until today. Has no family record with condition

RECOMMENDATIONS: Patients should have blood testing and samples(if able) of hybrid materials to test for proper species. Recommended to local support group. Depending on results of testing, patients may be chipped for wildlife tracking.

END OF REPORT

Beep! Beep! Beep!

I woke up to my alarm screaming and quickly shut it off.

It's Thursday morning, and my classes at Silvermen college start in about fourty five minutes. It's a clear and sunny day, and this year has been hot for late August. I grabbed my bag and laptop and head out toward the college. It's only about a fifteen-minute ride, but I like to get there early and talk with my friend Kole.

Many family members tell me to keep my distance from Kole as he is a deer hybrid. By that, I mean he is an average human. But he also happens to have the ears and tail of a whitetail deer. He has this new condition that first appeared around five years ago that everyone calls Anima. A few people started changing and getting features of different animals out of nowhere. Kole started about a year ago when he woke up with a sore spine, and over the day, he grew a small white tail. His doctor had tests and photos sent to a research lab, where he was identified as a White Tail deer hybrid. Nothing really can be done about it, and no one really knows why it happens. It just seems to happen one day to a few people. Like some in my family, some people think it's contagious and that being around someone with the condition can pass it on to you like the flu. But so far, all research seems to point away from this. It is believed that the cause isn't passing but possibly something environmental. Research is ongoing, and they seem to make new discoveries almost weekly.

Since middle school, I've hung out with Kole, and neither of us were really close to any hybrids. But sure enough, Kole was one of the unlucky. I only say that because research has shown there is no way to entirely stop changes, let alone revert them. Once your changes begin, you eventually will lose yourself. It's unknown whether any of you will remain once you entirely change. Some people hold onto the hope that their loved one is still in the animal's mind and that someday a way to revert the changes will come around. I think it is just people who cannot cope that their loved one is gone.

While on my way to class, I passed a couple walking down the street. The man was a youngish twenty-something, and his, what I'm assuming, significant other was walking alongside him. They were holding hands, or well if you can call it that. The female was very clearly a bear hybrid and pretty far along. She was almost entirely covered in black fur except for her face, which was that of a mid-twenties caucasian lady. She wore no pants, which did not matter as her legs didn't look human. She had shorter legs met with clawed feet. Her gait was much shorter than the man beside her. She had an almost stumble or waddle as she walked. Her hands were still human-like, but she had claws on her fingertips. Her arms and hands still had black fur covering them.

I turned and looked back to see her back. You would almost think it was a black bear standing on its hind legs from behind. Looking, I thought, how long had she been like that? But she seemed happy even in the face of such an unfortunate circumstance.