Short Stories of the Weird, Wicked and Warped

A New Type of Human

Evolution is a pain in the butt. Most species stay the same forever, like reptiles or fish with a few adaptations along the way but essentially still the same. Some scientists say that humans came from an ape like creature in the far distant past and have evolved into what we are now. Well I am here to say otherwise.

Humans are humans and were formed the same way as other creatures in the past. Mother nature and she has a warped sense of humor. There is an energy in the earth that from time to time decides that life on the surface needs an upgrade or a completely new palette to work from. That is where I come in and species like me.

Throughout history there are stories of half human half animal -hybrids- that had been found out and mostly eradicated due to their differences. Most species went into hiding like the bigfoot (ape-human hybrid), mothman (bird-human hybrid) and so forth. One thing that stays the same with humans is their intolerance to differences. 

My little hamlet consists of interspecies of hybrids and humans. Very few humans know about us and only because they are related through blood or marriage. Not every hybrid human coupling results in a hybrid, it's a 50/50 chance. For example, my cousin is a full human while her brother is a fox/cat/human hybrid. Their parents are a fox hybrid and a main coon hybrid with half of their litters being a combination of the two. 

Our town as about seven hundred residents with about as many living outside of city limits in the woods. My father, Adam who is a main coon hybrid, is the leader of our town by election, there is no such thing as an alpha and luna in our world. All of us get a good laugh when we read stories or watch movies that have them in it. My mother, Eve who is a sand-cat/serval hybrid, is one of the doctors and her sister is the other with my uncles as the tradesmen of the town.

When we come of age, we all go to local schools if we can pass as human then go to trade school or college so to benefit our kind. I'm learning to be a teacher, I love teaching the little ones and I love to learn. I start my second year this school year and have found it very exciting. Most of us work outside of the town because you only have so many plumbers, mechanics and so forth in such a small town. My best friend since I was three years old is my future husband, he just doesn't know it yet.

Oh, speaking of the devil here he comes now. "The love of my life, what are you doing here? I thought you were at the library." He blushes such a gorgeous shade of red. For the last year or so I have been calling him pet names reserved for couples. 

"Shanea, do you ever mean what you say when you say things like that? We have been friends for twenty years and I don't want to ruin that if you are only playing." I can feel the question in his words. It's not the first time that I have heard this from him but it is the first time I hear  the uncertainty in his voice.

"Velmir there is something that I want to say, just hear me out and then you can tell how you feel. I have loved you for years, since we were little cubs I knew that you were who I wanted. As we grew up together, you only ever treated me as a friend and if that was all I was going to be I would rather have that than nothing. My feelings for you are so strong that it literally hurts my soul when you are away from me. I never said anything because I didn't want to damage our friendship. There that is all I have to say, if this makes you uncomfortable please tell me and I will never speak of it again. You..." He kisses me.

"Shanea love of my life, stop talking. I have loved you since we were cubs at three years old. I told my parents when I was ten how I felt about you and they told me that we wouldn't be compatible due to our genetics, me being a bear and you a cat. For years I have pushed my feelings down and have only loved you and no one else.." This time I kiss him.

"Stop that this instance. Get away from each other, this is forbidden." I hear his mom screeching, loudly. We separate from each other to see both of his parents staring at us with two very different expressions. Anger/indignation and happiness. Guess which one was her.

"Kora, be quiet, let them be. Son, I am very happy for you that you finally told her how you feel. Daughter, I am so very glad that you feel the same for him." He then drags his now screaming wife away by the back of her shirt. Everyone is now looking at us as we kiss and hold each other.

After kissing for a few minutes we step back from each other. "I have wanted to do that for so long." We both say it at the same time and laugh so hard.

"It's going to take the town awhile to get used to us being a couple." Well maybe not too long because I realize that I hear a whole bunch of clapping, laughter and whistling going on around us. We hear a lot of people saying it's about time we got together. I guess we weren't as good as we thought about hiding our feelings for each other.

In the background a distance away we all can hear Kora still throwing a fit about seeing us kissing. "No I won't accept it, he is supposed to marry Annabell, we have already made the arrangements. What do you mean that was all my doing? The contract is all but signed, they are to wed this winter solstice, no I won't renege on my word. I promised them Vel and they promised he would be their new town leader."  

No one can hear what Vel's dad, Lark, is saying to Kora but it wasn't long before he exits their home. Kora's screams could still be heard by everyone in town. Lark comes over to us with his shoulders slumped as if the weight of the world is on his back. "Both of you, I know you heard what Kora said about the contract, ease your minds there never was a contract, promise yes but nothing more than that. I have already talked to Annabell's family and they understand."

"Father, if there was a promise of marriage and we break that promise, what are the consequences for breaking it? Shae and I would never put the town in jeopardy even if it means sacrificing our own happiness."

"Son, you are being so dramatic. It is not that serious and they are already setting up another match for their daughter. Your mother is just being difficult right now, she will get used to the idea as soon as there are babies. It's going t be a surprise to see how many you have in your first litter. I can't wait to hold babies." With both of us blushing so hard, he walks away laughing.

"Babies? That is something we have never talked about? Do you want babies? How many babies do you want? Vel..." He kisses me again. I realize that he will keep doing that when I start to ramble on. He's going to be kissing me a lot. The townsfolk start making comments that we need to take this somewhere else, there are children there and some even say to get a room it's getting steamy.

"Let's go to my house so we can discuss our future together and figure out how many babies we are going to have. Also, you are starting to release hormones and I don't like the idea of others smelling that."

"It's only for you my love but yes we do need to leave the middle of the street before we give everyone a show. I don't want to happen to us what happened to my cousin Mara when she met Paul that day when he was visiting. I will can never look either one of them in the eyes yet and it's been four years since that day."

"Yeah that is something not to forget for a long time. Her purring and his chirping still haunts my dreams, I guess she has more cat in her than everyone thought. Uggh." He shivers at the memory of my cousin and her now husband going at it in the street. I laugh at the memory and his reaction.

Life is going to be so much sweeter now that he is mine and I can't wait to see what our babies are going to be. They are going to be a hand full if they are anything like me.