Morph.

Morph. Chapter 1

© 2013, sojusakeandbeer. Except as provided by the Copyright Act [29 April 2013] no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher.

I never wanted this, if I'm being perfectly honest. I mean, sure, who wouldn't want the ability to shapeshift into animals at will? You've seen it all on TV and in movies, read all about the freedom afforded to those characters who could do so, and so on and so on.

So before you recklessly say 'Yes!' to what must be the coolest ability anyone could come up with, let me ask you this question. "Are you ready to deal with the drawbacks and responsibilites that come with it?". Think about it. I doubt it.

Here's a peek into what goes on in the life of someone who can actually assume countless animal forms at will - and being the only one in the entire world who could do so. Well, to the extent of my knowledge, that is.

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 Chapter 1

  The theme song to BBC's 'Sherlock' comes on. That's not right, I thought to myself as my eyes open and consciouness creeps into my once empty mind. The theme song comes on as a second alarm prior to my first one 30 minutes after the first one goes. Where's my instrumental version of Coldplay's 'Viva la Vida'? Wait. Sh*t. I've overslept.

  "Fudgeballs! Balls! Balls! Shit!", I scream as I leap out of bed and grab my watch to check the time - 8.55am. Slowly but surely, the scale of my mistake starts to set in. I've overslept on my first day of university. Fudgeballs of fire.

  I sprint to the shower - in and out in less than 5 minutes, freshen up and try my best to put on a look that at least says, 'Hey, I'm fairly normal. Don't look at me. Yeah, just your average awkward freshie.' No time for breakfast. Gotta' make it there by 9.30am, latest.

Timecheck.

9.15am.

Motherfudge.

  There's no way I can ever make it there by 9.30am. Well, no way that normal humans can't, anyway. I open my bedroom window and check to see if the neighbours are out and about, giving me plenty of privacy up on the roof as I strip down and scramble out. Not before packing all the necessary clothing and underwear into a tiny backpack.

  I trip and nearly fall as I misplace one of my steps as I make my way onto the roof. Finally, crouching - naked, I drop my bag by my side and take a couple of measured deep breathes as I close my eyes and focus.

  Tingles spread all over my body - giving me goosebumps, as an abnormal amount of warmth wells up inside my core before spreading all over. Focus. The familiar sounds of my bones slowly cracking and melting as they take another shape begins to increase in volume as the transformation gains momentum. The soft tissue in my body begin to slide around, adding to the cacophony of bone-breaking cracks, a kind of liquid-like sloshing that is akin to someone playing with Jello a little bit too much.

  As my insides begin to turn to putty, the external part of the morphing begins as my feet distort and thin out into a bird's feet. Skin dissolving and turning into pale yellow scales as my talons begin to emerge from a medley of melting toes. I open my eyes to catch a glimpse as the morph continues upwards, reshaping my rear end into a more appropriate shape as feathers sprout out around my body. My torso shrinks and blurs, carrying with it my shoulders and breasts.

I let out a soft moan as the sensations of the change become more obvious.

  My arms shorten as longer feathers cover them from shoulder to fingertips as my fingers melt away. God, I still can't get over how weird this must look. Finally, I let out another breath of air as the pressure builds up around my head and my neck begins to draw itself into my now one and a half feet tall frame, my dirty blonde hair melting into the back of my head, skull shrinking as my vision distorts - my pale blue eyes changing to a golden hue as they pull around the sides of my face. A final moan as my human lips begin to elongate and fuse with my lengthening nose as they melt together and pull forward into a beak, hardening as the morph finishes.

  I'm presuming it's 9.25am right now. Fly. Land. Demorph. Sprint like hell to class. ETA, 9.35am.

  Finally in the shape of an eagle, I grab the end of my bag with my beak as I make a few experimental flaps of my wings before taking off.