I made my decision. I actually did that a couple of weeks ago, but I thought it would be appropriate to wait until the new year to go through with it. On New Year’s Eve, I asked Wolf if we could visit our old home so I could see it one last time as a human. She said yes, and a few minutes later, we were walking through familiar neighborhoods. Thankfully, no one decided to crash the party while we were out, so I was able to take the time to think about things in peace. Knowing that this was my last chance to back out of my decision, I thought about my life, over all the shit I had gone through to get here and how much I had changed. I was already so far removed from the kid who left his dad’s house and never looked back, so why not go a little further? I had been hesitating, but my reasons boiled down to fear and self doubt, and if I had let that stop me in the past, I would have died, so why should I give into it now?
With that line of thought, I looked up at the fireworks that had started erupting above us and felt satisfied.
The next morning, I sat at the table, staring at the “meat” Wolf had cut from that thing. It looked like a disgusting blob of veins and jelly and didn’t taste any better. I had to cut it into tiny bits just so I could get it down without having to chew because the texture made me gag.
That’s how it was at first anyway. After a few pieces, it started to taste better. After a few more, my stomach started growling. The texture stopped bothering me too, though that was probably because I was going numb all over. Blood started dripping onto the table, which I realized was coming from my mouth. I spat out a glob of it along with some of my teeth and kept eating. All I could think about was how hungry I was. My vision started to go blurry and the next thing I remember was waking up on the bloodstained floor surrounded by the shreds of my clothes.
Everything looked so bright. I rolled to my stomach and pushed myself up, shocked to see that I had all my fingers again. My pinky had grown back attached by seams to my hand, as all my other fingers were. There were seams all over my body at every joint, like Wolf’s, except that they were thin, with tiny light stitches. I’m not sure you’d notice them unless you were up close. Raising a hand to my face, I felt the seams at the corners of my mouth, but not across my lips the way that hers are. I stood up, planting a hand on the table to steady myself, feeling my lost teeth under my fingers. Moving my tongue, I felt the inhumanly sharp new ones that had taken their place. I started staggering towards the door, but a weird sensation made me stop. I could feel something hot in my gut and something else was moving under my skin. Pulling up my shirt (my body had apparently created new clothes, just like Wolf’s did) revealed another seam on my stomach. When I put my hand on it, I felt the shape of teeth inside.
Not knowing what to do with that for the moment, I stepped through the door and… was awestruck. The whole island seemed more alive and vibrant than it had before. There were little yellow lights that moved among the blades of grass, like fireflies. Looking up, I saw a large cloud with what looked like lightning flashing in it. I don't have words to describe the colour of it, as it's not like anything I've seen before. Either way, it seemed to get something going in my head, because I suddenly wanted to create something myself. I looked out at the abyss that surrounded the island and imagined shimmering water. As I focused on the idea, it took shape in front of me. A pond formed on one side of the island with endless water spilling off its outer edge into the darkness below.
The sound of applause drew my attention back. Turning, I saw Wolf standing there with a huge grin on her face.
“Wonderful work!” she beamed as she stepped closer to me. Her eyes shone with a light that I hadn’t seen before. “Look at you!” she clapped my shoulders with her hands before pulling me into a hug. “How do you feel?” she asked as she let me go.
“I feel amazing” I said with a grin of my own. It was true. I felt so much better. Even the sores had disappeared. “Everything looks and feels so different”
“Excellent!” she said, “We’ll have to do some training to get you used to your new abilities, but for now, enjoy the experience.” She hopped up and down in excitement “I’m so happy for you! So proud!”
Since then, I’ve been looking all over the island analysing the colours and running my hands through the grass, enjoying small sensations in a way I couldn’t before. I’ve even added some fish to the pond, little splashes of colour swimming through the water.
It’s beautiful.
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