A sharp pungent smell brought me back to consciousness. I opened my eyes and saw Mom’s face right in front of me. She had a worried expression on her face as she looked at me. ‘Why is she does she have that kind of expression?’ Then my memory returned, and I suddenly knew again why I’d passed out. ‘I’m a freak now; I’m not worthy to be alive.’ I started screaming again, but only for a few seconds, because my Dad, whom I even hadn’t noticed yet, gave me a whack with his flat hand on both my cheeks.

That did the trick all right. I stopped screaming, but started crying. ‘I never cry, why am I crying now all of a sudden? Okay, I’ve never been such an abomination before, either.’ Mom hugged me tightly making soft sweet noises while I cried my heart out.

After what seemed like hours to me I managed to slow my crying down to a sob. When I opened my eyes again I noticed that Dad had left my room, I was now all alone with Mom. She turned my head, making me look at her. “Feeling better now?”

In my new sickly sweet high voice I answered in anguish, “No I’m not. Look at me, I’m a freak, an abomination!” Mom shook me hard and said harshly, “Don’t you ever say or even think like that. You’re still our child, even though you are now the daughter I never had.”

‘Oh fuck!. Oops, better not use that word anymore. I even forgot that I didn’t have the same plumbing that I was used to anymore. I had noticed that I was a girl now, but it wasn’t prominent in my mind.’ Now that she mentioned it, I really noticed the differences in my body. I had breasts, not overly big ones, but they were there nonetheless and really noticable. Then there was the absence between my legs. I only noticed it now, as I had earlier been preoccupied with my other changes. Mom asked me, “Do you feel up to being alone for a while? I’m going to get something for you to wear.”

‘Oh no, I’m naked? I hadn’t even noticed that in all of this going on. Of course I’m naked, how else could I have seen how my body looks, stupid.’ “Why wouldn’t I feel up to being alone? I’m a big boy okay.”

Mom asked with a confused look, “Boy?”

“Sorry, I mean big girl Mom.”

She smiled at my slip of the tongue, “Okay then, now stay in bed, I’ll be right back okay?”

I nodded, but as soon as she disappeared from my room I got up and checked the hallway. There was no one in sight, so I tiptoed over to the bathroom to get a good look at my new body in the mirror. I half expected my younger brother Remo to appear somewhere, he would never pass up a chance to get a look of a naked girl. But maybe he wasn’t in the house at the moment. At least I reached the bathroom unseen.

I closed the door, and locked it, apprehensive of what I would see in the mirror, afraid of what I looked like in total frontal nudity. After some deliberating I finally stood in front of the huge wall mirror with my eyes still closed. Then I slowly opened them.

I gasped for breath, seeing what MORFS had dealt me with. ‘I really am a freak now.’ My skin was now covered with a fine downy dark brown fur except for my stomach and chest, there and on my neck and face the fur was of a much lighter shade of brown, almost like the sand on the beach. I had shapely but seemingly powerful legs leading up to wide hips. The tiny waist above it gave me a lot of womanly curves. Then I looked upwards to my bust line. I really had nice breasts, even if they were covered in fur. My nipples were free of fur though, and they looked quite big.

On top of my thin neck was a cute looking head. A slightly upturned nose, dark in color, and big dark blue eyes. My hair was still short, but had changed from blond to dark brown. And everything else on my head except my mouth, the tip of my nose and eyes was covered in fur as well. A movement attracted my attention. ‘Are those my ears?’ They had changed position almost all the way to the top of my head and they looked quite different and a lot bigger. I touched them, finding they were sensitive and very lively.

Then I noticed that my nails were a lot longer. I examined them up close and they were pointy and looked very strong, almost like I had claws now on my fingers. I got worried, ‘Do I have two very long front teeth now too?’ I quickly checked, but other than being perfectly white they looked normal to me.

I stared at my new body for a long time, and noticed that my height was off. I was a lot shorter now. Instead of a big jock, I was now a small diminutive girl. With an emphasis on girl. No one would ever mistake me for a boy anymore. A tear started dripping from my eye. Another movement caught my attention. I forgot all about it. It had been on me all the time, but felt so natural that I hadn’t really even noticed it. I sported a very big bushy tail of the same dark brown color, with a black stripe in the middle. It kept me perfectly in balance it seemed. I turned a bit and saw where it was connected to me in the back. ‘That’s it. I’m never going to show myself to anyone with such a big tail.’

In a panic I tried to run back to my room, but tried to open the door in vain. Then I remembered that I had locked it and unlocked it quickly. I almost flew back to my own room. ‘Boy these legs sure are powerful.’ I jumped back on my bed, sat on my knees with my favorite round pillow clutched to my chest. I had my eyes closed and silently prayed that this was all just a nightmare and that I would wake up soon from it.

Of course I couldn’t wake up from the dream as it was the harsh reality. It became abundantly clear to me, when Mom entered my room once again. “Honey, why are you sitting like that? Is there something wrong?”

I opened my tearstained eyes again, “How can you ask that Mom. I just looked at myself in the mirror.” More tears started to drip from my eyes, making my fur wet and dark.

“Oh honey, I know that this is a lot for you to handle. Just give it some time and you’ll see that it’s not that bad.”

My temper flared up, “What do you mean it’s not that bad! I’m an animal! I’m never leaving my room, ever. Now please go. And don’t call me honey.”

Mom tried to reason, “Sweetheart, don’t act like that.”

I picked up a pillow and threatened to throw it at her, “I said out, Mom, and never call me sweetheart, either.”

Mom looked dejected, but she did leave my room and closed the door. I kept sitting there for some time, looking at the door, still clutching my round pillow. I felt angry at the world for putting me in this situation. I even felt sorry for myself. I was convinced that my life was now officially over. I cried a little more as well, till I noticed something, I stunk. No not that my mood was so foul, I actually smelled bad. ‘Maybe my nose is more sensitive now.’

With aversion, I laid my pillow down and got out of bed. I sniffed around to confirm that it was really me and my nose cringed at the smell of my dirty fur. ‘Man, that is all I need, smelly fur and a sensitive nose to alert me to it all the time.’ Dejectedly, I opened my door and looked around. To my dismay I was still very much naked. ‘That’ll teach me to throw Mom out without giving me clothes first. I’m so stupid! Why didn’t I check the closets first.’ I closed the door again and opened my closets. Though the towels and such were still all there, all my clothes had vanished. ‘What the hell? Where are all my clothes? Are they expecting me to go naked now that I’m an animal?’ I searched all my closets thoroughly, but there was nothing left of my whole wardrobe.

My mood had sunken even deeper and without thinking I opened my door to go to the bathroom again. I was quite startled as I saw Mom standing in the hall. She gave me a wry smile, “I thought you said that you’d never leave your room?”

With a trembling lower lip I answered, “Yes I know that. But I stink, and my nose is taking offense.” I paused and then snarled, “But now that you’re here, tell me where my clothes are. Or are you expecting me to live naked, like the other animals in the barn?”

Mom looked really startled at my outburst, “Honey, how can you think like that? You should know better than to think like that.”

I sobbed, “How would I know? We never had such a freak like me in our family before.”

Mom’s eyes shot fury at me, “For the last time, you’re not a freak, so stop saying that.”

I was startled by her outburst. “Okay, Mom. Any ideas on how I can shower like this?”

Mom grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the bathroom. “I’ll show you, sweetheart, just let me help you.”

I cringed again,‘When is she going to let up on the whole honey and sweetheart calling.’ Mom didn’t notice and just put me into the shower stall. After she shampooed me, she rinsed it out and grabbed another bottle.

“This one is conditioner, honey, you need to keep all that hair and fur in prime condition.”

Dejected I let her treat me like a baby and just helped a little with the whole shower event. Then came the longest challenge, how to dry all that fur and hair. Mom brought out the industrial dryer and big brush which we usually used for the dogs. Though a bit uncomfortable at first with the hot air, the warm wind felt really nice on my furry skin. When she did my tail I was really enraptured. That felt sooo nice, I closed my eyes and revelled in the feeling.

Too soon for my taste she was finished with it. Then she said to me, “All clean and done, honey.” I opened my eyes and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked even better than before now, with my fur brushed neatly. I looked at myself from all sides before feeling something else that I didn’t like. I had to go really bad. “Um Mom, can I have some privacy now? I need to take care of some business.”

Mom was confused for a moment, but then understood, “Oh sure, honey, but I need to explain some things about that too.”

Now I was confused, ‘I did learn how to do that kind of business a long time ago, right?’ Mom continued, “A girl needs to wipe from front to back and has to wipe after a small business as well. And with your fur …?”

“I’ll manage Mom. If not, I’ll call you if I need your help.”

Some embarrassing moments later, not to mention, smelly ones, I emerged from the bathroom. Mom was waiting for me, “No problems?”

“Nope, I got that down right, I think.”

Mom smiled, “Just wait till you get your period, then we’ll talk again.”

I got frightened. ‘Oh man, I’m a girl, I will have periods! I can even get pregnant, maybe. Oh shit, I don’t even want to think about that, or think about boys. Hell, I don’t even want to think about meeting other people.’

Mom acted like she didn’t see me flinch. “Now I have some clothes here that you can wear for now. But we need to go shopping soon. I just can’t wait to take you out shopping.”

I got frightened even more, ‘She really has gotten into this mother and daughter thing. Now she wants to take me shopping and spend lots of time with me. But I don’t want to go shopping! Other people will see me and treat me like a freak or an animal. Well, it is what I am now aren’t I?’

Mom walked back to my room with me. On the bed some clothes were laid out for me. As soon as I saw them, I stopped dead in my tracks. ‘What the hell? Why does Mom want me to wear a skirt? And that turtleneck is Pink! I don’t want to wear that!’

Mom noticed my aversion and pushed me further along. “Honey, these are the only clothes in your size I could find for now, and even these I had to adjust to your unique physique. So do me a favour, and just go with the flow.

Dejected, I put on the girly underwear and let Mom help me put on the bra and skirt. But inside I seethed with anger. ‘Why have I been dealt such a cruel fate? I hate the world and everyone in it.’

After the embarrassing dressing up, Mom asked me to go downstairs with her. I didn’t feel like it, but I decided I had to do it one time or another, so no time like the present. As I followed Mom down, I had to get used to the stairs. The distances seemed so much farther apart now. ‘No they are not, I’m a lot smaller now.’ Mom went into the living room and proudly announced, “And here she is, finally,” as I followed her in.

I saw my dad and brother staring at me, and immediately I wanted to turn around and run away. ‘Too much attention! Please, don’t look at me!’ I didn’t say anything though, I just kept quiet and looked down to the floor.

Dad came up to me, he was so tall now, and gave me a tight hug. “I will always love you, so don’t be so afraid.”

I looked up at him, “Thanks, Dad.”

Remo kept sitting down but remarked, “Nice tail, Sis!”

I was furious, “What did you just say? What did you call me?”

He got up and when he stood in front of me, I really got scared. ‘He’s so big now, or rather, I’m so very small now.’ He said softly, “I only meant it as a compliment. Don’t start to pick a fight right away.”

I backed down, what else could I do? I was a very small girl, and besides that, he was right after all. I went to my favorite chair and sat down. Mom scowled at me. I noticed and said, “What?”

“You need to remember that you’re a girl now, and that you are wearing a skirt. Here, stand up again.” Sighing, I did as she asked. She continued, “Now sit down again, but straighten your skirt out first like this.” She showed me how and I copied her movements.

Then she shook her head in disappointment again. I was flustered, “What now? I did just as you did, right? Except for my tail, which is bunched up behind me.”

Mom smiled, “Yes you did, but now you’re sitting with your legs apart. Any boy can look straight up to something you don’t want them to see.”

I slammed my thighs closed, mortified, I hadn’t even thought about that. ‘Shit, I really have to learn a lot again.’ Remo was smiling broadly at my lessons. “Don’t smile like that little brother, or I’ll …”

He interrupted, “You’ll do what? You’re smaller than me now, and a lot lighter. Besides, I’m not doing anything.”

Mom saved me, “Yes, you’re quite right. You’re not doing anything. Go take care of feeding the animals.”

Remo whined, “But that was Walter’s job.”

Mom glared at him, “Do you see Walter here? It will be your job from now on.”

Remo just stared at both Mom and me, before swallowing visibly. “Yes Mom, I’ll get right to it.”

I started, “Maybe I can …”

But Mom cut me off, “No you can’t. I don’t want you doing your old chores. You can come with me.”

I was confused and a bit scared, ‘What does she have in mind for me now?’ “Where are we going Mom?”

“To the kitchen, I want you to help me there.”

I pouted, though I didn’t realize it at the time. I wasn’t a stranger in the kitchen, we’d all had to help Mom there at one time or another, but I realized without her saying it, that now she’d expect me to help her there all the time. I followed her and she put me to work on peeling potatoes and carrots. In the meantime Mom started preparing the meat. As she started cooking I found myself sniffing all the different odors and not liking all of them. Especially the meat being fried was offensive to me. It used to be my favorite smells, but not anymore. ‘Maybe I changed into a vegetarian?’

Dad came into the kitchen, “That smells good, here. How long till dinner?”

Mom answered, “About 20 minutes. You need to clean up first. Wal … sorry. Can you start setting the table already, honey?”

Angrily I responded, “I’m not a honey, Mom, so don’t call me that.”

Mom and Dad looked at me. I asked suspiciously, “What, what are you thinking?”

Mom sighed, “You need a new name, honey. You’re not Walter anymore. How about the name of my favorite grandmother? Her name was Sinthia.”

I repeated, “Cynthia?”

Dad piped in, “Yes Sinthia, but spelled as Es, Eye, En, Tee, Aitch, Eye, A.”

I thought about it. ‘It’s better than Walter. I always wanted a cool name, This isn’t exactly cool, but it’s different and exotic. I do like it.’ “Okay Mom, I’ll accept it, thanks.”

“That’s settled then. Now Sinthia, can you start setting the table please?”

“Yes Mom, right away.” And I started to get the plates and utensils. Soon most of the things were on the table and Mom and Dad put the heavy pans on the table. As everything was set, Remo came in and washed up for dinner. We sat down at the table and said grace.

After that Remo said impatiently, “Load me up please, I’m hungry. How about you Bro … I mean Sis.”

Mom scolded him, “Remo, be more patient. And please remember that Sinthia is now your sister.”

Remo was surprised, “Cynthia?”

I said softly, “Mom said she’d like to give me the name of her favorite grandmother, Sinthia which is spelled: Es, Eye, En, Tee, Aitch, Eye, A.”

My little brother looked at me, “Nice name, Sis. So how are you feeling?”

“Okay I guess. It’s still a lot to take in. I still feel weird in this body.”

Mom interrupted, “No more talking, eat!”

I tried a little from the meat that Mom put on my plate, but I didn’t like it anymore. I gave it all to Remo who was surprised, but appreciatively nodded thanks. Mom looked at me as I did that, so I explained. “I think I am going to be a vegetarian now, Mom. Sorry.”

“There is nothing to be sorry about, honey. Just eat the rest of your dinner.”

I sighed, ‘She’s still calling me honey, I wish she would stop.’

The rest of the dinner was pretty quiet and uneventful. But when I got up to gather the plates to bring them to the kitchen, I brushed on something with my tail. Remo exclaimed, “Hey, watch it with that big thing, will you.”

I felt mortified, ‘Oh how can I ever get used to this. It’s so horrible.’ I didn’t let anyone see that I was feeling so awful again, but hurried to the kitchen with a full load. There I saw the knife Mom had used for the meat. It was such a big knife and I picked it up looking at it. ‘I bet I can plunge this deep enough inside me, so I’ll die quickly. I don’t want to live like this. It’s better for everyone if I just kill myself here now.’

I raised the knife high up above my head, ready to plunge it quick and deep into my heart.

End of Chapter 2

To be continued...

Just as I tried to swing the knife down into my body someone grabbed my hands and held them immobile above my head. My Dad’s angry voice boomed, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He quickly took the knife from my hands. Then he picked me up with one arm around my waist and took me back to the dining room.

There he put me on a chair while Mom and Remo were watching with confusion. Mom asked, “What happened?”

Dad scowled at me and said in a growl, “She just tried to kill herself with a knife.”

Mom gasped, and Remo looked at me with a mix of anger, pity and surprise. I already felt bad, I didn’t need this. I hid my head in my arms and tried to hide from it all. Someone began hugging me. I could feel that it was Mom. ‘Of course only Mom hugs me.’ She softly whispered, “Why honey? I raised you better than this, right?”

I took my arms from around my head and put them around Mom. I started crying, shaking from all my sobbing. Mom stroke my hair and said, “Just let it all out honey.”

I wailed, “I don’t wanna be a girl. I just wanna be my old self and play basketball and football. And I don’t want to be a hybrid. I look hideous and grotesque with this big tail. I don’t ever want to go out or to school. They will make fun of me, harass me and even assault me like they did Marjorie.” I paused for a moment, “I don’t wanna live anymore. Just let me die now.”

Mom kept on hugging me, “Honey don’t say things like that. It’ll be all right. I don’t want to lose you. Please promise me that you won’t try to kill yourself anymore.”

I still kept on crying, but was lost in my thoughts as my words struck a nerve within. ‘The detective had been right. it turned out I wasn’t immune to MORFS myself. And maybe I was right as well and it is a punishment from God. I certainly had been bad. And I do know that now I too have to look forward to attacks, harassment and ridicule from former friends and classmates. Now I can also understand what Marjorie must have gone through. I can relate so much more to her now. And I’m glad that I hadn’t been there when she was assaulted.’

“Mom, I’m so afraid. I mean, look at me. Everybody will stare at me. Do I have to go to school?”

Mom shushed me, “It will not be that bad. Besides you’ll have your brother there with you.”

I snorted, “A lot of good that will do me. He’s never backed me up before.”

“Maybe he’ll surprise you this time, sweetheart. Just go with the flow.” She paused for a moment. “How are you feeling now?”

“A little better, I’m sorry for trying to kill myself. I didn’t mean to hurt you and Dad. I just felt so awful.”

Mom hugged me again, “That’s okay honey, we understand that you’re going through some tough times. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I need to take you to the MORFS center in Des Moines.”

I started to whine, “Do I have to? I don’t wanna go out and certainly not to a big city looking like this.”

Mom however was adamant, “Yes you do and we’re going early tomorrow morning as the roads are still passable at the moment. Who knows how much snow we are going to get this winter?”

I pouted at her, but she didn’t budge. I went to bed early as I didn’t feel like watching any TV that night. I’ve been going to bed on my own for quite a long time already, so I was unpleasantly surprised that my parents came to my room to tuck me in. I whined, “Why are you here? I don’t need tucking in or something. I’m not a small kid anymore.”

Mom shushed me, “You’re our girl now, and we are worried about you sweetheart. You did try to commit suicide already. We really don’t want to lose you, so just humor us.” Mom treated me like a little girl and gave me a kiss on my forehead. Dad gave me slight kiss as well and I was mortified and enraged. ‘How dare they treat me like a kid?’

After they were gone I started tossing and turning as I couldn’t get to sleep. My new body still freaked me out and I started thinking about all the bad things that could happen to me now. I started to cry and sob very softly and cried myself to sleep.

Even in my dreams I wasn’t safe, as I got hunted by everyone in school. The girls called me a pervert, the boys lusted after me or simply wanted to kill the animal. Even my fellow MORFS survivors were hunting me, saying that I wasn’t good enough to join them. Out of breath with my heart beating very loud and fast I woke up. I was panting like crazy and suddenly it struck me. I had fur now and like all animals I couldn’t perspire, so to expel excess heat I had to pant just like them. ‘Damn this disease. I really am an outcast now. I don’t understand how Mom and Dad can deal with it so easily. But then again they don’t have to live with it like I have to.’

I was afraid to go back to sleep and just turned on my reading light. I picked up my favorite book, an old sci-fi novel titled, ‘A World Called Treason’, and started reading where I had left off last time. The main character just learned how to utilize temporal powers, though he wasn’t very good at it. He already did have the power of moving and talking to earth and stone. I started thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to have some sort of power like that? Just being able to talk to earth and stone and have it move and do whatever you wanted it to do. Or having a power like going faster or slower through time. That would come in handy at school. That way I could just walk past all the bullies while they were frozen in time.’ But I woke from my daydreaming realizing that I couldn’t very well avoid them all the time. And what was more important the character from the book was almost immortal, able to regenerate his whole body. Without this ability, whenever he went to fast time, he would age so quick that the people around him would just see him age years in mere minutes.

Then I heard a knock on my door. Hesitating, I said softly, “Enter?”

Mom opened my door saying, “Good you’re awake already. I’ll help you shower again and then we have to be off to Des Moines. Now, come on don’t dawdle, get out of bed.”

I groaned, but put my book back in its usual place and followed Mom to the bathroom. It did take more time again then I usually needed, but with Mom’s help it went quicker than I had feared. I had to dress in the same clothes as yesterday again. But Mom already washed them the night before. I didn’t want to admit it, but I needed new clothes.

A little later we had some breakfast and were off driving on the roads that were cleared off snow at the moment towards the big city. At first I looked outside to the beautiful countryside, but soon I felt bored and dozed off a bit.

I woke up when Mom shook me, “Wake up honey, we’re at the MORFS center.”

Woken rudely from my dreamless slumber I looked up. ‘Did I nod off?’ As I looked around, I saw only a strange parking lot in front of a big dark looming building. I guess I must have fallen asleep during the drive over here.

Mom took me into the center, and we were told to make an appointment. They could fit me in about 2 hours from now. so we had some time on our hands. Mom decided that we should go shopping for some clothes then. There was a mall close by and Mom practically dragged me in there. As we looked for a clothes store to do my shopping, a security guard walked up to us and said, “I’m sorry Ma’am, but all pets have to be kept on a leash here. Even when you dress them up like a human.”

I practically exploded, “I’m not a PET.”

The guard wasn’t fazed at my outburst. “Like I said all pets and the like need to be kept on a leash, or I will have you removed from the premises.”

Mom gave him a cold hateful stare and took me back outside into the street. I complained, “Now you see, Mom? People won’t even consider me a person anymore.”

“Honey, don’t let bigots like that moron get to you. You’re still my child and nothing will change that.”

I sighed, “I know Mom, but I will be on the receiving end of everything. I don’t know if I can deal with it all.”

Mom did her best to console me, as we went to another even bigger mall. Once inside we looked for clothes stores when a boy pointed at me, “Look Mom, there’s a big squirrel.”

The woman with the boy looked at me and said, “Don’t point Tommy, it’s not polite. And keep away from that animal.”

My mood sank another notch as we walked on. At the first store we wanted to get in, we got barred by a burly salesman. “I’m sorry but animals are not allowed in this store. Please leave the beasty outside.”

I was ready to commit murder at that time. “I’m not a pet or an animal. I’m a person like yourself, idiot.”

He snorted, “No need to get abusive, store policy is no animals allowed, no matter how sentient they may be.”

Mom’s eyes spit fire to the man, but took off with me in tow to another store. Before we could arrive there, two security guards walked up. I groaned, “What now?”

One man harrumphed, “I’m sorry madam, but there have been complaints about your ... whatever.”

Mom was furious and with barely contained anger said, “How many bigots are there in this city. My daughter went through MORFS and all you can see is an animal? I’ll report this to the authorities.”

The other guard said, “Go ahead madam, I wish you good luck with that.”

We were both extremely upset at the treatment we got there and left the mall immediately. Once outside, a woman spoke to us, “Hello there, I’m sorry for intruding, but I overheard a bit of your trouble. It pains me to see that people here are so intolerant to the new situation with hybrids. By the way I think you look lovely my dear.” She said to me.

“Thank you Mrs. Eh….” Replied my Mom.

“Stein. Bertha Stein is my name. Some groups of people to which I belong as well, are trying to change things, but it’s slow going I’m afraid. Now, I doubt you would have found anything for your daughter to wear in those stores even if they did let you shop there. But I know off a little boutique that would be willing and able to sell or even make some clothes for you.”

Mom thanked Mrs. Stein and she took us to the small store not too far from where we were. There the owner, a nice lady called Cynthia, took my measurements. I told her, “My name is Sinthia, but it is spelled as Es, Eye, En, Tee, Atsj, Eye, A,” she smiled at our names sounding so similar.

Cynthia was a bit apprehensive about my special needs with all the fur and tail. She did have a solution though, she would alter some of the clothing herself and have it ready when I would get back from my MORFS evaluation. In the mean time she gave me a sort of bathing suit to wear. She said I would need it for my physical test at the center. I wondered what she was talking about, but the sound of it appealed to me already.

I tried the bathing suit out in the changing room and though it was very revealing, too much for my taste actually. However it was very comfortable and gave me lots of room to move in. Next I tried some clothes that the woman had given me to try on and showed them to Mom and Cynthia. After all the measurements were taken and I tried on some more clothes, it was almost time for my appointment, so we quickly went over to the center.

First we had to fill out some paperwork, which Mom mostly did. Then I got called in for a talk with a Psychiatrist. Her name was Cherida Woolsey, and she began with an apology, “I’m sorry, but we don’t have any telepaths or other psychic endowed morfed people on our payroll at the time. We do hope to enlist one in the future though. In the mean time we can’t be certain if you have any powers. Unless you already noticed something, all we can do is talk to you and guess.”

I looked at her, ‘Powers? What was she talking about!’ Then I knew, a few of the people that morfed gained a kind of super power. But most people did not. Well I hoped to be one of those few, but with my luck I’d probably didn’t get any.

Cherida continued in the mean time, “So I see here that you changed quite a bit, from a normal boy to a girl with squirrel characteristics. Well, I must say you are the first squirrel hybrid I have met. But you look cute.”

I scowled at the woman, I didn’t want to look cute.

“So tell me Sinthia, how do you feel about changing into a girl and a hybrid?” asked Cherida.

“I hate it! I used to be a big boy and now I’m a small girl.” I started complaining, “I can’t play basketball or football anymore, and being a full hybrid sucks even more. I just know everyone at school will make fun of me or even hate me enough to do bad things to me. As small as I am I can’t even defend myself anymore.”

Cherida tried to soothe my thoughts, “It won’t be all that bad, there are laws against people behaving like that.”

“Yeah,” I replied bitter, “We already encountered that before we came here. The guards in two shopping malls wanted us to leave. Well, one guard actually said, that I should be kept on a leash at all times.”

Now Cherida looked astonished at me. “Really, you should report it, they can’t do something like that. Not with more people morfing all the time.”

I sighed, “Now, I know how a few decades ago the black people must have felt. And how Marjorie must have felt a few days ago.”

“Who is this Marjorie?” asked Cherida.

I looked down in shame, I had called her an abomination and a freak. I even said to the policemen that people like her should be thrown out of the country. And here I was just as much an abomination as her.

“Sinthia? Please, tell me about her. I can see that you are troubled over her.”

I started rambling on the verge of tears, “I used to like her, before she morfed into a badger hybrid. Some people attacked her, raped her and left her to die in the snow. I wasn’t there, so I don’t really know who did it, but I think Gary and Phil were amongst them. The police questioned me, but I didn’t tell them anything. In fact I was a purist, and spoke out against morfed people. Now I am one of them and I feel ashamed, I just want to die. I am a female squirrel hybrid and I don’t deserve to live anymore.”

Cherida started in a firm tone. “Nonsense, you deserve a life of your own. Don’t talk about wanting to die just because you changed a bit. Do you know how many people I have seen already? Some hybrids felt like you, but after a while they accepted it. Why should you be any different? Everything happens for a reason and it is your mission in life to find out why. Now, I won’t say this is going to be easy for you, but afterwards you’ll be stronger because of the experience. Promise me that you won’t have those dark thoughts anymore.”

I looked up at her, “But, how about …”

“No buts, Just make something of your new life. Now those boys you mentioned, I guess they were friends of yours?”

I nodded, and she continued, “It is up to you if you want to report them now. If you do, it may prevent them from launching an attack on you. On the other hand, it may trigger an attack out of revenge on you.”

I thought about it, but couldn’t make up my mind yet. In the mean time Cherida started again, “Are you religious? Do you go to church much?”

“Well, not really. I mean we say grace before dinner and sometimes we go to church on special occasions, but not much. Why do you ask?”

Cherida explained, “Well, in a lot of cases it helps if you have a religion or faith to draw power from to cope with everything. But it doesn’t mean that it is necessary. Now, we already covered the hybrid part. How about being a girl?”

I was riled again, “Didn’t you hear me earlier, I hate it. I can’t do my favorite sports anymore and have to help Mom in the kitchen instead of doing my chores that I liked.” I started crying, “I don’t want to be like this. I want my old life back.”

Cherida let me cry for a while and handed me a hanky, “I can understand how you feel, you’re not the first, who had changed gender, that I counseled.”

I looked at her in surprise, I hadn’t realized that other people had changed gender before me. She brought the conversation to a new direction, and asked if I had seen some strange things or experienced some things that I couldn’t explain. I told her that I hadn’t and the conversation drifted on several subjects after that. I told her what my chores used to be and what I liked to do. She even knew the book that I was reading. She liked it as well and asked where I was in it now. I told her and she smiled, saying that I was in for some surprises in the next chapters. Well, I could hardly wait. Then Cherida said that it was time for my physical test. She wanted to see me after that again. She would guide me through the whole procedure she said.

I changed into the bathing suit and felt really exposed in it. I didn’t like going out into the big gym that was waiting for me.

It turned out that I wasn’t the only one being tested. A hybrid boy that had scales sort of like an armadillo was going through an obstacle course. I saw him going in a straight line towards some sort of gate, while several automatic ball firing machines shot balls the size of basketballs at him. Though the balls hit him from all sides, he just kept on going and didn’t stray from the line. After he reached the gate, he had to do another obstacle course, but this one designed to test his agility, he had to zigzag around some cones, but hit several of them, I guess he still had to learn to use his new body to avoid obstacles that he couldn’t just go through.

Suddenly a big man blew on a whistle, I hadn’t seen him before and was startled from the sound and the sight of him. He turned to me, “Hi there, you must be Sinthia. I’m almost done with Preston, you’re up next. I’m Mr. VanLeek. I’m going to evaluate your performance and determine what physical shape you’re in.”

I just nodded and watched as he talked to the armadillo boy. As he walked back to me, I saw the boy staring at me. ‘Why does he stare at me like that? I don’t like it. I would rather that he didn’t do that.’

Then Mr. VanLeek spoke to me, taking my thoughts of the boy. “Well I’m just going to reconfigure something on the machines, why don’t you warm up a bit.”

I nodded and ran a lap around the court and stretched my muscles like I normally did before a match of basketball. But this time it was a lot different. I felt so weird now. Oh, the muscles were the same, yet different as well. And my breasts, while contained in the cups of the bathing suit, were a big distraction as they seemed to have a life of their own. The tail however I mostly didn’t even notice, except that it kept me in perfect balance all the time. Like it knew how to do that automatically.

Then Mr. VanLeek called me over. “Sinthia, I’m ready for you. Can you come here, please.”

I quickly dashed over and he motioned to the court, “Please run as fast as you can to the end, touch the pad there and run back here.”

I took off in a heartbeat and almost flew to the other end. I touched the pad lightly and dashed back to him. He looked at the timer surprised and said, “Wow, you really are fast.”

I looked at him puzzled. He showed me the timer and said, “You just did a 100 meter dash twice and broke the World record both times.”

Now I showed surprise on my face, ‘Gee, am I that fast? I could be on the track team with that.’ Then I remembered, no MORFS survivors were allowed to participate in any regular sports. They said it gave them an unfair advantage. I felt tears well up in my eyes,

I guess Mr. VanLeek saw my tears because he said, “Hey, are you going to cry now? Why would you do that?”

“I finally find something that I can do well and like to do, but I can’t do it in any competition. MORFS survivors are not allowed to participate in sports.” I told him bitterly.

Mr. VanLeek gave me a sympathetic look, “I know that, but with more morfed people around all the time, it won’t take long before that is changed. Now I want you to try the obstacle course. The task for you is to avoid getting hit by the balls. Don’t worry if they do hit you, it won’t hurt as they are quite soft.”

He showed me the course I had to take and on his signal, I started my run. The machines started firing balls at me. I don’t know how I did it, but I kinda sensed them coming and weaved my way around them. Moments later I had finished the course and hadn’t been hit a single time.

Mr. VanLeek congratulated me, “Well done, you’re the first to complete it in this time without getting hit. Now the next test is for you to go a little higher. I want you to walk on that pole till the end if you can. It doesn’t matter if you can’t complete it, nobody has ever reached the end before.”

He pointed upwards to a horizontal pole that got thinner along its length and I climbed up a ladder to reach it. There I had little trouble walking fast on the pole, until I came to a part that seemed to become unstable. I realized that this part wasn’t fixed, but able to roll and spin. My tail really was a great help now. It kept me in perfect balance and though it became more and more difficult I stayed on the pole, slowing my walk down to a quick crawl. Finally I reached the end and touched the pad there. I stayed up on the pole looking at Mr. VanLeek.

He looked astonished at me. “Damn girl, nobody ever reached the end. You set a new standard. I’ve never seen such a well balanced walk before. Well done.”

I beamed at his praise and lightly jumped down to the floor next to him. He threw me a basketball, “Here, try to score if you can.”

Now this was something I liked. This was my sport. I bounced the ball, getting a feel for my new height and the seemingly increased size of the ball. Well the ball was the same as always, but I wasn’t. I was a lot smaller. After a little while I felt confident enough and made a series of fakes trying to find my opening and soon I dashed past him and jumped up towards the basket. With ease I reached the rim and dunked the ball. Now I was astonished, I had never been able to dunk the ball before. This was really cool!

Mr. VanLeek told me to try again and this time his defense was much tighter, but he was quite close to the basket. So instead of passing him I jumped from outside the bucket with all my power hoping to make it close enough to the basket to score. To my wonder I quickly reached the basket itself and dunked the ball again, but I actually had to hold on to the basket, to avoid going too far and crushing into the board. As I let go and dropped to the floor, I saw Mr. VanLeek pick up a computer tablet and write something on it. I asked him, “What are you writing?”

He smiled at me, “I’m writing down your athletic abilities. You’re a natural in any sports that includes running or jumping now. It was a real pleasure watching you perform. Thank you Sinthia. Now let’s go to the weight machines. We need to test your strength.”

I followed him to bar between pillars with a bench between them. Per his instructions I lay down on the bench and grabbed the bar. He tapped on his tablet and suddenly the bar became heavier. Mr. VanLeek said, “Just push the bar up and let it down as long as you can. I’ll be increasing the weight in the pillars a little each time.When you feel that it becomes too heavy, you just let go of the bar.”

I started pushing the bar up and letting it down again, Each time I pushed it up it was a bit heavier. Finally I couldn’t push it anymore, though I kept on trying. Mr. VanLeek said, “Don’t push yourself too hard, this is not a contest, just let go if you feel that it is too heavy.”

I let go of the bar and Mr. VanLeek looked at his tablet. “You are a bit stronger than I thought. You pushed about 300 pounds, quite good of you.”

I was puzzled, I was a weak girl, but I could still push about the same weight as I did as a boy? I didn’t have more time to think as Mr. VanLeek took me to the next machine. This was to test my leg strength. The same routine as before was repeated till I couldn’t lift it anymore. It turned out that I could lift about 800 pounds with my legs now. Again I didn’t get time to think about it. I was taken to a treadmill or something like it. Mt. VanLeek told me that he wanted to test my endurance in running.

It turned out that while I can run fast, I can only do it for short distances. I could run about 300 meters at full speed before collapsing. Mr. VanLeek suggested that I might make it longer with practice. I also noticed that with a little rest I could do it again. So, I could do short sprints in quick succession.

Mr. VanLeek wrote it all down in his tablet before saying, “You are done here now. I will relay the data to Miss Woolsey. She’ll guide you through the rest of your evaluation. You can change your clothes, even shower if you want and report back to Miss Woolsey.

I nodded and wanted to change quickly into my clothes, but my nose told me that I stunk again from the physical exertion. ‘But I don’t sweat anymore like I normally do. Still, I don’t like smelling this bad. But now I have this problem with drying I think What should I do?.’ I checked out the shower and was surprised to see that there was something looking like a giant blow-dryer on steroids on the wall. ‘Maybe I’m not the first furry MORFS changee that they evaluated.’

I showered and dried myself using the dryer. It felt so good, that I wanted to stay there longer, but as soon as I was dry, I reluctantly turned the machine off and put my clothes on. I quickly went back to Miss Woolsey’s office and she was waiting for me. “Hello again Sinthia, I see you did very well on your physical. Now I have a little unpleasant evaluation for you. I need you to be checked by a physician.

With trepidation I went with her to a doctor’s office and though the woman, dr. Moresby, was nice, it felt humiliating as she inspected my inner plumbing. The other things were not that bad though, and soon all the data was collected.

Cherida took me back to her office and after writing a bit more on her computer, soon gave me a printout in a folder. “This is for you, if ever people ask for it. I’ve cleared you for school and other activities. I do recommend that you see a psychiatrist on a regular basis though. If you can’t find one close by, you are always welcome here with me. I want to keep in touch with you as well. Will you do that for me?”

I nodded and she called Mom in. She talked to Mom for a while and though I didn’t hear what they said, I could guess well enough. I didn’t say anything to Mom though as she took me back to the shop where Cynthia already had my clothes ready. Mom paid her and not too long afterwards we went back home. My mood was mixed, on one hand I was glad that I wasn’t a total freak and washout. On the other, I would have to face a lot of problems as the experiences in the malls had shown me.

We reached home just in time, as it started snowing. Soon the roads would be blocked again and we wouldn’t be able to go anywhere anymore. Dad and Remo were waiting for us and asked how it went. I didn’t want to talk about it and quickly disappeared to my room. I could hear the outcries off both Dad and Remo as Mom obviously told them the things that happened at the mall. It made me think about it again and though I didn’t want to, I started crying again.

A short while later Mom came into my room. She obviously saw the fur around my eyes wet from tears and said, “Honey, why did you cry again? You’re here safe and sound in our home.”

‘Damn that fur, it always shows when I have been crying.’ I thought before answering her. “Yeah, Mom. But next week I have to go back to school. And I just know that my troubles will begin again.”

Mom sighed, “I know things won’t be easy for you, but we’re here to help you. Even Remo volunteered to guard you against those morons. Now just try your best and give it all you’ve got. Promise me that?”

I resigned myself, “Okay, Mom. I’ll do my best. Can I ask you a favor though?”

“Shoot,” Mom smiled at me.

“Can I feed the animals again, and be a bit less wanted in the kitchen. I will help you there, but I always liked feeding the animals.”

Mom smiled again, “Sure, Honey. It is important to us that you feel happy here. I’ll talk to Dad about it and we will make a new task schedule. We have to do that anyway. Now you can stay here if you want, or you can help me make dinner.”

I gave a wry smile, “Okay, Mom. I’ll go down and help.”

Mom hugged me again and together we went down to the kitchen where she explained some things on how to cook.

New Years came and went. We didn’t have any fireworks, so instead we watched TV. Too bad the game where my big brother Mack played wasn’t important enough to be on, but it was mentioned in the overview. His team lost by a narrow margin. He would be coming home soon, and we were looking forward to it. It didn’t even occur to me that he didn’t know about my transformation yet.

A few days later I felt like being cooped up inside the house too long and wanted to get some fresh air. I already fed the animals and wanted to take a walk towards the main road just outside our land. Remo hadn’t cleared a path yet, but I felt bold and jumped onto the fence and balancing exquisitely, I walked halfway to the road. The main roads had been cleared of snow enough to allow traffic, but there was rarely any traffic here. Only the neighbors and some stragglers like salesmen came by.

I was watching out over the fields towards the forest. I would like to go hiking again there. But the snow was piled up too thick for that now. I didn’t even notice that a minivan stopped on the main road. Nor did I notice the big guy getting out and walking through the thick snow towards our house. I only noticed something when my big brother Mack was standing in front of me. He asked me, “Hello little girl. Are you lost or something? Can I help you?”

I was furious with his patronizing tone. I totally forgot that he didn’t know my new condition. “Fuck you, Mack.” I snarled at him, before bouncing in big leaps big towards the house, barely hearing him speak, “Hey, wait. How do you …”

I reached home in record time and threw my coat and boots to the ground, not bothering to put them back into their place. I bounced up the stairs to my room just as fast and started crying again.

I felt sick and nauseous, today would be my first day back in school. Mom had called Principal Lassiter, and explained my current situation. He had promised to keep an eye out for trouble. Though I doubted that would do me any good. At least I would have Marjorie to keep me company. We had more talks in the days leading up to going back to school and had decided to keep as close to each other as we could manage.

Forcing the bile that threatened to creep upwards from my stomach back down, I looked at Marjorie standing next to me. She was probably equally scared and unsure. She looked back at me and nodded, “Let’s get this over with.”

Together we walked into the building and as soon as the first students saw us, the comments started.

A boy with pimples said to his friend, “Phiew, it starting to stink in here. Oh I see it, the skunk has returned, with a friend this time.”

Someone else, whom I couldn’t see, said quite loud, “It’s the invasion of the animal mutants. Someone should get an exterminator or animal control here.”

A stuck up girl I recognized as Sheila said, “I can’t understand why they let animals into school. You know that my mom tried to have them expelled? The school overruled her and said that they have a right to education. Well, I think they should be locked up in a zoo.”

We just kept walking on, like they didn’t exist until someone tried to make me trip on a sudden extended leg. But being a squirrel hybrid made me have fast reflexes. I simply hopped over it and continued my way as if nothing happened. Though the people were quite hostile with their looks and downright verbal abuse, they didn’t try anything physical. There had been a formal warning by the school and county that it would be regarded as a premeditated attack and would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The school had added that any physical abuse on a hybrid MORFS victim would be grounds for expulsion and persecution by law.

So, we were free from any direct attack. However I knew that it would mean that once we got out into the open without witnesses, meaning without people around that didn’t want to see hybrids getting hurt, we would get jumped, beaten and worse.

After classes I had to go back to my locker and get a book I needed. Marjorie offered to go with me, but I said to her, “No need, I’ll be back here in a moment.” Stupid me, I hadn’t counted on some people waiting for a chance like this.

As I closed my locker with my free hand, the book I had needed was knocked from my other hand. Angrily I turned to the one who did that and started, “What the hell do you …”

My voice trailed off as I saw Gary Fields and Phil Bondi with Sheila Tarkin behind them glowering at me. Phil growled, “Not such a big mouth anymore do you, Wally? Oh yes, we found out who you are. I always thought you were a sissy, now you’ve gone and proved it.”

Gary added, “And you had to report us to the Police for the rape of that skunk girl, didn’t you?”

“She’s a badger,” I protested involuntary.

“Whatever,” said Sheila. “Just beat this freak up and move on to the other one.

I backed up against the lockers while Gary and Phil moved in on me. Phil launched his fist at my head and I barely managed to duck under it. I kicked his leg, but didn’t manage to drop him. He did flinch and it offered me a gap to slip past them. I ran as fast as I could towards the doors at the end of the hall. Which with my powerful legs I outran them easy enough. I hit the doors quite hard, but they opened inwards, not outwards, and I bounced back into the hall. My three assailants were on me before I could pick myself up from the floor and Sheila smirked, “We got you now, bitch.”

I backed up against the doors that resisted my pushing and I feared the beating that I would get now. Maybe I could scratch them or kick them hard enough to make some room for me and escape, but I feared that it wouldn’t be so easy.

Things got worse as I saw Gary pull a baseball bat from behind his back. ‘He’s going to beat me up with that? I’m so screwed!’

Something inside me felt odd and a rush of energy flowed through me. I didn’t know what to make of it, but it wasn’t unwelcome. Then the doors behind me pushed back at me and I got pushed towards my attackers. ‘Is someone there trying to get in? Is there someone to help me?’ My hopes went up even more, but then the doors blew open throwing me into the swing of Gary’s bat. I had the wind knocked out of me, but I still hoped that whoever pushed the doors open, would save me from them. I looked back at the door and was so disappointed. There was no one there!

Sheila screeched, “Hit her again, before she can escape.”

I more felt than saw Gary swinging his bat again, when a hard cold wind blew from the doors knocking all three attackers from their feet. I had trouble staying put as well, but my nails bit into the linoleum floor and held me stay put. Phil was the first to get up again. He looked at the empty hall behind me and said, “There is nothing there! Where did that gust come from?”

I had no idea myself, but I counted myself lucky that the wind was there. I got up on all fours and clambered through the doors up the empty hall to escape them. The wind kept buffeting me and the others till I managed to round a corner. The air rushing past was much less there and I ran as fast as I could towards where Marjorie was waiting for me.

Nearly out of breath I arrived at Marjorie and she asked worried, “What happened? Why are you breathing so hard?”

I had to catch my breath first and it doesn’t help that I don’t sweat anymore, I have to pant to dissipate the extra heat from exercising. Finally I could utter, “I got ambushed by Gary, Phil and Sheila. They were going to pound me to pulp. I barely managed to get away from them.”

“Let’s go to the police and report them, or tell the Principal to take measures.” Marjorie said to me with worry in her voice.

“Tell them what?” I asked Marjorie. “It will be my word against theirs. There isn’t any proof they did anything. I got away before I got injured, thank god. We’ll just have to watch out for them trying to hurt us. Gary did say that he suspects I told on them to the police, so they’ll be double as eager to hurt me.”

Marjorie just looked at me and hugged me for support. I shuddered thinking how close I had come to being beaten to a pulp. I had been really lucky with that sudden wind out of nowhere, blowing my attackers away like that. Marjorie asked, “So how did you get away?”

I hesitated a little, “Well, I don’t really know how it happened, but suddenly there was a hard gust of wind that blew them from their feet and down the hall. Thanks to my hardened nails I managed to stay in place, else I would’ve been blown through the hall with them.”

Marjorie looked at me, “A sudden gust of wind? You mean that there was wind inside the school? How is that possible? Was there a door open to the outside? No, that wouldn’t explain it, there’s hardly is any wind today. Are you sure that you didn’t see anyone? Maybe someone with a superpower from MORFS was there.”

She fired her questions so fast at me that I reeled from the intensity. I thought back to my situation in the hall. I hadn’t seen anyone there. Nor did I know anyone with powers in my school. And even if someone had powers, why rescue me, but hide from me at the same time. It all didn’t make sense.

All the way back home, I kept thinking about the strange wind that had saved me. I was almost home when I got a light whack on my back and a cheerful Remo said, “Tag, you’re it.” He raced past me to our home, like we always raced home, but this time I had the advantage.

With my powerful legs I jumped much higher and further then he could and within moments I overtook him, tagging him lightly on his head in mid-jump. “Tag, now you’re it.” I didn’t stop, but raced on towards home.

At the door we both panted from the exercise, till Remo said, “Not fair anymore. You can run faster and jump higher than me now.”

I was a bit peeved with his comment, “You want to talk fair? You didn’t almost get beaten to a pulp in school just because you had the misfortune to change gender and become a hybrid.”

Unfortunately for me, Mom heard that last remark, she yelled, “What? Who tried to beat you up? Did you report it already?” as she opened the door.

Looking up at her I stammered, “I umh… well… you see…”

She interrupted me, “Never mind! Remo, where were you when this happened? Did you see who it was?”

Remo was clearly embarrassed as he hadn’t witnessed it. “I can’t be with her all the time! This is the first I’ve heard about it myself.”

Mom was very upset, I could tell. She pointed inside and both Remo and I quickly went inside. After taking off our winter-coats, mine looked more like a summer coat now, and put our bags down, Mom made us sit in the living room.

“Spill it,” Mom said gravely to me.

I hesitated, which earned me an even sterner look from her. “Fine, I’ll tell you.” I sighed. “I was with Marjorie most of the day, but I forgot a book in my locker and went to get it, all by myself. As I closed my locker I was confronted by Gary Fields, Phil Bondi and Sheila Tarkin. They were going to kick my ass for being a freak and because I reported them to the police.”

“You’re not a freak.” growled Mom. “Did you report the incident to the police or the school?”

I looked down, “I can’t, there were no witnesses, it would be my word against theirs. It would look like I was going to have them expelled for no reason.”

“There has to be something we can do,” said Mom exasperated. “They will try it again if they’re not stopped.”

“They won’t get away with it next time, I’ll be watching you’re back, sis.” Said an otherwise quiet Remo.

“You’d better watch her back, I’m disappointed that you weren’t there today for her.” Mom was really upset about it all.”

I decided not to tell her about the wind incident. I had some thinking to do about that. I asked her, “Can I be excused now? I want to get to my room now.”

Mom dismissed us with a hand wave and we both quickly went upstairs. Remo said as we reached the top of the stairs, “I really mean it, if I had been there I would have taken them on. I’m going to look out for you now.”

I smiled, “Thanks Remo, I hope I don’t need it. Besides I always had to bail you out of trouble remember?”

“Yeah, but you can’t do that anymore little girl.” Remo teased me.

Angrily I turned towards him, but he laughed and disappeared into his room. “I’ll get you for that,” I said mockingly.

~-~-~-~-~-

Finally Spring had arrived, the weather was getting warmer and the snow was almost all gone. In my free time I enjoyed walking in the woods even more now. Sometimes I just couldn’t resist and jump into trees and climb all the way to the tops. If I lived in a city, though I shuddered at the thought, I probably would be good at parkour. I really had the body, muscles, and dexterity for that kind of sport.

Marjorie sometimes went with me on my hikes through the woods, but she wasn’t as quick in the trees as I was. We still did lots of things together and helped each other out with homework and talking about school and such. I really liked having her as a friend again, though now she would just be my best friend as opposed to my girlfriend. Sometimes she teased me about finding a boyfriend, and that made me start thinking about my sexuality. ‘Am I still attracted to girls? Does that make me a lesbian? Or should I be looking a boys now. It doesn’t appeal to me, yet!’ But sometimes my mind wandered and I looked at girls as friends or competition. I hadn’t caught myself looking at boys yet, but I feared that it was just a matter of time. ‘Am I gay if I date guys, since I used to be one? Or am I gay if I date girls, because I am one? This is confusing the hell out of me!’

I hadn’t encountered that strange wind again, so I thought it was unlikely that I had a power of my own. Believe me, I tried my best to see if I did have a power. I tried meditating, relaxing, focusing, and just plain doing all those things they show on TV. I still hadn’t seen so much as a breeze of wind that was unusual.

Things got progressively worse at school, though there were no open hostilities that could be reported, just the small irritations that were getting common. Rumors were flying around at warp speed though, I had heard that some considered Marjorie and me lesbians, since we hung out together most of the time. They didn’t consider the boys hanging out together as being gay though, which was essentially the same thing.

People still tried to trip me up when I was walking with my lunch tray, but each time I managed to avoid it and balanced my tray well enough that I didn’t even spill a drop of my drink. Marjorie just stomped on any foot in her way, and apologized immediately sarcastically. A few jocks tried to goat her into a fight, but it was always quickly nipped in the bud by teachers. The worst things were when they pinched or stabbed my tail. It really hurt, but I couldn’t show any proof, so I just tried to be quicker getting out of the way and avoid those who would do it as much as I could.

Then one afternoon everything changed, my whole life got turned into a new direction. It didn’t all happen at once though, but that afternoon was the pivotal point of it all. I was alone in the woods, just enjoying myself and climbing some trees.

One tree that I was climbing started to creak ominously. I was usually much better in determining the state of branches. Just to be on the safe side I jumped to a bigger nearby tree, only to find the branch I was about to grab was in even worse condition than the ones before.

The branch disintegrated when I grabbed it and with a scream of fear I fell down to the ground.

As I plunged downwards, I saw to my horror that there was a bunch of small trees and other hard sharp plants waiting for me to crash into. Again I screamed and then it was like something clicked inside my head. I felt a headache coming up, but not like I had ever experienced before. It was like I had been blind and now I could suddenly see. It was overwhelming, exhilarating and frightening all at the same time.

A pressure was building up inside of me and I screamed out. At the same time I felt something push very hard against me. It was even hurting me and it was coming from below. It lurched me back to where I came from and I grayed out from the G-forces.

As I gathered my wits and looked what was happening, I noticed that I was sailing through the air at quite a height and a lot of speed. With my tail as rudder I tried to steer myself towards the pond that I could see from up here and it did work somehow. I managed to make a hard but safe landing into the water. The splash was so hard that I got the wind knocked out of me and I fought to get back up to the surface before I drowned.

I made it to the surface just in time to get fresh air into my lungs and then groaned as I noticed how far I had to swim back to the shore. It wasn’t helping any that the water was still frigid and sucking all the heat out of me despite my fur protecting me somewhat.

It took me a long time to reach the shore and I was shivering of the cold and barely made it out the water. I laid down on the ground to catch my breath. But suddenly I started giggling which went to laughing out loud from joy, now I knew that I had a power. It had been me that had caused the winds to appear.

I shivered from the cold and quickly went home to change clothes. Mom wasn’t too happy with my wet clothes, but fortunately she was more worried about me getting sick than why I was wet. I took a hot shower and used the industrial blow dryer and the big brush to get my fur back into shape.

I wanted to go out again to tell Marjorie about my new discovery, but Mom had other ideas and made me stay in to help with dinner before doing my other chores. I wanted to tell my family about my power, but I couldn’t find an opening to start the topic and before I knew it I had to do my homework before going to bed.

The next day I went over to Marjorie to tell her my news. However when I found her sitting glumly on the porch, I wanted to ask her first why she was brooding. “Hi Marjorie, what’s eating you?”

“Can you believe it? Biff morphed and he got a power. He can do stuff with water! Why couldn’t we get any powers?”

I sat down next to her and felt like I should tell her that I had found my power. I feared that if I did now, I would lose her friendship. Her friendship had started to mean so much to me that I never wanted to lose it. So, I just sat next to her and offered her some support. “Did he change in his appearance?”

Marjorie sighed in frustration, “That’s the kicker, he is still the same as always. The only positive on it is that he’s very weak with his power. Well, enough brooding, why did you come over? Want to see my new eCom? It finally arrived yesterday.”

I smiled at her, “Sure let’s go see.” But silently I was thinking, ‘Better keep my news from her for now. I don’t want to upset her with my newfound power. She’ll feel even more left out.’

During the next weeks I experimented with my power and discovered that I sort of could see currents in the air and sort of feel how much pressure there was. It was like there was a whole other world waiting for me to explore and to play with. Alone in the woods I played with the winds and sometimes let them carry me through the air, kind of like flying. My tail was a nice rudder during this and I really enjoyed my time there.

However I think Marjorie started to suspect something as she became a bit more reserved towards me and sometimes asked if I ever thought about having a power from my change. I managed to change the topic mostly and kept her from finding out anything.

Back at school I walked with more confidence, once I knew that my new found power could bail me out of trouble. Marjorie surely noticed because she asked me, “What has gotten into you?”

“Oh nothing, I’m just not going to let people get to me anymore. I am who I am and they can screw themselves.” I replied with a smile.

“Okay, who are you and what have you done with my friend Sinthia?” Marjorie asked jokingly but with a serious undertone.

“I’m an evil twin come back from the future to make sure I take over the world!” I said with a giggle and a smile.

“Ha ha, very funny.” Marjorie responded, but couldn’t ask more as we had to get into class.

She had forgotten about it later that day, but I knew she would come back on the issue. I would have to think of something and soon.

I avoided Marjorie the next morning because I still hadn’t come up with anything to say to her. Matters were taken out of my hands that day. I felt a bit off and like something wasn’t right. It turned out that my feeling was right on the money, but not how I would have thought.

During our history class, the big TV screen started smoking and started to burn. The girl who was operating it, managed to get clear of the device and looked around. Then she pointed at me, “She’s the one that did it. She resents us normal people and wants to hurt us.”

Sheila jumped right on this and yelled, “Kill the rodent, she’s a menace.”

I rose from my chair and felt the hatred roll in waves from my classmates towards me. Well, not physically, but mentally. It must be from my animal side that detects danger. The teacher Mr. Buttings tried to restore order, but his small stature and soft voice was no match for the yelling and shouting voices of the students out for blood, in particular my blood.

I tried to get to the door and towards safety, but Phil was blocking it with a cruel smile on his face. I realized that I was trapped and had been set up into the trap.

Frantically I looked around for a way out, but there didn’t seem to be one. Then my eye caught the small window above the door, it was very high up and very small. I knew though that squirrels can get through a very small hole if they need to. I had seen it first hand with the squirrel that had bitten me and made me what I am today.

Thought sprung into action and I jumped towards a wall, bouncing off it to the adjacent wall to the cupboard that I used to jump to the window. There I wrung myself through the small window above the door. It was tight, but I managed to wring myself through before any angry student could reach up to prevent me from escaping.

Soon I was running through the empty hall way and heard the door open behind me, with angry voices shouting, “Get that filthy rodent.” Or: “Kill her, she blew up a TV and is trying to hurt us.”

Other class room doors opened at the ruckus and soon other students got out and were about to block my way. Just as was about to be blocked by several students, with some of them intending to grab me and hold me to get me punished for something I didn’t do, Remo stepped forward and turned to them. “Nobody grabs my sister.”

I skidded to a halt as my way was blocked now, and my pursuers were starting to get near. I was pleasantly surprised to see my brother and that he was stepping up to defend me, though I doubted that it was such a good idea. Especially when a few of the line backers started to move in on him. One growled, “Get out of the way or you’ll get a beating too, boy.”

Marjorie was pushed forward through the crowd towards us and almost fell down had I not caught her. She scrambled to her feet and watched with me in fear at the gathering crowd. Some teachers were trying to get to us, but couldn’t get through the assembled students.

Sheila yelled at the people next to her, “Get those freaks, they are a menace to society. They blew up a TV with their freakish powers.”

With a new found confidence, backed up with my wind power, unknown to anyone but me, I faced Sheila. “You mean you sabotaged the TV, just so you could blame me.”

Sheila was flabbergasted at my sudden comeback. “What? No, I don’t know anything about electronic things.” She looked to her side at Neville, a computer and science nerd.

Sheila turned to look at us almost immediately, but I had caught her involuntary look at her accomplice. “So, you had Neville do it? What did you promise to do for him in return? Be his girlfriend?”

Sheila exploded, “NO, of course not. Like I would be with someone like him.”

Now Neville screamed in anger, “What? You promised to go out with me and be my girlfriend for at least a month.”

Sheila slapped him, “Quiet, you moron. And you freak, don’t make this about me! You are the menace and a freak.” She turned slightly and yelled, “Get her, she’s using her powers to confuse us.”

Several guys, with Gary and Phil in front, started moving towards us, with some big football jocks spreading out. They were making sure we wouldn’t get out of here without getting hurt. Remo stepped up and got slapped out of the way by Corin Haskell. He was easily the biggest guy in school, he wasn’t too bright and already doubled a class two times.

As I saw Remo getting knocked to the floor and people advancing at us, I started to panic. I reached down deep inside me and felt my wind power starting to respond. With an unnecessary wave of my hand I willed the air to form a gust of wind and blew the first line of people backwards.

Now I got everyone’s attention, “Stay back! This has gone far enough! I will not let anyone get hurt today just because a few bigots want to hurt a few MORFS people.”

Marjorie was staring at me with wide open eyes at my display of my power. I really felt like shit, not telling her about it beforehand. I had betrayed our trust by not telling her the truth. I was about to apologize to her, when a second line of people broke through the first line that had been blown back. They rushed us and where about to hit or kick us where they could.

I grabbed Marjorie and she picked up Remo with her considerable strength. The three of us stormed through the crowd on the other side and went outside the school, trying to get to safety before we were lynched.

Once we were on the grass outside of school, a tiny spout of water rose from the pond and splashed on me. I was wet and totally caught off guard. The hesitation to run onwards was my undoing as it was enough for people to rush us. Moments later we were surrounded and bricks and stones were flying through the air at us. Marjorie got hit with a stone on her head and fell down with a cry of pain. I knelt at her side and got hit with a brick in my back. Rising up again, I wanted to start using my power in earnest, but then a siren started blaring.

Everyone knew this siren, it triggered an immediate response to seek shelter. It was the siren for a tornado alert.

We all looked up at the sky which had darkened with clouds. The tornado had already formed and though it was some distance away, it looked like it was headed straight for downtown. The wind was picking up now and we all knew that there wasn’t enough time to get into a shelter.

Sheila tried one more time, “She’s doing it, kill her before she kills us all.”

Corin standing next to her, growled angrily, “Shut up!” and slapped her aside.

I looked at the tornado coming towards us and not only saw it heading for us, I also saw with my enhanced sense of my power what the winds of the tornado were doing. I knew it was heading straight for us and wanted desperately to avoid it. I knew the air currents obeyed my mental commands, but I didn’t know if I could control something that big.

Then I remembered an old movie, ‘Size matters not.’ An old, very small alien guy had said it. So I visualized the winds inside the tornado and willed them to change directions ever so slightly.

They responded to it and I screamed out from exhilaration. I was going to do this. I willed the winds more and more to go where I wanted them to go and soon the tornado was passing by the town all together.

Remo suddenly appeared next to me, “Sinthia, I think the tornado is going straight for our house now.”

‘Oh no, I forgot to check where I send the tornado to.’ Quickly I tried to steer the winds again, but this time they were resisting me. I don’t know how or why, but they continued onwards towards our house. ‘Mom and Dad don’t know about it. All the animals and everything will be gone if the tornado goes there. I need to do something.’

I sank down on my knees and concentrated while closing my eyes. I saw in my mind the winds and how they all interconnected and kept themselves going. Slowly I willed them to untangle and die down. It took up everything that I had to do this and my head started pounding with a massive headache. I even felt something trickle out of my nose, but I still kept it up till the winds died down enough that they weren’t a danger anymore.

Remo shouted, “Yes, you did it. We’re all safe!”

I opened my eyes and looked up at him before collapsing into darkness as I lost my consciousness.

~-~-~-~-~-

I came to in the school’s nurse station. I had been there before with a nose bleed, a lifetime ago. I wanted to get up, but my head was pounding and I had something shoved in my nose. I lifted my hand to it wanting to get it out, but someone held my arm. “Careful, if it hasn’t clotted yet, you’ll start bleeding again. It’s very hard to get blood out of fur.”

I turned to the nurse, “What happened? Why am I here?”

“Good question, why don’t you tell us.” Detective Meshinger said from the door to the nurse station.

I got frightened seeing him, “Am I in trouble?”

He approached the bed, “Not yet, but why don’t you tell me everything that happened today. Starting with your powers?”

“Well, that didn’t happen today. I discovered my power a few weeks ago. I’ve been practicing it in secret and away from anyone that I might hurt. I’ve never used it before till… no that isn’t correct. I did use it once with my pursuers, but I didn’t know that it was coming from me then.” I rambled along.

“Why don’t you tell me from the start what happened to you.”

So, I started telling him about the time I got ambushed by Gary, Phil and Sheila. He listened without saying a word and I continued with how I almost fell to a world of hurt and found my power instead. I also told him about my worries about my friendship with Marjorie since I hadn’t told her about my power. Finally I got to today’s events. I told him that I was getting led into a trap and how I escaped the classroom.

When I told him that I used my wind power to keep the first line of people away from me before fleeing outside, I got a frightening thought. “I didn’t cause the tornado by accident did I?”

Meshinger smiled mysteriously, “That was why I came here to talk to you. After hearing what happened here, I wanted to know if you did. You said you only used your power in the hallway to keep the people away, right?”

I nodded in a building panic that I might be held responsible for the destruction of the tornado, though I had made it go away.

“You didn’t use it before that, in the classroom or earlier?” Meshinger kept asking me.

“I’m positive. I can feel it when I’m using it. So, I know that I didn’t use it unawares.”

“Good,” Meshinger smiled at me. “I talked to the teacher, Mr. Buttings. He told me the exact time that you fled out of the classroom. The tornado started already about ten minutes before. That’s why I think you didn’t have anything to do with it.”

I sighed from relief. I wasn’t to blame for that. Then my face fell again. “Try telling that to the people outside. They’ll never believe it, and they’ll want to lynch me for being a menace.”

“It won’t come to that, I’m going to go with you to a press conference. Everything will be said and done there.”

“Not without me, you don’t!” Came the voice of Mom from the door.

“Mom!” I yelled and almost flew to her for a big hug.

A few hours later I was at a press conference in the gym at school. They asked questions about the tornado and what I had to do with it. With the help of detective Meshinger and a local weatherman I got cleared of any wrong doing and even got praised for keeping damage to a minimum. A man in a suit came up to us at the table and said in a clear voice that he was deputy director of the national weather institute. He wanted to offer me a scholarship and a position at the national weather institute. Stunned I looked at my family and detective Meshinger. He whispered to me, “You can think about it a while.”

“Thank you, I’ll seriously consider it.” I said to the man in the suit.

After the press conference came the hard part, facing my best friend Marjorie. She stood in the dean’s room looking at me. I couldn’t tell if she was angry or happy or disappointed. I hesitantly started, “Marjorie, I’m sorry that…”

She interrupted, “You should’ve told me.”

I looked down at the floor. “I know, but you were so upset with Biff and his powers, that I didn’t dare tell you that I found my power. I never found a good time to tell you. I was afraid that it would end our friendship.”

“And you think me finding out this way wouldn’t?”

I was almost crying now, “I’m really, really sorry. Please forgive me, I never meant to hurt you. I still owe you from the last time I hurt your feelings. I can never repay you for our friendship.”

Marjorie went over to me and I expected her to hit me. Instead she hugged me tightly, to the extent that I couldn’t breathe much. “Oh, I forgive you, my friend the tornado basher.”

I gurgled, “Too tight!”

“Sorry, I forgot my own strength,” and she released her grip.

I took a fresh breath of air, “Thanks for being my friend Marjorie. I’ll always be there for you, but I think I should take the scholarship from the meteorological Institute.”

“Of course you need to accept that. I would be very mad at you if you didn’t.”

I sighed, “But it will take me far away from here. In essence I’ll be gone with the wind. We won’t be seeing each other as much anymore.”

Marjorie smiled at me, “I know that, but we have eComs and can talk to each other all the time. Just don’t hold out on me ever again. And I want to know everything about a boyfriend if you find one.”

That got me thinking again, I still wasn’t sure whether I liked boys now. But girls didn’t get me hot either, so who knows. At least I hadn’t lost my best friend. Together with her I went in search of my family to tell them about my future plans and what they thought of it.

As we walked, Marjorie said, “You know that it was Biff that splashed you with that spout of water outside, right?”

I hadn’t thought of that, but it made sense. He would help those bastards. Well, they were probably on their way to get expelled for attacking me, and maybe I could take my own little revenge if Biff happened to be standing in front of water sometime in the future where I was nearby. I told Marjorie about that plan and she started snickering. It was infectious and soon we were both laughing. We still were when I rejoined my family.

The entire MORFS Universe can be found at http://morfs.nowhere2go.org/

As I softly cried on my bed, I heard the door open and close again because I could hear everything so much better now. I knew that it was Mack coming in but just didn’t feel like apologizing to him. I heard him say, “I’m home.”

Mom came out to greet him, “Mack, how are you? You’re early.”

“Yeah, I know. Mom, who is that little squirrel girl that is apparently staying here? She seems to know me, but I’ve never seen her before.” I heard Mack say.

“Oh no,” Mom exclaimed. “We didn’t tell you yet.”

“Tell me what? Is there something the matter?”

“Sinthia is your sister. Walter got MORFS and changed into a squirrel girl. Did you upset her? She’s very fragile right now.” Mom explained.

I thought, ‘Yeah right, fragile indeed. Why did this have to happen to me? I should run away. Even Mack will hate me for what I am.’ Mack used to be my role model. I used to look up to him and wanted to be like him. Now fate had intervened and made me an outcast.

My musings made me miss the rest of the conversation and before I knew it, there was a knock on my door. ‘Oh no! Must be Mom checking up on me.’ “Go away Mom,” I said out loud. “I don’t want to talk right now.”

“It’s me, Mack,” was the reply from behind the door. “Can I speak with you, please?”

Now I was even more upset, he never came to talk to me in the past. ‘Why is he here now? I really don’t want to talk to him. What can I say? “Hi, I’m your new freak sister?” I don’t think that he’d understand.’ I was so mortified.

He started to open the door saying, “I hope you’re decent. If not you’d better speak up now.”

I still was too upset to speak, so he stepped in. He closed the door behind him, and said softly, “I’m sorry for earlier.”

I interrupted him, “No, Mack. I’m the one who should apologize. You didn’t know. I’m still so unbalanced. I really don’t know what I should do. I’m so scared about the future. Now I’m rambling, I’ll just stop now.”

Mack sat next to me, “I can’t start to imagine what you’re going through. Well, mostly anyway. I do have a friend at college that went through a big change not unlike yours and she was just as distressed. Our small group of friends there talked her out of her destructive ideas, and she’s doing much better now.”

I had to ask, “Destructive ideas?”

He smiled a wry smile, “She was contemplating suicide or going off to live as a hermit somewhere, among other things. I’m just saying, you’re not alone in all of this; you have a supportive family, and I’m sure that soon you will find some true friends. You know, the kind that will stick by you whatever happens.”

I snorted, “I hope you’re right. In any case, welcome back, big brother.” I hugged him and for a moment he hesitated but then hugged me back. I was a bit taken back by his hesitation though.

I guess he noticed, because he started explaining, “I’m sorry for my reluctance to hug you, sis. It’s going to take a little getting used to, I mean, I’ve never had a sister before.”

I relaxed a bit, “At least you’re not hesitant to hug a freak like me.”

He sharply said, “Don’t ever say that. You’re not a freak, you’re just like my friend Bethany who morfed into a fox hybrid. Sure, it takes getting used to it, but you both look cute and beautiful.”

I backed down. “Sorry, I just feel awkward like this. And don’t tell me I’m cute, I hate that.”

Mack lifted my chin, “Hey, it’s okay to feel awkward. And you are cute, just get used to it.”

I gave him a wry smile, “I just don’t know. But enough about me, I want to hear about this girlfriend of yours. Bethany was it?”

He blushed a bit, and tried to talk himself out of it. “She’s not my girlfriend, just a good friend of me and my other friends.”

“Yeah, and I’m not furry at all, you totally gave yourself away with that little blush there.” So, she’s a real fox then?”

Mack looked at me, then got the joke. “You’re a real riot Sinthia, I’m glad to see that you haven’t lost your sense of humor. By the way, you must be glad not to be stuck with a suck name like Walter anymore.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t mean to change into this just to get out of the name.” Mack was the only one I told that I hated my name. “Sinthia is okay for a name, but I’m still unsure about everything else.”

“Cheer up, sis; I’m sure you’ll find your way. Now, how about we go down for a snack.” Mack tried, to get me out of my room.

“Okay, but first I need to freshen up, this fur shows whenever I’ve been crying.”

“Already thinking like a girl I see.” Mack quipped. “Bethany always needs to go powder her face before going somewhere as well.”

I flipped him the finger before going to the bathroom. He chuckled while going down to the living room. While I checked and brushed my fur, I contemplated what he said, I really shouldn’t blow up that fast. Quickly I fixed everything so it wouldn’t show that I had been crying, then I went down to properly greet my big brother Mack.

I could almost forget how much I had changed while engaging in the conversation with my big brother and listening to his exploits at his college. Of course my high girly voice and the way my body felt would never let me forget it completely, but it was nice to talk to someone like normal for a change though.

I was crying again when Mack had to go back to college; it had been such a nice time when he was home. Now I was getting depressed again, not only from losing the talks with my big brother, but also worrying about what would happen at school.

I decided that maybe I should try to make at least one friend and at the same time make amends for my past indifferences as well. I asked my parents if I could visit Marjorie Wise.

At first they thought I had gone insane, but I managed to convince them that I needed to do this, so Mom called her parents and asked if it was okay for me to go over and see Marjorie. Her parents were a bit reluctant, but agreed that it might do Marjorie some good to have a visitor, all her friends had dropped her, and she had been all alone for weeks. It was upsetting them a lot and they didn’t know how to get Marjorie out of her depression.

Going by car or bicycle it would take me at least 15 minutes, and with the roads in the condition they were now, it would take even longer, but their home was right behind ours, so going cross country it would only take me a few minutes by foot. Well, maybe a bit longer with the snow being so high. I got permission to go cross country if I dressed warm enough. I protested that I had my own fur coat, but still I had to wear my outer clothes for decency and to keep the snow away from my fur.

My clothes were a hindrance for my leaps, but I still managed to get to the Wise home in a record time. I rang the doorbell and turned away from it before they could open it. Marjorie’s Mom answered the door and asked seeing a hooded person on the porch. “Yes? May I help you?”

I turned around and showed her my features. She was puzzled, but not put off by my appearance. “Hello? Who are you?” she asked me.

“Mrs. Wise, I used to be Walter. Now I’m Sinthia, I had an even worse change. Can I have a talk with Marjorie? If you don’t want me, I’ll go home and you can forget that I ever asked.”

Mrs. Wise smiled at me, “No dear, I’m sure Marjorie would like to talk to you. I know that you shunned her, but you haven’t been cruel to her. Her best friends didn’t even bother to call on her. She has been depressed for so long now, I’m glad that someone is here to see her, even if the reason isn’t motivated by compassion but selfish pity.”

I didn’t know what to say. She was totally right in her assessment. I was about to start crying and turning back home, when she took my arm. “Sinthia was it? I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have been so direct. It was insensitive and cruel of me.”

“Yes, you should, I’m a horrible person, everything you said is true. I don’t even know why I came here.”

“Sinthia, you came here to ask Marjorie to help you. You want her forgiveness, do you?”

At my nodding, she continued, “I think you being here will do her a ton of good. Please come inside and go see my girl.”

At her insistence I got inside and undressed. Mrs. Wise looked me over and said, “Well, MORFS really did a number on you too. You do look lovely though. Now, just go upstairs and I’ll bring you some refreshments later.”

After climbing the stairs to the bedrooms and knocking on her bedroom door, I was ready to bolt again. What should I say to her? I was afraid, very afraid. I was scared that she would be furiously mad at me and make fun of me in front of others. I didn’t even occur to me that she couldn’t do that, she was in as much a predicament as I was.

Marjorie opened her door and I froze as I saw her and she saw me. She looked me over and examined me with her eyes, while I just stood there, afraid to move, afraid to speak. It took all my willpower not to jump clear and run back home to hide in the deepest basement.

“Hello,” she finally said with a melodious voice. “Mom said that someone from school would be here to talk to me. She must have been mistaken, because I have never seen you or any other squirrel hybrid in school.”

I couldn’t back out now; she was still a nice girl. Even after she morfed into a badger hybrid and had been raped and beaten, she still hadn’t cracked under the pressure and changed into a cynical person. Softly I started, “Hi Marjorie, I was in school with you. You did know me before … uhm… your change. I just changed into this a short while ago. My name is now Sinthia. Uh, can I come in?”

Marjorie ushered me in and I sat in a chair facing her bed. My bushy tail was a bit uncomfortable, but it would have to do. Marjorie sat down on her bed and said, “So, your name is Sinthia. I still don’t know anyone with that name.”

I was a bit uncomfortable getting to the truth part. “I…well…you see…”

She interrupted, “Get on with it; I don’t want to die from old age here.” But she smiled at me saying that.

“Okay, I’m just going to say it. You’ll probably throw me out after that anyway. I used to be Walter Hartman. I got MORFS and it changed me into a girl squirrel hybrid.”

There, I said it and I broke down to start crying. “I’ll go home now, and leave you here to hate me for not being there for you when you needed it.”

Marjorie walked up to me and lifted my head, then pulled me out of the chair, ‘Gee, she is really strong,’ and sat down with me on the bed.

“I don’t hate you, Walter.”

“It’s Sinthia now. My mom changed it to one of my grandmothers’ name.”

“Sinthia, that is a nice name. I don’t hate you. I was disappointed that you didn’t want to see me after my change, but everyone else did at least the same, and some even did worse.”

“I know, I even have an idea about the guys that raped and beat you. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell the police, I was mistaken in my beliefs. I’ll try to make it right by you Marjorie.”

“Don’t make it right by me, just be truthful and honest. I can guess why you are here now; you want my help to go to school. You want me to be your friend, since no one else will want to be anymore.”

I looked down again; Marjorie was as perceptive as her mom. They both guessed everything before I could even say it. Marjorie lifted my head again. “I wouldn’t mind that, I know that you wouldn’t have come here if you hadn’t changed, but at least I’m not alone anymore. I finally have someone who can relate to me and my problems, I’ll be happy to help you. Will you be my friend, Sinthia?”

“I’d love to be your friend again Marjorie, please forgive me for being such a prick.”

Marjorie started giggling, “You said prick, and you were! Now, you don’t have one anymore.” Her giggling went right out into laughter. Her mom came in at that time with some lemonade and cookies.

“Well, I’m happy that you’re laughing again, but don’t laugh at poor Sinthia, she has her own problems.”

I feebly tried to explain why Marjorie was laughing, but she cut me off. “I’m not laughing at her, Mom. She made a funny remark, without intending to. Come on Sinthia, laugh with me.” And she poked me in the side.

Hesitantly I started to laugh a bit, but then felt a bit more relaxed and laughed with Marjorie. Her mom shook her head and went out of the room, closing the door behind her. We continued laughing for a few moments more, till Marjorie lifted the plate to me. “Cookie?”

I accepted it and it was delicious. “These are good.” I commented.

“Mom is the best at these. So, what embarrassing moments did you have already?” Marjorie asked straight out to me.

I winced, thinking about the malls. “Mom took me to a MORFS center.”

“Des Moines?”

I nodded, “We had a few hours to kill before my appointment and needed to do some clothes shopping. As you can imagine, none of my clothes fit me anymore.”

Marjorie smiled at my remark; “Go on,” she urged me.

“Well, at the first mall, they wouldn’t even let me inside unless I was wearing a leash.”

“Really? They said that?” Marjorie asked wonderingly.

“Well, he also called me a pet. The second mall was even worse; a storeowner told us that pets were not allowed inside, no matter how sentient they behaved. As we went away from there, two security guys came to us and told us that there had been complaints about my mom’s whatever and they were there to throw us out.”

“You should sue.” Marjorie said.

“I don’t think that would be such a good idea, it would only get me more attention and people would come to persecute me.”

“Welcome to my world.” Marjorie said melancholic.

“I hadn’t understood your problems or the problems black people had before their rights were finally accepted. I’m really sorry for not being there for you Marjorie.”

She hugged me, “You’re forgiven, at least now I’m not alone anymore. Together we can stand up to all those bigots. Will you allow me to help you?”

“Yes, please, I’ll need all the help I can get. So, I’m really agile and strong with my legs, do you have any advantages with your form?”

“Well, I am stronger than I look. Still that wasn’t enough to keep those rapist boys away from me, especially after they drugged me with ketamine.”

I gasped, “I hadn’t heard that! You were drugged? I’m sorry that you had to endure that.”

Marjorie shrugged, “I’m getting over it, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right?”

I just grimaced at her. She changed the subject. “Did you see Cherida in Des Moines? She was nice, wasn’t she?”

I nodded, “How about VanLeek, he seemed to know what he was doing. Did you have to dodge the balls or knock them out of the way?”

Marjorie laughed, “I had to keep going while being bombarded. You had to dodge, right?” At my nodding she asked, “How about the pole? I fell off within a few feet. VanLeek told me nobody had ever made it to the end. How far did you make it?”

“All the way to the end,” I answered dryly.

“Wow,” Marjorie exclaimed. “You made it all the way to the end? How?”

“Well, squirrels are very good at keeping balance, the tail helps a lot. I instinctively knew how to use my tail to balance me correctly and kept on going. It was very hard at the end, but I made it.”

“That is so cool,” said Marjorie. “I wish I could have seen it.”

I looked down again, “I wish I could still do sports, I’m a lot better at them now. We’re never allowed to compete in anything ever again, you know? They don’t allow hybrids to compete with norms. They consider us freaks.”

“Hey, don’t you start crying now. You got me out of my funk, don’t put me back in.” Marjorie scolded me.

I hugged her, “Thanks Marjorie, I really appreciate having someone to talk to and share similar experiences.”

“I enjoy it too, but you had an even more radical change. You also changed gender, right?”

“Uhm, yeah. Don’t remind me.” I muttered.

“I would like to introduce you to all the girly stuff that you have never known and need to know. You don’t have sisters I think.”

At my shaking she exclaimed, “Good, no competition. Now, where to start?”

“Oh no, what have I gotten myself into,” I cried out in mock despair.

Marjorie had a real good evil laugh. She used it on me before diving into her closet and getting me to try on clothes and jewelry. Fortunately we didn’t have matching sizes, so I was off the hook for most things, though I did go home with a top that didn’t fit her anymore and a matching skirt.

I really felt a lot better after my talk with Marjorie. I had been right; she was still a nice girl and she seemed to think that I was too. Well, I was a girl now, I still don’t know about the nice part though. It also gave me another idea. I had one more thing to set right before school started.

The next day I did my chores early and fast before setting out towards town. I had dressed myself as best I could to be inconspicuous, and hoped that nobody would see and recognize me. Luck was with me and I got to the police station without problems. Going inside wasn’t easy for me; my heart was beating so loud that I thought every cop could hear it. I got some strange looks by the officers that I passed, but they left me alone till I reached the duty desk.

“Hello? I would like to speak to detectives Meshinger and Davies please.”

“I don’t think they are in right this moment, Miss…?”

I sighed; of course they would be out when I needed to talk to them. “Please, can you tell me when they’ll be back, I can wait. It’s really important.”

The sergeant looked at me; I hoped he wouldn’t get a good look. Finally he said, “I could radio them to come here, if it’s that important to you.”

“It is, please call them here before I lose my nerve.” I was trembling with fear. Any moment someone would see me as the freak I was and started shouting or worse.

A police woman took me into a room and gave me a glass of water. I had nearly finished it by the time the detectives came into the room. “All right what is so bloody important that we got dragged back here?” Said Meshinger. Then he saw me sitting at a table. “You wanted to see us?”

I nodded and my hood fall away. Davies looked at me, “Who are you, girl? What is so important that you wanted to talk to us now?” He sat down in front of me, while Meshinger kept standing.

“You were right about what you told me, detective Davies.”

Davies looked at Meshinger and back at me. “I’ve never seen you before, when did I talk to you? What is your name, please?”

“My name is Sinthia.” I started, but then I choked. I wanted to go on, but my throat was almost screwed tightly shut. “I… I…” Meshinger was about to comment, rudely I presumed, but Davies motioned him not to say anything. Finally I managed to squeak out, “You told me that MORFS is a sickness that even I could get. Well, you were right, I got it all right.”

Davies was very sharp, I’ll give him that. “Walter Hartman? That is you?”

Even Meshinger didn’t know what to say or do, he just looked at me. I couldn’t tell if he felt pity or was gloating. I was close to crying again. I just nodded; I didn’t trust my voice right there and then.

Davies gave me another glass of water and sat down next to me. I couldn’t see Meshinger anymore, maybe he had stepped out. “So, Walter, what did you want to tell me?” Davies started.

“My name is now Sinthia. Sinthia Hartman. I was wrong not telling you what I suspected. I think Gary Fields and Phil Bondi were part of the group that drugged and raped Marjorie Wise.”

Davies grabbed me by my shoulders very painfully. “How do you know the Wise girl was drugged? We left that out of all our investigation talks.”

“Ow, you’re hurting me.” Davies let go and I rubbed my painful shoulders. “Yesterday I visited Marjorie; she told me that though she is a lot stronger now, she didn’t stand a chance against the group, especially after they drugged her with Ketamine.”

Meshinger stepped out of the dark corner, where I hadn’t seen him. “So, now you are friends with Marjorie Wise? We will check it you know.”

I smiled a little, “You can check it all you want. She agreed to help me get me back on my feet and I said that I would have her back whenever she needed it.”

Meshinger wasn’t finished yet, “You’re telling us this because you felt remorse and wanted to do the right thing? I don’t buy it; I think you’re just afraid that after the change, they’ll be after you as well. You just want to do a preemptive strike.”

I looked back at him with narrowed eyes. “Yes, it is one of my considerations, but it isn’t the main reason.” Meshinger snorted, but I continued, “I went to Marjorie expecting to be ridiculed, taunted, or even straight out hated. To my surprise, she immediately forgave me for not talking to her before. In fact no one has been talking to her after her MORFS change; all her friends dropped her like a rock. That’s why I’m doing this now for her, I should have been a better friend to her. She really likes having someone to talk to and do things with. I owe her.”

Davies calmed us both down, “Easy now missy, you too partner. Now Sinthia, you gave us two names, do you know any more boys who might have done it?”

“Gary and Phil are the most likely suspects; they would start such a thing. There are some other guys I know that might do it in a group, but they wouldn’t start it and I can’t tell if they would go along.”

“Okay, it’ll do for now. Is there anything else that you’d want to talk about?” Davies asked me.

“Well, when I was in Des Moines to be tested and evaluated at the MORFS center, we went shopping for clothes. In two different malls, I was harassed and mistreated by security and store owners. They called me a pet and that I should be on a leash at all times. The store even refused to let me in, since pets weren’t allowed. The security said they received complaints about me and called me a ‘whatever’. Can I do something about that? I don’t want to make too many waves, but if this goes on, me, Marjorie, and every other full hybrid after us will face that and be restricted in our lives.”

Meshinger did something unexpected, he knelt down near me. “I would like to know which malls did that. I’ll make sure they will be getting some heat for that.”

I looked at him, “Why do you care so much about that? I thought you didn’t like me.”

He gave me an apologetic facial expression, “I have a niece who’s a full hybrid, and I’ve encountered bigotry like that first hand. I thought you were a bigot as well, but I was wrong. Please accept my apologies.”

I looked down at the floor, “I was kind of a bigot, you were right about me. I don’t deserve your apologies.”

Meshinger lifted my head so I had to look at him, “I was wrong, you are not that bad. Thank you for coming in and giving us this information. Don’t hesitate to call again if you encounter more bad things.”

“Thank you, I’ll keep it in mind.”

Back home I found out that I was in a lot of trouble for not telling them that I had gone to the police station. Mom and Dad applauded my initiative to straighten things out, but scolded me for going alone. I would be grounded for a long time again. Well, didn’t mind that, I preferred to stay inside anyway. I was more worried about school the next day.