Sign of the Times

My mom dies and I become a guinea pig

Three days. It has been three days since the storm took out the boat. It has been three days since the only family I had died. It has been three days that I have been stuck on this stupid life boat fighting off little sea monsters and starving.

I thought I was done for, that death was a certainty in my near future. I accepted it in a way, knowing that I would be reunited with my mother if that was a thing.

Things changed, my hope changed when I saw land in the distance. 

I paddled for the land as quickly as I could with the scrap piece of metal from the ship, not even caring about the cuts it was giving me as well as all the possible diseases that come with.  I couldn't bring myself to even acknowledge the pure feeling of tiredness that was screaming to be felt. Nothing mattered except the fact that I might make it out of this. 

When I finally arrived and stepped off the boat, I don't remember anything else besides blacking  out. When I woke up they offered me all of these spa treatments that I gladly accepted. Being stuck on a raft for days does a ton for your skin. 

After I was finished with all these spa treatments from the mysterious people on a mysterious island in the middle of nowhere, I realized this was too good to be true.

"Join us! Become a pretty little witch! It is just SO FUN!" they said. I told them nah, I kind of just want to go home and try to figure out my life more. I want to give my mother a proper funeral, go to school like she wanted me to, blah blah blah. It really was a beautiful speech. 

But obviously not beautiful enough as I am locked in a small cage as a guinea pig. Yes, I am a fucking guinea pig. I am loving life right now. 

But that brings us to the present, only a few days later. Life as a guinea pig is surprisingly not stressful, but also not surprisingly boring. All I do is eat and sleep. I sometimes run on the little wheel thing, but I find that even more dehumanizing than being a guinea pig. 

Just when I began wishing I was back on that little raft in the middle of the ocean, new people walked into the room. The woman that turned me into a guinea pig, C.C. and a young boy.

C.C. took the boy's arm and brought him over to a mirror. 

"You see, Percy ... to unlock your potential, you'll need serious help. The first step is admitting that you're not happy the way you are." Percy's eyebrows furrowed, trying to decode the speech like I had tried to do a few days prior. "There, there," C.C. consoled. "How about we try ... this."

C.C. snapped her fingers, causing a shimmering blue fabric to cover the mirror. Despite the mirror being covered, the blue fabric had a reflection on it, a reflection of your "perfect self."

"What do you see?" C.C. asked.

"Whoa," Percy said in amazement. I wish guinea pigs could scoff, because that is what I would be doing right now.

"Do you want that?" C.C. asked. "Or shall I try a different—"

"No," the boy said, a bright smile plastered on his face. "That's ... that's amazing. Can you really—"

"I can give you a full makeover," C.C. promised.

"What's the catch?" he asked, eyes not leaving the fabric. "I have to like . . . eat a special diet?"

"Oh, it's quite easy," C.C. said. "Plenty of fresh fruit, a mild exercise program, and of course

. . . this."

She filled a glass with water and poured a drink mix into it. The mixture glowed, causing the boy's eyes to widen. 

RED FLAG! DON'T DRINK IT! I tried to yell, but all that came out were little squeaks.