Ana awoke from another nightmare. She was having them almost nightly since her recent miscarriage. Everything reminded her of her child. She reluctantly climbed out of bed and made her way slowly to her bathroom sink. Looking in the mirror she could tell she had been crying while sleeping. Her smooth black skin was puffy around her eyes and her flat ironed hair was moist and tasted like salt on the tips. She knew couldn't stay holed up in her apartment forever. She had to move on with her life. She had to start over. She decided that today was her new beginning and that she was going to start with a walk around the lake path just like before her pregnancy. She walked back to her closet and chose a black track suit with white stripes going down the legs. To this she added a head band and a water bottle. She chose to leave her mp3 player at home because she wanted to hear the lake around her. She wanted to connect with all of that life.
The lake path was pretty open for the most part. Most of the walkers appreciated it because the visibility lent itself toward safety. There was however a small glade of trees where one could feel truly isolated for a few minutes on the far side of the lake. It was as Ana entered the glade that she began to hear a noise that sounded like a cross between a squeak and cry. A few steps later she smelled the familiar smell of a scared skunk. Ana's first impulse was to hurry through the woods to get out of the sulfuric cloud but the lingering cries tugged at her recently wounded maternal instincts. She made up her mind and followed the sound off of the gravel path. She got about thirty yards into the woods before she came across a mother skunk with four kits suckling her. The skunk was lying just outside of a hole in a hollowed birch tree. Ana could tell she was injured badly. Her right hind flank was torn up by what looked like a dog bite. The fur was matted with blood which was flowing quickly from her out on the leaf strewn forest floor. Ana wasn't sure what to do. She was about to go and look for help when she heard the labored voice of another woman.
"Your right, I don't think I am going to make it. I can feel your pain. You have lost a child recently. A mother can tell."
Ana looked around for another human being then hesitantly returned her eyes to the mother skunk.
"My children, will you take them on as your own? Will you allow them to balm your pain just as you soothe their fear?"
Ana thought for a moment, she didn't know the first thing about animals, but she knew she couldn't turn down another hurting mother.
"Of course, I will do whatever I can for them. You have my word."
With that the wounded skunk looked up into Ana's eyes and Ana received an understanding of what must happen. She readied herself as black hair began to sprout from the backside of her hands. Her body itched as a coat of soft black fur began sprouting from her toes to her neck. As the fur filled in her hands began to shrink down into claws while her nails grew out into claws. Her arms narrowed and became more flexible and her body began to shrink. As the ground rushed up at her she felt her two human breasts melting into her sternum replaced with four evenly spaced nipples. Her spine popped as she lowered herself to all fours and wriggled out of her now useless bra and over-sized track jumper. Her feet joined her hands as two more sets of claws and paws. Finally as she stepped from her running pants her nose and mouth elongated into the muzzle of a skunk. Fur filled itself in around her eyes and muzzle as her ears traveled up to the top of her head. The last thing to change was her hair which grew narrow and white forming the famous stripe warning predators to keep their distance. Ana looked at the mother skunk one last time and saw her draw a final breath. She barked at her new kits who dutifully followed her into the birch tree den.
END
