"What do you think happened?" Dad asks.
"I don't know." I decide against mentioning thoughts about shifting. "Maybe I was able to move around subconsciously, you know, kinda like sleep walking."
"Maybe. But you've never sleep walked before." We start trading stories and comments about sleeping habits until Viv and Lillie come in.
"Hey. You know, skipping school only gives you more homework.." Viv, as usual, tries to hide her concern behind sarcasm.
"I was hoping you'd do it." I give her my most innocent look.
"Funny." She says with an eye roll. After setting my homework and her backpack to the side, they come to give me a hug. About the time they settle down, the nurse comes by to check on me.
Once the nurses leave, I ask my dad to give us some privacy for a moment. I need to confide this gut feeling with someone and my sisters seem like the best people for it. Luckily, Dad is cool with this and steps out after giving me a peck on the cheek.
“So, what’s the secret?” Viv asks in a low voice
“It’s about what happened in the woods. I have this crazy gut feeling that I know what happened, but it makes no sense.” I say.
“You have a gut feeling, but not a memory? And you can't believe you decided to walk around the woods after yelling at Mom? Then, when there was a thunderous roar nearby from who knows what kind of animal, you went deeper into the forest, and not home?” Viv raises an eyebrow at me. I must have scared her worse than I thought. I brace myself for the rage that I know will come from her when I tell her my thoughts. At the same time, I am hoping her aggressive reasoning will push the instinct away.
“No, I’m sure it is a dream, but my gut and brain want to say it is a memory.” I tell her, stalling for a bit.
“Just tell us.” Lillie cues.
I take a deep breath and say it as fast as I can. “So everything in me is telling me I remember turning into the wild animal that you heard, and the growl you heard was me screaming right after I first woke up and found myself in a tiger’s body.” I hold my breath as I watch Viv’s pupils go wide for a second, then the expected rage comes in. Lillie is calmer, probably already attributing my thoughts with whatever sickness I have.
“You cannot be serious. Are you seriously trying to prank me right now?” Viv all but shouts. “You just woke up in the hospital, right after they found you, face down, five miles into the woods.”
“Yes, I know. It doesn’t help that Mom already told me that they couldn’t find any of my tracks, only those of a wild animal, around me. Not to mention, if the predator was by me when I was unconscious, why am I sitting here with nothing but scratches on me. I should at least have some type of wound on me.”
“You’re seriously considering this? The most out there idea there is, and you want to assume that it’s the truth? Maybe the wild animal had passed by the spot before you got there, and they didn’t bother looking for your tracks when they found you, or you covered your tracks not wanting to be found. Those combined-” Viv starts to rant.
“Why the hell would I try covering my tracks while walking alone in a forest, with no shoes might I add, since those were found far closer to home?” I may be losing my mind, but I’m not stupid.
“Why would you assume you became an animal? At least my reasoning is possible.” Viv shoots back.
“What animal?” Lillie asks. Viv whips her head around.
“You can’t seriously be entertaining this nonsense?!” Viv asks her.
“A Siberian tiger.” I answer before they can get into a side argument that will just make me feel worse. Maybe I should have just kept this to myself. “I even had reactions as if I wasn’t expecting it.” I say, feeling the need to defend my insane logic. “Even hearing the more possible explanation from Viv isn’t shaking the thought. At this point, I just feel like I’ve lost it and don’t know what to do.” Viv and Lillie look at me and I wait for them to call the doctor to ask about a possible brain injury.
“Why don’t you try shifting again? Only with us present?” Lillie suggests. Again, Viv glares at her. “I just think that when she fails, this feeling will get out of her system and give her peace of mind.” Lillie tells her.
‘Now she thinks I’m a psych patient. Great!’ I think, growing more frustrated by the minute.
“Well, if it will help us move on from this ridiculous idea, then sure.” Viv agrees. Now all I need is a psychiatrist telling me I have gone insane, and then we can bust out the straight jacket.I take a shaky breath.
“No, Viv is most likely right.” Everything in me is fighting me while I say this, but I just want to move on. “They probably found me before finding any of my tracks.”
“It’s nice to know you're not completely gone. I was hoping I wasn’t actually going to watch you try to change shape.” Lillie says with a slight smile. I really want this conversation to end but this makes me angry, so I just look away.
“So now that we have ruled out what was impossible to begin with, why do you think she fainted to start with?” Viv asks as a final snark, still mad I even thought of it.
This sets me off so before Lillie can answer, I grit out, “Do you know what, I think I will take you up on that offer, Lillie. When we get home, the three of us can see if it is just a dream.” I can’t bring myself to say ‘see if I can shift’ no matter how angry I am.
“Why are we back at square one?” Viv asks, incredulously.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have blown it off like that, but there really isn’t a point in embarrassing yourself just to make a point.” Lillie says, trying to placate us and stop the fight from continuing. I feel the same anger I felt when I yelled at Mom.
“Do you know what, I think it would be,” I grit out through clenched teeth.
“You have said so yourself that you don’t believe you shifted. The fact that even you know you will be embarrassed just proves it.” Viv shouts. I glare at her as the heart monitor starts to beep faster, pointing out my rising heart rate. The gut feeling that says I can shift, also tells me that if we continue this conversation, I will be shifting now, while in the middle of the hospital. If I do shift here, I can’t imagine all the tests I would have to go through.
“Thank you for bringing me my homework, but I need to sleep now.” I say, coldly dismissing them from the room.
“I hope this is all because you need rest.” Viv snipes while she gathers her backpack and storms out.
“I’ll let Dad know to give you a moment before coming back in.” Lillie says. I say nothing while they leave.
I am discharged the next morning. Dad had to leave early for his shift at work, so Mom is driving me home. All the way home, I think about the conversation I had the day before. I don't know how calm I will be when I face Viv when she comes home. I’m still angry about how she responded, and I’m sure she is too. Luckily, I won’t find out until the next day, because she texts my mom, telling her that she is staying at Lillie’s for the night.
Viv comes stomping in the next afternoon while there are no parents to referee any arguments. The tension rises when she sees me sitting on the couch watching tv. She pauses for a moment before she goes puffing to the bathroom. After some banging around she re-emerges carrying a thermometer, showing me that she has a fever.
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