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Angel

            I awoke to the sound of the alarm going off. I tried to cover my ears to drown out the sound but missed my ears, as they were no longer where they belonged. As I became more aware of my body and surroundings, I felt a weight holding me down. It was like when your sibling sat on you because they thought it would be funny to see you struggle to get them off. I tried to move whatever it was, but it did not move. It was heavy with these smaller arms I now had. Reluctantly, I opened my eyes.

            Laying next to me, with her head on my chest, was Taylor. Somehow, she was in my bed and lying on me. I had pain shooting through my back, where my tail was buried in the bed. It was going to take some used to sleeping on a bed with a tail. Sighing, I did my best to wake Taylor up. It took a few minutes...

            “Oh, hey Angel,” Taylor said, rubbing her eyes sleepily. She looked at me and then blinked before realizing where she was. Quickly she jumped out of bed like she had seen a spider. I had to admit, it was kind of cute seeing her do it. It was kind of like when you scared a cat. Which I guess made sense since she technically was part cat now.

            “I am so sorry, your mom said that I could sleep here with you. She said she didn’t think you would mind,” She said, blushing. I sighed and shook my head. I guess it really did not matter anymore, given the changes I went through. Stretching, I remembered again that I did not have any clothes. Doing my best to cover myself, I walked to my mom’s room. I knew that she was at work, so I did not have to worry about knocking. Going to her closet, I looked through her clothes until I found one of her old skirts and a top that would fit.

            I had to pull the skirt over my head to put it on due to my tail. Getting my clothes on was going to be difficult because of this damn tail. I also did not want to have to wear skirts all the time. I did not like them, but when winter came, they would not do me much good. Even with fur, the cold can still be a problem. Walking back to my room, I found Taylor crying on my bed. I rushed over and wrapped my arms around her, holding her close. I did not know why she was here, but I was now sure something bad happened.

            As I held her for what seemed like hours. When she finally looked up from my shoulder, her eyes were bloodshot. I reached up and wiped her face of the remaining tears. “My parents kicked me out. My dad was so cruel. He called me a freak and said that I ruined his reputation. And I don’t know where my sister Ashley is. She wasn’t there when I came home, and dad said that she was just like me,” She said. She was still shaking as she moved away. I knew that this would not be the only time that someone would say stuff like this.

            “Oh my god, I didn’t notice, but you look so cute. Did you get that out of your moms’ room?” Taylor asked. I smiled at her change of conversation. “Yes, it’s from some of her old clothes from before she had me. It’s surprising at how well it all fit, except….. I don’t have any underwear, and I needed to make sure to keep my tail down or else risk a chance of showing everyone my backside,” I said, sighing.

            We sat in my room talking for the next couple of hours until we heard a car door closing. Mom was home. My tail moved excitedly. This was a first for me, seeing my emotion be shown externally in another way, other than smiling or something. My tail was not the only one moving. Looking over, I saw Taylor’s tail moving as well… only in more of the way, like an agitated cat. I could tell that she was worried, but I did not know how to make her cheer her up.

“ANGEL, TAYLOR, COULD YOU TWO COME HERE PLEASE,” Mom yelled from the front door. I got up and led Taylor into the front room. Mom was standing at the door with bags in her hands. she sighed as she set the bags down and shook her head. “I see you raided my closet. I guess it was to be expected,” She said. There was something about her expression that said something was wrong.

“Are you girls hungry?” she asked as she headed to the kitchen. Without answering, we both followed her to the kitchen. She began making grilled cheese sandwiches. Something was wrong. She only made grilled cheese when something was on her mind. “Since I’m sure neither of you watched the news, Trump has issued a state of emergency against the Emerged. That is what they are calling people who changed because of that weird storm. That is not all. There are people now hunting down people who changed, and no one knows where they are taking them. And discrimination. There are stores with signs in the window denying access to emerged,”

This was not the news I was looking for, but I already considered it to happen. As I looked over at Taylor, I saw the pain in her eyes. She had already experienced this when she tried to go home, and now others would be doing it too.  However, it wouldn’t stop at Taylor. Many people could never accept what they could not understand.

“Now, I heard something else. I overheard that some are coming out of the woodworks to help the emerged, including other emerged. Now, after we eat, get cleaned up because there is someone who offered to help,” mom said suspiciously.  Somehow I foresaw this being a weird day.