What’s… happening to me?

In the middle of the night, I woke up to a searing pain spreading throughout my body. The nightmare I had just had was still fresh in my mind, the images refusing to disappear.

A… portal?

My thoughts flashed back to what my best friend… Flora had said to me just yesterday.

She said something about a fantasy world–and magic. She didn’t say anything about a portal, but… there was one in her backyard, and her body was floating above it.

As I tried to focus my mind away from the pain, it faded slightly, being replaced by a strange tingling feeling that permeated throughout me. I thought back to yesterday as a whole, realising in hindsight just how weird it had been. My best friend had texted me very early in the morning, saying that something was wrong. The message seemed urgent, so I hurried over as fast as I could, only to find a strange girl there claiming to be my best friend.

Looking back, I just instantly believed her. Like–she said that she just woke up like that… It honestly seems impossible. She was so genuine, though… she acted exactly like my best friend–or at least, how he would act if he suddenly woke up as a girl one morning. I should just ask Zoey what she thought–she’s a better judge of that sort of thing than me.

I winced as a sharp jolt of pain shot through my skull, tracing a line all the way through my body to my lower back. A dull heat spread through me, making my muscles twitch restlessly as I began to overheat. I threw off the covers on my bed, bringing my knees close to my chest and curling up into a ball.

What’s-ow… I need… painkillers… what’s happening to me?!

Sticking my legs off the side of the bed, I gingerly lowered my weight onto them, trying to stand up as the stabbing pain in my head increased in intensity. My knees buckled as I slid off the bed, and I crumpled to the floor. 

I… don’t think I’m making it to the kitchen… at this rate.

I tried to call out, in the vain hope of waking my mother up, but no voice came out of my mouth. Both my lungs and my throat felt like they were filled with fire. The pain from the top of my head wormed its way down to my eyes, and I closed them, curling up on the floor as tears began to flow down my face.

The last thing I remembered before I passed out from the pain was the feeling of my hair shifting, and something getting caught on my pyjama shorts.

 

*****

 

Too bright… and so loud! What’s going on?

I jolted awake at the sound of a door slamming, listening to it echo throughout the house. The sunlight streamed in through the window, sending a beam of light directly down onto my face. It seemed… so much brighter than usual, and I squinted my eyes shut as I tried to reach up for the curtain, to stop the light from shining inside. The loud rumbling of a nearby car made me falter, and I fell back onto the floor, the weird tingling sensation from earlier returning. 

Whose car is that? It's crazy loud… 

I tried to lift myself off the floor again, so that I could get ready for school, but I flinched as a strange, slightly itchy feeling shot through my lower back. Instinctively, I reached around behind myself to try and scratch it, but froze as I felt… fluff? Grabbing the mysterious furry thing, I pulled it around in front of me, twitching as the sensation of my hand holding it was transmitted back to me. 

Ugh. My eyes forced themselves shut as my whole body convulsed, trying to deal with the unknown feeling. 

That feels like–what did Zoey say, that one time? Something about the 'map' her brain has of her body. It’s like someone stuck something onto me, and now I can feel it. 

I timidly opened my eyes, peeking at the strange thing that seemed to have attached itself to me. 

A… tail? 

A large, furry tail rested on top of my knees, twitching slightly as I held it. I stared dumbfounded at the red fur colour that resembled a fox, watching as my fingers buried themselves deeper within the fluff. The white tip of the tail dangled off the edge of my knees, and I flinched again as I realised that I could feel it resting against the floor. 

What happened… the fox? 

The images from my dream resurfaced in my mind, and the blood drained from my face as I recalled the scene of a ghostly fox flying towards me, chasing me. 

Did that fox… possess me? 

I tried to scramble upright, my foot slipping out from underneath me as I stumbled towards my desk. Reaching my arm out, I barely managed to grab my mirror before falling to the floor again, my body still not used to the new sensations I was experiencing. Crawling to the middle of the room, I rolled onto my back, out of breath. 

It's not just the tail–something weird is happening to me. My whole body feels strange. 

Holding up my hand mirror to try and inspect my body for any other oddities, I froze as I caught a glimpse of my head. Staring back at me in the reflection were two amber eyes, a far brighter colour than my previous brown. The pupils were a strange, vertical slit shape as well, and they dilated slightly as I watched them. I hesitantly closed one eye, looking on in shock as the unfamiliar sight staring back at me matched my every move. 

Lifting the mirror up further, I tilted it slightly to find two strange protrusions sticking out of the top of my head. Short, reddish fur lined the lower half of the triangle-shaped things coming out of my head, fading to a black-furred upper half. The colour seemed to be the same as the tail, and it contrasted against my blonde hair. The things wiggled from side to side ever so slightly, shaking the small bundle of white fur that sat inside them back and forth. 

Are these… ears?! 

The fox-like ears folded back against my head as my anxiety rose, and I hurriedly inspected the sides of my head, only to find that my human ears were no longer there. My eyes widened, emphasising the strange new shape of my pupils as my brain began to connect the dots. 

…Flora was telling the truth! She really did turn into a girl–and now whatever caused her to transform has… I got possessed by a ghost fox! 

Quickly crawling over to my desk, I held onto the side of it and lifted myself up, grabbing my phone before falling to the floor again. Unlocking it, I scrolled through my contacts to find my best friend, and swiped along the screen to call her.

...No response–the sound of the phone ringing is so loud! What’s going on with my hearing?!

Letting the phone ring out, I switched to the messaging app, sending her a panicked text that was remarkably similar to the one she had sent me yesterday.

'HELP! GET TO MY PLACE ASAP!' 

The sound of a text being sent made me flinch, and I fell onto my back on the floor, breathing heavily thanks to all of the new sensations rippling through my body.

She’s probably asleep… 

My whole body twitched violently as my phone buzzed, the noise startling me again. My arm was sore as I lifted it in front of my face, reading the message I had received.

‘Be there as quick as I can’

 

...I hope she gets here soon.

 

*****

 

While I was lying on the floor listening to the noise of nearby cars passing, muffled through the closed window, I heard the distinctive sound of the front door unlocking.

She’s here… finally–It’s still so loud!

“Emily?” her voice called out, still slightly unfamiliar to me. I lifted myself off the floor, trying to call out in response.

“In here…”

Within a few moments, loud, thumping footsteps echoed throughout the house, slowly increasing in volume as they approached my room. I shuddered, feeling the vibrations of her stride through my tail as it rested on the floor. The noises stopped just in front of the room, and I listened intently to the squeak of the door handle being turned. The hinges creaked as the door was slowly opened, sending a piercing jolt of pain through my ears. My hands shot up to the side of my head, and I curled up on the floor as I clenched my teeth.

“...too… loud…”

A strange feeling shot through my lower back again as slow, soft footsteps approached me. My eyes closed tightly shut as I listened to Flora slowly kneel down next to me, and I flinched as an unfamiliar sensation began pressing down on top of my head. Slowly, the pain began to disappear, and the world around me became quiet again. I lifted myself up off the floor, timidly opening my eyes to look at Flora, who had her hands pressed against the top of my head. Before I could even think, I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into a very tight hug.

“I had a really bad dream…” I wailed, struggling to hold back tears. “And these ears… am I possessed?!”

“It’s alright.” Her voice was soft as she returned my hug. “I’ll help you out. It’ll be okay. You’re still you, I promise.”

“...okay.”

The tension gradually left my muscles, and my arms loosened as I held her. I exhaled deeply as she patted my hair, smiling as she tried to mimic what I had done for her yesterday, but I flinched as a strange, tingling feeling began spreading through me, starting from the right side of my head. A fuzzy warmth followed closely behind it, and my body began to lose strength as I collapsed into Flora’s arms.

...What are you doing to me?!

A dull heat rose to my face as my tail began to wave back and forth, and an odd feeling materialised on the left side of my head, which my brain slowly recognised as my left ear twitching from side to side. The last of my energy left my muscles, and my arms had no power as I tried to push myself away from her. I dimly registered the sensation of her pulling her hands away from me, but the fuzzy warmth barely had time to dissipate as I felt myself being lifted off the ground.

“Eek!” I squeaked, curling my arms inward as I realised that Flora was holding me in a princess carry. She slowly walked over to my bed, looking like she was barely breaking a sweat as she carried me, and gently laid me down on top of it.

She had a sly smile on her face as she looked down at me. “Feel any better now?”

“Wh-wh-what are you doing?!” I stammered, the heat in my face intensifying as I tried to glare at her.

Don’t laugh at me!

“Alright, you seem much better now.” She sat down on the edge of my bed, looking over her shoulder to face me. “Could you tell me what happened?”

Slowly sitting upright on the bed, I shuffled around to lean against her back.

 

“I had a dream last night. I was sitting on your roof, and in your backyard there was this–hole? Or like a portal or something. A whole bunch of smoke and… weird swirls poured out of it, and then a horde of small creatures–like faeries or spirits–came rushing out. This weird–like, ghost fox came along with them, and charged right at me. I woke up in the middle of the night, and it felt like my whole body was on fire. Next thing I knew, it was morning, and I had these ears and tail.”

I felt her take a deep breath as she leaned back into me.

“Well,” she began, “whatever the case, you’ve turned into a… fox girl, or something.”

My anxiety spiked as all my worries from earlier flooded back into me.

“I knew it, I’m possessed!” I screamed, looking down in a panic at my tail. Flora quickly shifted sideways, grabbing my shoulders and turning me to the side so that she could face me directly.

“Calm down!” she said forcefully, locking eyes with me. “Look, yesterday I suddenly turned into a girl. Do you think I’m possessed?”

Her brown eyes were full of concern as she stared at me, and I gasped in surprise at how much detail I could see. Slight flecks of iridescent colour were buried deep within her irises, and my mind blanked slightly as I watched them shift across the spectrum.

“...no, I don’t think so.”

“Then why do you think you’re possessed? I turned into a girl, and you grew fox ears and a tail. We’re in this together.”

“But what if–”

“No buts,” she interjected, tightening her grip on my shoulders. “You spent all of yesterday helping me.”

She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around me again.

“So let me help you this time.”

“...okay.”

Maybe… it’ll be fine.