I was sitting in my passenger seat on my flight back to Seattle. After a long weekend with the family, I was ready to be back in my own bed. The constant arguing and the nagging about me finding a girlfriend was something that I didn’t want to deal with. It was tough enough dealing with the constant reminder that I wasn’t the right gender. I had come out to my family a few years ago. My dad didn’t take it well, being the bible thumping Christian that he was. My mom was fine with it as long as I kept it to myself. The only one who supported me was my sister, but she wasn’t there. She had to study for her finals.

“Chris, you are going to have to get over this obsession with thinking you are a girl. You are a man now, and it’s time that you started acting like it. You need to get a good-paying job and figure out how to support yourself,” my dad said before sending me to Seattle. I didn’t even have a chance to decide if I wanted to go to college. I could have gone to college. I could have been the child that was on track to making something of myself, but my parents didn’t see it. They felt that I would be better off going to the big city and finding a job. They said that I lacked that enthusiasm to make it in college. It was nice to see just how little my parents believed in me. Sometimes I imagined that I died or fell off the face of the earth. Anything to stop this pain that I felt every time I was forced to go see my parents. It was the stipulation for them fronting me two years’ worth of rent money until I could find a job to take care of myself.

I watched as families laughed and joked during our flight. It must be nice to have a family like that. Just something that I would never have. I watched as the flight attendant passed by. I couldn’t help but admire how beautiful she was. I was jealous of her. I wanted her looks. If I had had her looks, maybe my parents would love me like they did my sister. Maybe I would have an easier time finding a job. I could use my looks to help bosses make their decision. I know that sounds presumptuous, but let’s face it, a lot of women did use their bodies to make their bosses choose them over someone else.

I got up to use the restroom when something unexpected happened. Just as I started heading towards the bathroom, the plane started shaking. The captain said it was just a bit of turbulence, so no one really panicked, but something was wrong. I didn’t know If the pilot just couldn’t see it, but there was a storm brewing outside. I tried my best to get back to my seat when the plane shook again. This time the pilot activated the seatbelt sign. He said something about a small thunderstorm and asked that everyone remained calm. I did my best not to worry. These people were trained professionals. They knew what they were doing right.

After about twenty minutes, the storm seemed to die down. If only for a moment. Then we all heard it – the crack of thunder, the flashes of lightning, and a malevolent wind. There was something strange about the lightning, though. It was green. I watched in horror as the lightning struck the wing. The emergency oxygen masks dropped, and everyone scrambled to put their mask on. The plane started to nosedive. I could see something in the distance. It looked like the eye of a hurricane, but we were flying over Kansas, so there shouldn’t be a hurricane. The lightning was shooting out of the storm like a firecracker. The plane shook and started to barrel roll as it plummeted to the eye of the storm. Then I felt something hard strike me in the back of the head, and everything went black.

When I woke up, I was in the middle of an ocean. I was floating in a raft. I didn’t know how I got in the raft, and at this point, I didn’t care. Looking around, I didn’t see any of the other passengers. I saw bits of debris and the tail of the plane, but that was about it. As I went to examine myself, I noticed a few wrong things. For one, my hands and arms were covered in thick hair. It was short but covered every inch. As I followed it up, I realized that it went to my shoulders and chest. Then the next surprise came—an unfamiliar weight. Looking down, I saw lumps under my now somehow larger shirt. Curious, I looked down my shirt to find orbs connected to my chest. I finally realized what they were. I had boobs, covered in fur like my arms. The only things that weren’t were my nipples, which were larger than my original nipples. There was a mixture of excitement and confusion. Maybe I was dreaming. After all, something did knock me unconscious. Despite that, though, I did what anyone would do in my position, I grabbed them. There are no words to describe the sensation I felt when I touched them.

After the initial curiosity and perversion, I continued studying my body. I noticed that my pants were looser, and my boxers seemed to barely hang in place. Feeling my body, I noticed that I had curves. Not like Barbie doll curves, but the kind of curves most guys dream about.  This had to be a dream, right. You don’t just change bodies after a plane crash. Unless I am dead and this is my afterlife. I guess that would make more sense. As I continued to explore my body, I felt a strange movement from behind me. At first, I thought that perhaps there was a fish in the raft, but I saw six elongated orange things when I turned around. I reached for one of them and immediately dropped it as I felt the touch.

            “Fuck..” I said before grabbing my throat. Instead of the masculine scruffy voice, I was used to hearing, I heard a very serine voice. Soft and delicate. Almost like my sister’s voice. This was all becoming ever more confusing. It all had to be a dream. I couldn’t change into a girl, much less one with this much hair. Looking down, I saw my legs. I had plump thighs.

Further down, I noticed that instead of feet, I had what looked like dogs’ paws. I had to be dreaming. That was the only thing that made sense. I was still unconscious on the plane. Or maybe I was now in a coma? Why else would I not see any other survivors? Or at least there should be bodies floating. Looking at my “feet,” I wiggled my toes. It was a very odd sensation seeing them move almost uniformly. They splayed out just like dogs would when they were stretching.

Shaking my head, I noticed another sensation. I could feel my hair brushing against my shoulders. Shocked, I grabbed it to look at it. Unlike my real hair, this hair was a neon orange color, much like what I assumed were my tails. This delusion was getting weirder by the minute. I had practically turned into a furry. I didn’t dare look in the water to see my reflection. I didn’t think I could handle the surprise.

I drifted for a while. I had no sense of direction. I wish I had paid attention in summer camp when they were teaching us how to find north. I was too busy admiring Judy Hamilton. She was one of the most beautiful girls there, and I was jealous of how she looked. There were nights that I wished I could steal her looks for just a moment to know what it was like to be the beautiful girl that everyone wanted. Not that I was into boys, but just knowing that I was someone worth desiring. Instead, I was lanky with unruly black hair. I was shorter than most boys my age and had to wear glasses for most of my childhood. I was the nerdy kid who even the nerdy girls didn’t want to date, to be perfectly clear.

With the sun beating down on me and no land in sight, I felt myself beginning to slip from reality. So, this was what it was like to live in the desert or a deserted island. I found a tarp in the bottom of the raft and covered myself up, trying to shield myself from the sun. The last thing I needed to do was die of heatstroke in a dream. I once heard that if you died in your dreams, then you died for real. I know that my life wasn’t much to smile at, but it was my life, and I wasn’t ready to give it up just yet. I may not have had a girlfriend, and my family did their best to keep their distance from me, but I did have my gaming buddies. Sure, we never met in real life, but we talked all the time. You may think my life is pathetic, but it was enough for me. Slowly my sight faded back to black.

When next I woke, I was lying on a beach. The tarp had somewhat shielded me from the sun while I was out, so I didn’t have to worry about a massive sunburn. Looking around, I didn’t see any signs of civilization. There was no sound of cars driving by, no sound of people conversating on their way to their destination. For all I knew, I was stranded on an island. There were no shops, no vendors, nothing. Panic started to wash over me. I didn’t really know anything about surviving in the wilderness. Living in the city all my life, I never really had the time to go camping like other kids got to do with their parents. My parents were always busy with work. They were both successful business people.

Trying to stand, I found myself falling over. The difference between my human feet and these were too different. If I didn’t learn to walk with these new feet, I wouldn’t survive very long. Even if this was just a dream, I wasn’t about to let something as easy as walking get in my way. Slowly I tried to get up again, this time taking it one paw at a time. There was a strangeness in the way the sand shifted between my toes. I could feel the objects behind me moving slowly. Now that my mind was more clear, I turned to look behind me to see exactly what they were. With a gasp, I realized what they were. I had tails. Six tails, to be exact. Just as orange as the fur covering my body, except for the white tips.

Slowly, I took a step. I wabbled but managed to stay standing. I could feel my heart racing as I anticipated my next step. As I went to take another step, the weight of my chest threw me off balance, and I fell onto the sand again. I grimaced as the pain shot up my knee. This was not going as planned. I looked for something to help me stabilize myself. Luckily, I saw a few fallen branches near the edge of what appeared to be a forest—finally a break. I drug myself over to where the branches were, looking for anything that could support my weight.  

“Well, it is official. I have gone mad. Why would I dream myself onto a beach that I can’t escape from with legs that are difficult to move with. After finding a decent-sized stick, I did myself to get up on my feet, focusing most of my weight on the stick. Slowly, I put one paw in front of the other. It wasn’t the prettiest sight, but I was managing to move. I decided that I was going to go into the woods. Perhaps in there, I could find some food or maybe even someone who could point me in the direction of civilization. Perhaps I could even find someone to help me out of this mess.

I was about to enter the woods when I heard the cracking of a stick. That could only mean that there was someone or something in the woods. I wasn’t in the condition to protect myself, let alone run away from someone or something. With a sigh, I headed back towards my raft. At least there, if someone or something was coming after me, I could see them. Once at the raft, I pulled the tarp out and spread it out. I dragged some more of the branches I had found and was able to make what could pass as a poor person’s tent.  Now, at least, I would have shelter. Hopefully, I would wake up soon so that I can go back home to my boring life. The exhaustion of the day and my efforts to walk had left me drained. Feeling defeated, I laid down on the beach under my makeshift tent. I closed my eyes, hoping that when I opened them, I would be back on the plane, about to head back to my normal life.

It was almost night time when I awoke. Nothing had changed. I was still under my makeshift tent on this deserted beach. Looking around, I didn’t see any signs of anyone traveling the beach. Grabbing my walking stick, I left the little comforts of my tent and stretched. My tails waved lazily behind me. It was a very curious feeling. But I didn’t have time to dwell on it. I needed to find some source of food. The more and more that I spent time on this beach, the more I think I started to realize that I wasn’t dreaming. But it didn’t make any sense. There was no way that the things that were happening to me were real.

Halfway down the beach from where I had my tent, I found some fish swimming up near the water’s edge. I had never gone fishing, but how hard could it be, and I was very hungry. I tried stabbing one with my stick. I missed by a long shot and ended chasing the others off in the process. It was just another thing that I wish I had been taught how to do when I was a kid. I had come to realize just how pampered my life had been, even with my parents treating me differently than my sister. Sighing and defeated, I headed back to my makeshift campsite. I knew that it wouldn’t be long before I started dying of starvation.

When I arrived back at my camp, I noticed that someone had been there. The raft was moved and deflated. My tarp was lying on the ground. Looking around, I tried to find who did it. There were what looked to be large paw prints in the sand. I wondered if they were just mine, but when I placed my paw near one of them, I noticed that they were a bit smaller. Not to mention that there weren’t any claw marks. This meant whoever had been here was like me, but not. I continued to look around to try to find more evidence of who was here. I found another set of tracks that lead into the woods. Just great. All I needed was to go into the woods with some unknown entity, who could very well be an enemy. Putting my worries aside, I slowly headed towards the woods.

There was an eerie silence as I reached the edge of the woods. I couldn’t even hear the sounds of birds in the canopies. This should have been a sign to turn back, but curiosity and the idea that I wasn’t alone urged me forward. Slowly I stepped one paw into the woods. That’s when I heard the cracking of a stick. Turning to my right, I saw her. Standing a few feet away was a catgirl. Her fur was black. The only part of her that wasn’t covered in fur was her stomach. Her hair and eyes were a deep purple. She wasn’t wearing any clothes, so everything was visible. I wondered if she knew that she was naked or if it was something native to her. Casually, I tried to approach her, but she leaped back and hid behind a tree.

“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you,” I said as I stared at the tree where she was hiding. Slowly she peeked her head from behind the tree. She bore a curious look. I didn’t try to come near her this time. Instead, I watched her as she slowly emerged from the tree. She was quite beautiful, her eyes never leaving me as she sat down haunched, her tail flicking to the left and right.

“My name is Chri…” I started to say before realizing that I didn’t look like a Chris. What was I going to call myself? If there are people like her here, I am sure that they didn’t have the same kind of identification. Part of me still wanted to argue that I was dreaming, but everything felt way too real to be a dream. Suddenly, a name came to mind. “I am Coralin.” I watched as she tilted her head, her ears flicking as she studied me. Then, slowly, she stood up and pointed to herself.

“We are Amethyst,” she said before turning and disappearing deeper into the woods. Too exhausted and hungry, I didn’t try to follow her. I headed back to my camp and fixed my tent. Dragging what was left of the raft over to the tent, I used it as a bed. Sighing, I curled up into myself and closed my eyes, wondering if the girl would return. It wasn’t long before sleep took me. The last thing I remember thinking was I wanted to get to know the girl.