"Take it easy and concentrate," dad said quietly. "Like I told you, slow steady breaths in and out, while you focus your mind on the goal. Just like meditation."

I opened one eye to glare at her, "It'd be easier to concentrate without you talking so much."

She smirked, "Sorry hon. I'll be quiet for a minute or two while you focus."

"Don't be discouraged if you don't get it right off ok?" she added, breaking my focus again. "This takes time, and you might not be fully recharged yet from your first change."

I sighed as I gave her a pointed look, and she blushed as she finally went silent. Then I closed my eyes again and tried to focus once more.

It was Saturday afternoon and I was finally ready to attempt my first deliberate change. I was focused on something small and simple, but unmistakable. I was going to change my hair colour, from sunny blonde to a sort of reddish-brown or auburn colour.

Dad said that sort of thing was a good first step, and after the past few days of lessons she thought I was ready for it. The only concern was I might not actually be ready to power it. Like according to her, most shape-shifters manifested with a fairly small change to themselves. Then after a couple days they were ready to try another small change.

In my case the first thing I did was give myself a completely different body, which most shifters couldn't do until after they'd been training and practicing for many months, or even as long as a year or more. On the other hand most shifters manifested around age twelve and reached their full potential by age sixteen, so maybe me waiting till eighteen meant I had a bit of a boost in that respect. Like starting off closer to my full potential because I was older or something.

Either way, we wouldn't know till I tried and we figured out what I could do. So I was focusing on my hair, trying to follow all the instructions dad gave me over the last couple days.

Thursday she was just here for a few hours in the morning, before she had to get to her shift at the hospital. She took yesterday off though, and showed up at a more reasonable hour instead of another six-thirty start. And she brought an overnight bag too, so last night she stayed in the guest room.

It was kind of weird, but in a good way, seeing her in normal clothes instead of nurses scrubs. Yesterday dad was in a pretty floral sundress and low heels, today she was in skinny-jeans and a tight t-shirt. And being as young as she was, I could almost forget I was hanging out with my dad. Like if I started calling her Alison I might actually start to feel like I was hanging out with a new friend or something.

On the other hand, the stuff she was teaching me definitely wasn't anything my friends would know about. And dad made it very clear I wasn't to ever share this stuff with anyone else. Not even mom. It was for shape-shifters only.

It made sense, for one thing it wasn't any use to anyone but shape-shifters. Like knowing how we did it wouldn't help a normal human any. It might be something people could use against us though, which was why dad spent a solid hour lecturing me about the importance of secrecy.

So I definitely wouldn't tell this stuff to anyone, not even my best friends. Not that I'd seen them the last couple days. Me and Kelly and Craig exchanged some texts Thursday and last night, and we had plans to hang out tonight. We'd probably end up back in our usual spot in the woods, Craig's brother scored us another case of beer so odds were we'd all grab a bite at a burger place or something, then spend the rest of the evening drinking and talking and stuff, same as always.

That wasn't till later though, for now I had to focus on doing my first deliberate change to myself.

So once again I concentrated on my hair, I was trying to turn it sort of auburn coloured. I'd originally wanted to go for something a little more out there, like purple or blue or maybe pink, but dad convinced me to stick to natural colours for now. Especially if it was going to take me a few days to recharge again, she was worried what mom would think if I accidentally stuck myself with some anime-coloured hair for a few days.

Once I was better at this stuff though, then I could experiment with colours all I wanted. Like once I was good at it, dad said I'd be able to change myself really easily. I already had a bunch of experiments I wanted to try, and not just hair colour. I was going to try all kinds of eye colours, longer or shorter hair, I'd even try making myself taller or shorter to see if I liked that. Maybe even experiment with my age, just to see what that felt like.

Now that I was getting used to the idea of being a shape-shifter, it was actually pretty exciting. Like the possibilities were kind of endless, and thinking about that got my heart racing.

That's when I felt something, like one of those shivers that goes down your spine and out your whole body. As soon as it was done I could feel something had happened. There were weird confusing sensations from all over my body and my eyes opened wide.

"What -" I started to say, then I gasped. My voice was completely different, it was way higher-pitched than it had been the last couple days. And the living-room seemed bigger than it was a few minutes ago. And dad was a lot taller too.

I looked up at her then down at myself and squeaked "What happened?! Where'd my boobs go?!"

My jeans were pooled on the floor around my ankles and my top was big enough to be a dress. And my small chest was flat as a board, while I could feel my bra hanging loose on my small body.

Dad opened her mouth to respond, then closed it again as she stared at me. She looked almost as surprised as I felt, and she didn't know how to react or what to say.

"Aaaaagh!" I screamed as I ran to the downstairs bathroom, leaving my jeans and sneakers behind on the living-room floor.

I had to stand on my tippy-toes and lean on the sink to get a good look at myself, then I let out another high-pitched scream.

Staring back at me was a little girl of about eight years of age, with long wavy auburn hair. She might have had a cute face if she wasn't screaming in fear and frustration.

"What's wrong, why are you..." mom's voice trailed off as she appeared at the bathroom door. Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped open, and she ended up staring at me for a few seconds with her hand over her mouth.

I turned around and looked up at her, I was pouting and my lower lip quivered. I could feel tears prickling in my eyes as I shook my head "I can't be stuck like this! I'm s'posed'a see Kelly an' Craig tonight! We're gonna hang out!"

A moment later dad was there, standing next to mom at the bathroom door. She obviously heard me as she said, "Calm down kiddo, don't panic..."

"I'm not a kid!" I shouted at her. Tears started to run down my cheeks as I stamped my foot and shouted again, "I'm eighteen!"

It was one of the strangest things I'd ever experienced, and considering I'd turned myself into a girl three days earlier that was saying something. In the back of my mind I could sort of understand that I was acting like a little kid. I knew I was an eighteen year old high-school senior. I knew there was no reason to panic or cry or get too upset. But even though I knew all that, I was still overwhelmed with emotions.

I felt small, weak, scared, and helpless. I was confused, something happened to me that I didn't understand and didn't like, but I was convinced it was my fault. I was trying to do shape-shifting stuff, but instead of focusing like my daddy said I let my mind wander and thought about a hundred other things. And I messed up and it went wrong and it was all my fault.

The tears started coming faster as I remembered dad said shape-shifters didn't get their power till they were about twelve. Now I was even younger than that, and the thought that I might be stuck like this for years made me more scared and upset. I was afraid I'd be sent back to grade school, that I'd never see Kelly and Craig again.

At that point all the mixed-up emotions reached a boiling-point and I pretty much dissolved into sobs of fear and frustration. After that everything was a bit of a blur, but I was aware of my mom and dad both trying to help me calm down.

Eventually the tears stopped, and found all three of us were on the sofa in the living-room. Mom and dad were on either side, with me cuddled up in the middle. My pants and shoes and stuff had been picked up off the floor, and to my embarrassment it felt like someone had taken my ill-fitting bra off me as well. I was pretty sure all I had on was my top that was now sized like a short loose dress or nightshirt.

There was a blanket over me, plus mom and dad were holding me from either side which made me feel warm and happy and safe.

"Melody?" dad asked softly. "Are you feeling better now?"

I gulped and I could feel my cheeks were red, but I nodded slightly. "Yeah...a lil bit."

She gave me a warm smile, "Good. I'm sorry you got scared hon. And I should have maybe explained some stuff sooner, but we generally try to avoid making ourselves too young? It can be a little overwhelming."

That fear stirred inside me and I felt a lump in my throat as my eyes started to sting again. I whispered, "Am I stuck like this? Do I hafta go back to grade school an' wait till I'm eighteen again before I can change?"

Both mom and dad probably heard the fear in my voice. Mom gave me a gentle squeeze while dad shook her head.

"No hon," dad said in a soft kind voice. "Once you've manifested and gained the ability, you don't lose it again. So don't worry about that ok? You're not going to be stuck as a little girl for the next few years."

After a brief pause she added, "You'll probably be stuck for a few days though Melody. I'm sorry. It depends how long it takes you to recharge, since that was another really big change."

"But..." I felt the tears threatening to burst out again. "I wanna go see Kelly an' Craig tonight! I don't wanna be a lil kid!"

Mom hugged me a bit tighter, but there wasn't much more she could do or say. And somewhere inside I knew I was being unreasonable and childish, but like before I couldn't help it.

Then my tummy grumbled loudly, and both my parents smiled while I was caught between fighting back tears and trying not to giggle.

"I'll go make us some lunch," mom said with a smile. She got up and headed for the kitchen, then turned back and asked "How's hotdogs sound?"

"Yes please!" I grinned. Of course mommy remembered what my favourite food was when I was this age.

Once me and dad were alone, she gave me a hug then said in a gentle voice "This is what happens when you don't concentrate Melody. I'm sorry this has been so upsetting and scary for you, but I hope it's also a learning experience? Next time, you'll focus and concentrate properly, right?"

I felt my cheeks were bright red again as I nodded, "Yes ma'am. I'm sorry."

Dad leaned closer and gave me a kiss on the forehead, "Nothing to be sorry about hon. We all make mistakes at first, it's part of the learning process."

The kiss made me feel better, but I still ended up pouting and feeling grumpy about the situation.

Then a little while later mom called and the three of us had lunch together. On the one hand I was starving, but on the other hand all I could fit in my small tummy was one and a half hotdogs and a small glass of milk. I wanted cola but mom wouldn't let me, she thought the caffein and sugar would make me hyperactive. And maybe she was right.

After lunch I went upstairs to sulk in my bedroom for a bit. And I got my phone out and texted Kelly that I wouldn't be able to meet her and Craig after all. I said it's because I was sick, but she didn't believe me.

I don't know what possessed me to do it but I sent her a selfie of me pouting, along with some frowny-face emojis and the comment "I'm probably not allowed to stay up that late anyways."

It was a solid minute before she responded, but it felt like an hour. She finally texted back, "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee OMG is that you??? You're such an adorable cutie!!!"

That was followed up a few seconds later with, "But yeah, I get it, we can't hang out if you look like that. Sorry Melody. So, do you think you can fix that today? Or...?"

I was pouting again as I wrote her, "Daddy says maybe not for a couple days. I'm gonna try tho."

After sending the text I put my phone down, then for good measure I turned it off completely. I lay back on my bed and closed my eyes as I hugged one of my pillows, and tried to focus and concentrate like dad said.

I knew it was probably pointless, daddy said I'd need a few days to recharge again and everything. I was stubborn and desperate though, I really didn't want to be a little kid even for a few days. I wanted to be eighteen again. I wanted to get my boobs and my curves back, and I wanted to go hang out with my friends.

So I hugged my pillow tight and kept my eyes shut and tried to push everything else out of my head as I focused and concentrated and did the meditation stuff, just like my daddy taught me.

PurpleCatGirl

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