Fudge Ripple and Flavour of the Day with Fresh Pineapple, Milkshake and Chopped Nuts
Story: Minos and Lycos by 1306
Title: Oversensation
Rating: G
Challenge: FOTD: mana, Fudge Ripple #29: shock
Toppings/Extras: fresh pineapple (“The Wizard”, Black Sabbath), milkshake, chopped nuts
Wordcount: 791
Summary: Lindleigh is disorientated by his new form.
Notes: Thanks to the wonderful 1306 for letting me do this! Chopped nuts because... well, let’s just say it’s an interpretation! It's a light-hearted piece really, not to be taken too seriously. Mana \MAH-nuh\ (noun), “A generalised, supernatural force or power, which may be concentrated on objects or persons.”
A sleek form, bright and boundless, was slicing the air in half as it ran through the darkness. It was hard to tell exactly what kind of a creature it was-it moved quickly and elegantly, its fur glimmering a dull umber reddish. Most would identify it to be, in appearance, closer to a wolf than anything else. But that didn’t seem quite right, either...
It finally stopped when it found a small copse of trees to hide itself, and stood, panting. This certainly was no ordinary wolf. It was far too large: and there was also the fact that it was standing on its rear legs. It had run on all fours, but now the creature stood amongst the thin branches, chest heaving. Its large ears flickered occasionally and its eyes flashed in the sparse light.
Lindleigh recognised where he was-but in so many more ways than he previously could. Every smell seemed to be assaulting him: smears of previously unknown colour seemed to roam across the front of his mind, great twisting clouds of odour that occasionally pulled this way and that in the breeze. What could he smell? Every squirrel, every tired hiker, every giggling schoolchild that had crossed under the swaying boughs of this little tree-sheltered spot within the last few days.
“Lindleigh! Lindleigh!”
His ears swivelled like satellite dishes before he spun his head. His stepbrother was running towards him in nothing but his sheep-dotted pyjamas, bristling brown hair wavering in the lightest nighttime breeze. He was jumping up and down, performing a little hop every few steps as though that would propel him quicker, pyjama bottoms dampening from the dew-strung grass. Lindleigh’s tail wagged weakly.
“What’re you doing, ya big weirdo?” Miko asked when he got closer, grinning despite the cold.
Lindleigh’s tail thrashed the air as he thought about this. He could still understand Miko. And he certainly could smell him-a mixture of fresh bedding and mischief-but he wasn’t expecting it to be quite the same. He blinked slowly and turned his head to one side. It was harder to talk when transformed, but it was possible.
“I’ve transformed into a wolf, Miko.”
It seemed pretty obvious when he put it like that.
What Lindleigh wanted to know was how. Or why. Miko seemed to be thinking about the same thing. Lindleigh’s head dropped.
“You should probably go. Werewolves are meant to be volatile and stuff, right? I might just... I might just eat you or something!”
He wasn’t expecting Miko to start laughing.
“Lindie,” he said excitedly, “This is so awesome! You can turn into a wolf-.”
“Awesome? Isn’t lycanthropy a curse?”
“-And I can turn into a bull! I’m a fudging minotaur!”
Lindleigh stared at him, round-eyed, heart hammering. When he had started transforming, he had just needed to escape. The senses had overwhelmed him-every single object had been pounding into his eyes, every sound shrieking down the nodes of his brain. He hadn’t realised that maybe Miko had experienced a similar thing. He tilted his head.
“Do you think it was the...?”
“The wizard? Good conclusion-see, I told ya that you had a brain.” Lindleigh was not given much of a chance to say more. For instance: What wizard? “It’s gonna be so awesome being a minotaur, I’ve always wanted to be superpowered... what are we gonna do? Fight crime? We’ll kick some serious butt, I’m telling ya. You can come up with the plans, and then I can ignore them and run in with reckless abandon...” Miko suddenly blinked. “Hey, we need to get back. It’s the middle of the night and Mum and Dad will be back in the morning. It’s freezing! Why did you have to come running out here again?”
During this long outburst, Lindleigh had slowly began to transform back into a human. He eased into his old skin, as though dipping a toe into cold water, unsure how it was going to be. It was only his first transformation, after all. It didn’t hurt, exactly, although it made noises like it should. The fur itched as it retracted and his bones clicked oddly back into their usual place, but the worst part of it was losing his superhuman senses. It was like having a black blanket suddenly thrown over him-suddenly, he went blind and deaf and the smells shrivelled from existence.
For a few seconds he stood, disorientated, until his human eyes became used to the darkness and he could make out the shadowy figure of his stepbrother. He ran a hand through his own flame-red hair and breathed a sigh of relief.
“All right,” he replied, a little shakily-and not only from the cold. “Let’s go home.”