A knock at the door

Your head turns slowly as your clawed hands flex. A sudden instinctive urge to protect your lair swells in you as your head crouches, your eyes becoming narrow slits as you watch the door.

As the door slowly opens, a familiar voice calls out. “Josh? I tried to call, but there wasn’t any answer. We were supposed to meet at the pub for drinks. Is everything okay?” In walks Sharon, your girlfriend. “Josh?” She brushes a lock of her raven hair from her face as she closes the door behind her.

At that moment her emerald eyes catch sight of you. An unspoken scream fumbles from her lips as she reaches behind you for the door. “Sharon!” you instinctively call out to her, a clawed hand reaching for her.

Sharon pauses for a moment, her blue eyes searching your face as your clawed hand brushes through one of the crimson highlight streaks in her hair. Your eyes meet briefly, then you lower your hand and look down at the floor. “Josh,” she whispers. “What happened to you?”

In your rumbling purr, you tell her about the book you found and how you tried to perform one of the spells in it. “I forgot the first rule of magic – make sure you know what you’re doing. Because you will always have to give up something in order to get something. And if this is what I got, what was taken away from me?” You finally brave a look at Sharon, your eyes moist and solemn.

Sharon bravely wipes a tear from your scaly face. It strikes you as odd that just moments ago she was trying to flee from you. But now her face is a picture of strength and serenity. “We’ll do what we can to fix this, okay? Right now we need to get you someplace where you can stretch out a bit. This house isn’t big enough for you right now.” With a chuckle, she looks towards the dilapidated kitchen. “And it looks like we need to get you a bit more food.”

At the mention of food your stomach rumbles. The two of you laugh as your face reddens under your scales. Sharon helps you out to the backyard without any further damage to the house. “Can you fly?” she whispers. A few test flaps of your scaly wings reveal you can lift off the ground easily. “Do you remember the cabin my folks own up by the river? The one I met you at for your birthday last year?”

The two of you share a secret smile. “Yes,” you purr in response.

“Meet me there. It’s empty right now. I’m going to get some food and clothes, and I’ll be there as quickly as I can.”

You nod once and fly off into the night sky, your dark scales blending with the overcast night. As you disappear into the clouds, you notice Sharon watching you until you are out of her sight. Then she runs to her car and drives off.